Chapter 40: The Strange Afternoon

Max sat in his regular spot, waiting with no particular thought on his mind. However, he remained concerned that the visit from the major families would definitely change the competition's outcome. He currently possessed no particular plan to handle this situation.

Should I call my father and uncle? he thought.

Doing so would definitely boost his image. At the very least, it would ensure the students from his territory could vote for him without being suffocated by the Capital's power. Let's see how things go. The voting was scheduled for next Friday, leaving him with plenty of time to make the call.

For now, his mind returned to the conversation he had shared with the Department Head Teacher outside of Lydia's room. One particular detail regarding the norm of nature had embedded itself into his mind. However, he simply did not believe that this situation had anything to do with nature.

Although Basic Healing usually worked on children, that was only effective at treating surface wounds. If an internal issue occurred, using a skill on them without knowing what had happened would not heal them; instead, it would only increase the effect of the issue. It was simply an unfortunate reality that children had to face this kind of limitation. Cases like Lydia's were very rare. Even if some children were born with a defect, if they somehow grew up and Awakened their class, the issues were usually dealt with. Because it was not a world-altering issue, people had not found any particular solution to treat children, choosing instead to rely on the easy method of Potions and Elixirs.

While he was lost in his own thoughts, Mr. Morrison entered the room and started the class. The lecture went well. The instructor explained the fundamentals of leveling up and detailed how one should allocate their Free Attribute Points before reaching their evolution at Level 25.

Every Level 25, the Awakened would receive an extra boost to their class awakening. For example, they could gain extra Attribute Points, and sometimes they might even obtain a new Inborn Class Skill. Therefore, leveling up would not be a random process. For every class, there was a strict guideline detailing how the allocation of Attribute Points would be significant for their first level evolution.

The second theory class was about Dungeons and Monsters. It was an interesting class where the Teacher explained the different ranks of Dungeons and Monsters. This was the first class on this topic. Once the Competition of Leaders Head completed, regular level-up sessions would occur. Therefore, teaching about Dungeons a week beforehand was a good thing.

Once the theory class finished, Max went for lunch. As usual, he picked up his food and sat at his table. He waited for a while for Moon or Anne to accompany him. However, even after waiting for a while, no one showed up. Suddenly, he noticed a strange thing happening in the first-year canteen hall.

Being famous for being average, he had spent the last month and a half getting used to people staring at him with disgust and disdain. This scenario had become very casual after a month, but today was different. Even in the morning, he had noticed people staring at him. But now, after lunch break, people did not even give him a look. It was so strange that it felt like a big change had happened in the surroundings.

What happened to these people? Did they know about my service for Healing people? Do they all want to get healed by me?

He remembered the guy, Steven, telling him that he felt very good while receiving Healing and even wanted to pay to get healed. This news must have spread, and everyone wanted to experience that. As a result, they were suddenly trying to act normal towards him. He had been a little sad about how the noble families came to support their heirs and steal his votes, but seeing this thing happen changed his outlook. He didn't even need to pull any stunts; he would naturally receive huge support.

With great joy, Max finished his lunch. Thinking that Moon must have some urgent work since she did not come, Max exited the canteen. Today, he might also have to skip training since he had promised people to heal them. Therefore, he walked directly to the infirmary and started the Healing without any delay. He wanted to try and finish healing all of them quickly so he could still join the training of the other class. After all, skipping training for too many days would not be a wise thing to do.

Entering the infirmary, Max found it surprisingly empty. Even though the lunch hour had not yet ended, no students had arrived. He had expected at least a few enthusiastic students to already be waiting. With no one present to Heal, he sat down at the reception and waited for them to arrive.

Today, he planned to conduct a small experiment; he would try to expend only 80% of his Mana. Because his Mana channeling had greatly improved, his Skill Proficiency had reached 15%. Healing Lydia had increased it by a full 3%, which simply demonstrated how severe the child's condition had been. It was truly a devastating thing to endure.

The infirmary remained empty, indicating the assistant must also be on her lunch break. Max sat in silence. As time passed, not a single person showed up, greatly surprising him. Just yesterday, a huge crowd had gathered here, yet now, near the end of the lunch break, not even a single person was present. Finding the situation strange, he decided to wait a few more minutes to see if anyone would come. Otherwise, he did not know what else he could do other than proceed to his own practice.

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When the lunch break ended, the infirmary assistant returned and took her position. Still, no students came. Max could feel that something was wrong with this situation, and it was directly connected to the behavior of the people in the canteen. Their attitude had shifted completely from top to bottom.

What could have happened to those people? Max thought.

Even Moon had failed to show up at the canteen or the infirmary, whereas just yesterday, she had arrived without even being asked.

Lacking any understanding of the situation, he stood up. If he visited the Practical Hall, he would find out what was happening. Max exited the infirmary and headed directly to his dorm to retrieve his training equipment. Earlier, he did not possess any plans to do specific training, but the situation had now changed. He would dedicate half the afternoon to sword practice and then perform archery training to increase his proficiency.

First, he went to the Sword Practical Hall. Upon entering, he noticed the other students had already started their training, and his usual spot was currently occupied by someone else. Thus, he quickly searched for another free dummy. This presented yet another weird situation, as his regular spot was usually left alone for him.

Since I did not come for training yesterday, they must have thought to take the spot, Max speculated.

Standing in front of the wooden dummy, he activated his [Heavenly Cleave] skill. This had been his original plan to increase the proficiency of this skill for the upcoming battle following the Leaders Head competition. As usual, he noticed that this weird phenomenon of people refusing to look at him continued here as well.

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Once his sword practice finished, Max directly went to the archery training ground. He intended to meet Moon there and finally find out about the weird situation taking place. However, after spending a few days learning about how power moved inside and outside of the academy, Max realized something weird had indeed happened. This situation was particularly targeting him; otherwise, how could those people have failed to show up to the infirmary?

Upon reaching the archery training ground, he looked around for where Moon was practicing. She was currently doing her training at the moving target practice area. This was advanced archery training. However, since Moon was already an expert in archery, he was not surprised. He walked to that training area and waited for a while for her to finish the routine.

Moon fired a final arrow at a moving, deer-like wooden figure, and it lodged perfectly into its eye. It was a display of great skill. Max, however, had yet to start this kind of practice.

Seeing that she had finished her round of training, he waved his hand to Moon. Noticing the signal, Moon looked at Max for a second, but she soon turned her face to the side, acting as if she were neglecting his presence.

Max's expression changed.

Did someone tell them not to talk to me? Was this done by Alvin Guinness?

After all, Alvin was the one who had threatened him to give up participating in the Competition and join him. There was certainly a chance that he had paid these people not to talk to him in an attempt to isolate him.

Well, whatever the case was, they could have at least informed him about the plan. In that case, he would not have made an effort to talk to these people. Frustrated, he walked towards Moon, who was collecting a quiver of arrows for another round of training.

"Moon, what has gotten into you?" Max asked. However, no answer came from her.

"Did your family tell you not to talk to me?" Max asked again.

Since Moon had been talking to him until this morning, something must have happened in between the two theory classes. His guess was that the nobles' arrival early in the morning must have changed the situation.

"Well, you can at least say something."

Max had expected to receive some explanation, but seeing her silence, he could somewhat understand the situation. Whatever had happened, or whatever instructions had been given to these people, he did not care in the slightest. He was not the one who had approached them; they were the ones who had come to speak to him. Therefore, being ignored was nothing new to him. He had simply come looking for her to find out the reason. However, met with her continued silence, he could do nothing but go on his own way.

Although he felt disappointed by these people's behavior, he was not angry. Because these people were closely tied to their families, they would naturally follow whatever instructions came from them. It was simply sheer pressure from the political side; it was nothing personal. Max turned around and walked back to his own spot for training.

Now, given this situation, participating in the competition for the Leader's Head Position would not be possible. Since these people were not even ready to hold a conversation, they definitely would not vote for him. His guess was that one of the four Big Families from the Capital was doing this.

But what suddenly got into them to go as far as making my so-called friends ignore me?

Max nocked an arrow on the bowstring and pulled it back to his cheek. As he aimed, he activated his double skill and released the arrow. Once the arrow was released, his hand moved again, nocking another, and then another. In quick succession, he finished three rounds of double skill attacks.

Could his [Salvation] skill have caused uneasiness among these nobles? a thought came to his mind.

Now that he thought about it, 'the Academy Head Teacher not say it was Ancient Healing?' This weird situation was certainly related to his skill; that much was for sure. Slowly, an understanding of what could have caused this situation started to come to his mind.

I should ask that guy, Steven. Unlike Moon, he surely will not ignore me, Max suddenly thought as he left the archery training ground and walked towards the Spearman Training Hall.

While he was leaving the ground, a pair of eyes watched his departure with helplessness.