Lord of Annihilation

The middle-aged man who walked up to the stage wearing the teacher's garbs was precisely Reyna's Father.

His name was Erik Snowden.

If someone was asked who was the most influential man in the entire Earth Alliance, the answer would unanimously be this man. Although the position of Alliance Head existed, which was the highest seat in the Alliance, his influence still could not be compared to this man.

The Snowden Corporation was founded in the year 2055. Since its inception, its rise to the peak had been nigh unstoppable. 90% of mankind's advancement could be credited to this entity. From colonizing Mars, Earth's closest planet to today's interstellar warping and teleportation all were accredited to them.

Their position was unshakable and their importance to mankind was simply too great.

The position of 'Head' of the Corporation had always been passed down, within its own family's successors. Each successor was a heavenly-genius with a 'world-shaking' contribution or invention under its belt. Erik, this generation's successor, and Reyna being the next were no exceptions. In fact, Reyna's contribution had already surpassed a vast majority of their previous successors, while she was not even above 20 years of age!

Watching such a great figure, a living legend, in fact, walk upon the stage all the audience quietened down. This was a show of respect.

"What's Father doing here?" Reyna questioned, unsure herself.

Lucius and Olivia did not reply for various reasons. Olivia because she too did not know and Lucius because he found it bothersome to explain.

"Good morning everyone. Quite the fine weather we are having today isn't it." the voice of a middle-aged male sounded out. His tone was friendly and quite jovial.

The students upon seeing his demeanor at first had unconsciously stiffened up and were seriously listening. Hearing the great man open his announcement with such friendly words, everyone more or less relaxed.

Noticing the atmosphere easing up, Erik put on a gentle smile.

"That's much better. Having everyone intently looking at me like that gives me quite the pressure. I mean look at my hands." saying so he rolled up his sleeves to expose his hands. Goosebumps being present.

All present let out a peal of laughter at this.

"Anyway, I'm going to skip all the pleasantries and tiring introductory lines, since none of you want to listen to it and I also don't want to bother myself with it. Getting right to the point.", he paused at this point, and intently looked at the seated students. Seeing that all of them were following his words, he continued.

"The Academy will be sending all students of Year 1 and Year 2 to other colonies or planets colonized by the Earth Alliance. During this period, all students will be delegated work pertaining to their studies and area of expertise. This period of training will last anywhere from 3-8 months."

Giving some time for the students to digest this information, Holding up a wristband like an object in his hands, Erik then continued.

"Your work and contribution will be recorded with this wristband and would be sent real-time to the academy's AI system to be processed and managed. And before you guys start considering, no you can not cheat. I personally designed this." his last words were said with confidence.

Indeed, everyone here nodded their head. While they had been considering how to exploit this system, upon hearing Erik's personal guarantee, they immediately abandoned their plans.

Who was this man? He was the number one, thinker and possibly the best scientist in the Alliance, currently known. If he was speaking with such confidence, it meant he had already had all possible loopholes covered.

Seeing their expressions, Erik chuckled and gave a challenge, "Of course, if you can find a way to cheat the system, I shall listen and fulfill anyone request, you may have."

Hearing this, the eyes of all the students immediately shined. A bright light could almost be seen spilling out the eyes of all the young men seated here. Most of them immediately turned their heads in the direction where Lucius and the other two girls were sitting.

'Any request? Doesn't that mean we can possibly ask for Reyna's hand in matrimony?'. This was a bold thought, yet was the most common among all the young men.

Erik seeing this understood what they were thinking. yet simply smiled without offering any further explanations.

Olivia seated next to Reyna, frowned at this. She then cautiously asked, "Is it alright for your father to make such a promise?" she then proceeded to gesture at the young men looking in their direction.

Noticing her friend's concern for her Reyna felt touched, she then chuckled before explaining, "Father never makes any empty promises. If he said such words it means he's naturally confident of being guarded against such attempts. You can rest assured."

Olivia nodded her head in understanding and even Lucius made a mental nod. He then continued to look towards the stage.

'Everything is going according to the script. No major deviations have occurred.', he mentally noted and let out a sigh of relief.

"Getting back to the main topic. As this will be a training exercise, you may also not involve your families to make your life easier. Any such attempts found, will entail serious consequences. This will also be guaranteed by me." he resumed.

"As to which planets or colonies you will be sent to, it will be chosen at random by the academy's AI and will only be informed once you get there to the said planet. So you can forget about transporting items or making prior connections at the bases. But you don't have to worry too much. All basic necessities will be provided and some of your classmates may also be coming to the same planet."

"Your mission is to use your knowledge and skills to improve the rankings of the colonies. This will require cooperation between yourselves and the inhabitants of the base, with credits being shared depending on the final ranking."

All human colonies were ranked. This was done to encourage competition between the various other colonies and to spur development. The ranking was calculated with many factors such as rate of resource production, improvement of the base in various areas, drawing more people to inhabit the bases, improving the reach of the base on the planet, etc. The ranking is usually compiled once every 10 years.

This ranking is very important for the various families and corporations who had invested and are in charge of the colonies. It directly affects their influence and their seats in the World Council. The more influence they have, the greater the right to speak in the World Council.

The students upon hearing his words, mentally calculated, and realized this was the final year before the rankings were calculated. All of them immediately became serious as this directly involved the interests of their respective families. They started looking at the other students with wary gazes and hostility.

Seeing this reaction, Erik calmly moved to explained, "In order to avoid the conflict of interests between your various families. All students will only be sent to an Alliance-controlled colony. Of course, to encourage you,r fellow students, your final rankings will determine the amount of influence given to your families. All families of the students involved will get an equal share, so you don't have to be so guarded against each other."

"Therefore work hard! You, youngsters, are the future of the Alliance. Thank you for listening." saying so Erik started to walk off the stage. Just as he was about to step down, he suddenly stopped and hurriedly turned back.

"Oops almost forgot, start packing your bags as all of you will be leaving in 2 weeks. Since the colonies chosen are near the frontier, it will take at least a month and a half to reach there. You are dismissed." he then finally stepped off the stage.

The students sat there in incomprehension for a few seconds, before hurriedly exiting. They had to collect information, inform their families, brush up on their studies. There was a ton of preparation to do and only 2 weeks. It was a battle to reach the exit. Students were pushing and tripping over each other.

Thankfully the teachers expected this reaction and moved to quell the crowds. Finally, all students exited the Main Hall without any major incidents occurring. Well, all students save for 3.

Lucius and Olivia who were also getting up to leave were hurriedly stopped by Reyna. When they asked her why she just smiled and said-'wait'.

Once all the students were gone, Reyna stood up and led the two of them towards the small room, which was situated near the stage.

As the three of them entered the room, they saw a middle-aged man calmly sitting in one of the chairs available. Seeing the 3 of them enter, he looked up and smiled, his gaze looking at each of them. He then finally stopped his gaze on Reyna and spoke with a bright smile.

"Silly girl, you made new friends and have forgotten all about your father." he gently chided, shrugging his hands in 'exaggeration'.

Reyna rolled her eyes at her father's antics and moved to introduce Lucius and Olivia to her father. They replied in turn with polite greetings.

Rubbing his beard with his hands, Erik sized up the two young adults. His face then turned gentle and spoke with a polite smile, "I'm glad that both of you have taken time to make friends with my daughter. If she has done anything unsightly to accidentally upset you, I apologize in her steed." He then bowed down towards both of them.

Olivia and Lucius immediately moved to stop him from apologizing and hurriedly reassured him.

The 3 of them sat together with Erik as they discussed. Erik learned more about Olivia and Lucius' pasts, and they in turn learned about Reyna's embarrassing childhood moments.

At the end of the conversation, Erik, Lucius, and Olivia had a smile on their face, whereas Reyna was red-faced and fuming. Hearing her father unhesitantly sell out her secrets, she refused to talk to him anymore and threw a tantrum. She was similarly angry at her friends for laughing at her expense.

"I don't want to occupy any more of your precious time. Please do take care of Reyna and visit this uncle once in a while." Erik requested.

"No worries uncle, your daughter is in good company," Olivia stated.

Just as the three of them were about to turn around and leave, Erik's voice was once again heard.

"Lucius, if I could have a chat with you for a moment."

Lucius who had been acting this entire time had finally released a sigh of relief, immediately went on alert when he heard this.

'What does this old man want from me? I haven't had anything to do with him, until today. He shouldn't have been able to see through my guise. Did he notice something?' Lucius raced his mind to come to an analysis and even the reddish-black soul in his mindspace was stirring.

Outwardly he showed no change in his demeanor as he turned around and replied.

"Of course, Uncle." his handsome face carrying a warm smile.