The rumor was obviously not received well by the Noble League members, but they stayed silent for now.

The remaining rumors were not as hot as the first one, but they still made some waves. The second one is about Stone and his brutal attack on one of the students of Zeus Academy. He attacked that person deliberately and didn't even defend himself during the trial.

The reason why this rumor is so famous is that a few videos of Stone fighting during the ceremony and the fight he had with the first target were leaked.

It clearly showed that he is a capable guy and he has a serious grudge against the Zeus Academy. The rumor about him choosing the trial by combat is also very popular.

The third rumor is actually pretty mind compared to this and it is purely a spark that ignited some curiosity in the people of the City.

It is the rumor about the speedy increase in the mission completion. Not just the missions of individual academies, but even the Realm missions are being completed at an incredible rate.

This is also one of the rumors that bothered the Noble League.

However, they didn't take any immediate action.

Things went on like this for the next two weeks. The mission completion rate was at an all-time high. Of course, this only applied to the missions exclusive to the Grade 1 students. Sam and his team are capable, but to take the Grade 2 exclusive missions they need to be at Grade 2 as well.

That is the only reason the higher-grade missions were completely left alone.

After these two weeks, the Noble League held another meeting.

"The situation doesn't look well. Why are the rankers trying so hard to deal with these missions? They are finishing at least one mission with a high difficulty every day and in the passing they are finishing other missions.

The gathering of resources is being completed at a never-before-seen pace. The auxiliary professionals are having the time of their lives. We actually started a bit late. These rankers and the few people who admire these rankers are now hoarding all the missions. The competition is stronger than ever before.

"

One of the Grade 4 seniors immediately spoke up.

"Luckily, it is currently limited only to the first grade and as you mentioned, it was the rankers that are going crazy. That guy named White who was the unofficial second among the freshmen didn't even take a look at the mission board for a long time.

After all, many geniuses won't bother with missions unless, and of course they are trying to advance to the next grade.

But he jumped in when he noticed every one of his peers was doing them.

Our first graders already had to dig into their savings to pay the weekly fee in the Hub. This is going to be a tough situation.

"

Another senior spoke.

"The question is, why did they start doing this in the first place? That too, how are they finishing the missions so quickly? Even though a lot of first-grade missions happen in low-grade Divine realms where Astral Plane cultivators are the majority, they still need to travel, investigate, and plan to perform all these missions.

How are they doing it so fast?

"

They are all throwing in questions, but barely anyone has any answers.

After some unproductive questioning, Christos finally spoke up.

"All these questions are irrelevant to us. The only doubt we need to be aware of is this. Our league members are striving for missions because we need to make weekly payments to the Hub.

These people are doing the same and from the timeline even though they are the ones that started it first, they started it only after our deals with Hub have been signed.

It is almost on the same day.

This is way too much of a coincidence.

So, we need to find out if the Hub has the same kind of deal with these people.

"

Hearing Christos' doubt, everyone's expressions changed.

"How can Joker do that? he already had a deal with us.

"

One of the first graders spoke up. Christos glared at him and continued.

"He might have signed the deal with us, but that deal doesn't stop him or restrict him from teaching to others. He might not have publicized this whole thing, but the rumors spread like wildfire. These exceptional kids might have convinced the Joker in the same way as us. We still don't know if it happened, but it is better for us to get that information.

However, I think it shouldn't matter to us what their goals are. As long as we deal with them, things will be fine.

"

"What do you suggest?

"

"I have been having some meetings with Pearl about dealing with Sam, since we have a common goal against him.

I have been trying to convince her to deal with everyone in the top ranks. Except for Bronte, none of them have anything to do with the Noble league. If we want to replace them with our own freshmen, it is better if they disappear entirely.

However, Pearl has her own ambitions. Particularly, after that bitter defeat in Sam's hands, she wants to get back some glory. She could have just joined the Noble League and have been a good member, but as you all know, her ambitions are way too high, maybe because of her father.

I will try to give her a bit more push.

"

As they are discussing, someone's communication token gave out an alert. It is a third-grader and he picked up the call with a frown. It was from his brother.

"ARGHH…. Brot…. Sav….

"

A painful scream followed my two incoherent noises that sounded like they were words, that was all they could hear before the call was cut off.

The senior stood up from his chair in a hurry and yelled.

"I need to go.

"

He activated some sort of tracking system that showed him his brother's position. He ran at full speed and reached that spot within a couple of minutes.

The sight stunned him.

In the middle of the street, a young man is standing with his clothes tattered and his whole body covered in cuts. Blood dripped out from all the cuts and the surrounding area was stained with blood.

His face is also covered with blood and dirt. He is sweating bullets. Tears and snot ran down his face, while he panted heavily. He held a staff in his hands as he moved around in that small patch.

However, every step of his is wobbly and unstable.

He let out a muffled groan now and then as another young man moved like a flash and hit him from different directions. The hits are small, and precise and were only aimed to create very little damage.

It is none other than Stone.

He looked like a grasshopper with his slightly green attire and his constant jumping around. He landed three hits every second. If not for the fact that he is showing himself in between each hit, nobody would have even seen him with their naked eyes.

They would have to use their spiritual senses.

Stone is doing a number on this Zeus Academy guy. This has been happening for the past couple of weeks. Every day, he picked a target and destroyed them. Then he got caught, asked for a trial by combat beat the crap out of a different person, and bounced.

He has been a headache for the Zeus academy for the past few days and they cannot do much about it. No matter who they sent after him, he always knew they were coming and he always escaped.

Even today, as soon as the Senior came, Stone stopped attacking. He stood beside the target while holding the other party by the hair. He had a grin on his face as he looked at the senior with a taunting expression.

"You must be that **ing stone. The one who is making a fuss for no goddamn reason.

"

The senior asked as he stepped forward. He wanted to attack, but he could sense the city guards are already there. He cannot do much even if he tries to.

"You are awfully sure. Do you really think I don't have any reason?

"

"You haven't told one. So, I guess mine is a reasonable assumption.

"

"Your assumption is wrong. If you want to ask a reason, go and ask your academy's pearl or better, go ask your Dean. They will tell you.

"

Stone smirked as he let the city guards arrest him.

"I will be seeing you soon.

" The senior replied.

"I hope, you are going to come to the trial. I would like to fight you.

"

"No, there isn't going to be a trial. I will deal with you myself. All the charges against you will be dropped soon. A bit later, you will die a horrible death. I will make sure of it.

"

He took his brother and left.

With this, it is fifteen targets. Fifteen people from the Zeus Academy freshmen were hit, however, there is no proper reaction or retaliation from the Academy, and everyone is waiting for one.