793 Homework

After that, Wang Zhong contacted Oscar since he was the applicant for the Middle Grade Pioneering Orders and had to settle the final administrative matters. Oscar had recovered fully from his injuries and looked energetic. His blue 'tattoos' appeared to have become more charming. Frankly speaking, even Oscar thought that his blue baldy image became more pleasing to the eye with time, and the key thing was that his power had improved greatly. It was a blessing in disguise as he was finally able to break through the bottleneck in his arcane skills.

Oscar had heard Feng talk about Wang Zhong's situation. It wouldn't be exaggerating to say that this guy underwent a change every three days. Oscar expected that Wang Zhong would definitely benefit from this trip, but what he didn't predict was that the other people who followed him on the trip gained something too.

After this trip, everyone's power had increased to varying degrees. This trip freed them from the depressive vibes in the Holy City. More importantly, the battle helped to restore the confidence of Sharmie and the others. That wasn't self-comfort, but it was true that staying every day in the Holy City, which was filled with experts and geniuses, would make many geniuses who were once proud feel drowned out by the crowd. The vast disparity in strength between people of the same rank in the Holy City wasn't completely because of the differences in talent and resources available. It was because those former geniuses had their confidence shattered and succumbed to fate, going downhill from there.

Confidence was a strange thing. You either had it or you didn't; no one could help you with that. You were the only person who could give yourself confidence. Oscar specially applied for the B-rank mission to help the newcomers build their confidence, but the results clearly weren't desirable. He heard about Sharmie's 'Meet While Alive' theory: that anyone could die at any moment, so they should have a gathering every month while they were still alive… Oscar didn't know whether to laugh or cry. The secret realm mission seemed to have backfired, but obviously, he couldn't say that out loud to them.

However, Oscar could clearly feel the difference in Sharmie and the others' aura now. They had less self-doubt and more confidence, unlike the 'ignorant' confidence that newcomers had when they had just arrived in the Holy City. Their minds had broken free from the stress and the system there, and they were able to stay true to themselves again.

Oscar could sense that everyone benefited much this time just based on that. They could take their time in building their strength, but they would really be done for if they lived in self-denial and lost their confidence.

Other than returning the Pioneering Orders, Wang Zhong also passed 5,000 Holy Coins to Oscar. Oscar was rather astonished at Wang Zhong's ability to earn money. A few thousand Holy Coins was definitely a huge sum of money even for Holy Disciples who had lived in the Holy City for several years, let alone newcomers. However, Wang Zhong seemed to be a freak that was born to break laws and conventions. He didn't seem to receive any reward from the mission he went on since it was for private reasons, yet he could easily fork out a few thousand Holy Coins afterward. Others would never be able to earn money as quickly as him even if they sold themselves… This made Oscar a little depressed. In any case, he had been living in the Holy City for so long and was considered to be quite famous, yet his confidence took a hit when he compared himself to Wang Zhong.

After being gone for half a month, Wang Zhong was behind on a few lessons at the Tyrants, making him feel a little guilty. It was impossible that he hadn't missed anything important, but he couldn't be in two places at the same time. To him, practical experience mattered more than learning theories.

It was a must to attend Arudiba's lesson since he was a teacher with a conscience and that was rare in the Tyrants. Wang Zhong had always respected this bald teacher. However, it was a pity that his lesson today had just started when Wang Zhong discovered a rather embarrassing problem.

"Take your own weapons out, and let me see what you little fellas picked."

That was the homework that Arudiba had assigned them half a month earlier, for all the students to choose their own weapon and bring it to class.

Wang Zhong remembered that day. He had just received Gong Yi's message. He even stared at the red crystal and tried to visualize something, but he didn't see any weapon at all. He didn't think much of it then and thought that he would just get a sword or something for the next lesson. However, Wang Zhong was completely distracted by Gong Yi's matter thereafter, so he totally forgot about this homework…

Loud noises could be heard in the lecture hall as all sorts of weapons were taken out from the students' space crystals. Knives, guns, swords, and spears were considered normal, and many students even took out alchemy hammers that were typically used in alchemy. There were many experts that used hammers in the Tyrants, as almost everyone practiced alchemy there. An alchemy hammer was a standard tool in the profession, and many people were used to working with it. On the other hand, this sort of heavy hammer weapon was suitable for heroic and violent fighting styles, which was sought after in the Tyrants.

Beside him, Mo Ling took out a pair of new boxing gloves. Wang Zhong was prone to forgetting this sort of stuff, but Mo Ling wasn't. He had already been preparing for this when they were at Katchirda. Due to the limited conditions there, he only obtained a pair of runic gloves that he requested Gong Yi to help him get. Although it was way inferior to a Holy City soul tool, streams of light could be seen flowing on the surface of runic gloves, which was certainly considered top-notch according to Earth standards.

Mo Ling clearly liked this pair of gloves a lot, wearing it immediately to see how his Soul Power circulated with it. It was only then he realized that beside him, Wang Zhong had an embarrassed expression on his face.

Frankly speaking, even if you didn't complete the assigned homework, the teacher wouldn't say much, but it was disrespectful to completely disregard his instructions. Originally, Wang Zhong wanted to take something out from his space crystal. He remembered that Gong Yi put a lot of stuff in his space crystal before he left, so maybe he would just randomly take something out for show?

Wang Zhong hadn't had the time to organize the stuff in his space crystal ever since he came back. He tried to grab something from it blindly now. Wine? Raisins? Dried fire scorpions? A bamboo mat? A rattan basket… Wait, what?!

There was even a huge bunch of bananas! This was really embarrassing. That fella Gong Yi, why on earth did he give him a bunch of bananas…? Gong Yi did mention that he was going to give him some souvenirs from Earth, but this was too extreme.

"Ahem…" Beside him, Mo Ling almost choked on his laughter, but before he could laugh out loud, a chilling intent washed over the both of them.

"Where's your weapon?" A huge figure appeared in front of Wang Zhong and Mo Ling.

They didn't need to see to clearly know that it was Teacher Arudiba.

Honestly, perhaps even Wang Zhong himself didn't know that he had a rather unique reputation in the Tyrants.

Wang Zhong was a second-class apprentice that Great Teacher Kenso appointed personally. Although there were many rumors — such as that title being an additional reward that the Holy City gave the No. 1 expert in the CHF — that was just a hypothesis and it wasn't confirmed. At the same time, Great Teacher Kenso had a very important presence in the Tyrants. Not anyone could be an alchemist master.

That was why many pairs of eyes had been observing Wang Zhong secretly since the first day Wang Zhong joined the Tyrants, including Teacher Arudiba who was in charge of the Smelting Faculty. When Wang Zhong crossed faculties to go and attend lessons in the Smelting Faculty, it changed Arudiba's impression of him, and he thought of Wang Zhong as a promising student worth educating. However, he didn't expect Wang Zhong to harbor such an attitude toward the first piece of homework he assigned. Wang Zhong had been pretending to search his space crystal for so long, yet he couldn't manage to take out something legitimate. It was for sure that Wang Zhong didn't take his assignment seriously.

"Teacher, I'm sorry. I forgot about it." Wang Zhong decided to tell the truth at last.

Arudiba's face darkened. Regardless of whether Wang Zhong really forgot or thought otherwise, there was no doubt that this dude didn't take his words seriously.

He didn't intend to continue wasting time on Wang Zhong. In the Holy City, if someone made one mistake, no second chances would be given. Arudiba merely glanced in his direction before moving on. Initially, the special concern that Great Teacher Kenso showed this dude caused many thoughts to run through his mind. He didn't know what kind of background Wang Zhong had for a Great Teacher to approve of him. However, once you were in the Holy City, it ultimately boiled down to your strength and attitude if you wanted to make progress. Without a decent attitude, this dude couldn't accomplish much.