Chapter 99: Headlines

While Adam gave his report of the incident, another team of personnel were at the site of the accident, gathering clues to paint a coherent picture.

"Captain, the plate scan is ready." One of the officers said, passing the tablet to the captain.

"Asher Princeton?"

The captain muttered, sounding confused. He looked at the destroyed and smoking vehicle and then back at the tablet.

"That’s correct." The officer who brought the tablet nodded. "Though it makes no sense."

"Indeed." The captain agreed. "Who would attack a man as powerful as him?"

He looked at the hole in the asphalt, wondering.

"Captain, you’ll want to see this." Another officer rushed over with another tablet in hand. "The surveillance doesn’t make sense."

Taking the tablet while passing the first, the captain narrowed his eyes and watched.

The cameras that had caught the scene were several meters away from the incident site. But what it captured was indeed strange.

The surveillance showed the vehicle veering to the side just as an explosive projectile struck the road, throwing the car off the road. This part made sense. What followed next was the strange part.

The smoke and flames made it difficult to see, and with the vehicle falling into the field, the footage was mostly out of frame. Through the smoke, the captain saw someone crawl out of the car.

No sooner had the person stepped out than a figure appeared, driving a sword into their chest. The captain narrowed his eyes further. Whoever had been run through by the sword suddenly collapsed, water spilling onto the ground.

The attacker soon after ran past the deformed car, crossing the road to the other side of the field in a rush. Seeing this, the captain raised his head and looked across the road, staring into the distance.

The speed at which the attacker moved was not something students were capable of. This was an assassination attempt.

’The assassin ran in the direction the bullet came from. There were at the very least two of them, given the direction the attacker came from.’ The captain thought, looking into the distance.

Just then, the officers who had been investigating that area radioed.

[Captain, do you copy?]

Pulling out his radio from his waist, he replied, "What did you find?"

[There’s a lot of blood here, Captain. It looks like another confrontation occurred here.]

"Collect a few samples for analysis."

[Roger.]

The radio went silent as the captain passed the tablet to the officer. He looked at the deformed car again. ’I don’t think the vice-principal had been driving this car.’

"Captain Knox." Another officer rushed over. "The victim of the accident just gave their report at HQ."

"Who is it?" Captain Knox asked.

"That’s just it." The officer replied, sounding exasperated. "It’s that same kid, Adam Highstein."

"Him again?"

"Didn’t he just..."

"That’s him, alright."

While the officers expressed their thoughts and disbelief, the captain’s thoughts immediately went to the just-ended trial of that disgraced vice-principal.

’It’s not unlikely at all.’ Captain Knox thought. ’He might be behind the attempt on the kid’s life.’

The captain looked at the scene yet again, his doubts growing. ’How did he even survive this?’

What he had watched not long ago did not even show the boy’s presence. It was like the water clone was the target. But that did not explain the blood.

’I’ll need to read that report.’ The captain quietly decided.

This Adam boy had been the centre of attention ever since he arrived at the academy. He was almost always involved in an incident either on academy grounds or outside.

Captain Knox looked at his men and said, "Hurry it up. We’re returning to HQ."

"Yes, Captain."

***

News of the accident and assassination attempt spread through the academy by morning.

At this point, everyone was growing numb to hearing the same name over and over. The latest headlines were about Adam Highstein surviving an assassination attempt.

The images from the site of the incident circulated rapidly.

Some sympathised with his situation while others heavily criticised his name, calling him cursed and whatnot.

"It’s always the same name. Just what is with this boy? Is he cursed or something?"

"But don’t you find the attempt convenient?"

"What do you mean?"

"That moronic vice-principal got dismissed for framing Adam. Then a few days later this happens..."

"Now that you mentioned it... yeah."

A few were able to make the connection between the attempt and the recently dismissed vice-principal and the students. But with no evidence to back up their claims, they could only speculate, as nobody truly knew who was after Adam.

Those who were close to him rushed to his room, only to leave disappointed and worried.

"Let’s go find Vice-Principal Princeton. He might know something." Riley proposed to April, who accepted the suggestion.

The two girls rushed out of the dormitory, heading for the first-year administration building.

Olivia, the girl who had found Adam in the alley, read the news with visible shock.

"So that’s why..." The girl muttered. "He somehow survived and ended up here. Poor boy... He’s like a trouble magnet."

Officers had visited the place she worked, recording her encounter with Adam. Sadly, she saw no one around besides Adam.

The attempt was the second time Adam survived an assassination. No one knew the realms of the assassins, but anyone with half a brain could deduce that the assassin or assassins had to have been stronger than Adam.

The question was... how did he survive?

Everyone looked to the academy’s security forces for a response, but they were silent. While the public could only speculate, the security force had a definite answer.

Adam had confirmed there had indeed been two assassins at the Third Realm. He had only survived because he used a special token that swiftly teleported him away. But it did not answer the clone question.

Adam had been unable to give a proper response to that, vaguely saying it might have been a secondary effect of the token. Although the response was vague, the boy was not on trial, so they accepted the excuse as a secret he did not wish to disclose.

"Dammit! Dammit! Damn it!!!"

Somewhere within Academic City, a blonde-haired man cursed at the top of his lungs, unwilling to accept the outcome of the assassination he had commissioned.

Raphael could not understand how a First Realm teenager could survive an attempt on his life from Third Realm experts. He lashed out across the room, destroying everything he got his hands on. 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ

Meanwhile, as word continued to spread, Adam slept in a bed at the Healing Department of the academy, about to wake up.