Hmm and Hee Hee Hee

Oh no!

Having left in such a rush, Thor had only grabbed his things haphazardly, leaving the side of the 3D coordinate diagram with the text exposed.

"Hmm~"

This time, the nasal sound took a turn, carrying a hint of pleading.

A level-two apprentice had seen something that interested him, yet he hadn't tried to snatch it by force, merely expressing his request.

He had expressed his request in a very... unique way.

Thor sighed inwardly and whispered to the senior, who looked harmless and possessed an incredibly low presence, "Senior, it's almost eight o'clock. How about we head back to the West Tower dormitory area before we talk?"

"Mm!"

A short, joyful sound rang out.

Thor walked quickly back toward the West Tower, with the level-two apprentice following closely behind him.

Silent and unobtrusive.

Like a spirit clinging to his back.

When Thor returned to the West Tower dormitory, most of the apprentices had already returned as well.

It was an unspoken rule; few would linger in the East Tower after eight, but they wouldn't return too early either.

At this moment, the West Tower dormitory area was at its liveliest, with even some veteran level-one apprentices living on the sixth floor coming out to catch a breath.

There was no other reason; the pressure was simply too great.

Living in such a small Wizard Tower, one had few opportunities to leave until reaching level two.

Whenever they finished a day of mind-numbing study, the moment they returned to the dormitory area was the time they were most exhausted yet most relaxed.

Thor had almost never seen the apprentices like this.

Because every time he returned to the dormitory, he would bury his head and go straight inside, never lingering outside.

But today seemed exceptionally lively.

"Thor!" Keli was leaning against the door of her dormitory, seemingly waiting for him.

Seeing him, she took two steps forward, looking somewhat displeased.

"Why didn't you go to the Mutual Aid Society gathering?"

Thor blinked.

"I forgot."

He really had forgotten.

At first, after discovering the 3D coordinate axes, he had been so focused on his research that he lost track of time, and later, he had been so weighed down by his workload that he barely made it back from the East Tower in time.

In such a state, how could he have had the heart to remember even a shred of the Mutual Aid Society?

"I only went because Duoze said you would be there." Keli pouted, her expressions much more animated than usual.

"I only said I would consider it..."

"I knew Duoze was unreliable." Keli feigned anger, but quickly recovered, even revealing a smile. "But that Mutual Aid Society is actually quite interesting. Everyone discussed things together, and it really helped me figure out problems I hadn't understood before, hehehe..."

Thor looked at Keli in horror.

Keli felt uneasy under Thor's gaze and hurriedly looked down to inspect herself. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

Thor rubbed his arm. Just now, when Keli laughed, he had suddenly felt a chill run down his spine, and the goosebumps still hadn't faded.

"Why are you laughing like that?" Thor asked bluntly.

"Laughing?" Keli subconsciously touched her cheek. "How did I laugh?"

"It's just..."

"Hehehe..."

Thor and Keli turned around at the same time to see a girl living diagonally across from them laughing while talking to Duoze not far away.

"...hehehe."

Duoze seemed to have heard something interesting and began to laugh as well.

Thor felt that the atmosphere of the entire dormitory area had become strange.

He looked further away. Had all the new apprentices in the hallway come out? Why were there so many people?

"Hehehe."

"Hehehe..."

Seemingly normal, yet eerie laughter rang out in the hallway from time to time.

Thor's gaze finally landed on Keli in front of him.

"Hehehe." She was still watching Duoze's direction, as if she had heard something interesting and was laughing along with it.

"Keli!" Thor slapped Keli on the forehead.

"Ah!" Keli was stunned by the slap, "What are you doing?"

Thor didn't know how to explain it, but he felt he couldn't let Keli keep laughing like that.

Thor pulled Keli along and ducked into his dormitory.

It was Keli's first time in Thor's dorm, and her eyes were immediately fixed on his desk.

As expected, a top student was still more interested in studying.

Thor had just closed the door when he remembered that the senior with the non-existent presence was still behind him.

He wanted to open the door to invite the senior in, but when he looked up, he found that the senior who only knew how to say "Mn" was already standing behind Keli.

Keli was currently examining Thor's desk with a curious expression, merely restraining herself from reaching out to rummage through it.

Yet, that senior had come up behind Keli and suddenly lowered his head; his mouth, like a retractable water pipe, stretched out over a dozen centimeters and pressed against the top of Keli's head.

Keli, however, acted as if she hadn't felt a thing, staring intently at Thor's desk.

"Senior, don't!"

Hearing Thor's exclamation, Keli hurriedly turned around, only then seeing that a man had been standing behind her at some point.

That man's worm-like mouth seemed to be pressed against her head.

Although Keli was usually a proud and calm little girl, seeing someone's mouth "kissing" her head made her entire body stiffen in terror.

When she tried to move, she discovered she couldn't move at all.

"Thor... Thor..." the twelve-year-old girl called out to Thor for help in a trembling voice.

Thor was just about to step forward when he saw the senior shake his head at him.

"Mn~"

He even emitted a multi-tonal sound of refusal.

"Gulp."

It seemed as if something had been sucked out of Keli's brain; a bulge in the pipe-like mouth clearly moved from Keli's head all the way into the senior's mouth.

Afterward, the senior retracted his bizarre, long mouth, wiped it with the back of his hand, and nodded at Thor.

"Mn!"

Thor's first reaction was that the senior was telling him it was fine now.

Ever since the senior retracted his mouth, Keli had remained frozen in place, her complexion turning darker and worse by the second.

"I was ambushed." She raised a hand to touch the top of her head, where there were two tiny wounds that only stung slightly when touched.

Keli came to her senses and bowed respectfully to the senior who had saved her.

"Thank you so much."

The senior, however, ignored Keli and gestured with his chin toward Thor.

"Mn, mn."

Thor respectfully handed the blueprints in his hand to the senior.

In any case, the senior had already seen the blueprints; even if Thor didn't give them to him, it wouldn't be difficult for the other party to snatch them.

Furthermore, he had helped Keli.

And Keli had helped Thor.

"Senior, are you going to help those people outside?" Thor asked tentatively.

The senior shook his head while looking at the blueprints Thor had given him, his expression indifferent.

Receiving a negative answer, Thor actually breathed a sigh of relief.

He wasn't particularly warm-hearted; in truth, he was afraid this senior might be a pushover.

Now it seemed that the other party saving Keli was more of a transaction of interests.

If Thor hadn't shown how much he valued Keli, the senior might not have acted at all.

This was fine; Thor liked exchanging interests and disliked owing favors.

"Senior, if you like, I can explain the principles of this thing to you."

Since the blueprints were already given away, Thor didn't mind explaining a bit more. He believed that a Level 2 apprentice would eventually figure out the basic principles of these blueprints.

Since the other party also liked exchanging interests, Thor didn't mind playing one of his few trump cards first.

This way, his trump card wouldn't lose its value so quickly.

The silent senior didn't refuse, so Thor pulled him and Keli over to the long table and briefly explained the concept and application of coordinate axes.

After the short explanation, the room fell silent for a moment.

The senior suddenly opened his mouth wide.

His mouth was like rubber, capable of stretching; even if he shoved his entire arm inside, there would still be room to spare.

Then, he really did reach in, rummaging around inside his mouth, and pulled out a small booklet.

There were a few messy scribbles on the booklet.

Byron's study notes.

"Senior, your name is Byron?"

Senior Byron nodded. He hesitated for a moment, then pulled a sharp dagger from his mouth and casually sliced a five-centimeter gash into his own neck.

Dark red blood gurgled out.

Neither Thor nor Keli had expected this.

What was going on?

Was he performing a suicide on the spot?

To their surprise, a set of yellowed teeth and a thick tongue struggled to emerge from beneath the wound.

"The parasites of the Mutual Aid Society won't take your life," a hoarse voice rasped, sounding as if it hadn't spoken in a very long time, "but they aren't good things either. Don't get close, and don't meddle in other people's business."

From the moment Byron began to speak, his wound started to heal. By the time he finished the last word, the wound had vanished, leaving behind only a trail of blood that stretched from his neck down to his chest.