Daily life at the college (Part 3)

"Last semester we discussed the minimum requirements for signing a contract with a Yellow-level Fantasy Beast: a mental stability index of 80, a Mysterious-level requires 120, and a Di-level requires over 200."

On the podium, Professor Douji, who teaches the mythical beast class, was tracing the outline of a holographic projection with his pointer. "What is the mental stability index required for a heavenly-level mythical beast...Rinyin, you answer this question."

"Rinone-san?"

It seemed like someone was calling her.

After rubbing her solar plexus, Linyin woke up from her sleep. Her hand was a little numb from being pressed, and her ear ached slightly. It seemed like a migraine was coming on.

She should drink less next time. After a small drink last night, she only drank half a glass and was so sleepy. Crystal and the other three were so soundly asleep that they didn't even attend this class.

The kitten was originally lying obediently on the desk. It seemed to sense that Rin had a headache, so it moved its body, stretched out its little paws, and pressed its paw pads behind her ears.

"Rinne," the professor said, pushing up his glasses. "I know you're excellent at fighting. But the human body has its limits, after all. Only by relying on mythical beasts can we achieve new breakthroughs. That's why we've arranged mythical beast courses for students in the fighting department. I hope you understand our efforts."

He paused, his tone softening.

"Even if you can't contract a phantom beast right now, don't give up. As far as I know, Staub Company has made a major breakthrough in mental stabilization potions. Perhaps you will be able to have your own phantom beast soon."

Rinyin disagrees with the statement that "humans can only make new breakthroughs by relying on fantasy beasts" - come on, her punch is only 800 kilograms, but she can already break the fantasy beast armor. Can't she also say that "the upper limit of the fantasy beast armor is too low, and it only has a future in fighting"?

But she knew that Professor Dougie meant well, so she just smiled.

Whispers rang out in the classroom. The students of the Mythical Beast Department exchanged knowing glances, and one of them spoke in a strangled voice—

"Professor, I've already fallen to the point of raising a stray cat, and you're still asking about my mental stability index! You're just rubbing salt into my wounds."

"I heard she beat someone up at the night market again last week."

"This kind of lunatic should be expelled from school. He's so arrogant even without a phantom beast. What will happen now that he has one?!"

Professor Dougie's white beard trembled slightly. He took a deep breath, placed one palm downward, and placed the other hand against the downward palm, making a hushed gesture. "Whatever personal grudges you may have, or any prejudices you may have against her, please discuss them after class. Class time is now."

The classroom gradually became quiet.

Linyin then stood up, holding onto the table, and prepared to answer the question. But as soon as she moved, the students jumped in fright, "What are you doing?! Are you going to start a fight in the classroom?"

It's so pitiful. I feel like I have developed a psychological trauma against her fighting ability and can only try to gain some advantage with words.

"There's not much information available about Heavenly-grade mythical beasts. The limited data we have shows that the mental stability index of their owners is above 400." She spoke in a steady tone and fluently answered.

"Very good, please take a seat."

"Actually, the textbook needs updating." The professor picked up a ray marker and began drawing on the whiteboard. "Song Baiyue, a fourth-year student at our academy, contracted a growing celestial-level beast while he was out doing a field trial."

"Directly contracting a beast! Is that even possible? Can't you just hatch and feed it from a phantom beast egg, and then cultivate a bond before you can contract it?"

"I don't know. This guy is really low-key. I check the school forum every day and haven't seen anyone mention it."

Daoji noticed the murmurs and discussions in the audience and tapped the ray pen on the podium. "I remind you again, this is a class. Please keep quiet."

The classroom became quiet again.

Professor Dao Ji stroked his beard with satisfaction. "Song Baiyue's mental stability index in the entrance exam was 180. Apparently, at least for celestial-level mythical beasts, this indicator is not important."

He gave Rin an encouraging look. "If your mental stability isn't high, maybe you could consider a Celestial-level mythical beast."

Given the rarity of Celestial-grade mythical beasts, the professor's words were nothing more than unrealistic, beautiful words—similar to comforting friends and family when visiting with, "It's okay if your child fails Chinese. You can become an astrophysicist in the future, and that doesn't require a Chinese score."

Sure enough, several students from the Mystical Beast Department started to act ambiguous again.

"Tsk, a Heavenly-class mythical beast isn't a stray dog ​​that will just wag its tail and follow you if you give it a piece of synthetic meat."

"Exactly. Song Baiyue's 180 is at least within the normal range, but what's with her 40? It's beyond the human limit."

"A Xuan-level mythical beast, the Frost Wolf, typically possesses three skills." The professor's voice rose an octave higher than usual as he tried to move on to the next point. He was tired and no longer wanted to maintain order in the classroom, so he tried to drown out their laughter with his volume.

The evaluation materials will be submitted next week, and the student evaluation column must not contain any words like "favoring students from the fighting department", and he must endure it.

He called up the new hologram.

"The Frost Wolf's egg stage, like all other phantasmal beasts, is generally one to three months. Its larval stage is about one year, which is also within the normal range for a Xuan-level phantasmal beast."

The back row gradually quieted down, Professor Dougie breathed a sigh of relief and continued his lecture.

"It's important to note that its growth period, which is the period when it can initially armor itself and requires a lot of energy, is relatively short, reaching maturity in about a year. Therefore, the Frost Wolf is very popular in the market."

"Seriously hilarious! What kind of heavenly-level fantasy beast is this? This is more suitable for her."

"That's true. The training cost is only for the poor."

Professor Dougie's eyes swept over the bastard students from the Mystical Beast Department in the back row of the classroom. They were laughing unscrupulously. Looking down from the podium, all he could notice was their black mouths.

Professor Dao Ji's temples were throbbing.

"Ricky King, Abel Douglas, Zhiyuan Gao, and Rael Ashton!"

After being interrupted several times, he finally exploded. "You've repeatedly disrupted class order. According to school rules, you'll be punished by sweeping the corridor for a month!"

He held the ray pen and gestured to the students, "Just sweep the corridor outside this classroom, go now! You're not interested in my class content anyway."

He opened the classroom door, and the stench of a strange, fishy smell mixed with the undigested but fermented fantasy beast food instantly poured in.

——The classroom was right next to the central square. Since the excrement of the Green Fox and the Fire Skylark was difficult to clean up, the corridor outside the door still bore traces of the feast that had fallen from the sky the day before.

"Professor," several students said, their faces livid, "Is it too late to apologize now?"

………………………………

After a day of yawning, Rinyin left her seat and was about to leave the classroom to go to the workshop as agreed.

Crystal had arranged to meet them at the workshop in the afternoons, and if she had gotten up smoothly, she should be there by now.

Crystal always has some wonderful ideas, and the small handicrafts made from it are very practical.

For example, during the ring matches, the seats for the fighting department were always arranged farther away. Shuijing actually made a delicate old-fashioned optical telescope specifically for watching the matches.

This time, there should be something new to show them.

"Boss, boss!" A man with a crew cut rushed in through the open classroom door.

Yuzhu was running out of breath, clutching a rough piece of paper in her hand. Her face didn't even turn pale from the intense running. "The crystal is missing, and this was left in the workshop."

Rinyin took the piece of paper, on which were written crookedly: "Rinyin, before five o'clock, come to training room No. 6 alone, and your person will leave." The handwriting was sloppy, as if it was written in a hurry.

So arrogant.

Linyin gently stroked the edge of the paper. She knew that she had deep resentment with those domineering family members, and their actions this time were obviously not just simple revenge.

Crystal is her closest classmate. Kidnapping her is a provocation, a test of her bottom line, and a warning to everyone - look, this is the fate of getting close to Rin and supporting Rin.

The surroundings were so quiet that only the sound of her breathing could be heard.

Linyin folded the paper back to its original shape and stuffed it into Yuzhu's pocket. Her tone was calm and almost cold: "You and Kaiya go to the principal's office and give the note to the principal."

She knew the principal's difficulties and did not want to disturb him easily, but these noble students had already begun to attack people around her, and the situation had developed to the point where she had to ask for her intervention.

"Kaiya and I will go with you!" Yuzhu's eyes were full of worry.

"Listen to me." Lin Yin's eyes were sharp. "Follow their rules first." Crystal's safety was the most important thing. The behavior of those spoiled nobles with limited intelligence was totally unpredictable. She couldn't afford to take the risk.

She glanced down at the terminal. The time read 4:50. Ten minutes was enough for her to reach Training Room 6. She took a deep breath and said, "I can go alone. It's enough."

Yuzhu wanted to fight for it, but when she saw Linyin's eyes, she finally swallowed her words.

…………

Stepping onto the rubber floor of Training Room No. 6, Rinyin kicked away the obstructing cushions and walked straight towards Crystal who was tied to a chair.

Two electronic locks with the control panel kicked off were scattered beside Crystal's legs. It was obvious that she had struggled violently.

Rinyin squatted down silently, her eyes level with Crystal's, and gently and quickly peeled off the tape on her face. "Are you okay?" she asked her in a low voice.

Crystal's voice was a little hoarse. "I'm sorry... I didn't expect them to steal the workshop's key and ambush it..."

"It's not your fault." Linyin shook her head and raised her index finger in a shushing gesture, signaling Shuijing to stop talking. She quickly scanned Shuijing's body, confirming that she had no other injuries, and breathed a sigh of relief.

"Wow, what a scene of sisterly love."

Damian Horn sat cross-legged on the equipment box and spoke in a sarcastic tone.

A dozen or so students from the Phantasmal Beast Department stood behind him, several clutching weapons. Made of matte silver-grey alloy, the handles were wrapped in a dark green snake-scale anti-slip coating—they were controlled phantom energy guns, each shot packing the equivalent of a full-strength attack from a Xuan-level Phantasmal Beast.

"I came here alone, so it's my turn to leave. Is that okay?" Linyin stood up and looked down at everyone coldly. She was already tall, and at this moment her aura was even more oppressive.

Damian pretended to lower his head to operate the controller, avoiding Rin's gaze; the others also tacitly chose not to look directly into Rin's eyes. Suddenly, the guns in their hands and the patterns on the floor became interesting.

The electronic locks on Crystal's ankles and wrists detached with a sound. Seeing that Crystal had regained her ability to move, Rinyin turned around and began to call the roll.

Let’s start with four faces I just met today.

"Ricky King, Abel Douglas, Zhiyuan Gao, and Rael Ashton, you're exhausted after just two hours of sweeping the hallway. You're so weak, why don't you stay home from school?"

Ignoring the four people's excited expressions, she turned to the others, "Nia Kari, last week at the night market, she saw someone else's mammoth and when they refused to give it to her, she took it by force... Is your Kari family almost ruined? Do you have to steal Earth-level mythical beasts from others?"

"And you guys, I can't remember your names after so long. My hippocampus automatically filters out the garbage, and your names are not worthy of being stored in my long-term memory."

She looked at the phantom guns in their hands and said, "The phantom gun was invented by your ancestors to protect human civilization, but you use it to show off your power in school and bully your classmates."

She gave a thumbs-up and exclaimed, "What a filial son and grandson."

"Don't just stand there. Those with contracted mythical beasts, armor up. The rest of you, shield up and stand in the back. We have to teach her a lesson today." Damian realized that the situation was getting out of control under Rin's verbal attacks, so he decisively summoned the phantom of a three-headed dog, which hovered over his shoulder. "Hell Blade."

Upon hearing this, several people transformed into armor. For a moment, the small training ground was filled with the dazzling light of phantom beast armor.

The black blade of light barely grazed Linyin's ear. She picked up a training rod scattered on the ground and thrust it forcefully into the barrel of Ricky King's phantom gun. The barrel exploded, and even with the phantom armor blocking it, his entire arm was still blasted with blood.

Nia Kari, without a phantom beast, crouched behind Abel, holding a phantom shield. Rinne spun around and kicked Abel's gun, sending it careening into Nia Kari's forehead.

Six ice cones brushed past her waist; it was the breath of Zhiyuan Gao's frost lizard.

The firepower of the phantom gun could not be taken head-on, so Linyin used the wall to gain leverage, flipped over and jumped over everyone's heads, and the moment she landed, she delivered elbow and knee strikes in one go. The two people holding shields knocked over the other three people in the back row around them like bowling balls.

Linyin grabbed one of the bowling balls, feeling the subcutaneous fat slippery and unyielding. "For someone like you, a pressure cooker would have to cook it for four hours."

The opponent screamed, and the phantom shield fell to the ground. With her toes, she lifted the shield, its power deactivated, and the edge of the shield sliced ​​through the sandbags hanging from the ceiling, sending fifty kilograms of iron sand cascading down. The bowlers shielded their heads with their shields, while the phantom beasts in armor avoided the iron sand area.

Blood dripped down Rin's left arm; she, too, had been scratched by the sharp edge of the iron sand. She tore off her sleeve, scorched by the phantom energy, and bandaged it around the wound. The smell of burnt fabric mixed with the scent of blood irritated everyone.

A groan came from the corner - Crystal had picked up Abel's fallen phantom gun at some point and was pointing the barrel at Nia Kari.

"Damian, let them go!" Nia Kari panted. Born into the wealthy Kari family, he had yet to successfully forge a phantom beast contract, a testament to his lack of combat talent. Being struck in the face and threatened by the same phantom spear, his spirit was nearly broken.

Damian wasn't their true leader, and strictly speaking, the Horn family wasn't even as powerful as the Cary family. Damian didn't want to give up, but seeing Nia Cary's expression, he knew this was the end of the matter.

"A bunch of trash." Damian cursed in his heart.

………………

Linyin supported Shuijing out of the training room, and a very light pine scent wafted through her nose. The familiar smell distracted her slightly, but she quickly brought her attention back to the present.

"Boss, are you okay?" Crystal said with a hint of tears in her voice. Linyin's body was scratched by the iron sand in many places, and she looked scarred.

"It's okay, just a scrape."

"But there are too many scrapes... and here... is this a burn?" Crystal pointed at the small wound on the inside of Linyin's forearm and screamed.

Lin Yin didn't know whether to laugh or cry, "They used phantom guns, and I didn't have any protective film on my body, so how could I not be hurt at all?"

"No, boss, you have to lie down in the medical cabin. I will supervise you to go to the infirmary now!" Crystal's eyes were firm. She stopped and tried to turn towards the infirmary.

"...Your boss didn't buy insurance for the school hospital, so you have to pay for medical treatment yourself." Linyin opened the terminal to show Shuijing's wallet balance. "If you're injured outside of teaching, a stay in the medical cabin costs 200 gold coins. I can be healed today, but I'll starve to death tomorrow."

"Then let me bandage you! If you put the medicine on yourself, you'd probably just smear it on carelessly and not handle it properly at all!"

"……All right."

…………