There were indeed pleasant surprises, but quite a few unexpected developments as well.
After gaining Kester's full support, Saine took advantage of the approaching start of the second half of the year to deliver a speech at Dark Flame Holy Tower Academy's opening ceremony.
He then unveiled a new set of academy rules that he had pondered over for quite some time.
When Saine had first drafted these new academy rules, he had not discussed them much with Kester and the other deans.
That was mainly because many of the provisions were simply too unexpected and startling.
Kester and the other deans were Wizard World magicians trained through the conventional Holy Tower system. In certain ways of thinking, they truly could not keep up with Saine's pace.
For example, Saine's new academy rules placed particular emphasis on an "Apprentice Elimination Mechanism"—or, more accurately, a "Last Place Elimination Mechanism."
The City of Mozhsuobula Black Magic Academy's approach back then had been to directly throw unqualified, inferior apprentices onto the Laboratory Table, wringing the last bit of value from their bodies for the academy.
Dark Flame Holy Tower Academy naturally could not be so barbaric. Even as dean, Saine could not treat human lives like grass.
Since he could not use death and mortal danger to instill urgency in these apprentices, Saine had to find another way.
Thus, the Last Place Elimination Mechanism came into being.
Under the new rules Saine proposed for the academy's coming year, all Dark Flame Holy Tower Academy students who had been enrolled for more than ten years would, starting from their eleventh year, be directly expelled if their year-end overall scores ranked among the bottom hundred.
Those whose scores ranked from the 100th to the 300th from the bottom would face penalties of varying severity or