Chapter 83: Professor Igris’ Help

The voice suddenly resounded through the area, causing Arlo to turn around immediately, his eyes locking onto the roof of his own house.

An old man was standing there.

"Professor Igris!?"

Arlo called in shock as he watched him rise to his feet.

Casually jumping from the roof, he soared effortlessly through the air before landing directly in front of him.

Judging from the force behind that jump, his landing should have created another crater, yet when his feet touched the ground, absolutely nothing happened, save for a small cloud of dust that was kicked into the air.

[He’s very strong. At the very least, he’s not someone you can handle right now. And you’re already spent.]

The System said as slight beads of sweat began to trickle down Arlo’s face.

"You can choose a new home now. A hole has been blown through the roof of your current house..."

Professor Igris said, patting Arlo twice on the shoulder before walking toward the corpses, his eyes scanning them one after another.

"Might I ask how long you’ve been there?" Arlo asked with furrowed eyebrows as Professor Igris lifted his hands away from the blood.

"Around an hour before the fight started. I followed you back from the lab..." Professor Igris replied, causing Arlo’s eyes to flash with shock.

The man had followed him all the way back to his home, and Arlo hadn’t noticed him even once.

"And might I ask why you followed me home?" Arlo questioned as Professor Igris sighed.

"As much as I love inquisitive spirits, I do hate being asked questions. So, how about we leave this conversation for tomorrow? Hmm?" Professor Igris said, waving him off.

Arlo gave a quick nod before immediately scurrying away.

"I really was curious when I was asked by Eboncrest why he would expend the one favor he owed me just to help him watch over that naive lass. It seemed like a rather stupid decision to me."

"But it seems the lass has quite a bit of potential, doesn’t he? You win again, Eboncrest. Just like you always have..." Professor Igris mumbled to himself as he slowly rose to his feet.

He clasped his fingers together in a seal formation before quietly whispering,

"Domain Expansion: Absolute Devilish Reset!"

His eyes flashed with a white glow, and in the next instant, a deep white, glass-like plate spread outward from beneath his feet, enclosing him within a dome-like structure.

Less than five seconds later, the glass-like dome faded away into nothing.

Professor Igris was still standing in the exact same spot, looking no different from before, but what would have shocked Arlo the most was what had happened to the surroundings.

All the craters, rough slash marks, mutilated bodies and blood covering the ground had been completely wiped away.

It was almost as if time itself had been reversed within the area.

"So much hassle..." Professor Igris muttered before continuing on his way, quickly disappearing into the distance.

[Congratulations, Hidden Quest: Survive An Assassination Attempt has been successfully completed.]

[Rewards:

1.) +5 Level-Up Cards!!

2.) +5000 EXP!

3.) +3 Ability Upgrade Cards

4.) A new stat feature has been unlocked: Regeneration!!]

The System’s notification panel repeatedly assaulted Arlo’s face even as he slept beneath his mattress, wearing nothing but a singlet and short pants.

Although the rewards were enough to make his heart pound with excitement, Arlo couldn’t pay much attention to them, his mind instead returning again and again to what had happened a few hours earlier.

That bloody, hellish scene...

Could it have been done by Professor Igris?

He didn’t really think so.

But if Professor Igris hadn’t done it, then who had committed such an inhumane act!?

Besides, Professor Igris had witnessed everything.

The old man undoubtedly knew all of his secrets now, and Arlo still had no idea what consequences that might bring.

"Hey, System, can you..."

[Go to sleep, Arlo. You have a class tomorrow. You’ll catch up on everything tomorrow.]

[I also have to go rest after exhausting some of the purity of my Infinity Bloodline to help you unleash the domain at the last minute.] The System said, cutting him off before he could ask anything else.

Arlo could only force his heartbeat back down before reluctantly going to sleep, the sound of his snoring soon filling the cozy bedroom.

During the battle, he had been forced to repeatedly channel mana into his brain just to keep up with the various reactions required of him, and now his brain had automatically shut him down so it could recover from the dead cells he had lost.

____________________

"The study of the principles of Mana has been a long-term field of research that has continued for years, even stretching back to the distant world of our Vorath origins, the Elmoran Planet."

"Though we were forcefully separated from it by the cataclysm, the study of Mana still remains a necessary component of our basic lives, and..."

"Hey, you alright!?"

The voice beside him suddenly snapped Arlo out of his daze.

He turned his head, only to find the curious eyes of a purple-horned young man staring directly at him.

"I’m fine, Vael."

"No, you’re not! I can smell your unease. It’s irritating, you know?" Vael said, covering his nose in irritation as Arlo raised an eyebrow.

"You can smell irritation?"

"I can smell anything negative. And in your case, your unease is also mixed with a small amount of fear. So, you’re definitely not okay..."

"Hmmmmm, weirdo!" Arlo suddenly called out, causing Vael’s eyes to flash with anger.

"You bastard! I’ll kill you!?" he yelled, his voice loud enough to interrupt the teacher’s explanation.

"Is there something you wish to bring to the attention of the class, Mr. Vael?" The teacher, a dark-skinned man with long dreadlocks, asked.

Vael turned toward the class, only to find everyone’s curious attention focused on him, including Arlo, who was staring at him with the exact same raised eyebrow as though he had absolutely no idea what had happened.

’Tch, that bastard set me up!’

"It’ll be the last time, Sir Von. I’m terribly sorry..." Vael apologized before the man continued his lecture, writing notes and drawing various pictures across the board.

Time quickly passed, and soon...

RIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIING!

The ringing sound echoed throughout the entire classroom as Sir Von closed his teaching book, assigned them some work, and left the class.

"You bastard! You set me up and stained my good reputation!"

Vael roared as he grabbed Arlo by the shirt and pulled him closer, his eyes filled with nothing but the desire to tear him apart.

He had always maintained his reputation as the gentlest and most serious student in the class, yet he had just attracted the teacher’s unwanted attention.

All because he had cared enough to check on this bastard!

"Hmm, bullying a newbie. Just how far have you fallen, Vael?" a girl’s voice suddenly resounded, followed by laughter from the girls and mocking giggles from the boys.

"He must still be holding a grudge after getting his ass whooped by a newbie yesterday. What a sore loser! Hahaha!"

"Shut the fuck up, Ryu. You also got your ass whooped by Callisto yesterday!" Vael shot back.

Ryu merely shrugged before heading toward the exit.

"At least I’m not being a bitch about it!" he said before disappearing, causing the laughter from the class to grow even louder.

Vael had no choice but click his tongue in irritation and release Arlo.

"Hmph, you’re lucky this time... but not for long!!!" he said with an angry huff before also making his way toward the exit, not even bothering to ask Arlo if he wanted to come with him to the eatery.

Soon, the entire class had left, leaving Arlo alone with the open book in front of him.

"Just three more hours, and I’ll hear everything from Professor Igris... soon!" Arlo declared to himself.

He had tried asking the System about what had happened more than a hundred times, yet it had gone completely silent, as if it were dead.

But Arlo knew better.

It was simply pretending not to hear him because it didn’t want to explain anything.

He wasn’t hungry at all, and considering his current emotional state, he doubted he would even be able to feel hunger properly anyway, so he saw no reason to go to the cafeteria.

Instead, he simply headed outside and made his way to the boys’ park to let off some of the steam building within his heart.

"We’re missing just one more person. Oh! No need, we already found one. Hey, come join us, quick!"

Arlo was walking through the large grassy park when a group suddenly called out to him.

]They were preparing for some sport.

"It wouldn’t hurt to try..." Arlo mused to himself, wanting to get the endlessly spunning thoughts out of his head.

He entered through the group’s gate and approached them.

"Smile! You’ll be our goalkeeper for today! The best position there is!" the slightly older-looking boy said, giving Arlo a hard tap on the shoulder before leading him toward a three-meter-tall rectangular post.

"Hmm, what am I supposed to do?"

"Hahaha! Good humor! All you have to do is make sure that thing..." he said, pointing toward the ball at the far end of the field, "...never gets past this line behind you at all costs, even if it costs you your life! Savvy?"

He finished with a sickening smile before returning to the group in front of him.

Arlo narrowed his eyes as he noticed an intense gaze fixed upon him.

It came from a young man standing at the far end, who was currently staring at him with a sinister smile.

’I’ll reduce you to a pancake!’

The young man’s lips moved as he silently mouthed the words, causing Arlo to raise an eyebrow.

"Just what did I get myself into?"