CHAPTER 371: ME TOO!

The apprentices’ jaws fell open, stunned into silence as Damon’s outrageous words rang through the vast hall. For a moment, no one even breathed.

"You heard me," Damon said. "Every one of you who has been called worthless, every one of you shoved aside, mocked, or discarded by this fraud..." he tilted his chin toward the master smith without sparing him more than a glance, "I am giving you a choice. Stand as you are, crawling in the dirt he’s buried you in... or stand with me, and rise."

Murmurs broke out immediately, louder this time, filled with disbelief, longing, and fear. "He can’t mean it..." one apprentice whispered, clutching his apron.

"But... if it’s true..." another muttered, eyes wide, "then even we... even failures... could..."

The master smith’s face contorted in rage, his teeth grinding audibly. What the hell was going on? Just one was bad enough, and now this lunatic was going to recruit a whole bunch of these useless idiots? If by chance the truth comes out, this would be a blow he could never recover from.

"You naive fool! What do you think you are doing? You are simply wasting your money on useless trash!" He barked at Damon, and when he did not listen, the master smith turned to the students.

"Enough! Do not listen to this lunatic!" he roared, his voice cracking under the strain. "He offers you nothing but empty promises! Contracts, hah! Only a city lord can offer so many contracts. Do you really think that this madman is a city lord? Why would a city lord need to hide his appearance from you? This guy is trying to ruin you all! Do not trust him!"

But his words no longer carried the same weight. Apprentices who once shrank under his glare now looked uncertain, their gazes flickering toward Leonel, the dropout who had just defied all logic and proved what they all secretly wished for... that their failures didn’t have to define them.

Then, almost timidly, one apprentice stepped forward. His hands shook, his eyes darted fearfully toward the master smith, but his jaw tightened as he clenched his fists. "I... I’ll do it. I don’t care if I’m called a failure. If he can believe in Leonel... then I want that chance too."

Damon smiled and asked, "What is your name?"

A translucent contract window then shimmered into existence before the boy. This time, Damon had only offered 10 gold coins per month and an 8-year time period. However, even those terms were quite good for someone who hadn’t even graduated from the academy.

The boy hesitated only a breath before pressing his trembling hand against the seal. Contract accepted. The boy then walked over and stood next to Damon and Leonel with a big smile on his face.

10 gold coins per month was a huge sum for someone like him. He could now conveniently live for the rest of his life in any city he wanted!

Gasps broke through the apprentices. Hesitant murmurs turned into shouts, one after another surging forward. "Me too!" cried a girl from the back, tears glistening in her eyes. "I don’t want to stay here anymore!"

And then another. And another.

The master smith’s face was a mask of horror. In the span of a few minutes, about thirty students quit the academy and directly accepted the contracts offered by Damon. This was something unprecedented.

How could this random person offer so many system-sanctioned contracts? It was impossible! How did he have so much wealth? Even if he had the wealth, how could he gamble so much of it on these worthless trash without even batting an eye? He simply could not understand!

"You are a fraud! You are a fraud! You are all being lied to! Mark my words. Tomorrow you will all come running back to me, begging me to accept you back into the academy! Begging me to save your future!"

The master smith trembled, but everyone knew he was spouting nonsense because there was simply no way to fake a system contract.

His once ironclad aura of authority now looked pitiful, like rusted armor falling apart at the seams. No matter how loudly he bellowed, it was simply not enough to wipe off the humiliation.

One after another, apprentices crossed the line, their faces pale but determined, their eyes no longer filled with fear of their so-called master. Even those who had mocked Leonel earlier were thinking about switching sides after hearing the rumors about the salaries.

The situation was becoming more and more chaotic by the second. The entire lecture hall had turned into a shit storm. Damon knew that this was his cue to leave.

He had already reaped a lot more than he expected. It was time to leave while he was still on the winning side. This much commotion was bound to attract some higher-ups who definitely wouldn’t be all that pleased with this exodus, no matter whether the students were geniuses or failures. Someone was bound to try and stop them and break all this momentum.

If he could, he would have already erected Blood Gate and made a portal for them, but that would only alert everyone to the blood magic and give away his identity. He had to do this the hard way.

"You can all follow me to the city’s teleportation center." Damon calmly said and then started walking out.

One after another, many students started walking behind him. After everything that happened, no one wanted to stay here anymore. After years of being trampled by the guy, they did not hesitate at all before they followed Damon like a herd of sheep. The mob mentality was on Damon’s side.

Leonel, walking close to Damon, glanced back only once at the man who had haunted his every waking moment with insults and cruelty. The master smith’s figure looked small now. For the first time in years, Leonel did not feel shame when he held his head high. He continued walking forward.

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