Chapter 114: Catching the Attention of the Senior Students

"Several senior students." Evelyn answered. "One of them appears to come from a noble family. They wanted to know whether the rumors about you killing a Level 45 Magical Beast were actually true."

Victor couldn’t help laughing.

"What? Do they suspect I cheated?"

"Yes." Evelyn’s tone remained calm. "Some people believe you simply happened to take credit for the rescue team’s achievement."

The smile on Victor’s face grew even wider.

However, Victor did not really care.

"Let them talk."

He picked up his teacup and took a small sip.

"After all, real strength isn’t something you prove with your mouth."

Evelyn nodded. "That’s what I thought as well."

After speaking, she suddenly added another sentence.

"So I’ve already written down one of their names."

Victor nearly choked on his tea.

"Why did you write down his name?"

"For convenience when dealing with him later."

"..."

Looking at her matter of fact expression, Victor couldn’t help bursting into laughter.

"Alright, there’s no need to bother with them for now." He waved his hand. "The number of people at the academy who want to cause trouble for me will only increase in the future. I can’t personally deal with every single person who comes looking for trouble."

Evelyn thought for a moment before nodding seriously.

"Understood."

Victor had just breathed a sigh of relief when he heard her continue.

"Then I’ll try to handle them myself in the future."

"..."

Victor suddenly felt that he might have said something wrong.

However, just as he was about to speak, hurried footsteps suddenly came from outside the study.

Immediately afterward, a maid’s voice rang out.

"Young Master!"

"What is it?"

"There’s a young lady outside who wishes to see you."

"Who?"

"She said her name is Leah Vane."

Hearing this name, a smile appeared on Victor’s face.

"Let her in."

A moment later, the door opened once again.

A familiar figure appeared at the entrance.

The young girl wore a light blue dress, her long black hair falling smoothly over her shoulders, with a faint silver light flashing through it. There was a hint of hesitation on her delicate face.

However, compared to before, Leah seemed somewhat different today. Her beautiful eyes, in particular, faintly revealed a trace of nervousness.

"Young Master Victor..."

Upon seeing Victor sitting on the sofa, she finally breathed a sigh of relief.

"I heard you’ve already been discharged from the hospital."

"Mm." Victor smiled and nodded. "I’ve almost fully recovered."

Leah walked up to him and carefully examined his complexion.

"Are you really alright now?"

"Of course." Victor spread his hands. "Look, aren’t I sitting here perfectly fine?"

Hearing this, Leah finally relaxed a little. After a moment of hesitation, she suddenly took out a small box from her storage ring.

"Young Master, I prepared something for you."

She handed over the box, her cheeks turning slightly red.

Victor was somewhat surprised.

"For me?"

"Mm." Leah nodded gently. "Although it isn’t anything particularly valuable, I hope you’ll accept it."

Victor took the box and casually opened it.

Inside lay a silver white pendant. A pale blue gemstone was embedded in its center, while intricate star patterns were engraved across its surface, emitting a soft glow under the light.

"This is..."

"An Astral Guardian Pendant," Leah explained softly. "I spent the past two days following the methods recorded in the academy’s materials to infuse a portion of my astral mana into it."

"When the wearer is attacked, it can release a simple astral protective barrier once."

At this point, she lowered her head somewhat embarrassedly.

"However, because my current strength isn’t sufficient, its defensive effect isn’t particularly strong."

Victor looked at the pendant in his hand, a trace of surprise flashing through his eyes.

This item’s value might not be especially high.

But for Leah, personally creating an item capable of storing astral mana was definitely not an easy task, especially considering that she had only recently experienced severe mana exhaustion during the screening.

Thinking of this, the smile on Victor’s face softened slightly.

"I really like it."

Leah suddenly raised her head.

"Really?"

"Of course."

Victor took the pendant out of the box and hung it directly around his neck.

"Look, it suits me quite well, doesn’t it?"

Looking at the silver white pendant resting against his chest, Leah’s eyes immediately filled with delight.

"Mm!" She nodded vigorously. "It suits you perfectly!"

Standing nearby, Evelyn watched this scene with her usual calm expression. Only her gaze lingered on the pendant for a moment.

Then, she said indifferently.

"Young Master, it seems you no longer lack protective items."

Victor smiled. "Having one more certainly isn’t a bad thing."

"Indeed." Evelyn nodded. "After all, you do seem to get injured rather quickly."

Victor: "..."

Leah couldn’t help letting out a soft laugh.

However, just as Victor was about to say something else, Leah suddenly spoke again.

"Young Master, actually, there’s another reason I came here today."

"Oh?"

Victor looked at her.

"What is it?"

Leah took a deep breath.

"I want to ask you to help me undergo some special training."

Victor raised an eyebrow slightly.

"Special training?"

"Mm."

Leah nodded seriously.

"After this screening, I realized that although my Astral Chains are extremely powerful, when facing enemies capable of devouring astral mana, I have almost no way to deal with them."

"I don’t want the same thing to happen again."

She raised her head and looked at Victor with determination.

"So, before you enter the Inferno Prison Secret Realm, I want to improve my strength as much as possible."

Victor looked at the girl standing before him, and the corners of his mouth slowly curved into a smile.

It seemed this screening had indeed helped her mature considerably.

Moreover, an investment target possessing SSS rank potential, whose loyalty had already reached ninety two, was now voluntarily asking to become stronger.

For Victor, what better news could there possibly be?

"Alright." He agreed without hesitation. "Once my injuries have completely healed, I’ll personally arrange your training."

A delighted expression immediately appeared on Leah’s face.

"Really?"

"Of course." Victor smiled. "However, don’t complain about being tired when the time comes."

"I definitely won’t!" Leah declared seriously.

Looking at her determined expression, Victor had already begun making plans in his mind.

The stability of her astral mana.

Spirit control.

The combat applications of her chains.

And special resources capable of further developing her profession’s potential.

All of these things might be worth preparing in advance.

Especially when it came to resources...

Victor’s gaze involuntarily fell upon the academy’s resource exchange catalog lying on the table.

He suddenly realized that the 288,000 contribution points he still had left already seemed to have quite a few uses.

However, that was not necessarily a bad thing.

After all, the more resources he invested, as long as he chose his targets wisely, the more astonishing the final returns would become.

And now, he already had several worthwhile cultivation targets around him, including Mia, Leah, Evelyn, and Noah.

If he could help all of them achieve significant growth over the coming period...

A trace of anticipation flashed through Victor’s eyes.

It seemed that before entering the Inferno Prison Secret Realm, he still had quite a few things to take care of.

And perhaps all of this was merely the beginning of him truly establishing a faction of his own.