Chapter 110: Unexpected Gifts

As he left the dean’s office, Zaid frowned.

’Does that guy know anything about the Loop?’ he wondered. That final piece of advice implied that Zaid doesn’t have much time, and the first two missions he gave me...

’Interesting... but dangerous. What does he know, how much does he know, and how does he know it? Is he a puppet of Zayn’s? Are the missions he gave me dangerous for me?’

"Zaid, are you okay?" Erick’s voice snapped him out of his endless stream of questions. Zaid paid close attention to him.

"The dean was concerned about what happened and offered to help us. I don’t think anything like that will happen again at the academy."

Even though Zaid didn’t say anything to him about it, he knows that his words of criticism will lead to stricter rules at the academy. Not because of his criticism, but out of pride.

Erick nodded, visibly relieved. "We should..."

"We should go to town to buy your books. Come on, take advantage of the fact that I have some spare cash," Zaid said to prevent him from asking unnecessary questions.

Erick’s eyes lit up, and he said, "Since you’re treating, then let’s go!"

They both went to town, and Zaid took the opportunity to buy some clothes as well. Erick was badly injured, so Zaid gave him a healing potion.

Afterward, they went to a bookstore where Erick simply ordered without hesitation. First, he ordered all the books from his previous collection, and Zaid added more, so Erick had no qualms about adding even more. He bought more than 120 books. Zaid couldn’t find a copy of *The Shadow God Dies*, but Erick lent him his.

They returned to the academy that afternoon to a new assigned room, this time much larger and more luxurious than the previous one. It was in the main buildings, too. Assigned by the dean himself.

John was also moved to the room next door... the dean kept his word. In less than an hour, John was rescued...

But that night, something happened.

Zaid received a strange notification.

[Kael Zachary’s hatred has reached a point of no return.]

[From now on, his Talents can be purchased for 50% of their original price.]

Luke Shawn, Jackson Clark, and others also received a similar announcement.

C-Rank Talents for 5,000 ME. D-Rank for just over 1,000, and B-Rank... for only 25,000!

’What the hell just happened? This is a godsend!’

The best part was that he didn’t have to do anything, and he didn’t even want to know what had happened. He wasn’t going to let that pile of gifts go to waste. But just as he was thinking about starting to buy them, one of his friends asked a question.

It was John. "What about Miss Alice?"

Zaid flinched, but managed to cover it up in an instant. "I think she went back to her hometown. Her father called her."

"Oh... Could something have happened?"

"Sure." Zaid tried to force a natural reaction.

He played it well, despite the waves that question had stirred up in his heart. He would love for the answer he gave to be true... Unfortunately...

He shook his head to clear his mind.

"Is something wrong?" John asked, puzzled.

"Oh, no. I was just thinking about a few things. By the way, what happened? I forgot to ask."

John nodded and thought for a moment before answering. "I think the Clarks and the Shawns are involved in some shady business."

"Shady? Drugs or something like that?"

"No, not that kind of shady stuff. I mean something like a dangerous organization or weird rituals. Do you remember the massacre that happened in the Forest of the Undead?"

"Sure. I was there."

"Yeah... You’re right. Well, there’s a rumor that the people who died there didn’t have brains. Someone managed to get hold of the bodies before they disappeared, and those bodies didn’t have brains, even though their skulls were intact."

"No brains? That can’t be—their skulls were intact. I saw a lot of them; even some of our group died."

"The source is credible, even though it hasn’t received much media attention."

Zaid nodded... He fell deep in thought. He remembered that when that moment happened, he’d had strange feelings upon seeing those corpses. As if they were... empty.

He remembers that feeling because it was so strange.

’I should have looked into it right then... How would they manage to remove someone’s brain without breaking their skull? Not even rituals seem to do that...’

And if his hunch is correct, Zachary, Shawn, and Clark are working for the same faction—which might be the church, since he heard them mention "The Crucible"—and now the fanaticism he witnessed that day makes more sense: perhaps The Crucible has something to do with the goddess or something like that.

"I’ll look into it," Zaid said.

"That would be a good idea. I couldn’t do it because they showed up."

Zaid nodded. "They don’t know that you know."

"Only you guys know that I know. I hope that doesn’t get me killed," John said.

Just saying that was already risky for him.

Zaid nodded. "I’ll make sure you get your revenge before you die, so don’t worry."

"I know you can do it," John assured him.

"By the way, why don’t you guys go get ready?"

Erick, who was reading a book, looked up and glanced at him at the same time as John. "What for?"

"We’re leaving tomorrow."

"Where to?"

"To the Dungeon of the Lost Fragments!"

Erick and John blinked several times. It took them a few seconds to react.

"Did they give you permission to go there?!"

"Central Mission, to be exact!" Zaid happily held up the document signed by the dean.

They both got excited immediately. "It’s real!"

However, when they tried to grab him, they came up empty-handed.

"First, go get ready. We’re leaving tomorrow, so we don’t have much time. I’m going into town for a bit—I have to buy something, too."

"See you tomorrow!" they both exclaimed at the same time and disappeared before Zaid could say goodbye.

’These kids...’ Zaid laughed and shook his head helplessly.

He couldn’t blame them either. Who wouldn’t want to enter the Dungeon of the Lost Fragments? It wasn’t only one of the largest in the kingdom; it was also filled with beasts of every rank—from Rank F to Rank A.

It was huge! And very profitable.

When he saw them disappear, he got up too.

Not to leave, though... but to check out his Talent Shop.

Several Soul Talents had been significantly marked down.

One Rank B... several Rank Cs.