Dark Wizard: Rise! My undead army!

Lillian was waving excitedly at Lynn when she suddenly felt a chill run through her body.

There's a murderous aura about him!

Turning her head, she saw a "butcher" covered in festering sores staring at her menacingly, his eyes burning with rage that seemed to consume her.

"A ghost—!!"

Lillian screamed and immediately hid behind Eileen.

The fat man's festering flesh twitched a few times, and he could no longer suppress the rage in his heart.

"You vile woman! You're asking for it!!"

After saying that, the fat man picked up the plate in his hand and was about to smash Lillian's head.

It all happened so suddenly that the people nearby didn't have time to stop it.

Just as the plate in the fat man's hand was about to fall, a pale bone claw made of negative energy appeared out of thin air and grabbed the fat man's arm.

"Ugh—!"

The piercing screams instantly drowned out the noise in the cafeteria.

Then came a teeth-grinding "snap" sound.

The fat man's right arm was forcibly snapped off by the [Skeleton Hand]'s tight grip, twisted into an unnatural angle.

The shattered bone fragments tore through the flesh and blood, exposed to the air.

The plate in the fat man's hand fell to the ground with a clatter.

It all happened so fast that everyone was stunned.

Some young girls who were enjoying their food were horrified when they saw this bloody scene. They screamed in terror, and their stomachs churned violently.

Carl, Eileen, and the others stared wide-eyed at Lynn's calm expression and the bone claw of negative energy floating in front of him, radiating a chilling aura.

Another spell cast without incantation! Instant magic!

No, can't we learn witchcraft step by step and release it gradually?

Even if you're a super genius, you can't be so discouraging, can you?

This has completely shattered humanity...

"Outrageous! Who dares to engage in a private fight in a public area?!"

A cold and powerful spiritual force instantly enveloped the entire canteen area, causing all the apprentices to feel a tremor in their souls.

Two ghosts, cloaked in grey and wearing ebony masks, appeared silently at the scene.

Embroidered on their cloaks was an eye emblem bound by chains—the Soul Hunter!

They are an oversight organization under the deputy tower master, [Soul Reaper] Sersi, responsible for monitoring the academy and dealing with traitors and serious offenders.

The academy did not strictly regulate private fights, and encouraged apprentices to seek breakthroughs on the edge of life and death.

Fights between apprentices are tolerated, and the academy usually does not interfere as long as they do not cause large-scale destruction or "excessive waste".

However, private fights are strictly prohibited in some public areas where people gather or where important college assets are located.

Such as teaching buildings, libraries, laboratories, canteens, etc.

These areas are strictly monitored by hunters, who immediately arrest anyone caught fighting and hand them over to the college's "Department of Education" for processing.

One of the hunters' eyes swept across the scene, finally landing on Lynn and the fat man who was lying on the ground, clutching his severed arm and howling in pain.

He extended his almost transparent right hand, and an ancient, mirror-like magical artifact appeared, reflecting its image onto the two of them.

The mirror immediately displayed the two people's basic information:

Lynn, First-Class Apprentice (Certification Level: Excellent), Talent: Superior, Mentor: Gregor.

[Bark, Uncertified Apprentice, Talent: Inferior, Mentor: Lazars.]

The hunter's cold gaze lingered for a moment on the fat man's nameplate information, then glanced at the broken wine bottle and plate on the ground, and he made his decision.

The cause of the incident between a useless person with inferior talent and a top genius with superior talent is no longer important.

"Uncertified apprentice Buck attacked another person in a public area, violating the academy's rules."

The hunter's voice was devoid of emotion, like the scraping of metal, "First-class apprentice Lynn intervened in self-defense."

He paused, then pronounced, "Buck, guilty. Take him away!"

Another hunter stepped forward, ignoring the fat man's screams, and dragged him up from the ground like a dead dog.

An invisible force restrained Buck, suppressing even his cries of pain, and he was quickly taken away from the cafeteria.

The hunter who delivered the verdict glanced at Lynn one last time, his gaze lingering for a moment on the brand-new black ironwood nameplate at his waist.

After nodding slightly, it turned into a wisp of black smoke and disappeared.

The cafeteria was deathly silent, then erupted into an even bigger uproar.

"That guy's a first-class apprentice?! And it's only been a few days?!"

"Instant spell! I saw he didn't use a spell!"

"It's Lynn, that guy with the extraordinary soul talent! I knew that name sounded familiar!"

"No wonder he's so strong..."

Various looks of amazement, awe, and envy were focused on Lynn.

Only now did people truly equate this name with "top genius".

Lillian patted her nascent chest, still shaken, and looked at Lynn with gratitude and admiration:

"Brother Lynn, thank you! If it weren't for you..."

Eileen nodded slightly to Lynn, a hint of complexity appearing in her usually cool eyes.

Karl's eyes burned with fervor, as if he had seen a savior.

Seeing that the storm had subsided, Carl took a deep breath, walked to Lynn's side, and whispered:

"Lynn, thank you. These past two days have been very difficult without you."

"Those upperclassmen ganged up on us, robbing the new students of their resources, and monopolizing the tasks..."

"A few of us, along with some friends we met along the way, plan to form a 'Freshman Mutual Aid Association' to support each other and fight against the exploitation by upperclassmen."

Carl looked at Lynn eagerly:

"Lynn, you must join us! With your abilities, you'll definitely become a pillar of the mutual aid society if you join!"

"We can elect you as our leader and work together to fight for the resources we deserve!"

Lynn listened quietly, her face remaining expressionless.

He walked straight past Karl, his voice calm yet distant:

"Not interested."

Carl was taken aback and quickly stepped forward to stop Lynn:

"Lynn, I know you're strong and might think you don't need it, but even among the senior students there are second- or even third-class apprentices! No matter how strong one person is..."

"I told you, I'm not interested."

Lynn interrupted him, her gaze sweeping over Carl and the expectant freshmen behind him.

"Joining the organization means responsibility, involvement, and endless trouble. My time is precious, and I don't have time to play house with you."

His words were cold and direct, like a bucket of cold water poured over Karl and the others.

The phrase "playing house" in particular made several hot-blooded freshmen look indignant, but they dared not lash out.

Lynn naturally had his reasons.

This so-called "freshman mutual aid group" has a loose structure, with members of varying quality, inevitably leading to numerous internal conflicts.

More importantly, many of them were apprentices who had come on the same ship as him, and some had even contributed "favor fees".

Once you join, if someone else encounters trouble, should you help them or not?

Once you take care of someone, there will be endless requests; once you solve one problem, countless others will be waiting for you.

If we don't take care of them, internal conflicts will immediately arise.

More importantly, he didn't come to this academy to be a babysitter.

He'd have to be out of his mind to join something so thankless and exhausting.

I resolutely refused, completely cutting off their hopes, so they wouldn't come looking for me if they had any trouble later.

She walked past Carl again to the food window, and this time Carl didn't dare to stop her.

I showed my ID badge and received an "apprentice's daily meal".

Since it's already included in the 10 contribution points monthly allowance, it would be a waste not to eat it.

The first-class apprentices were fed much better food than the new students.

The black bread was replaced with white bread, the stewed beans were replaced with potato stew with meat, and a vegetable salad and cream soup were added.

After getting his food, Lynn didn't intend to eat in front of everyone. Ignoring the various complicated gazes behind him, he left the cafeteria directly.

Carl and the others watched Lynn's departing figure, and their hearts trembled.

They...in the end, drifted further and further apart...