Chapter 1352: 110. The Usual Routine

"I predict that within half an hour, new students will be attracted by the Enhancement School's brand-new image and come join our big happy family!"

Muen thumped his chest, overflowing with confidence.

Half an hour.

That was the result he had arrived at after meticulous calculation.

Although the Enhancement School's reputation had never been particularly good, and the words "the road ahead is cut off" were far too devastating, such an eye-catching display would surely still draw in some people whose talent might not be especially impressive and who would have no chance of receiving serious attention in the other schools.

And all they needed was to recruit students.

As for talent...

No matter how poor someone's magical talent was, in the Enhancement School as it currently stood, there was absolutely no way they could rank at the very bottom.

So it didn't matter at all.

"You're really that confident?" Ariel crossed her arms and glanced sideways at him meaningfully.

"Of course. I'm that confident. If no students come within half an hour, I'll just..."

Thirty minutes later.

The square was still just as lively.

People came to watch the spectacle, left, and were replaced by new arrivals. The audience had already cycled through several groups.

Yet up until now, every single person had merely remained a spectator.

Not one person had come forward even to ask a question.

"Could it be that I didn't explain things clearly enough?"

No, that couldn't be right.

He had practically written the words ENHANCEMENT SCHOOL RECRUITMENT across the sky.

As long as these people weren't blind, they should all be able to see it.

"So this must just be an accident."

Muen spoke with a perfectly serious expression to Ariel beside him.

"One hour! At most one hour! Everyone may still be doubting our battle record, so they're continuing to observe. Alice, go jostle Habakaya a little and make him scream louder. I believe that within just one hour, the Enhancement School will once again have a bright future!"

"..."

One hour later.

Habakaya's pig-slaughtering screams had gradually faded away.

But in front of Muen's "recruitment consultation desk," where the hot tea he had prepared...

No, the cold tea he had prepared by now...

There was still absolutely no one.

Everyone remained outside, watching.

At most, some of them hovered around the edge, but not a single person actually came in.

How strange.

Muen was utterly baffled.

Had he overestimated Habakaya?

But if that were the case, why were so many people gathered here to watch?

"An hour and a half! An hour and a half will definitely do it!"

Muen suddenly slammed the table and growled, "Believe in us, Alice! Our future students must be watching us from somewhere!"

An hour and a half later...

On the statue, Habakaya and his lackeys had already gone hoarse.

They couldn't even whimper anymore.

And yet in the end, there still wasn't a single person.

For some unknown reason, the surrounding crowd had even taken the initiative to back away a considerable distance, leaving a large open space in the middle of the square.

"Could the Enhancement School's reputation really be this terrible?"

Muen was practically despairing.

"This school merely has no road forward, right? It didn't do something so outrageous in the past that it angered both heaven and man, did it? Otherwise, why is recruiting even one student this difficult?"

They were only trying to recruit someone.

No matter how he looked at it, the difficulty level was absurdly overtuned.

"Pfft. Weren't you extremely confident just now?"

Ariel grinned from beside him.

"What was it you said you'd do if you couldn't recruit any students?"

"And you're still standing there gloating? I'm obviously doing all this for you!"

Muen ground his teeth and immediately raised his mithril staff.

Although they couldn't flirt in front of so many people, as a strict teacher, surely he was still allowed to discipline a mischievous student.

"Wait."

But before the staff could come down, Muen suddenly realized something.

"You know the reason?"

"Huh? Know what?"

"Don't pretend! I'm questioning you as your teacher right now!"

Muen tapped the staff against the ground and said viciously,

"If you don't behave, I'll punish you tonight by making you copy your homework over and over again. The kind where you won't have time to sleep all night!"

"..."

The moment she heard the words copy your homework, Ariel's cheeks immediately reddened slightly.

Clearly, this punishment was extremely terrifying.

"Actually, the reason we can't recruit any students right now is very simple."

Ariel lifted her chin slightly and pointed toward Habakaya, who was hanging from the statue with a completely lifeless expression.

"At the end of the day, a lot of people are still afraid of this guy."

"Still afraid of him?"

Muen clearly didn't believe it.

"In his current state, I'm afraid he couldn't even beat a stray cat on the side of the road."

"No, I was being too general. More precisely, what everyone is afraid of is the existence behind him."

Ariel asked, "Didn't you search him for information? What's his identity?"

"Let me think... I think he's one of the most outstanding students in a classroom founded by some Master Jerome under the Elemental School. A true direct successor. He also has a senior who, apparently, is even more famous than he is."

"Exactly."

"Hm? What's the problem with that?"

Muen thought for a moment, but didn't see anything particularly strange about such a background.

"You... Duke—cough. As a master, you started from a very high position from the very beginning. The people you've dealt with have usually stood even higher, so you've completely overlooked..."

Ariel sighed softly.

"Habakaya isn't just intimidating because of his fame. His status is frightening too. At least, that's true for ordinary students of the Origin Tower."

"Huh?"

Muen carefully followed Ariel's line of thought.

And then he realized...

She really did have a point.

The Elemental School was the largest school in the Origin Tower.

Master Jerome was no ordinary figure either. He was said to rank among the very top handful of masters in the entire Origin Tower.

And as one of the students he valued most highly, Habakaya's status was actually...

Extremely distinguished.

If translated into the terminology of certain cultivation novels from Muen's previous life, Habakaya would be something like the true disciple of some elder.

"In that case... ordinary outer disciples naturally wouldn't dare act recklessly, even if he's already been reduced to this state."

Muen finally understood.

He had spent so long playing in high-level matches that he'd almost forgotten the basic logic of low-level ones.

"So that means..."

"According to my experience..."

Ariel turned her head and looked toward the open area that the surrounding crowd seemed to have deliberately cleared.

The corner of her mouth suddenly curled upward.

"Next, things will most likely develop like this..."

...

...

Origin Tower, inside a certain secret chamber.

A stern-faced man was slowly pouring a single drop of solution into an exquisite vessel that looked as though it had been forged from crystal.

The solution entered the container.

It should have been an utterly ordinary event.

Yet at that instant, violent currents suddenly swept through the room, causing the entire secret chamber to rumble with a deep roar.

Boom!

A vast surge of magic erupted from the vessel.

It lost control and rampaged in every direction, smashing everything nearby into ruin.

It was powerful enough to make a Sublimation-Rank mage explode on the spot.

Yet the man merely opened his mouth and inhaled.

Every bit of that magic was actually sucked straight into him.

Gulp.

Accompanied by the distinct sound of swallowing, the entire secret chamber returned to silence once again.

The man exhaled deeply, calming the magic within his body while staring at the vessel.

He murmured with emotion,

"This method Teacher gave me for compressing magic really is extraordinary. When fighting another mage of the same rank, this is practically a trump card capable of tipping the balance of victory. It's just a pity that the requirements for learning it are far too harsh. In the entire classroom, I'm probably the only one who's managed to master it."

As he said this, a hint of pride appeared on the man's face.

To master techniques ordinary people could not master and understand knowledge ordinary people could not comprehend...

No wonder he was Master Jerome's most highly regarded student.

Sooner or later, one day in the future, he would inherit this classroom.

Outsiders always liked comparing him with that other idiot.

But who among them understood?

He and that idiot had never been on the same level to begin with.

"I should go out and take a look. I've heard quite a few things have happened in the Tower recently."

The man was just about to rise.

At that moment, a ray of light suddenly shot into the secret chamber.

The man reacted instantly and caught it in his palm.

"Hm?"

The light transformed into lines of text and flashed before his eyes.

As he read, the man's expression abruptly darkened.

"Something like this actually happened?"

"That Habakaya still believes in those vague, groundless rumors? Treasure hunting? How foolish!"

"Going there would have been bad enough, but he even let himself get captured by the other side. What a disgrace to our classroom!"

"Of course, the most important thing is..."

The man suddenly rose to his feet, shaking dust loose around him.

"The Enhancement School—a worthless school already on the verge of being removed—actually dares behave like this...It has chosen the path to its own destruction."