"Don't say that. Don't you want to know who attacked you?"
Elan's next sentence piqued Furan's interest, and she asked:
"Then do you know..."
"I don't know."
"Then why did you say...?"
Elan straightened his sleeves before continuing:
"I don't know exactly who attacked you, but I am certain it was the work of those High-level Apprentices."
"Why?"
Elan pointed at the mangled Modified Humans on the ground and explained:
"The mastermind used these Modified Humans to attack you because they didn't want to reveal their identity. That's why they specifically ordered a batch from the Modification School... of course, it's also possible they belong to the Modification School themselves."
"You might not know this, but in the circle of High-level Apprentices, those who have just been promoted are usually fine and won't be targeted much. However, those with a certain level of strength will be attacked frequently."
"For those High-level Apprentices, becoming a Formal Mage is their greatest pursuit. To achieve that goal, the best method is to participate in the assessments to earn a ranking, using the precious resources granted by those rankings to improve themselves."
"Every rank is vital. To them, securing a higher rank means more opportunities to advance to a Formal Mage."
Elan continued:
"To them, it's not enough to compete during the assessments; they also attack others outside of them."
"Their logic is: if I take that person out outside the assessment, won't my ranking go up?"
"So do you understand now? They will attack anyone who is strong at least once."
Furan understood. Elan was reminding her that the mastermind behind this attack wasn't important; even if she dragged them out, others would still attack her.
Elan said with a smile:
"Actually, you wouldn't have been attacked so early. The problem is that your reputation has grown quite a bit recently, plus you frequently leave the academy..."
Because Furan had defeated both the Sword Chant School Teacher John and the very capable Abeljo from the same School, there was no one in the entire circle of High-level Apprentices who didn't know her name now.
Everyone usually stayed cooped up in the academy. Normally, if someone got an 'Excellent' grade in a course, people would discuss it for a while. Now that a bombshell had dropped—so-and-so defeating that specific someone—the news naturally spread quickly.
Furthermore, unlike other apprentices, Furan often went out to the Apprentice Market.
This provided an opportunity for those who wanted to attack her.
Other High-level Apprentices stayed within their School's grounds and rarely went out. Given the level of communication between Schools, you were considered well-informed just by knowing which School someone belonged to.
Moreover, it was difficult to attack them inside a School, where Formal Mage assistance could arrive at any moment. It was simply too hard to make a move.
Furan was different. She had a loud reputation and frequently left the academy for the Apprentice Market—a place anyone could go. If people didn't pick her to strike first, who would they pick?
Furan knew that if she came to the Apprentice Market again, she would almost certainly be attacked again.
It seems I need to keep a lower profile in the future and use some disguises when I come to the Apprentice Market.
---
At the Modification School's base, Tarn hurried toward the meeting point, a conference room.
He pushed open a heavy black door and saw that almost everyone was already there.
The conference room was decorated with many thick bones, with small crystals embedded in them that emitted a faint, eerie light.
The crowd looked toward Tarn, their attention drawn by the opening door.
A lady wearing voluminous robes, with a metallic glint at her neck and long green hair, looked at him coldly.
"Tarn, you are a bit late, but not too late. We have just started announcing things. Come in."
"My apologies, Mentor Beloli. I was at the market and came immediately after receiving the notice."
As he spoke, he squeezed into the crowd.
Mentor Beloli was a Formal Mage and the primary person in charge of their club, the [Living Being Renewal Society]. She usually announced School notices and tasks.
Her favorite thing was to issue emergency notices as soon as something came up, gathering everyone to assign tasks without wasting a second. She was extremely displeased with apprentices who were late.
"Listen up, all apprentices. The School has issued a task. It is not mandatory for everyone, but successful apprentices will receive a reward."
Hearing this, almost all the apprentices focused their attention. They were desperate to become Formal Mages, and the rewards issued by the School were never poor.
"You may already know that one of your fellow apprentices, Richter, has gone missing and is confirmed dead."
"However, he had a notebook on him that likely contains knowledge of Modification Studies. You are to retrieve that notebook or confirm it has been destroyed so the knowledge does not spread."
"I will personally teach the apprentice who completes the task a cultivation and transplantation surgery for Enhanced Organs."
"Also, Richter obtained something with the [Plunder] trait during the assessment. If you can find it, I wouldn't mind teaching the knowledge on how to cultivate organs in that field."
The apprentices whispered among themselves, incredulous at the generosity of the reward.
Modification surgery was the foundation of the School and the knowledge they had to obtain to advance to Formal Mages.
In the past, mentors would only teach students who performed exceptionally in assessments. Now, one could gain this knowledge just by completing this task, showing how much importance the School placed on it.
"Dismissed. I now permit you to go to Richter's residence to investigate for clues."
As Tarn walked out the door with the other apprentices, he was called out to by someone he knew.
"Tarn, how was my batch of Modified Humans? Were those rejects useful?"
Tarn recalled the terrible performance of those Modified Humans just now. The first two were okay, but the last three were so painful to watch that he had just run away.
In fact, he had arranged for a Modified Human to shoot a crossbow from the back, but the Modified Human fiddled with it for ages without ever firing a bolt. He could only make it run away with him.
"Not very good. I asked them to do some simple movements and they couldn't even do those right."
"Hey, don't be like that. Even though those were rejects I made, you know the level of Modified Humans like these. It's already good if they can tell friend from foe. It's all because they're made from corpses. If you could catch me a live one..."
Tarn interrupted him, saying:
"Fine, I have no complaints given the price. Call me again next time; they're not bad as raw material for organs."
Tarn thought about how he had bought those Modified Humans for only ten silver coins, which made him more forgiving of their low intelligence.
Ãdvåñçé çhàptêr àvàilàble óñ pàtreøn luffy1898