Xander watched as Amelia stood in her place, and he looked forward as he spoke the next name.
"In sixth place, we have Elena Rothschild," Xander looked at Class 4 Column.
'Did Sam Allister get outranked?' Elena stood up gracefully as she walked up to the stage.
Many students and most of the boys from Class 4 were clapping for her.
'Who the hell is in the top 5 then?' Sam pondered further.
Elena walked past Amelia with a smirk on her face as she stood at the 6th place. But unfortunately for her, Amelia didn't care about it that much.
She knew that her true abilities lay in a supporting role rather than as a battle mage like Elena.
"Now, before I announce the top 5, I need to tell you that the top 5 are different from the rest," Xander said.
His words made students confused because they didn't know about this.
"This is the new structure we are implementing this year," Xander said as Asher looked at him.
'It started a bit early,' Asher thought in his mind.
In his previous life, this distinction happened in the second year of the World Academy.
"The top 5 will be able to access the Trial Grounds at the end of their first year if they want to," Xander's words made many people chatter among themselves.
"And we have introduced something called the immunity of ranks," he said.
"There will be a council for each year, and before duels, the Council of Rankers will need to approve of the duel, and unless they do, Rankers will not be able to duel with other rankers," Xander said with a stern look on his face.
He saw many students were confused, and even the ones standing on the stage were slightly confused.
"That's right, if the voting among the 10 who will stand here happens to make any changes, but at the end of the year examination, you can outrank others easily," Xander said, as many ideas were popping into the heads of certain people.
And one of them was Elena Rothschild.
'I can take over the majority,' she thought.
According to her estimate, the only people she could not ally with were Asher, Amelia, and Damian. However, others could easily be persuaded to form an alliance against the Grevilles.
"There are more changes, but all of them will be told to you guys next week when your classes will resume," Xander said as he resumed the list.
"The person taking the fifth place is Lishia Halcyon," Xander announced as Lishia stood up.
A confused look could be seen on the people standing on the stage.
And it was visible as most people standing on the stage looked in Sam's direction.
'How is this even possible!!' Sam spoke to himself.
Among all of the students, he was the most shocked.
Lishia was one of the most beautiful girls in the first year, and her golden eyes, the distinct feature of Halcyon's royal family, were quite alluring to most people.
Even Kevin admitted that Lishia was as beautiful as Elena, Eva, and Amelia, but he never had the chance to meet her personally. And it was the same for other people as well.
Lishia was a person who never tried to mingle with others. Even the people from her continent, like Sam Allister and the senior student from Everett, still hadn't met with her.
"For the fourth place, we have Matthew," Xander was a bit surprised to see a kid who was an orphan to be so talented and for him to compete with others of such resourceful backgrounds.
"You outranked me?" Matthew said to Sam as he stood up, but Sam just shook his head.
But Matthew could not talk with him anymore as he made his way to the stage; many students were clapping, but almost all of them were those with ordinary backgrounds.
'Was Sam Allister this good?' Elena thought to herself as she saw Matthew standing beside Lishia.
She knew about Matthew, as he was a fairly powerful rookie that the World Association had chosen to participate in the World Academy, so he was expected to become a Ranker.
"And now the Top 3 of First-Year Students," Xander said as he looked at the broad Seminar Hall.
"In the third place, with their outstanding performance, we have Alyssa Astaria," Xander said.
The crowd was about to burst with cheers and claps, but a sudden silence took place. Then, finally, Alyssa hovered up from her wheelchair, and she floated a bit above the ground to reach the stage.
As she walked past, many shocked, surprised, and angered faces could be seen.
"What?"
"How is she top 3?"
"Did they make a mistake?"
The voices in the Seminar Hall started to erupt, but they fell silent suddenly.
"SILENCE!!" Xander's pressure took over, and even Elena, who was about to speak, was shut down before she had the chance.
Everyone missed it, but a dangerous glint could be seen in the dull eyes of the girl who walked past seven students to float above the 3rd spot.
"I will not tolerate any sort of disobedience in this ceremony," Xander's stern look made the voices die down, but confused looks were still present on their faces.
'Didn't they get injured in the D Rank dungeon?' Eva thought in her mind.
It was weird, and remembering her physical test score, it would have been impossible for her to even stay in the Top 10, but she was now standing at the Top 3 spot.
The most shocked ones were the professors that planned the downfall of Alyssa and her removal from the Student Council. But Xander's word made them unable to openly dispute Xander's decision.
"The person who is taking the second place with their exceptional performance is.."
*Thump* *Thump*
Xander was saying as Kevin's heart was beating very fast; he didn't care if Alyssa took the top 3; for him, he wanted to hear Asher's name, but unfortunately for him, it was not meant to be.
"Kevin Whiteheart," Xander announced as people started clapping, but most of them were sitting still.
'Doesn't this mean that Rank 1 is..?' A thought came to their minds.
The one person they were mocking because he got injured after his daring speech and daring acts, but now that person was Rank 1. Most of the students were openly praising Kevin and supporting him so they could impact the influence Asher was gaining, but it fell into shambles.
The handsome young man with his white hair stood up as he walked past Elena, who had a sad look on her face. She could see that Kevin was not happy. He was her childhood friend, and Elena couldn't bear to watch Kevin so sad in front of her.
Eva's thoughts were similar but not as extreme as Elena's. She also wanted to cheer him up, but now was not the time.
"The Rank 1, who will gain the most authority among the First-year students and the status that is just below the Student Council President, is none other than Asher Von Raven Greville," Xander said as a few students clapped. Still, knowing the young man's status, the claps grew louder.
Although few people admired Asher, most hated his guts, but out of fear, nobody could oppose him. And nobody even wanted to oppose him either. Why make problems with the heir of one of the most powerful families in the World because of their petty reasons?
But the loudest claps were coming from Class 1; they were students that, although they hated being in the same class as Asher, it was something they bragged about a lot. Class 1 somehow became the most feared class due to just one person.
The grins on the students of Class 1 grew wider as the young man stood up and walked up to the stage.
His indifferent face and crimson red eyes were the sources of the nightmares of students who fought him in the Duel class, and the most scared person right now was Alan, who was sweating all over his body.
Asher walked past as Damian cheered him up, but others just kept watching silently. Asher walked past Kevin, who was clenching his jaw, and took 1st place.
"And as the Rank 1, you can have this crown for now," Xander took the crown, and Asher took it in his hands and stored it in his spatial ring.
"Excuse me, Vice Principal Xander," a professor finally stood up when he could not stand it anymore.
"Yes, Professor Argas," Xander looked down at the professor sitting in the center rows with other professors, but three stars could be seen on his clothes, revealing his authority.
"It's fair for Asher Greville to take the 1st spot, but I don't think that girl deserves the Top 3," Argas openly pointed at Alyssa.
Alyssa's face was covered with a metallic mask, so only her dull eyes were visible right now.
"Yeah, we also agree with Professor Argas," some other professors also stood in unison, seeing that Argas was leading the march for them.
Right now, most of them were so annoyed and frustrated that they forgot the man Xander Demarcus indeed was.
"These idiots!!" Elsa facepalmed as she saw some mere 1-star and a few 2-star professors raising their hands toward Xander.
Asher was calm, as he knew about Xander Demarcus almost better than anyone. The only man Asher thought of as a teacher figure after Arthur and the one who inspired him to create the mana doping methods.
Xander Demarcus, or the title that most people had forgotten due to how long it has been since Xander retired.
"They have done it. They have provoked the Demarcus's Blood Blade," an old-looking man with a long beard laughed as he watched the ceremony, albeit in a hidden way.
