"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 discovered a festering Butcher glaring at her viciously, the fury in his eyes seeming ready to burn her to ashes.

"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 woman! 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 beside them had no time to stop him.

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

"Argh—!"

A shrill howl instantly drowned out the cafeteria's clamor.

Then came a teeth-grating crack.

The fat man's right arm was forcibly crushed by the tight grip of Bone Hand, twisting at an unnatural angle.

Fragments of shattered bone tore through the flesh and were exposed to the air.

The tray in the fat man's hand clattered to the floor.

Everything had happened too quickly. Everyone was stunned.

Some girls who had been enjoying their food saw the bloody scene and screamed in terror, their stomachs churning violently.

Carl, Eileen, and the others stared wide-eyed at the calm-faced Lynn and the negative-energy bone claw floating before him, emanating a chilling aura.

Another spell cast without an incantation! An instant cantrip!

Seriously, couldn't he just learn Wizardry step by step and cast it step by step?

Even if he was a Superior Soul Talent, wasn't this a bit too demoralizing?

This was utterly shattering their resolve...

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

An icy, powerful Mental Power instantly enveloped the entire cafeteria, making every apprentice's soul tremble.

Two Wraiths clad in gray cloaks and wearing ebony masks silently appeared at the scene.

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

They were an inspection organization under Vice Tower Master Soul Reaper Cersei, responsible for monitoring the Academy's interior and dealing with traitors and serious offenders.

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

Conflicts between apprentices were tolerated. As 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 where people gathered or where important Academy assets were kept.

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

These areas were closely monitored by the Soul Hunters. Once they discovered a private fight, they would immediately make arrests and hand the offenders over to the Academy's Disciplinary Office.

One of the Soul Hunters swept his gaze across the scene before finally settling on Lynn and the fat man collapsed on the floor, clutching his broken arm and howling.

He extended his nearly transparent right hand, and an ancient mirror-like Wizard Artifact appeared. He pointed it at the two of them.

The mirror immediately displayed their basic information:

[Lynn, First-Class Apprentice (Certification Rating: Excellent), Talent: Superior, Mentor: Gregor.]

[Buck, Uncertified Apprentice, Talent: Inferior, Mentor: Razas.]

The Soul Hunter's icy gaze paused briefly on the fat man's Nameplate information. He then looked at the shattered wine bottle and tray on the floor, reaching a decision.

How the matter had started no longer mattered when it was a useless man with inferior talent against a top genius with superior talent.

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

The Soul Hunter's voice was utterly emotionless, like metal scraping together. "First-Class Apprentice Lynn acted to stop him and was engaging in self-defense."

He paused before pronouncing judgment. "Buck, guilty. Take him away!"

The other Soul Hunter stepped forward, ignoring the fat man's miserable howls. He dragged him up from the ground like a dead dog.

An invisible force restrained Buck, suppressing even his screams as he was swiftly taken out of the cafeteria.

The Soul Hunter who had passed judgment gave Lynn one final look, his gaze pausing briefly on the brand-new Black Ironwood Nameplate at Lynn's waist.

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

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

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

"An instant cantrip! I saw that he didn't use an incantation!"

"That's Lynn, the one with Superior Soul Talent! I was wondering why 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 modest chest, still shaken as she looked at Lynn with gratitude and admiration.

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

Eileen also nodded slightly at Lynn. There was an added trace of complexity in her cool eyes.

Carl's eyes, meanwhile, burned as though he had spotted a savior.

Seeing that the disturbance had settled, Carl took a deep breath, walked over to Lynn, and spoke in a low voice.

"Lynn, thank you. Without you... these past two days... have been very difficult for us."

"Those senior students have banded together to bully us, seizing the newcomers' resources and monopolizing the missions..."

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

Carl looked eagerly at Lynn.

"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 to the end, his expression utterly unchanged.

He walked straight past Carl, his calm voice carrying a hint of distance.

"Not interested."

Carl froze, then hurriedly stepped forward to block Lynn.

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

"I said I'm not interested."

Lynn cut him off, his gaze sweeping over Carl and the newcomers behind him who were looking at him expectantly.

"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 poured over Carl and the others.

That phrase, "play house," especially made several hot-blooded newcomers look indignant, though none dared to speak out.

Lynn naturally had his own considerations.

This so-called New Student Mutual Aid Society had a loose structure and members of mixed quality. 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, if others ran into trouble, should he help them or not?

If he helped them, there would be endless requests. Solve one problem, and countless more would be 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 something so thankless.

He decisively refused, completely crushing their hopes so they would not come looking for him whenever they encountered trouble in the future.

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

He showed his identity Nameplate and received an Apprentice Daily Meal.

It was included in the ten Contribution Points of monthly living expenses anyway. Not eating it would be a waste.

A First-Class Apprentice's meals were far better than those of the newcomers.

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

After getting his food, 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...