Chapter 16: You're at the Academy, Why Not Learn Something?
There were exceptions among mages.
Not everyone on Liuli Star built spells through orthodox meditation, talent, or implanted circuits.
There were also MagicNet Mages.
They were the odd ones.
Their mana did not truly belong to them. It was borrowed.
Through prayer, ritual, religion, sacrifice, or stranger methods that bordered on madness, they formed contracts with magical entities from other dimensions. Most of those beings were impossible to describe properly. The records always sounded like the witness had tried very hard and failed halfway through. Too many eyes. Too many mouths. Or no face at all, only a presence.
MagicNet Mages could not learn spells in the normal sense. They only used what those entities granted them.
Most of their spells did not consume mana either. Instead, they had fixed daily usage counts, which meant the system was closer to cooldowns than normal casting.
Their path to growth was equally bizarre. Strengthen the bond with the original entity, or form new contracts and gain more spells, more charges, more borrowed miracles.
Fortunately, after what happened in class, no one asked Hodell any further questions about the details of his energy control.
That alone was a blessing.
The four of them ended up at a long table by the window in the dining hall. Afternoon sunlight poured through the tall glazed panes and broke into bright, shifting patches across the polished tabletop. The food laid out before them was excellent, and the warmth of the place helped wash away some of the tension left over from the workshop.
Truthfully, Hodell had not wanted to get too close to any of them.
The closer he got, the higher the chance of exposing something.
But after an incident like that, people naturally pulled together. If he deliberately stayed apart now, it would only look strange. Besides, this was Liuli Cloud Dream Academy. Group courses like today's would happen again and again. If he could make these people trust him, that would be useful later.
Carlo was the first to speak.
The moment he got his hands on an Energy Pudding, he leaned over the table and asked in a whisper that was not really quieter than normal, "All right, stop dodging. How did you pull that off at the end?"
The other three all looked over.
Hodell picked up his drink and gave them a mild smile.
"It was just a small energy deflection trick. Useful in a crisis, but very tiring. It's not some profound secret."
"No need to be modest," Eric said, setting down his knife and fork. "That level of precision and reaction speed cannot be reduced to a 'small trick.' I owe you one."
His tone was serious enough that there was no room to dismiss it as politeness.
In Eric's mind, the accident had happened because he himself had been too confident and too careless. If Hodell had been even a breath slower, he would have taken that blast head on.
Celia stirred the salad on her plate with the tip of her fork.
"I've replayed the energy fluctuations in my head a few times," she said. "The conflict happened too abruptly. And the trajectory of the discharge was strange. Ryan, you seem very experienced in handling mana conflicts."
"I had a few messy accidents during practice before," Hodell replied smoothly. "And my output was the weakest among the four of us, so my side was easier to cut free."
He then shifted the topic without leaving a gap for suspicion.
"Speaking of which, Lula, your control was very steady this morning. I could barely sense any drift in your flow."
Lula looked up, clearly not expecting to be called on. A small smile touched her lips.
"Thank you. I've just practiced a lot."
She did not elaborate, then added softly, "Ryan's reaction was the truly impressive part."
Hodell felt the corner of his eye twitch.
"Exactly, exactly," Carlo said while swallowing a bite of pudding. Then he nudged Hodell with his elbow and lowered his voice with exaggerated meaning. "But getting back to the main point… how did the course feel?"
He put special emphasis on course.
Hodell took a slow sip of water and chose not to acknowledge whatever Carlo thought was so funny.
A brief silence settled over the table.
Then Lula asked, almost abruptly, "Ryan… what are your plans for this afternoon?"
Carlo's eyes lit up at once.
Hodell's mind tightened.
This is bad. She's going to ask about academic discussion, isn't she?
He answered immediately.
"I'm going to the library."
Lula blinked, then smiled instead.
"Ryan really is hardworking."
Eric looked openly impressed.
That seemed to settle it. In his eyes, this was exactly how a proper top student should behave.
Then, before the topic could move somewhere dangerous again, Celia asked in her usual calm voice, "Speaking of which, what kind of partner would you all want in the future?"
The question landed like a stone dropped into still water.
Carlo almost choked on his juice.
His gaze shot back and forth between them with undisguised excitement.
Lula lowered her head at once. A faint flush appeared on her cheeks, and her fingers began lightly pinching the hem of her skirt.
"I suppose…" she said after a moment, "someone with a steady personality. Someone who makes people feel at ease. Someone where silence doesn't become awkward. And if… if we shared some interests, that would be even better."
Hodell, delighted that the conversation had completely derailed away from dangerous subjects, answered honestly.
"I've never really thought about it."
Celia nodded as though that response made perfect sense.
"It's better to start thinking early. From what I know, many families begin intervening in those arrangements after academy graduation."
That did sound plausible. The academy environment itself probably worked like a giant social sorting pool for this civilization.
If he had still been the old shut in from his previous life, organizing a stable four person household on Liuli Star might have been harder than becoming a Super.
After a short pause, Eric cleared his throat.
"Personal choice matters, of course. But at our stage, the priority should still be self improvement. Only by mastering enough knowledge and power do you gain real options later."
Carlo seized the chance at once.
"Eric's right, but Celia, what about you? What kind of partner would you want?"
Celia did not seem embarrassed in the slightest.
"From a biological perspective," she said, "I would prefer someone whose foundational resonance frequency is complementary to mine rather than conflicting."
Carlo blinked.
Celia continued, perfectly serious.
"In simpler terms, someone capable of maintaining high intensity mental synchronization with me. Someone whose existence can create a meaningful conscientious perturbation at the physiological level. Asymmetric complementarity of mind and body is more appealing than mere similarity."
Silence.
Real silence this time.
Carlo stared at her for two full seconds before giving two dry laughs.
"Ah. Right. Very clear standards. Very… precise."
Eric frowned slightly, as if he were genuinely trying to parse her answer academically before giving up halfway. Lula just looked lost.
Hodell had to suppress the urge to laugh.
"Ahem." He rescued the table before Carlo died of confusion. "Eric is right. Strength and knowledge should come first at this stage. I'm heading to the library. What about the rest of you?"
That broke the spell.
Carlo latched onto the change at once, as if someone had thrown him a rope.
"Ah, yes, the library."
Eric nodded too, then looked at Hodell with renewed seriousness.
"Ryan, your goal is the General Administration Comprehensive Examination in a few days, correct?"
Hodell did not deny it. There was no point.
"The General Administration's recommendation qualification is indeed one of my goals."
A look of admiration appeared in Eric's eyes.
"A worthy ambition."
After lunch, the five of them left together, then gradually split off in different directions. Eric walked with Hodell for a while, but their conversation stayed limited to what little they both knew about the General Administration's standards, plus some broad discussion of basic energy theory.
Eventually, Hodell reached the library alone.
…
Inside the library, the air was cool and still.
He stood between rows of shelves, picked out the books that looked relevant to the Superpower System, and opened the panel.
[Consume 1 Potential Point to learn Effect Branch knowledge: Energy Output Regulation?]
[Consume 1 Potential Point to learn Cycle Branch knowledge: Gene Composition?]
[Consume 1 Potential Point to learn Cycle Branch knowledge: Internal Energy Circulation Theory?]
[Consume 1 Potential Point to learn Function Branch knowledge: Basic Genetic Analysis?]
"Confirm."
A great cold flood of information poured into his mind at once.
Complex formulas.
Energy circulation models.
Gene structure logic.
Subtle principles that sat somewhere between biology and metaphysics.
The sensation was as though someone had carved libraries directly into the depths of his skull, yet thanks to his monstrous Intelligence, it did not feel unbearable. It was heavy, yes, but manageable.
By the time he finished pulling the useful fragments from the books around him, he had picked up four new sets of Basic Superpower knowledge.
When he finally stepped out of the library, it was already deep into the evening.
A cool breeze brushed his face.
Hodell looked up.
The sky above Liuli Star resembled the Milky Way only if the Milky Way had been painted by a dreamer. The stars were wrapped in soft halos of rainbow mist. A pale luminous band stretched across the heavens like a gauzy silver veil, and from time to time, sheets of aurora moved through it like slow breathing shadows.
The whole sky seemed alive.
He rubbed his aching temples and let out a long breath.
He had not expected to stay so long. Even though all he needed to do was identify books related to the Superpower System and look through them for a few seconds before the panel confirmed whether they contained learnable knowledge, he had still turned over more than a thousand volumes.
"It's a shame," he thought as he started walking back, "that I can only learn class knowledge from my own system like this. If I could process every kind of book at this speed, then honestly… the Magic System might suit me even better."
Under that strange and beautiful sky, he followed the path back toward the dormitory.
Halfway there, the quiet was broken.
A figure stepped out from behind an old tree at the edge of the road.
Dark gray uniform.
Forgettable face.
The same man.
Hodell's steps slowed, and his eyes turned cold at once. Before the other man could speak, he did.
"Because of the last incident, the academy security department is already looking at me. If I hadn't reacted fast enough, I would not be standing here talking to you."
The man did not even blink.
"The past has no value for discussion. The organization cares only about results. You completed the task."
Then he stepped closer, gaze fixed on Hodell.
"I'm here to remind you of one thing. Tomorrow's combat course will be the most important one so far."
He put extra weight on combat.
"Whatever happens, do not expose your real power system. Even if you perform badly, that is still better than raising suspicion. Do not let future plans be affected."
His tone grew even colder.
"If your own mistake leads to exposure, the organization will erase you before you lose your value or become a problem."
Hodell wanted one thing out of this conversation.
Information.
So he pressed.
"Why did Freeman die? What exactly is the organization trying to do? Don't tell me you're willing to throw away the whole New Human Project just to solve small problems."
The man's answer came without pause.
"Didn't Freeman die in a research accident?"
It was such a clean reversal that Hodell almost laughed.
The man continued before he could reply.
"Remember the warning. The organization will be watching your performance."
Then, as if the conversation had ended the instant he decided it had, the man slipped backward into the darkness between the trees and was gone.
Hodell looked down.
Something had been pressed into his hand during the exchange.
A Gene Specialization Potion.
The path fell quiet again.
Above him, the aurora stained sky seemed endless and beautiful. Yet beneath it, he felt as if he were standing beside a bottomless pool of cold black water.
…
"Lord Reed, the message has been delivered."
The same gray uniformed man now stood bowing before a floating crystal sphere. Reed's blurred figure hovered inside it.
"Did you give him the potion?"
"As instructed. It has been delivered."
"Good. Report again after tomorrow's combat course."
The man hesitated, then spoke anyway.
"My lord… Eli is at real risk of exposure."
Under Reed's oppressive gaze, he continued carefully.
"The academy security department is investigating the Starshimmer Flower incident more aggressively than expected. They have already performed multiple rounds of internal inquiry, and there are signs they have used mental magic or telepathic methods. There is no direct evidence pointing to him yet, but this level of attention is a danger in itself. If they turn mental magic on him…"
He left the rest unsaid.
Reed was quiet for a moment.
Then his voice came, flat and unreadable.
"The New Human experiment has already broken through. If there can be one success, there can be a second, and a third. Eli's body is special, yes, and the experiment still consumes rare materials at a ridiculous pace. But even if he is discovered, do we truly lose anything important?"
The man stayed silent.
Reed continued.
"Eli does not even know the School's name. There are risks, but the return still outweighs them. Do not underestimate him. Eli is cleverer than you are giving him credit for."
His tone cooled.
"Only under absolute pressure can we ensure he uses the drugs when he needs them. Remember this. An obedient chess piece is more valuable than whatever minor losses you are worried about."
The man lowered his head further.
"But if the pressure becomes too great and he loses control… or makes some extreme choice in order to save himself… should we prepare the Purification contingency?"
"Tomorrow's combat course is the final real hurdle before the General Administration Comprehensive Examination," Reed said. "How he handles tomorrow will tell us a great deal."
Then his voice took on a trace of contempt.
"As for the security department… let them investigate. That is not your concern. If he truly is exposed, carry out Purification. Cleanly. Quickly. Remove every trace of the organization."
…
In front of the mirror, Hodell uncorked the Gene Specialization Potion and used it without a change in expression.
He watched his reflection carefully.
His slightly protruding canines slowly receded. His features settled more cleanly into the appearance of an ordinary human youth.
"The Erhai School is trying to force me to use the addictive pills," he thought. "I overestimated my position. An A Level mission only proves the plan matters to them. It does not mean I do."
He set the empty vial aside.
"If I want my future performance in the General Administration Comprehensive Examination to feel natural, then I need to display a certain level of ability from the start. That means tomorrow's combat class matters. There will definitely be instructors watching closely. If I want to protect the secret, I will have to let myself be restrained to some extent."
Could he ask for leave?
Unrealistic.
Minor injuries and illness could be solved with a casual healing spell in this place. Unless he found a way to create something serious and believable, asking out would only invite more attention.
"What am I supposed to say? That I tripped and smashed my head open?"
He stared at the little bottle of faintly glowing pills on the table.
A slow thought formed.
"If I want to maintain the mask without exposing the real thing… then there is actually a pretty good solution."
He picked up the bottle and held it between two fingers, studying the ghostly blue light inside.
Then, abruptly, his mood shifted.
A grin tugged at his lips.
"My overclocked brain tells me it's time to use my overwhelmingly handsome genius talent to show the world just how absurd I can be."
He looked at the panel.
"With all my insight."
"With all the skills I've squeezed out of this life."
"With my heaven defying wisdom."
"With my invincible aptitude."
He took a breath.
Then, in his head, he shouted:
"Interface. Dump the points."
.....
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