Chapter 105: Lance is Really Not Joking

Expansive glass windows surrounding the tiered lecture hall offered a panoramic view of the campus. Special screens on the glass filtered out the harsh glare, allowing diffused sunlight to spill softly into the room to foster a warm, harmonious atmosphere for academic discussion.

Theresa leaned casually against the lectern, much like someone chatting during a break, and sighed.

"The academic delegation from the Kingdom of Yaloran arriving in two months actually includes students who hope to observe Dean Lawrence's Wind Primal Tablet. However, the commander of the Yaloran Kingdom's forces, the Undying Sword Saint, is a rather difficult person to deal with, and she holds the Regeneration Primal Tablet. Consequently, our students usually make the trip in vain, and relations between the two kingdoms have gradually become strained."

She paused and then continued, "The prominent experts who currently possess Primal Tablets are, at the very least, Rank 8 powerhouses, and they are almost invariably the strongest individuals specializing in that specific attribute. So, if you ever encounter a holder of a Primal Tablet, make sure not to offend or provoke them! Not every supreme powerhouse is as gentle and kind as Dean Lawrence."

At the lectern, Theresa cycled through the images on the projection. She smiled as she looked out at the students, who were engaged in a lively and animated discussion.

The Primal Tablets represented the pinnacle of enchanted cards, and they were arguably essential for becoming one of the world's supreme powerhouses. By the same token, they were also a deadly poison that easily attracted a fatal end.

Without immense power to safeguard a Primal Tablet, the holder was likely to be killed and have it forcibly seized! Of note, using a Primal Tablet left distinct traces of its unique magical signature. Therefore, unless the holder completely refrained from using any skills or items associated with their tablet's element, their possession of it would inevitably be exposed to the public.

Lance had intended to ask Hyperion what was wrong, but upon hearing the instructor resume the lesson, he turned his attention to the front, listening intently and nodding along. In his view, the Primal Tablets were indeed supreme artifacts worthy only of the strong, and therein lay their true value.

Theresa continued, "In the world today, the majority of the thirty-two Primal Tablets are held by humans, while the rest are scattered among other races, such as the demons, the vampires, and the elves..."

Under normal circumstances, the fact that humans held the majority of these artifacts would have been a source of pride for them, yet the teacher's tone and expression was off. She appeared to be trying her best to stay clear of the topic regarding the number of Primal Tablets.

Many students in the classroom remained silent. They knew the reason why. Of the twenty Primal Tablets held by humanity, a full ten were in the hands of the Church of Resurrection. They belonged to the ten cardinals, the most powerful members of that unholy cult.

This was not merely a humiliation for humanity; it was a nightmarish calamity that struck fear into the hearts of all living beings across the Northern and Southern Continents.

Theresa shifted the topic to the situation within their own country. "The Kingdom of Hutton originally possessed two Primal Tablets. Now, only the Wind Primal Tablet held by Lawrence, the Dean of the Sages' College, remains."

The Kingdom of Hutton was a formidable power on the Southern Continent. While it paled in comparison to the Krati Empire, which dominated the entire southernmost region, it stood out as one of the leading kingdoms among the rest. Unlike weaker kingdoms, Hutton possessed the strength to mount a defense should a cardinal from the Church of Resurrection ever descend upon them.

Looking puzzled, a student in the classroom immediately raised their hand to ask, "What about the other one?"

Theresa opened her mouth but then hesitated, as if she suddenly realized something. In the back row of the classroom Lance noticed that the teacher's gaze drifted involuntarily toward Hyperion for a brief moment before quickly darting away. Lance turned and saw that the look on Hyperion's face had already turned somber.

At the lectern, Theresa coughed softly while gathering her thoughts. She had overlooked the fact that a key figure involved in the matter was present in the classroom. For a moment, she was at a loss on how to broach the subject.

Unfortunately, at this point, trying to gloss over it would seem too awkward. Theresa offered a brief explanation and switched the image on the display, attempting to move on to the next topic, "The other one, the Darkness Primal Tablet, went missing along with Duke Michael Aransar."

As soon as she said that, it triggered an uncontrollable wave of discussion that swept through the classroom like a torrential flood. Although many students had heard of Duke Michael before, they had only known he was a nobleman of high standing. Most of them had no idea that he was also one of the Kingdom of Hutton's most formidable powerhouses... and that he was a Primal Tablet holder.

This made his sudden, inexplicable disappearance all the more baffling. Had he defected, or was someone else involved? Or perhaps someone close to him had struck from the shadows, colluding with the enemy from within?

In fact, many in the capital had long harbored suspicions regarding Duke Aransar's daughter, Hyperion, as well as his mysterious demon wife, who had vanished without a trace years ago.

Amid the noisy classroom, the spot in the back row where Hyperion sat had become the eye of the storm, a focal point where everyone looked. Although many students dared not stare openly at the back, the accompanying chatter meant that glances were inevitably cast toward the person at the center of the commotion.

Yet, right beside Hyperion, Lance looked completely unperturbed by the surrounding din. He frowned and his lips parted slightly as he muttered to himself, "That's not right..."

He now understood the reason for Hyperion's unusual behavior earlier, but the serious issue he had identified lay elsewhere. In the game lore he knew, the Primal Tablets were ultimate artifacts that only came into play during the very late stages of the story.

Even in the most up to date version of the game, the identities of most Primal Tablet holders remained hidden from the players. Players had to complete specific side quests to obtain clues from designated non-player characters, or NPCs, and the tablets' actual functions hadn't even been officially unlocked yet.

The Wilford Tragedy, which was the side quest that investigated the annihilation of Lance's own Wilford family, was apparently linked to the whereabouts of one of these Primal Tablets. Moreover, such high-difficulty side quests served as prerequisites for unlocking epic level quests.

Yet here at the university, students could simply ask the teachers about the location of various tablets, without all the convoluted mechanics that the scumbag developers usually loved to implement!

There was only one problem: the people holding the tablets were different from what Lance remembered! For one thing, the timeline he was in was still within the side-story arc. The main storyline wouldn't begin for another two years.

In the original game's story, the holder of the Darkness Primal Tablet was Marquis Bernhard, the Ninth Progenitor of the vampires, and he had only recently broken free from his seal. It certainly wasn't Duke Michael Aransar of the Kingdom of Hutton.

As for the Krati Empire to the south, that was actually the stronghold of the vampires. On the surface, the empire appeared powerful, but in reality, it was already being gradually consumed and controlled by vampires who were awakening and breaking free from their seals. Eventually, they would even announce a bizarre piece of legislation: the Treaty of Co-prosperity and Coexistence with Vampires.

By the time that decree was issued, the extent of the vampires' infiltration into the empire would be unimaginable.

Lance concluded that the game's lore was likely correct; it was simply the timeline that differed. If events followed the original plot, the holder of the Darkness Primal Tablet would become Marquis Bernhard.

However, the current holder was actually Hyperion's father, Duke Michael Aransar. Of course, there was only one way to change the holder of a Primal Tablet: kill the previous owner and seize their tablet!

In other words, Duke Michael's whereabouts were tied to the Krati Empire in the south and the vampires themselves! If he couldn't rescue the duke within the next year or so, Hyperion's father was truly doomed.

Lance rested his chin on his hand, deep in thought. He considered the situation carefully. Given the advantage of his foreknowledge, he could wait until his rank was a bit higher, perhaps within the next year and a half, and then head to the Krati Empire to reinforce Marquis Bernhard's seal and bring the vampires to heel.

Then, he could try to rescue Duke Michael. With such a powerful backer, he wouldn't have to worry a damn bit about his family. He could just hitch his wagon to Duke Michael’s and then run wild across the Hutton Kingdom without a care in the world!

As for why he was so confident about venturing into the vampires' home turf? He was the one who had drawn the core maps of the ancient underground vampire city! His knowledge of their mechanisms, secret passages, and burial grounds likely surpassed even that of the grand vampiric nobles and royalty!

The atmosphere in the classroom grew increasingly heavy. The conversation was inevitably circling back to this topic. An increasing number of curious and varied gazes were directed at the already distressed Hyperion. She grew increasingly uneasy as her heartbeat and breathing grew erratic. Her head was bowed down, and she was unable to bring herself to look up.

Even with her teammate sitting right beside her, she could no longer find a shred of comfort. Just then, Lance suddenly raised his hand and asked Theresa, "Professor, if someone were to find the missing duke and retrieve the Darkness Primal Tablet for the Kingdom of Hutton, what kind of reward would they receive?"

Such a preposterous, joke-like remark instantly made many students chuckle. The classroom atmosphere inexplicably softened, and the conversation began to shift toward a more lighthearted tone.

Theresa replied with a smile, her tone half-joking, "His Majesty the King would undoubtedly confer a title upon him and proclaim his heroic deeds throughout the realm, and Duke Aransar would surely regard him as a trusted confidant. There is no question of that."

She finally let out a sigh of relief. Theresa understood that Lance had made that remark to ease the tension in the room and spare Hyperion further embarrassment. Although she had also noticed that the boy sometimes did things that were, well, rather outrageous, he was still, after all, a young man with a gentle and sensitive heart.