Chapter 75: Zavier Moss
"Hey, you. Wait a second."
William heard a voice from behind and turned around, only to see three people walking toward him.
All three of them were wearing the Sun and Moon Academy’s uniform, and the student badges attached to their chests each had a single star engraved on them, indicating that they were also first-year students who had likely joined the academy recently.
Among the three, the young man in front had shoulder-length black hair and narrow, mean-looking eyes. A crooked smirk rested at the corner of his lips as he looked William up and down, as though carefully examining him.
When William saw the young man, he felt as if he had seen him before.
He quickly searched through his memories and soon remembered who this person was.
’What a headache...’ William couldn’t help but grumble inwardly. ’Out of everyone I could have encountered, I just had to run into this idiot on my very first day.’
Zavier Moss.
That was the name of the young man leading the trio.
He was the son of Baron Moss, a typical spoiled noble brat.
William’s memories of him weren’t particularly clear.
The only things he remembered were that this guy had died inside an Astral Rift about seven months after the academy opened and that, before his death, he used to constantly bully poor students within the academy.
Suddenly, William remembered something else, and his eyes narrowed slightly.
’If I remember correctly, he joined Norn’s faction shortly after entering the academy and spent most of his time recruiting people for it. Anyone who refused his invitation would soon find their life in the academy becoming much more difficult.’
Norn Valmont.
He was the son of Marquess Martin Valmont.
It was the very same Marquess family that had been slaughtered by Ashura in the original timeline.
As for why Zavier had joined Norn’s faction despite being a noble himself, the reason was simple.
He wanted more connections, a stronger backing within the academy, and greater access to resources.
It was actually quite common.
Not every noble established their own faction after entering the academy.
Only those from the most influential noble families, who possessed abundant resources and powerful backing, were capable of doing so.
The remaining nobles usually joined the factions of noble families with whom they shared close relationships.
After all, the noble circle revolved around influence and connections.
Of course, unlike commoners, nobles who joined another noble’s faction didn’t lose their freedom.
It was more like a cooperative relationship.
Every noble family had its own strengths and specialties, and maintaining good relations with as many noble families as possible was always beneficial.
The Moss Family was no exception.
They had always maintained a close relationship with the Valmont Family and frequently cooperated with one another.
Because of that, after entering the academy, Zavier had immediately joined Norn’s faction.
Looking at Zavier walking toward him, William could already guess why he had stopped him.
"You just came out of the registration building, didn’t you?" Graham, one of the boys standing slightly behind Zavier asked in a questioning tone.
William had originally intended to turn around and ignore them.
Unlike other new students, who were unfamiliar with the academy’s rules and feared offending nobles, he had every rule of the academy firmly etched into his mind and knew exactly what he could and couldn’t do.
To him, speaking with these people would only waste his time.
However, just as he was about to leave, a thought suddenly crossed his mind, causing his eyes to flicker.
’Actually... I can use these people to attract the attention of those people.’
As the thought surfaced, a faint smile appeared on his face.
"Yes. I just finished registering and received my student badge."
As he spoke, he casually showed them the golden badge in his hand.
After seeing the single star engraved on it, the three of them became certain that William had indeed just joined the academy.
"What is your Aether Affinity?" Zavier asked in an authoritative tone.
These noble youths had only recently entered the academy.
They still hadn’t adjusted to the academy’s environment and continued behaving as though they were outside, where they could order commoners around whenever they pleased.
William smiled faintly after hearing Zavier’s question and asked in an amused tone.
"And why should I tell you about my Aether Affinity?"
"Hmm?"
Zavier was caught completely off guard by William’s response.
In fact, not only Zavier, but even his two lackeys, Graham and Howard stared at William in astonishment.
"Do you even know who you are talking to?" Howard stepped forward and asked in a threatening voice.
William glanced at him before replying flatly.
"I have never met him before, so how am I supposed to know who he is? Surely he isn’t some famous opera actor, because I have never seen him perform in any show back in my village."
Howard choked on his own words after hearing William’s reply and stared at him in disbelief.
He secretly glanced at Zavier and saw that his face had already turned as dark as charcoal.
"You lowly peasant... did you just call me an opera actor?" Zavier asked through gritted teeth.
’Some people really have egos bigger than mountains...’ William sneered inwardly before asking with a puzzled expression.
"Am I wrong?"
’Of course you are fu*king wrong!’ Zavier roared inwardly as he took a deep breath.
"Listen here, you lowly commoner. I am Zav—"
"First of all, stop using words like ’lowly peasant’ or ’commoner.’ They are against the academy’s rules," William interrupted before Zavier could even finish introducing himself.
"If you continue using those words, it won’t end well for you."
Zavier’s eyes narrowed after being interrupted and hearing the warning in William’s voice, a cold gleam flashed across his eyes.
"Are you threatening me?"
William calmly shook his head.
"No. I am simply informing you about the academy’s rules. Everyone inside the academy has equal status, so you shouldn’t use those kinds of words."
"Equal status..." Zavier repeated as though he had just heard the funniest joke in the world.
"It seems that joining the academy has made you lose touch with reality."
As he spoke, Zavier took another step forward until he was standing directly in front of William.
"Listen carefully, you damned commoner. No ma—"
Before he could finish speaking, he suddenly saw William’s hand move.
It was so fast that his naked eyes couldn’t even follow it.
"I already told you not to use those words."
A calm, indifferent voice reached Zavier’s ears as he suddenly felt a hand clamp tightly around the side of his face.
"Wha—"
Before he could even process what had happened, an overwhelming force erupted from the hand gripping his face and the next instant—
Bang!
His entire body was smashed violently into the ground.
His head buzzed violently, and his vision blurred as he nearly lost consciousness.