Chapter 163: Official Warning

"Hm? The Oracle made a verified Twitter account?" For the rest of the day, Zane relaxed in bed and browsed the web. Around 5 in the afternoon, one of the trending topics was the Oracle’s verified account. "Half a million followers in just 2 hours — truly absurd. But why does it feel like this person is seeking fame? Is he vain? Well, that wouldn’t be surprising."

Different things drive people, and maybe, for the Oracle, fame and fortune are his motivation. "But if that’s true, that may not be good news for everybody else given his abilities as a diviner." If the Oracle is really pursuing fame, he’ll release all kinds of information to sustain his status, and given how capable he is, that could spell disaster.

Zane sighed, thinking he should prepare for Anti-Divination as soon as possible. He then followed the Oracle on a secret account before moving on. Just then, he suddenly remembered something important: Professor Jacob Ziti. The MIT website listed all their teaching staff, and Zane found his information in just a few seconds.

"He left the school a year ago?" Zane frowned. This was alarming. Such behavior was out of character for Professor Ziti. It’s one thing to stop teaching, but leaving the school entirely was odd. As a tenured professor, his job was guaranteed as long as he didn’t do anything stupid. Zane switched the search to focus on news of Professor Ziti after he left, but no matter how hard he looked, he couldn’t find anything. This was also suspicious. With his skills, he should have found some traces, but there was nothing. Without hesitation, he posted a task on the dark web to find the latter, with a 10 grand bounty.

Around six, Zane returned to the plaza and headed straight to the tower-sanctioned bank to exchange his money for crystals. However, as he looked at the dozen crystals in front of him, he frowned. "What’s the meaning of this?" There should be 140 crystals in front of him. He had reserved 30K for his new apartment and spent another 10K on the dark web bounty, leaving 140,000 US dollars.

"Sir, you’ve already exchanged the monthly 100,000 Earth dollars. If you want more magic crystals, you must use gold."

"I did?" Only now did Zane realize he’d exchanged over 100K with the tower using dark-web money and the sum he’d borrowed from Alisha. "Don’t you offer any gold exchange services?"

"We do not."

"Is there anywhere in the plaza that offers such service?"

"There are."

Zane grunted, wondering why things had to be so complicated. Still, he left to search for an exchange store. As the clerk said, he found a few Earth shops that sold gold for US dollars at a 10% premium. With little choice, he exchanged them, then returned to the bank and traded them for 125 magic crystals. Next, he went to Lysana to buy the ten potions, and that’s when Zane realized he had lost more money. With the high gold exchange rate, he made less than 3 crystals of profit per bottle.

"Forget it. Consider it bad luck after a string of good opportunities," Zane thought as he returned to the academy. But as soon as he stepped into the school, he got an emergency email from Professor Burbank, asking him to see him immediately.

"Professor, what’s so urgent?"

The professor handed him a document. "You’ve received an official warning of misconduct."

Zane paused. "For what?"

"For harming a non-magical individual without proper cause. If it happens again, there will be severe consequences."

Zane silently read the content.

"Honestly, the director has been lenient with you. This is your second offense, and only now have you received a warning."

"Second offense?" Zane was about to protest when he remembered the two other Lion Pride members that he basically sent into a coma by using mental channeling to wipe their memories.

"Don’t feel resentful. This rule exists to protect all of you. Right now, you have no power to truly protect yourself against any modern army. So, if you start using your power to cause chaos, the consequences will be brutal if nations worldwide deem you a threat and begin to treat you as such."

"I understand."

"Good. Your focus now should be on the upcoming test. Today, or tomorrow at the latest, you’ll know the exact date. So, be prepared."

"I will."

After a brief chat, Zane returned to his dorm; everyone was already there except the knights, who came in less than five minutes later. "How did it go? Did you guys use the drone?"

"We did, but we had to pay for it," Ahmed replied.

"You did? Why?"

"Non-magical Items that weigh more than 300 grams or are too complex can easily be destroyed during the teleportation process. And if we want to bring them, we must pay to ensure the items are safely teleported."

"Can’t you just put it inside an inter-dimensional bag?" Tom Nguyen asked.

"That’s how we were going to teleport with it in the first place," Myk added.

"I’m not following."

"The hunting guild offers ’transportation services.’ They rent out inter-dimensional bags to hunters for a price so we can carry our spoils."

"That’s smart," Tom Nguyen said, nodding. "So, even inside the bag, teleporting technological products is an issue?"

"Apparently so."

Zane was in deep thought. "What constitutes complex?"

Ahmed shook his head."They didn’t specify. However, they did mention that things with advanced electrical circuits or complex chemical compounds can be affected during teleportation."

"Wait," Evelyn said. "Are they saying these things cannot be teleported or are harder to teleport than normal?"

"The latter."

"They’ve been teleporting our phones and computers, so it’s possible. It probably takes more energy, so they charge for it," Tom Nguyen added.

"Then, why not make us pay when coming and leaving the plaza or school?" Keesha asked.

"For all you know, this is just because they want to facilitate a peaceful transition period. Next month, or maybe after hunting season, they might ban these things or force us to pay a teleportation fee."

Everybody fell quiet because they knew Tom Nguyen might be right. Zane turned to Evelyn. "Hasn’t anyone tried to bring a large quantity of stuff in their bag? I was under the assumption that there was a bustling, international smuggling ring going on using the plaza and inter-dimensional bags?" He wasn’t lying; he thought many of these wealthy Earthlings used their bags’ carrying capacity for all kinds of business—both legit and shady.

Evelyn frowned. "As far as I’m aware, there is no such thing. But I’ll check."

Zane nodded. If anyone could find this information, it would be her. "So, how did it go? Was the drone effective?"

"No," Devonte replied. "It was destroyed as soon as it got close to the Shadow Leopard."

Myk shook his head. "This thing is useful for F-rank creatures, but the senses of E-rank beasts and above are too high."

"I see." Something similar happened to Zane during his second shift. The conversation continued as the knights shared their experiences until Tom Nguyen changed the topic.

"So, did you join BEAST?"

"Why are you putting my business out?"

"Hm? I’m just asking a simple question."

"You joined BEAST?" Devonte asked. "I thought we weren’t joining."

Keesha sighed. "They offered me a contract without military service, and I accepted."

"So, what happened exactly? Walk us through it," Zane said.

"There isn’t much to say. They flew me to their headquarters in Washington, D.C. I visited the facility, and then we signed the contract. Oh, thank you for your advice, by the way."

"Which one?"

"The one about signing a magical contract. As soon as my lawyer brought that up, they started acting dodgy. Luckily, we insisted on it, and they agreed."

"That’s good to hear."Zane nodded. "So, how does their system operate?"

"It’s like a guild. They have missions, and you get paid for doing tasks. You can also sell valuable information, exchange gold, and even post tasks yourself."

"Did you do any tasks?" Evans asked.

"I did. I spent half an hour casting different spells in front of a bunch of scientists, and they paid me 8 grand."

"What about you, Evans? Have they contacted your family?" Zane asked

"I haven’t heard a thing, so probably not."

"So, should I join or not?" Devonte continued.

Keesha looked at him. "It’s up to you."

Devonte looked at Zane. "Woody, what do you think?"

"If you ask me, it’s not worth it, especially since you can make your own money. But, as she said, it’s up to you."

"In that case, I won’t join."

Zane was about to say something when he suddenly received an email from Xi’Ke.