577 Chapter 577: Some Great Rewards

"Brother Richard, let me treat you to lunch!"

"Richard! Let's hang out together! I'll introduce you to some girls!"

"R…Richard, are you single? Can we…exchange numbers?"

Unfortunately, it got to the point where it was more annoying than helpful. At least I didn't have to deal with idiots calling me trash or harassing me like in some webnovel or webcomic. I'm sure most of you have read enough Chinese webnovels by now to expect every other student in the university to treat me like garbage or find fault with me or target me for revenge because I "offended" them or was "arrogant." Yeah, I know it doesn't make sense, but a lot of these Chinese writers seemed like they had never enrolled in a university in real life.

As much as I wanted to make friends so that my university life would go more smoothly than it would (imagine if I had to spend my entire university life fending off bullies and arrogant young masters who had a hard-on for calling me trash and looking for every excuse to harass and set their cronies on me), I didn't enroll in Vermillion University to socialize. My goal, as ever, was to continue training and becoming stronger.

I wanted to be a mercenary like my dad and save the world. The Black Vatican…ahem, I mean Dark Church was still out there somewhere and I needed more strength before I descended into a final confrontation against them. Right now I lacked the power to defeat them, even if I followed all the elite mercenary groups and such into battle.

Even Dad would find it difficult to defeat them in combat, and he was one of the most powerful mages I had ever known.

"Mo Fan!" one of the professors called out to me after I succeeded in dodging a group of classmates who were trying to drag me out for karaoke or some social gathering. I turned and gaped at him.

"What did you just call me?"

"Um…sorry, I mean…Chen Fan?"

"The fuck!? My given name is not Fan at all! Get that right!"

"Sorry, Chen Bei Xuan…"

"My surname isn't Chen either! And you're still mistaken! Isn't Chen Bei Xuan the Daoist or immortal name of Chen Fan, anyway?! What's the difference?!"

The professor scratched his head, and then broke out into a mischievous grin before nodding fervently. "Yeah, sorry. I'm just messing around with you, Wang Zhong. Anyway, Director Porter wants to see you…"

"I'm not Wang Zhong either! Are you sure you have the right person?!"

"Yeah, I'm sure. Stop pretending, Wang Zhong. Or do you prefer me to call you the Garrulous/All Mouthy King?"

I decided to stop wasting time with the professor's nonsense and turned my back on him before stalking off.

"Should I call you dog then? Since there's nothing wrong with changing the names of the other party as and when I wished?"

"Ugh…sorry, Richard. Anyway, Director Porter wants to see you. It's regarding your rewards from the summoning students' event that you won last week."

"Rewards?" I repeated incredulously. "Didn't I give them up? I told them that the departments can keep their resources, as long as they don't allocate them to the idiots who insulted me."

"Oh, yeah, that's true, but Director Porter decided to give you another reward. He says you deserve extra credit for defeating 200 students on your own."

"Techncially, I olny defeated 153 students," I corrected him. "My classmates already defeated 47 other students."

"Yes, and your tally was more than three times of your classmates' combined. Which is why Director Porter insists that you get some kind of reward beyond the spirit enhancement elixir."

I raised my eyebrow inquisitively, but the professor was already turning away and gesturing for me to follow him to the director's office. I decided to just follow along for now. There was no reason to say no to free stuff, after all.

"Ah, Richard, good to see you again."

Henry Porter was waiting in his office, gazing out of the massive window behind his seat. He turned around to smile at me. The professor who led me to his office bowed and then took his leave, leaving me with the old man.

"Sir." I saluted, and he chuckled before waving for me to dispense with the formalities.

"I called you here to pick out some new gear," he told me. "From what I understand, you don't possess any good magical equipment. So I shall provide you with one. You can choose from a couple of fairly high quality magical equipment that I have here, which should be suitable for a mage of your level."

"I don't possess any good magical equipment?" I repeated in disbelief, and then drew both Hei Yue and Bai Ri. "What do you call these swords then?"

"Uh…" Henry Porter was speechless for a moment, then he turned away and faked a cough. "I mean, you have a pair of amazing swords, but I think you deserve more high quality magical equipment. The more the merrier, right?"

He then cleared his throat and gestured toward the set of magic equipment that had been laid out on his desk. Beaming, he turned back to me.

"You should pick a set that complements your swords very well." he glanced at one of them. "Since you already have a pair of excellent swords, you obviously don't need these Black Blades."

I raised an eyebrow and stared at the curved, crescent-shaped blades that were laid across the table. They weren't so much swords as they were…scythes or reapers. Their handles were set from one end of the blade to another, so the wielder was supposed to spin around and cut his enemies apart with the curved blades or something rather than use them as swords. In other words, they weren't suitable for my swordsmanship anyway.

"Perhaps the magic armor, Jade Scale Armor, might complement your swords?" Henry Porter pointed toward an armor that was gleaming in a mystical shade of green. Each scale had been carefully woven into the surface, an indication of the exquisite craftsmanship that went into producing the armor. "This is as light as a feather, but the jade armor is as hard as dragon scales. It will protect you from most magical and physical attacks."

"…it looks tacky, though," I muttered under my breath. I didn't want to be caught walking around in that thing. Also, it would cause me to stick out like a sore thumb and make me quite the visible target. The enemy would definitely aim for the guy wearing the shiny green armor first. Not only that, it looked very uncomfortable to wear. Even though Henry Porter claimed that it was as light as a feather, the bulkiness of the damned thing would be an issue, and the straps and inner surface would chaf against my skin, even if I wore a layer of clothing beneath it. And if I did that, it was going to be as hot as hell.

"Then how about the Blood Beast Boots?" Henry Porter pointed toward a pair of leather boots with crimson runes carved into its brown hide. "This will improve your speed and allow you limited flight capacity. You will be able to evade monsters better with this."

"Are you trying to make me copy Mo Fan?" I complained. "Are you not worried about copyright and plagiarism?"

"Um, well…those are the only options we have." Henry Porter shrugged.

"Can I choose not to take any of them?"

"No. Don't be rude."

He had got to be kidding me…

"All right, I'll take the Jade Scale Armor then." I sighed. "Do I have permission to modify it?"

"Yeah, of course. I'm giving it to you. Once it's yours, you can do whatever you want with it. Of course, I'll be unhappy if you sell it or give it away to other people, but if you can enhance or customize it, by all means."

"Great." I was relieved. I would need to make a few changes to make it less…visible and more comfortable. I had no idea how to do that, but I knew somebody who could. "Thank you very much."

"This isn't a bad choice," Henry Porter remarked as he lifted the Jade Scale Armor up and passed it to me. "Given your current fighting style, it complements your swordsmanship. You're really shaping up to become a professional magic swordsman."

"I still have a long way to go before I reach that level," I muttered wearily. Henry Porter chuckled and shook his head.

"Still as modest as always, huh? If I may say so, you are already quite the remarkable swordsman for your age. You have fought on par with assassins from the Assassins Guild, defeating both Hades and even the Black Swordsman of Grimaldus. Even without the official certificate, I would say that you're already on par, if not better than most professional Magic Swordsmen."

"You do realize that I defeated them mostly with summoning magic and not my swordsmanship, right?"

"Ha ha!" Henry Porter burst out laughing. "That makes you a professional summoner then!"

"I wish…"

"Right. But that's why you are here, aren't you?" Henry Porter gripped my shoulder. "To learn more and to develop your summoning magic and swordsmanship further. This will be the ideal place for you to grow stronger. And even as you accumulate more power, experience and skills, I hope you will not forget what a mage's true duties are."

"Yes, sir!" I saluted again. "To defend the citizens of the Global Federation! To help the needy and the vulnerable! To defend everyone from monsters and those who would use magic for evil!"

"Good. I knew I could count on you." Henry Porter patted my shoulder one last time before he dismissed me. I spun on my heels sharply and marched out of his office while still bearing the Jade Scale Armor.

Studying it, I gave another sigh. The damned thing just looked so…tacky. I really needed to modify it. Pushing my glasses up, I proceeded toward the engineering department. Fortunately for me, I had an acquaintance there who might just be able to help me.

"Oh? Richard? What brings you here?"

Zhao Zi Jun glanced up from his workbench when he cught sight of me strolling into his workshop. I offered a smile and placed my Jade Scale Armor on his table.

"I was hoping you could modify this." I gave him a brief rundown on what I thought the problems were, and he nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, that's like a bloody bullseye. Wearing something as tacky as that will bring the attention of every enemy down on you. There's nothing they like better than a visible target that stands out from the rest of the crowd. Also makes you vulnerable to snipers."

"I knew it." I sighed heavily and buried my face in my palm. "Is there anything you can do about it? Of course I'll pay you for your labors."

"Sure. Consider it done." Zhao Zi Jun nodded and then conjured a holographic screen to check his schedule. He frowned. "It might take some time, though. I'm swamped with work this week. Maybe next month?"

"No problem. Take as much time as you want."

"Also, if possible, I would like you to procure a few materials for me to make the modifications." He swiped at the holographic screen and began typing with his fingers on the blue-tinted light. Once he was done, he emailed the list to me. My smartphone beeped to notify me that I had just received his email. Summoning my own blue-tinted holographic screen, I studied the list he sent me.

"Snow Jade?"

"Yeah. I think it will suit you, given your affinity with ice magic."

"All right." I nodded and closed the window with a flick of my finger. "But where am I supposed to get Snow Jade from?"

"That…" Zhao Zi Jun grinned. "…is for you to find out."