Chapter 82 81. Press Conference.

I quickly took off on my bike. I wore baggy black wide neck t-shirt and black tracks to the press conference because I was suspended for the time being, I didn't feel the need to dress up properly for the press conference, and what I was going to do had nothing to do with appearance.

VROOOM

'Hm... Though I have yet to figure out why I called the press conference in the first place.'

"Goddamn, I forgot what I was thinking at that time and don't even have anything prepared to speak in front of them!" I mumbled and drew my t-shirt closer to my neck as it continued to slide off.

"If it slides down in the middle of the conference I would become a front page model...."

I noticed from afar that the press conference was being held outside of the academy; there was a stage, desks, microphones, and chairs in front of the stage for the media, as well as some extra chairs for those who couldn't keep their noses to themselves.

VROOOM

"Looks like Stan is going all out." I mumbled with a smirk and rode towards the crowd, taking my time to enjoy the pleasant morning.

*

VRO-VROOOM

I parked my bike across the street and walked with my hands in my pockets towards the press conference. I noticed Stan Walton across the street, who was grinning from ear to ear.

All of the seats were taken, and the seats on the stage were occupied by Quinn, Seo Hana, Elise Ryan, and Matthew Smith, with two empty spots, Stan's next to Seo Hana and mine in the middle. Quinn sat to my right, and Seo Hana sat to my left.

"Ho!" I smirked and danced my brows up and down at him as I jogged across the street, hands still in my pockets.

"What's up Stan? Going all out?" I asked as I stared at him with a smirk.

"Of course, of course, I have to go all out if I want to get what I want and I did this for the opening of the act." Stan Walton pointed at the stage with a grin.

"Oh my, how thoughtful of you." I said and walked to the stage.

"Hahaha, of course, I definitely have to put in some work, so I prepared the stage of your demise." He said with a grin that seemed to have been plastered on his face.

".... I mean, who would say that without even knowing what I am going to say?" I asked as he walked alongside me, and from a distance, we'd appeared to be long-time friends.

"Hm? Why would I need to know that? I have prepared the stage and they'll ask you the questions I want which will definitely corner you in the way I want!" he said with victory written on his face.

I rubbed my eyes and took a second glance at him.

'I literally saw 'Victory!' written on his face!? .....'

"Well, thanks for the information anyway." I said walked up to the stage.

'Oh my, too noisy!' I nodded at Quinn who got up and hurriedly walked towards me.

"Eshwar! Don't kill anybody, don't threaten anybody and-" Quinn was saying something serious, and I raised my index finger with a bright face to say something, only to be stopped by Quinn.

"No, no strangling either!" he said with a solemn voice and broke my wish.

I walked with my shoulders slouched forward and slumped on my seat lazily.

"Now! Let's start the conference!" Stan Walton said, making the crowd go crazy with questions.

"Sir, Eshwar Fro-" A man with the loudest voice among the others yelled my name, raising his pen in one hand and holding a note book in the other.

I slightly moved my finger below the table and used magic to cover my ears to not hear any nonsense.

'Nah, people are too bothersome.'

*

A few minutes later.

I sat quietly as I observed and discovered that a human mouth is able to move that quickly while watching the media people move their mouth nonstop.

"Hyyaamm~mm, Are they not done yet?" I mumbled out loud involuntarily with a yawn.

I noticed their mouths slow down until they completely stop.

"You guys done?" I asked and moved my finger again and unplugged my ears.

"...." they didn't answer but definitely were fuming in ire.

"I think Quinn called for the press conference because of my request, so indirectly I called you guys here." I leaned forward to the mic and said.

"...."

"Which also means..... You shut it and hear." I said and smiled brightly.

"Now, as I said, don't open your mouth, just raise your hand, and I'll think about whether or not to answer you... But keep in mind that 'me' answering your questions is nearly impossible." I continued, my gaze fixed on one of the people who attempted to speak.

"Hm.... Let's be honest, I didn't even remember why I called for a press conference."

"Hmm.... Ah! You!" I pointed at a guy.

"Yes, you, why are we hear today?" I asked, leaving everybody dumbfounded.

"..... We've come to discuss whether it's true that you were the one who massacred the switch cadets." He yelled in outrage.

"Oh! Oh..." I remember and concentrated on keeping my rage in check.

"Then what the f**k are you guys doing here without investigating?" I glared at Seo Hana and Elise Ryan.

"..... W-we were brought here to the press conference and also because you are our only lead!" Seo Hana explained.

"..... That just proves the association's incompetence." I snarled at them, almost forgetting about the press conference.

"Well anyway, I am not the one who did it!" I said in a firm tone and left everybody flabbergasted.

"..... Ah! I remember why I called the press conference." I turned to face Stan Walton and grinned at him.

I turned back to face the crowd, slightly raised my hand, and pointed my middle finger at them, causing everyone to grumble and curse in outrage.

SWISH

Everyone flinched and gasped in disbelief as a blood red tennis ball-sized blob formed above my middle finger.

"Now, if I wanted to kill you guys right here and now, the association would consider it 'collateral damage' and force me to work for them, but nothing else will happen to me, and you know it."

"I am, what maybe sixth aura user in the human domain, and I can kill some of you here and can still simply walk away from here and the association won't do sh*t." I repeated myself in different terms to make them understand it better.

"Now, here's my question: why in the f**k would I want to kill my own students, whom I wanted to teach? Well, everything I say will sound like an excuse so f**k it." I opened my subspace, retrieved a wolf's head that I hunted in the artificial dungeon, and placed it on the table, sealing the blood in its head with frost magic. Its head was nearly a meter long, and its spine bone protruded slightly out of the head.

"This is the wolf's head I hunted; I kept it in my inventory because I forgot to discard it; you can see that this wolf has five pairs of eyes if you look here." I held its head in my right hand and pointed my left index finger at its eyes.

"Recently, the system has received many new updates that none of us are aware of, and just yesterday, mana density increased by a notch. If you have even a smidgeon of common sense, you will notice that the monsters becoming stronger can only mean one thing." I paused for a moment to allow them to process what I had just said.

"It means we will get more stronger." A man answered with enthusiasm.

"No, you retard, something is going on without our knowledge and if you think about the past you'll see that the system came first! The system started first, and monsters appeared later; this means that something 'will' happen, and we 'need' to get stronger to face the monsters that come out later! What if this is just the beginning? And if you read the system notification carefully, you will notice that the System's influence is at 55!" I snarled at them.

"If we set a limit of 100, we'll have much less time than you think! It hasn't even been a month since the system began acting strangely, and it is already at 55! F**king 55! How many of the 'living' have already died? Even without our knowledge? They were dying before as well, but now we have a count but no location for us even if we wanted to help the so-called 'living!' And the thought of killing humans should only be the last resort because 'living' are not only about humans!"

'I would kill any 'living' if I have to.' I added inwardly.

"People will slaughter anyone they have a grudge against if given the chance, and now that they have what they need, you dare think they'll stay still?" I glared at them and asked.

Murmurs filled the so-called conference as I turned the entire focus away from me and towards the system, and it appeared as if Lady Luck smiled at me as....

[SYSTEM INFLUENCE INCREASED BY 3.]

[SYSTEM INFLUENCE IS AT 57.]

[SYSTEM REQUIRED INFLUENCE IS 42.]

'Good!'

"Huh?" I looked across the street in disbelief at a certain figure who was staring at conference with curiosity.

He was a handsome young man who seemed to be in his early twenties, with dark grey hair and smooth facial features, dressed in a leather jacket over a grey t-shirt and black trousers.

SWOOSH

I instantly appeared in front of the figure and looked at him with curiosity.

"What is a 'Dark Elf' doing here?"