Rise of the Cosmic_Emperor

When Hal arrived at the gates of the Royal Academy, he and Sassy got down from the carriage after which Hal approached the guard to show them his badge of honor which showed him to be a student of the Academy.

They scrutinized the badge and then looked over at Sassy,

"She's with me" Hal said with a neutral expression.

Entering the Academy Academy with a companion was not forbidden.

After all, there are Dual cultivators in the Royal Academy and they could not be forced to cultivate by conventional means just because they were now part of the Academy.

"Name?" they then asked.

Hal furrowed his brow, wondering why they would want his name when he had already provided proof that he was a student but he did not voice too much protest as he said,

"Hal Doxon"

He had been registered with the Doxon name following his performance during the entrance exams by none other than the shameless old man that was his grandfather.

Hal walked through the gates and approached a Teleportation circle that was meant to take him deeper into the Academy grounds which was where he knew Melinda and Nicole were due to Nicole informing through their telepathic connection.

Then he was alerted by the communication talisman in his inventory which he retrieved.

"Where have you been?" said a quiet voice that Hal recognized belonged to Princess Tanya.

"Oh hello, been a while, hasn't it?" Hal said with a smile even though he could note a brewing storm in the quiet and calm tone of Tanya's voice.

"Yes, it has, Hal. It has been a while since you left the Imperial City without informing me. It has been a while since you left the Royal Academy without a care for what anyone else thinks.

Yes, it has been a while since you dropped off the face of the world to gods knows where and were gone for a year.

Yes, Hal, it has surely been a while"

There was silence for a few seconds before Hal said,

"It sounds like you are upset"

"Why wouldn't I be? Even if you decided to go into seclusion and did not wish to do so in the Royal Academy, you could have at the very least told someone. You could have told me.

As things stand now, you have no justification for what you have done." Tanya said. Her voice only rose a tad bit at the end of her words.

"What I have done?"

"Yes, Hal, what you have done. To the elders of the Royal Academy who, by the way, take the heading of the Haron Empire's greatest academy ultra seriously, what you did, leaving without informing anyone, was the height of disrespect.

And you were not gone for a few days or a few weeks, you were gone for a year."

A brief moment of silence and then Hal said,

"So what now?"

"So now there will be a hearing. The Elders will convene and you will be tried for your actions.

Already, your points tally have been reduced according to the number of days you were away. You would probably have been expelled if it had not been for your fiancee.

She made you a part of her Guild and has been giving you some of her points which made it possible for you to still be a student in the Academy" Tanya said.

Hal furrowed his brows,

"Wouldn't me getting sent out of the Academy have been better for everyone"

He appreciated Melinda having looked out for him but since he had always been vocal about not attending the Royal Academy, getting sent out would have been the perfect out he needed.

"She probably learned that things are not just as easy as you getting sent out of the Academy. The whole reason your points were reduced was that you were being punished. Just being kicked out will not be enough punishment in the eyes of the elders.

They will probably just use it as a criterion to make you a Pseudo-Student. Which, mind you, is what they are probably planning to do regardless" Tanya said.

"What does Pseudo-Student mean?" Hal asked.

"A pseudo-Student has to perform all his duties as a student and is not entitled to the privileges. Your every step will be watched. Whatever you do will be closely monitored and until you reach a level where you are prime for graduation (without help from the Academy) you will not truly be free.

All your accomplishments will be listed as accomplishments achieved as a student of the Academy and all your failures will be yours to bear alone.

This rule also supersedes that of whatever family you belong to and for the rest of your life, or more accurately, for the rest of the time you spend in the Academy until you reach the level where you can graduate, you will live on Academy grounds.

You will only be allowed brief moments of freedom.

A dual cultivator like yourself will not even be afforded the privilege to cultivate with a partner and will either have to switch to conventional cultivation that will most likely ruin your cultivation foundation or will simply remain in the same cultivation level until the end of his/her lifespan"

Tanya explained.

"What level does the person have to reach before they are free?" Hal asked.

There was a pause during which Tanya wondered if Hal was somehow considering becoming a Pseudo-Student,

"Early stage of the Cosmic Semi-saint realm," she said.

Hal was not considering becoming a Pseudo-Student because even if he did cultivate quite faster than the elders could expect and he could still have access to Dual cultivation through the Harem space, he did not need that level of scrutiny.

Even now, he was being watched enough, and to be trapped within Academy grounds like some... prisoner was not how he wanted to start his time as a Sovereign.

"Your statement during the Entrance exams really pissed people off."

"What statement was that?" Hal asked even though he could make a fairly accurate guess.

"You said you did not need the Royal Academy and the Elders took that personally. They want to use you to set an example.

The Pseudo-Student rule only existed a few months ago so it is practically a punishment they have tailor-made for you. A punishment that they have backed with Imperial might.

There will be a hearing but that hearing, in all honesty, will only be a formality, and the pronouncing of the sentence"

Hal frowned.

The entire situation was annoying.

He never really wanted to be a part of the Royal Academy and now, there was a chance that he would be trapped in the very grounds he never felt like being at in the first place.

What if he ran?

Leave the stupid academy and never return.

He had no use for it anyway and before attention becomes truly focused on him, he believed he could completely disappear or at the very least be hidden away from sight.

At least until the monument opened and he implemented his plan of getting out of the Haron continent and going to the Dystopian continent.

"Don't worry. I am going to try my best to help you. I can't have you becoming a Pseudo student when I specifically need you out in the world and helping with my projects." Tanya said.

"Ah, yes. YOUR projects" Hal said with a small chuckle,

"How have they been going for the last year, by the way?" he asked.

"Quite well but we will have to wait until after your hearing before I fill you in on the details," Tanya replied.

"When is the hearing?" Hal asked.

"All disciplinary elders were alerted the moment you arrived at the Academy and your hearing is being scheduled right now. They'll get to you with the date soon" Tanya said and with that, she disconnected.

As he sent the communication talisman into his Inventory, Hal thought to the guards asking for his name and decided that they were probably the ones who had alerted the Elders.

They had probably been ordered to report once they saw him.

"Fuck" Hal swore with a sigh.

So some old fools were butthurt by his statement during the Entrance Exams? Well, Hal had already decided he was not going to take back his words.

During that hearing, he was going to make it clear that he was not going to be oppressed by some idiots who did not yet know their place.

He might not use those exact words but even before he comprehended his Dao, he would not stand for it, and now that he had comprehended his Dao and was practically bound to act by it, he would not allow them to make him a prisoner.

"Let's go, Sassy," Hal said to his familiar who had listened to the conversation between her Master and the Princess quietly by the side.

Together, they used a Teleportation circle to travel into the Academy grounds and when they got off the arriving circle, they were close to the Headquarters of the Sapphirine guild...

... Close enough to notice the guild was being ambushed.