Rise of the Crusader

A boy who appeared to be ten, with delicate eyebrows and skin, sat in a huge hall.

There were numerous people inside the hall, and sitting on the left side of the boy was a girl with emerald green eyes.

The girl sitting beside Devon was his elder sister Melanie, and on his right side was also his elder sister Madeline.

Melanie was wearing a form-fitting green dress with long sleeves and high-cut leg sleeves. As for Madeline, she was wearing a plain blue shirt and jeans.

Madeline is a fairly tall, beautiful, pale-skinned woman with wavy black hair that partly hid her left eye. While she was slender, she was voluptuous in build and as she stared at the stage in front of her, a stern look was on her face.

"I apologize for the delay, now we will begin to call out those who won this year's award."

A middle-aged man stood in front of the people in the hall with a paper in his hand. Staring at the paper and the people who were in front, a light smile hung on his face.

As the man tightened his grip on the microphone that was in his hand, he took a step forward.

"The award for the most supportive and enthusiastic meta goes to…" The man paused, he stared at the people who had a very curious expression on their faces and said.

"Madeline Reid."

As the man announced the name, a light shone on the area where Madeline was seating. The people who were in the hall shifted their gaze to Madeline quickly.

"Madeline, kindly come up, and get your award." The man's voice rang out.

Madeline, however, shook her head.

"There's still many more to come. I will get it all at once." She responded.

Whether it was the man on the stage or the people in the hall, they were all astounded when they heard Madeline's response. As they didn't dare to retort to her, they soon moved their gaze to the stage.

After flashing a rough smile, the man looked into the paper and called out the next award that was going to be given.

"The excellence in leadership award goes to…"

The man knitted his brows, seeing the name that was on the paper. He then raised his head, staring at Madeline, and as he saw that expression that suggests mockery, his eyes twitched.

"Madeline Reid."

There was an uproar from the people on the all when they heard Madeline's name again. But, to Madeline, this was simply just the beginning, and they were many more to come.

"The award for the most improved meta goes to... Madeline Reid."

After the first and second awards on the list were won by Madeline, the man on the stage stopped the whole suspense act. He went straight to the point as there were still about five more awards yet to be called out, all of which were won by Madeleine.

"Madeline."

"Madeline.

"Madeline."

Madeline's name was on repeat by the man, and after a few seconds, he took a deep breath. He gulped and then wiped the sweats that were on his forehead.

Meanwhile, the expression on Madeline's face didn't change in the slightest, in fact, she didn't seem to be at all moved by the number of times her name was called.

The man continued, "The last award we will be giving for the under twenty-one sections is the overall best meta."

The truth was while the other award were valuable in their own sense, it wasn't held in high regard as much as the overall best award.

"The overall best meta is…"

As the man moved his gaze from Madeline to the other people in the hall, he chuckled. The atmosphere was already intense as everyone had eyes fixed on the man, and after a few seconds, he spoke.

"Pa…" The man shook his head.

"The overall best meta is Madeline Reid." He announced.

Even though a lot were jealous of the feats Madeleine had just pulled, they had to admit that she was a woman capable of the extraordinary.

This time around, Madeline stood from her seat. Still, with a neutral look on her face, she approached the man on the stage.

Earlier when she said that there were many more to come, the people in the hall had assumed she was simply just being arrogant and a lot of them hadn't taken her seriously.

But, when her name was being called out repeatedly, they realized that she wasn't arrogant, instead, she was assured.

It took only a few seconds, and Madeline appeared on the stage. She took the awards that were on the stage and soon returned back to her seat.

"Now, let's move on to the under sixteen sections," The man said.

Then, the same award that was listed out for the twenty-one section was being called out again. And even though it wasn't Madeline's name that was being called out, it was still someone from the Reid family.

"Melanie Ried."

The man on the stage had requested for Melanie to come to get her award, and she gave the same response that her elder sister gave a moment ago.

"There's still many more to come. I will get it all at once." She responded.

A nod came from Madeline when she heard her younger sister.

And as the man continued, he discovered that Melanie wasn't joking and just like her sister, she was also remarkable.

Among the eight awards that were called out for the under sixteen sections, Melanie won seven from it. Despite her accomplishment, there was a displeased look on her face when the eight awards were handed over to someone else.

"The overall best meta for this section is Melanie Reid." The man announced.

It was only then that Melanie stood from her seat and walked toward the stage. She took the awards and headed back to her seat.

"Okay, okay, let's move to under ten sections."

As the man began to call out the award winners, the people in the hall were waiting for another spectacle from the Reid family. But instead, no miracle occurred.

Devon's name wasn't called out in any of the awards that were mentioned by the man. And hereafter words began to spread among the people in the hall.

"What a disappointment!"

Devon could see both ridicule and contempt from the people in the hall. And it wasn't like there were strangers, the people who were eying him were his relatives.

While Madeline was aware of the ill intent they were showing to her younger brother, she remained unfazed. She didn't even glance at him for a moment.

A few hours passed, and the award ceremony was over.

Madeline stood from her seat and was about to head out of the hall when she paused and turned towards Devon.

"What are you still waiting for," She spoke with a sneer on her face.

"It's already humiliating that you weren't able to win anything, and you still have the gut to seat around. What makes you feel so relaxed after, you have shamed the family."

Even though Madeline's voice wasn't loud, it wasn't soft as well. The people in the hall were able to hear her clearly, and as she went after her brother, an amused look appeared on her face.

As Melanie saw the gaze of the people in the room, she moved toward Madeline and held her head.

"Madeline, not now. You can yell at him later, everyone is watching." Melanie said.

And when Madeline heard Melanie, she paused, moving her gaze to Melania. "Who do you think you're?!"

Madeline's voice was cold and harsh at the same time.

Melanie raised an eyebrow, she wanted to speak, but before the words would leave her mouth, Madeline's voice rang out.

"Do you think you're better than him? The both of you are both a disappointment to the family." Melanie said, "The only difference is that one is a bigger disappointment than the other."

Melanie bit her lower lips and clenched her hand into a tight fist. She glared at her elder sister, almost as though she was going to launch at her any moment from now.

However, after a few seconds, Melania heaved a breath, she released her firm grip and turned toward Devon.

Madeline sneered, "Because of you too, the Reid family name is being tarnished, It's best you put in more effort and stop loafing around."

"Or better still, change your names. You don't belong to call yourself a member of the Reid family."

Regardless of the looks that were on Melanie and Devon's faces, Madeline held nothing back. And once she was done, she walked out of the hall.

Melanie stared at her sister with rage written all over her face as she left the hall. It was only after Madeline had moved out of the hall completely, that Melanie took a step from where she was.

The two sisters left the room and Devon moved as well.

"Madeline isn't wrong, Devon, you should go kill yourself. You're nothing but a disappointment to the Reid family."

"Ptueeh"

Every step which Devon took towards the door, he was either insulted or spat on. Both actions didn't stop until he left the hall completely.

In the psychic domain, the tube that was Devon was in suddenly opened, and Devon collapsed to the floor.

"I thought he was going to be the first person from the Reid family to pass the first test of the psychic domain… I guess I was wrong." Atticus lamented.