Chapter 70: Reunion

William couldn't believe what he was reading. Did the System seriously suggest he had made an enemy of nearly all of the disciples present in the Lecture Hall? Even before a few dozen failed the Mana Affinity Test, there were only around 160 disciples.

And who was the Nascent Soul Cultivator? It couldn't be Elder Wen; he was too nice to William! Could it be the parent of one of his opponents in the arena?

It was the only logical explanation, but the reality of the situation was still absurd. He decided not to think about it. After all, he couldn't stop people from being jealous. Enemies like this would only continue to appear.

William ate breakfast and returned to the Lecture Hall early. Elder Wen was giving the new disciples that passed the initial test their first assignments today, and William wanted to place his challenge before his entire day was wasted once again.

He approached the Ranking Board and looked at the list of disciples between rank 400 and 500. Since William didn't know very many disciples, he couldn't tell which disciple was more suitable for him. He noticed that Elder Wen had given him the 501st position, making his trip up the Ranking Board much easier.

He decided to just select the 401st person on the list, whose name was Kevin. He tapped on the person's name with his hand, but nothing happened. William tried injecting some Mana into it, but that was also wrong. Dammit, I should have asked how to place a challenge earlier.

"You're supposed to place your badge on their name." came a soft and sweet voice from behind.

William found the voice somewhat familiar, but he didn't turn around. He tried placing his badge on the Ranking Board and the advice worked. Words appeared on the tablet notifying William that the challenge was pending and to check back in a few hours.

"Thanks." he said to the unknown female behind him.

"You're welcome Will, it's nice to see you again!" the girl sounded cheery for some reason. William didn't remember any girls from the Sect that were so friendly besides Su Yanyu, but this voice didn't match hers.

He finally turned around and was pleasantly surprised to see Charlotte standing a few feet away. She smiled and ran up to William, giving him a big hug.

William blushed. He didn't think the two were that close. After all, she only healed him back in Thin Creek Village. "What are you doing here Charlotte?"

She took a step back and gave another sweet smile.

William crumpled up the slip and put it in one of his Space Rings. He looked at Charlotte, who had sat down next to him. "What did you get?"

She looked at her slip. "I'm healing the Senior Outer Core Disciples that come back from their missions. My reward is a Mana Stone every day."

William was stunned.

"Wow, amazing." he tried to sound happy for her but in his head William was screaming about how unfair the world was.

He calmed down and took a breath. "Well, it seems like we won't see each other for a little while then, since I will be at the Alchemy Hall."

Charlotte frowned. She really wanted to spend more time with William, especially since she hadn't seen him in weeks. "Maybe we could...eat somewhere after we are done? I can even pay; I made good money the last month."

William's eyes lit up. "Sure! You don't need to pay for both of us though, I'm a Manamatus remember?" he flexed his arm muscles that were almost nonexistent.

Charlotte blinked. "Okay...where should we go?"

William immediately thought of Wild Clover. "I know a great place; we can go tonight if you want to try it?"

Charlotte blushed, "To-tonight? Sure!"

She didn't expect this kind of initiative from William, who had been a shy kid from a small town just a month ago. Going out into the world really changed him...

Of course, most of Charlotte's memories of William were of the previous William, whose body was inhabited by the current William when he died from Mana exhaustion.

William's new attitude made Charlotte think to herself. Hopefully leaving Thin Creek Village will also change me. There's no way I can save him if I remain the same forever...