Chapter 302 - 288: Is This a New Student Welcoming Ceremony?

Chapter 302: Chapter 288: Is This a New Student Welcoming Ceremony?

Lloyd excitedly ran to Weiya’s office and said a quick hello. Then, he called out to the little kitten lazing on the desk.

"Xiaomi, let’s go. I’m taking you to see the world."

"Meow meow meow!"

The kitten happily pounced over. Lloyd scooped it up and tucked it into his pocket.

"Remember to change your clothes. You want to make a good impression on your new classmates," Weiya quickly reminded him.

"Don’t worry, I know."

As he spoke, Lloyd returned to his office. He opened his Storage Bag and picked out a light gray outfit from the new clothes Weiya had given him yesterday. He got ready casually, skipping the tie and watch chain to maintain a simple, relaxed look.

Then, he eagerly tapped the frequency he had just calculated onto his brooch, waiting for a spatial rift to open and a black wooden door to appear.

Of course, before opening the door, he first used his inspiration to check things out. There was no Spiritual Contamination, nor any loud commotion, which meant it was safe on the other side.

Lloyd pushed the door open and strolled inside. His vision blurred for a moment. When it cleared, he found himself in a wide plaza that looked like it could be in front of the university’s main gate.

"So this is..."

Lloyd was mid-sentence, not yet having gotten a clear look at his surroundings, when he suddenly felt a scorching heat and an intense cold closing in on him from both sides—

To his left, a fireball the size of a washbasin was hurtling toward him, pulsing with searing, cyan flames.

To his right, several slender Ice Spikes were flying at his face, glinting with a cold, sharp light.

With no time to think, Lloyd instinctively activated his Twisted Realm. Its passive defensive Twist effect took hold instantly, forcefully changing the trajectory of the fireball and Ice Spikes. They narrowly missed him, flying off to the side.

In that instant, Lloyd saw that a large crowd had formed a circle around the plaza. There were men and women, old and young, with different clothing and skin colors. Their faces showed either the excitement of watching a spectacle or the shocked expression of someone who had just seen a ghost.

The only thing they had in common was the same type of brooch pinned to their chests as his own.

’Looks like this really is Mizkakotok University, where I’ll be studying from now on.’

’But what’s with this head-on attack?’

’Is this some kind of welcoming ceremony for new students?’

Before Lloyd could think any further, he saw the fireball and Ice Spikes he had redirected slam right into the crowd of onlookers.

Two unlucky souls failed to dodge in time. One was hit in the face by the fireball, while the other was impaled through the chest by the Ice Spikes...

"Ugh... Ah..."

One of them was instantly scorched black and collapsed limply.

The other one gripped the Ice Spikes stuck in his chest and started screaming.

"AHHH!!! I’m hit! I’m injured! I’m bleeding everywhere!"

The onlookers around them also started shouting.

"Ooh? Excellent! An accident! Just as I expected! My Divination was accurate! HAHAHAHA!"

"Save them! Is anyone from the Medical System here? Oh wait, we’ll need someone from the Engineering System, too."

"Move, move, let me through! I finally have a test subject for the Life Revival Potion I just concocted yesterday..."

"I’m from the Engineering System, but I didn’t bring my tools. Can someone go get them for me?"

The crowd immediately descended into chaos, and no one seemed to notice Lloyd, who had appeared out of nowhere.

That is, until two men ran up to him, one on his left and one on his right.

On his left was a bald man with a mature, world-weary face, perhaps in his forties or fifties. He asked with concern, "Hey? Are you okay, classmate? Are you hurt?"

On his right was a stout, broad-shouldered bald man, probably in his thirties, who also asked, "Classmate, what system are you from? Why did you suddenly appear in the middle of a duel?"

Both men had brooches pinned to their chests and didn’t seem hostile.

"Huh? No... I..."

Lloyd felt his head spinning. He quickly raised his hands and made a calming-down gesture, signaling for these two "programmers" to give him a moment to think.

’First of all, the spatial coordinates I calculated were definitely correct, and this is indeed Mizkakotok University.’

’But for some reason, I didn’t appear at the main gate or the new student reception area where I should have. Instead, I ended up in some kind of ’dueling ground’?’

’So that fireball and those Ice Spikes weren’t aimed at me?’

’But my instinctive reaction caused disaster for the students watching on the sidelines. Did... did someone just die?’

’Oh no. Am I going to get expelled on my first day?’

’Why did this happen?’

’I went through so much hardship and danger to get the Spatial Domination skill. I worked so hard to calculate the spatial coordinates. When you put the two together, it should have been twice the joy, but... why did it turn out like this?’

A chill ran down Lloyd’s spine...

His mind went numb. He could only stare blankly at the student who had been impaled by the Ice Spikes. The student’s face was pale and pained. He was flailing his arms wildly, struggling, and refusing to drink the potion someone was trying to give him.

"No! I won’t drink it! I’d rather die here than drink your potion!"

"Less talk, more drinking!"

"Stay away from me!"

The poor student took off running. Despite having two glistening Ice Spikes sticking out of his chest, he ran faster than a dog. The well-meaning classmate trying to feed him the potion couldn’t catch up at all.

Lloyd watched, dumbfounded. He quickly pointed at the guy’s retreating back and asked, "Uh... Is he... okay?"

"Hm? Didn’t you notice his Arm Badge? It has five etchings, which means he’s at least a fifth-year student. A small injury like this is nothing to him."

The ’Old Baldy’ next to him explained.

"Then why was he screaming so miserably just now?" Lloyd pressed.

The other, younger, large bald man guessed, "Maybe he was trying to attract a pretty young schoolgirl to come help him?"

Lloyd: "..."

He then turned his head to look at the other guy who had been blasted into a piece of charcoal by the fireball.

Two helpful classmates were assisting him. Armed with tools like a power drill, a hammer, a welding torch, and a grinder, they went at his body with a series of CLANGS and BANGS. Then, they picked up a pair of electrodes, rubbed them together, and pressed them onto the victim.

With a flash of sparks, the ’charcoal’ man shot up from the ground. He scratched his head and asked dazedly, "What... just happened to me?"

"It’s nothing, bro. You just got short-circuited by the intense heat. I’ve already welded you back together."

"Is that so? Then why is everything dark?"

"Oh, hold on a sec..."

The two good Samaritans immediately picked up the grinder and began polishing his face. They quickly ground away the charred layer, revealing a normal human face underneath.

Other than being a bit discolored, he looked... normal?

"Ah, I’m fine now. Thank you for your help... I really shouldn’t have come to watch the fun today. I should have gone to tend to my flowers."

The ’charcoal’ man sat up, bowed slightly to the two helpers, and then turned to walk away.

As he walked, a few sparks shot out from his body, and some odds and ends like screws and nuts fell off him...

"Uh... so he’s fine too?" Lloyd asked in a low voice.

"He might need a new coat of paint," the ’Old Baldy’ said with a laugh. He then studied Lloyd carefully and noticed his right arm was bare.

"Huh? Where’s your Arm Badge?"

"Well... My name is Lloyd. I’m a new student who just received my Admission Notice two days ago, so I haven’t gotten an ’Arm Badge’ yet," Lloyd quickly explained.

He also took the opportunity to activate Enhanced Investigation and check the two bald men’s Attributes.

As expected, all four Attributes were ’??’, meaning they exceeded the detection limit of his 150 inspiration.

Their Extraordinary System was one Lloyd had seen once before: Ancient Mage, same as the clerk from the antique shop.

As for their Threat Level, it was a single ’?’, which probably meant they were unfamiliar and he should be wary?

’Looks like the saying "no uneducated people among my associates" is true. Everyone who gets into this university is extraordinary...’

Neither of the bald men seemed to notice Lloyd’s investigation. The older one subconsciously introduced himself.

"My name is Jeddo, and this is my younger brother, Jedon."

He then paused for a moment and asked, "Wait, you’re a new student?"

"How is that possible? It’s vacation right now. The new academic year hasn’t even started. How could a new student get in?" his brother added, his face full of disbelief.

"Huh? I..."

Lloyd suddenly realized something seemed very wrong...

Just then, the space in front of the three of them suddenly distorted, revealing a Space Teleportation Gate. An old man with white hair and a white beard stepped out.

He was wearing the most stereotypical ’Mage’s Robe’ and a large, pointed wizard’s hat. The wrinkles on his face were deep enough to trap a kitten, but he looked to be in high spirits, radiating a palpable ’aura of power’.

"Professor Lawrence! I can’t believe we have the honor of meeting you."

The two bald men quickly greeted him with the utmost respect.

The old man called Professor Lawrence gave a slight nod in response, then fixed his sharp, ancient eyes on Lloyd.

"I detected a new student entering the academy through unconventional means."

"Uh... Hello, sir. I’m actually..."

Lloyd tried to explain, but the professor across from him slowly waved his hand.

"Let’s talk somewhere else. You, come with me."

As he spoke, he turned around and drew the shape of a door in the air with his hand. A dark spatial rift and a Teleportation Gate materialized out of thin air.

’That method looks way more impressive than tapping on a brooch.’