Chapter 144 Going To The Woodlands . . .

I checked the Evil System Shop.

‖ E V I L  S Y S T E M  S H O P ‖

❼ Staff of Endless Mana

A meter-long fragmented staff, connected with invisible threads of Magic. It is made of concentrated mana and is weightless. A small mana core floats among the headpieces that serve as a center point, producing constant faint vibration.

As long as you equip this staff, you'll acquire +1000 MP and +100 INT.

Equipping this staff would reduce mana consumption by 10% while recovering 10% MP every one minute.

WARNING!

If your MP reached zero, this staff would use your HP as compensation if you used mana-related abilities.

Cost: 50 000 Evil Points

ǁ E N D ǁ

By the way, System, I said it to my mind as I went back to town. Could I simultaneously equip Lucy and this staff?

<You have two hands, Host. So the answer is yes>

Really? I thought I needed to have some kind of skill for that.

"Other players need to acquire the skill [Dual Wield], but since you're different from other players, then you don't need to undergo that kind of hassle>

Good then.

I paused for short seconds when I noticed that the inhabitants in town were busy running to and fro. They were decorating the streets and their walls while they hang balloons and colorful lanterns in between buildings.

I blinked and mused. What's going on again?

<Looks like it will have a festival tomorrow>

Hmm . . . maybe that was what Jorge was talking about before.

That festival of Bard or whatever.

<A festival celebrating love>

That guy said that it was two days ago. I guess he had his information wrong.

I almost forgot about it.

I moved forward and went inside the Academy. I went into my room and found Thomas still standing in front of the window. He was still in his position at the time when I left him.

His face was still paralyzed as if he had turned into a robot.

"You can sit and sleep, you know," I said, stifling a laugh.

Thomas only followed my movement with his eyes.

"Are you hungry?"

Thomas's poker face cracked a little. "N . . .o."

"Good," I checked him up and down, left and right, before giving a final nod. "Your limbs are still intact, and your skin isn't rotting. And you're full, so come with me."

Thomas only nodded, and I led him towards the coliseum.

In the arena, it was my first time seeing so many players in one spot. It looked like all the players came regardless of whether it was old or new.

They were randomly forming a line while the representatives were prompt on the VIP balcony and the teachers were on the players' front.

Students kept pouring in, and Thomas and I casually fell in line with the others.

We still waited for the other students, and when there were no players going inside the coliseum, the teachers checked something on a stone tablet they held.

Upon using [Evil Eyes] on it. The tablet contained all of our names. It was like an attendance sheet. I noticed that there were a lot of crossed-out on the names, and Edie and his group were amongst them.

They must be the players who died.

How convenient.

It must be a Magic Tablet that was connected to the bracelets on our wrists.

But even though they knew that their students were killed, no one seemed to be bothered by it.

I guess what Jorge said was right that the Academy didn't care about players, whether they live or die. In fact, maybe all of the inhabitants thought that way, except maybe for players that were useful to them.

"Alright, listen up, players!" Teacher Darwin announced. He was the teacher for Magic, if I wasn't mistaken.

Teacher Fey hopped forward and exclaimed in her high-pitched voice. "Everyone, may I have your ears? We have segregated you into groups regardless of whether you're old or new players. The activity is simple. Each group will venture into the Woodlands, and you're not allowed to leave the forest until six in the evening."

And Teacher Darwin added, "You have to collect mana cores, and whoever has the number of cores will receive ten thousand CR points!"

The players all whispered to each other. Excitement raked their veins for ten thousand CR points was a whole lot of money.

"It's just a simple activity for you all to have a feel of fighting monsters. We hope that the older players will guide and instruct the new players," a teacher said.

So this was like a . . . field trip.

I heard Thomas growl, and when I flung my attention to him, I saw some guys who were throwing stones at him.

When I looked at them, they quieted and pretended that they didn't do anything wrong.

"Easy, Thomas," I whispered. "Wait until we're in the Woodlands.

Thomas released a low growl of confirmation.

Anyway, this field trip was my kind of thing.

It was the perfect setting to massacre a lot of players while masking my tracks with the many beasts in there.

Who was to say that more than half of the players didn't die at the hands of the beasts? Or getting lost and poisoned with all the dangerous plants in there?

And for all we knew, it was exactly what the teachers wanted. To eliminate the weaker ones, so only the strong remained.

After which, I heard names being called, and they were clustered away from the main group.

I even heard Amara's name being called, and my heart skipped a beat. I knew it came from the reaction of my other self, and I could only shake my head in disappointment.

Amara didn't like him and was only toying with his feelings. If I was him, I would do that main quest.

<Host, could do that now while you're still in control>

Watching Amara reminded me of the past, even if I didn't want to remember about it, and it made me want to do the quest all the more.

( . . . continuation on NOTES)