For a few moments after Liam sat back down, the atmosphere in Beacon Hall remained strange.
The applause that had eventually been dragged out of the student body for the newly announced rank one still lingered faintly in the air, but the sincerity behind it had been thin at best. Many students were still processing what they had just heard. Others were trying not to look too openly disturbed by it. Some, especially those who had been willing to face reality long before the announcement, had already accepted it for what it was.
Liam Hunter was ranked first.
There was nothing anyone could do about that now.
Mystica, of course, allowed the hall just enough time to sit in that truth before moving on. She stood at the pulpit with the same composed elegance as before, looking entirely untroubled by the ripple of unrest still faintly moving through parts of the crowd.
Then, with a small motion of her fingers, she released another wave of myst into the air.
