Enrolling at Notting College

The next day when he woke up, Lan Yu felt better than ever—full of energy, with a healthy glow, and he stretched his arms out wide.

"Aha... Ah, refreshing! Bifulong, come out."

Lan Yu summoned Bifulong out again, and Bifulong spoke with a huff: "What are you calling me for? I want to sleep."

"Sleep, sleep, time to get up and party! Today we're continuing to lay the Mycelium Network, spreading it toward the mountains on the west side of the village.

There aren't any Spirit Beasts in the mountains, but there are plenty of wild rabbits, pheasants, and the like.

The Xumi has Fungus Pigs that are a combination of mushrooms and boars, can you conjure those up?"

"Fungus Pigs? Those are the result of environmental evolution. I can grow mushrooms for the beasts to eat, and that lets me control those beasts."

"Didn't you need to eat roasted mushrooms to establish a mental connection with people? And you have to eat a lot of them, too."

"Who said that? Roasted mushrooms are just because high temperatures help spores spread so I can control brainless beasts; it's not that complicated.

Besides, what are you going to do controlling those beasts?"

"Duh! Make money, of course! Even though I have a work-study quota, I still have to earn my own living expenses."

"Make money? You humans really are troublesome!"

"You're right, it really is a hassle, but that's life. If you're born, you have to work. Let's go, time to get to work!"

Days passed, and with the Mycelium Network feeding energy back into him, Lan Yu was full of vigor every day. Hunting in the mountains and forests also earned him a bit of pocket money, just enough to cover his school life.

Three months later, tomorrow was the day to enroll at Notting College, and Lan Yu was roasting mushrooms.

"The temperature is way too low, there's no way to truly bring out the aroma of the mushrooms. Such a waste of heaven's gifts, an absolute waste!"

"I say, you're a mushroom discussing the best way to roast mushrooms—don't you find that completely out of character?"

"What's so strange about that? And I'll emphasize this again: I am a Demon God, a Demon God! Not a mushroom!"

"Fine, fine, my Sage Lord of Fungi, can this mushroom really permanently increase strength?"

"Of course. Back in my heyday, I could churn these out casually. Now there's only this single piece in three months, so you should be happy."

"Right, thanks a lot!"

Lan Yu unceremoniously ate the roasted mushroom, and he had to admit it was truly, exceptionally delicious. No wonder it had been eaten to the brink of extinction.

Furthermore, Lan Yu felt a warm current flowing through his body, and right after that, he drifted off to sleep.

The next day, Lan Yu set off from Mushroom Village and arrived in Notting City. It was not his first time here—he had come previously when selling his hunted game—so he quickly found Notting College.

By sheer coincidence, he happened to witness the scene from the original plot where Tang San and Old Jack were being given a hard time by the guards.

"Talk about a small world!"

"Let me see what interesting thing is going on."

Bifulong popped out, perching on Lan Yu's shoulder.

Right then, he saw the moment when Tang San grew murderous intent and prepared to fire his Silent Sleeve Arrow.

"This kid has a really heavy killing intent, you should stay away from him."

"Yeah, I really don't want to have much contact with him either."

Tang San was manageable, but the real issue was that Tang Hao was standing behind him, and Tang Hao was truly sickening.

Right on cue, Yu Xiaogang popped out, spouting that same old bullshitting rhetoric, and as ill luck would have it, he happened to notice Lan Yu.

"Are you here to enroll too? Show me your Spirit Hall certificate."

Yu Xiaogang said it as a matter of course, completely forgetting that he was not even a teacher at Notting College.

However, Lan Yu had no desire to butt heads with him. Yu Xiaogang might not have any real skill, but his status was right there, and provoking him during a developmental stage simply wasn't worth the loss.

Besides, Lan Yu only had rank two innate Spirit Power, so Yu Xiaogang definitely wouldn't think much of him anyway.

"Yes."

Lan Yu showed the Spirit Hall certificate to Yu Xiaogang for a brief moment. Just as anticipated, Yu Xiaogang glanced at it with disdain, handed it back to Lan Yu, and told him to go register himself.

Once he finished up all the registration formalities, Lan Yu headed over to Room Seven, only to see Xiao Wu beating up Wang Sheng.

Lan Yu felt somewhat puzzled: I remember Xiao Wu arriving after Tang San. Since Tang San isn't here, how did this rabbit get here first? Whatever, none of my business, I'll just watch the show.

Lan Yu found an empty bed, spread out his bedding, and finished organizing his things just as the fight between Wang Sheng and Xiao Wu came to an end.

Xiao Wu noticed Lan Yu and walked over: "Newcomer, the rules: let's fight to see who the boss is."

"No need, I'm a Food-System Soul Master, I'm not good at fighting."

"You're actually a Food-System Soul Master? What is your spirit?"

Wang Sheng asked, a look of anticipation on his face.

"My spirit is a mushroom. If you guys like, you can try one."

Lan Yu conjured up some green mushrooms and handed one to each of them.

Lan Yu had already instructed Bifulong to make the flavor of the green mushrooms bland, and eating them raw made them taste even less like anything.

After eating them, Wang Sheng and the others were somewhat disappointed, but Xiao Wu's eyes lit up instead.

"This is delicious!"

The others all looked at Xiao Wu in surprise.

"Big Sister Wu, do you really think it tastes good?"

"Yeah, don't you guys think it's bad?"

"Delicious! It's delicious!"

The corner of Lan Yu's twitched as he thought: Does this rabbit have a completely normal person's sense of taste or what?

Outwardly, however, Lan Yu smiled and said, "As long as you like it."

"Then can I find you whenever I want to eat one from now on?"

"Yeah, sure, just as long as you pay."

"Pay?"

"Of course, food made by a Food-System Soul Master is never free. Besides, I have to rely on selling mushrooms to save up for living expenses."

Everyone here was a work-study student, so that was understandable, but Xiao Wu wore a look of disappointment. There was no spare money in her little purse.

Just at that moment, Tang San arrived as well. Seeing Xiao Wu look so disappointed, who knew which of his wires got crossed.

"How can you all bully a girl?"

"What kind of nonsense are you spouting, newbie? This right here is our Room Seven's newly appointed boss, Big Sister Wu. Who dares bully her?"

Xiao Wu also looked at Tang San: "What is your spirit? Can you fight?"

"My spirit is Blue Silver Grass, innate full spirit power!"

Hearing that Tang San had innate full spirit power, everyone else was quite surprised.

"You're innate full spirit power too! Perfect, take this!"

Xiao Wu suddenly launched an attack at Tang San, while Lan Yu continued organizing his belongings, completely unwilling to get involved.

Bifulong, however, did not think that way: "Little rabbit, give that brat a severe beating."

"What kind of nerves are you acting up on?"

"That little rabbit just ate my mushroom, and I received a strong mental-link signal. That means she's exceptionally suited to be my believer."

"Spare me, she's walking trouble. We're running a growth build, we need to hunker down and not wave in the early stages."

"Why are you such a coward?"

"This isn't being a coward, this is wisdom. In short, don't do anything reckless."

"I won't do anything reckless, but if she eats a few more mushrooms, she might actually start hearing my voice. What are we going to do then?"

Lan Yu paused for a moment before replying: "Then I'll come up with some rhetoric when the time comes. Just make sure you don't run your mouth."