"New Student" Mutual Aid Society

Lillian was excitedly waving at Lynn when she suddenly felt a chill run through her entire body.

Killing intent!

She turned her head and saw a "butcher" covered in festering flesh glaring viciously at her, the fury in his eyes seeming ready to burn her to ashes.

"G-Ghost—!!"

Lillian let out a scream and immediately hid behind Eileen.

The rotten flesh on the fat man's face twitched a few times. He could no longer suppress the rage in his heart.

"You filthy bitch! You're courting death!!"

With that, the fat man raised the tray in his hand, about to smash it down on Lillian's head.

Everything happened too suddenly. The people nearby had no time to stop him.

Just as the tray in the fat man's hand was about to come down, a pale skeletal claw formed from negative energy appeared out of thin air and seized his arm.

"Argh—!"

The piercing scream instantly drowned out the cafeteria's clamor.

Then came a teeth-grinding crack.

The fat man's right arm was forcibly crushed beneath the grip of [Bone Hand], twisted at an unnatural angle.

Shattered bone fragments tore through flesh and were exposed to the air.

The tray in the fat man's hand fell to the floor with a clang.

It had all happened too quickly. Everyone was stunned.

Some of the girls who had been enjoying their meals saw the bloody sight and screamed in fright, while the food in their stomachs churned violently.

Carl, Eileen, and the others stared wide-eyed at Lynn's calm expression and the negative-energy skeletal claw floating before him, radiating a chilling aura.

Another spell cast without an incantation! An instant cantrip!

Couldn't he just learn magic step by step and cast it step by step?

Even if he was an exceptional genius, wasn't this a little too demoralizing?

This was fucking enough to shatter their faith in the path entirely...

"Presumptuous! Who dares fight privately in a public area?!"

A cold, powerful mental force instantly enveloped the entire cafeteria, making every apprentice feel their souls tremble.

Two phantoms in gray cloaks and ebony masks silently appeared at the scene.

An emblem of an eye wrapped in chains was embroidered on their cloaks—the Soul Hunters!

They were an inspection organization under the vice tower master, Soul Reaper Cersei, responsible for monitoring the academy's interior and dealing with traitors and serious violators.

The academy was not particularly strict about private fights. It encouraged apprentices to seek breakthroughs at the edge of life and death.

Disputes between apprentices were tolerated. So long as they did not cause large-scale destruction or "excessive waste," the academy would generally not interfere.

However, private fighting was strictly forbidden in public areas with large gatherings of people or important academy assets.

Such as teaching buildings, the library, laboratories, the cafeteria, and so on.

These areas were closely monitored by the Soul Hunters. The moment a private fight was discovered, they would immediately intervene and make arrests, handing the offenders over to the academy's "Disciplinary Office."

One of the Soul Hunters swept his gaze across the scene before it finally settled on Lynn and the fat man sprawled on the ground, clutching his broken arm and howling.

He extended his nearly transparent right hand, and an ancient mirror-like magical artifact appeared. He held it toward the two of them.

The mirror immediately displayed their basic information:

[Lynn, First-Class Apprentice (certified rank: excellent), talent: exceptional, mentor: Gregor.]

[Buck, uncertified apprentice, talent: inferior, mentor: Razas.]

The Soul Hunter's cold gaze lingered briefly on the fat man's badge information. Then he looked at the shattered wine bottle and tray on the floor, and his judgment was made.

Between a worthless cripple with inferior talent and a top genius with exceptional talent, the cause of the incident no longer mattered.

"Uncertified apprentice Buck initiated an attack on another person in a public area, violating academy regulations."

The Soul Hunter's voice was devoid of emotion, like metal scraping against metal. "First-Class Apprentice Lynn acted to stop him. This counts as legitimate self-defense."

He paused, then pronounced his verdict. "Buck, guilty. Take him away!"

The other Soul Hunter stepped forward, ignoring the fat man's miserable cries as he dragged him up from the floor like a dead dog.

An invisible force restrained Buck. Even his cries were suppressed as he was swiftly taken out of the cafeteria.

The Soul Hunter who had delivered the verdict gave Lynn one last look, his gaze lingering briefly on the brand-new black ironwood badge at Lynn's waist.

After giving a slight nod, he too vanished into a cloud of black smoke.

The cafeteria fell deathly silent before erupting into an even louder uproar.

"That guy is a First-Class Apprentice?! It's only been a few days?!"

"An instant cantrip! I saw him cast it without an incantation!"

"It's Lynn, the one with exceptional soul talent! No wonder his name sounded familiar!"

"No wonder he's so strong..."

All kinds of astonished, reverent, and jealous gazes focused on Lynn.

Only now did everyone truly equate that name with a "top genius."

Lillian patted her developing chest, still shaken, her gaze toward Lynn filled with gratitude and admiration.

"Big Brother Lynn, thank you! If it weren't for you..."

Eileen also gave Lynn a slight nod of acknowledgment, and a trace of complexity appeared in her cool eyes.

Carl's eyes, meanwhile, burned as though she had seen a savior.

Seeing that the disturbance had settled, Carl took a deep breath, walked to Lynn's side, and said in a low voice,

"Lynn, thank you. Without you... these past two days... we've had a very hard time."

"Those senior students have banded together to bully us, taking the new students' resources and monopolizing the missions as well..."

"A few of us, along with some friends we met along the way, are planning to form a 'New Student Mutual Aid Society' to support one another and resist the senior students' exploitation together."

Carl looked at Lynn eagerly.

"Lynn, you have to join us. With your strength, if you join us, you'll definitely become the pillar of the Mutual Aid Society!"

"We can nominate you as our leader and fight together for the resources we deserve!"

Lynn listened quietly from beginning to end, without the slightest ripple on his face.

He walked straight past Carl, his voice calm but distant.

"Not interested."

Carl froze, then hurriedly stepped forward to stop Lynn.

"Lynn, I know you're strong and might think you don't need us, but there are Second-Class and even Third-Class Apprentices among the senior students! No matter how strong one person is..."

"I said I'm not interested."

Lynn cut her off, his gaze sweeping over Carl and the new students behind her, whose eyes were full of expectation.

"Joining an organization means responsibility, entanglements, and endless trouble. My time is valuable. I don't have time to play house with you."

His words were cold and direct, like a bucket of cold water dumped over Carl and the others.

The words "play house" in particular made several hot-blooded new students look indignant, but none dared to lash out.

Naturally, Lynn had his own considerations.

This so-called New Student Mutual Aid Society had a loose structure, its members a mixed lot. Internal conflicts were inevitable.

More importantly, quite a few of them had arrived on the same ship as him, and had even paid him "protection fees."

Once he joined, when others ran into trouble, should he help them or not?

If he helped them, there would be endless requests. Solving one problem would only lead to countless more waiting for him.

If he did not help, it would immediately become an internal conflict.

More importantly, he had not come to this academy to be a babysitter.

Only someone whose brain had short-circuited would join such a thankless task.

He had to refuse decisively and completely crush their hopes, so they would not come looking for him whenever trouble arose in the future.

He walked past Carl again and headed for the serving window. This time, Carl did not dare stop him.

He showed his identity badge and collected a serving of "Apprentice Daily Meal."

It was included in the monthly living allowance of ten contribution points anyway. Not eating it would be a waste.

A First-Class Apprentice's meals were much better than those of new students.

The black bread had been replaced by white bread, the stewed beans by meat-and-potato stew, with a vegetable salad and creamy soup on the side.

After collecting his meal, Lynn had no intention of eating under everyone's watchful eyes. Ignoring the complicated gazes behind him, he left the cafeteria directly.

Carl and the others watched Lynn's departing back, their hearts suddenly trembling.

They... had ultimately drifted farther and farther apart...