Liam was livid once the name of Perseus was revealed in the assassin's interrogation as this signified interference by the Olympian faction in school activities.
Dramatically pulling both Sophia and Rocky out of mid-term evaluation, Liam brought them both back to the university office where he positioned them silently before him in his cabin, subjecting them to a penetrating scrutiny that felt as if he were boring into their very beings.
For a long while, Liam dissected their performance, looking into their eyes, their body language and their expressions, leaving no room for excuses or evasion.
"What's happening here? Why did you suddenly pull us out of the mid-term evaluation?" Sophia asked after almost half an hour of bone chilling silence, as she could not take it anymore.
"I don't know? You tell me-" Liam said, as he was having none of Sophia's act today.
While not all-knowing, Liam was very good at reading human psychology and although Sophia did not seem extremely worried, she did show signs of excessive nervousness that made Liam suspicious.
"What do I tell you though? What do you even want to know?" Asked Sophia, as she glanced over at Rocky for support, however, Rocky only shrugged his shoulders in response.
Even she had heard the shrill screams of a man and the wild laughter of professor Liam within the forest, however, unlike Rocky who had seen it unfold before his own eyes, Sophia was clueless as to what actually went down.
"Arise-"
Liam said, as the temperature in the room dropped and a specter arose.
Instantly Sophia recognised the man, it was Riyan! One of her brother's most trusted information gathering agents.
"Recognise him?" Asked Liam, his voice modulating sharply as he noticed the dilation of Sophia's pupils upon gazing at the specter.
"No-" Sophia said, lying through her teeth as Liam began to laugh maniacally.
"Hahahaha-" Liam laughed and covered his eyes, as although he was laughing, his killing intent began to leak, which made Sophia shudder involuntarily.
"Agh-" feeling touched, Sophia looked towards Rocky with teary eyes as Rocky gave her shoulders a few good squeezes and smiled.
"Don't worry, I trust you-" Rocky said, as Sophia began crying a river of tears.
At that moment, Sophia felt immensely relieved that all her previous sacrifices did not come undone because of this unexpected incident.
"Alright then, if you don't know you don't know" Liam said, returning to his calm state of mind as he dispelled his doubts surrounding Sophia for now.
Liam knew that she wasn't as innocent as she portrayed herself to be and that she had an unhealthy obsession with Rocky, however, he decided to give her a pass for now, mostly because he was biased as a teacher.
Had Sophia not been one of her students, Liam would not have treated her with such kindness, however, because she was, he was willing to overlook some transgressions.
"What about our mid-term evaluations, Professor?" Rocky asked, breaking the awkward silence as Liam pinched his forehead in frustration.
"Both of you pass.... Your performance was good in the time you were inside and both of your life in itself feels like a survival assessment.
You won't get the rewards, but you don't need to go back in either.
Just stay within the university...." Liam said, as he seemed to be extremely pissed about this turn of events.
In his entire teaching career, this was the first time that he felt that he could not provide adequate security for two of his children as he deemed it too dangerous for them to return to the forest.
"Just to inform you, young miss, your brother was named in this incident, so I will most likely be scheduling an unpleasant meeting with him...." Liam warned as Sophia almost choked at the information.
She had no idea as to why her brother sent Riyan to the forest, however, she felt betrayed because of the lack of information.