“Are you saying that for a Rank 6 Soul Spirit, I should sell out my brother?”
Hearing this, Lomio felt a flicker of anger, but it was mostly amusement. Who didn’t know how to write a rubber check? With such a sturdy thigh like the Russell Imperial Family to cling to, which could prevent his doom, only an idiot would let go!
“How about this? I’ll promise to make you a Great General of the Duchy in the future. Now, get out of the Academy, and in 100 years, you can come find me to claim your prize?”
“The Cromwells never give empty promises.”
At this point, Beatrice revealed a confident smile again. “But there is only one Rank 6 Soul Spirit. I promise I won’t demand any tribute from you like he does. It’s just a change of masters. What difference does it make to you?”
‘Damn, she really looks down on me!’
Lomio felt his face heat up slightly. Clinging to a powerful thigh or brotherly affection were things done out of mutual consent, but coming from this woman… or rather, this femboy’s mouth, it sounded purely mercenary!
In this Academy, could there possibly be anyone with more of a conscience than Lomio Arkadi?!
“Camille, you’re really something.”
By now, Lomio was even more certain that the girl in front of him definitely had a problem. Throughout the plot, the only one who could cause such a change was that socialite of the Cromwell family, Camille!
“Do you think you have a great way of surviving, and that everyone else is just like you?”
Lomio saw the other person’s expression shift again.
“Who I am doesn’t matter.” Beatrice’s brow furrowed, a trace of wariness appearing in her eyes. “I only care about the trade, just as you only care about profit.”
“Yes, you’re right about that.” Lomio was candid. “Then let me ask you, do you know why I care about profit?”
“To climb the ladder, of course.” Beatrice set her teacup aside. “But you’ve chosen the wrong path. You’ll inevitably end up bruised all over without getting the results you want. Because you have no self-awareness as a man.”
“Self-awareness as a man?” Lomio truly couldn’t suppress the twitch of his lips.
Look at this! In this gender-flipped world, the most “manly” lifestyle was actually being a social butterfly, and they weren’t even ashamed of it!
“So as long as one is willing to bow their head to women, they can gain a wider world?”
“Otherwise, how far do you think you can go?” Beatrice seemed to have found the area she was most proud of. “In this world, there has never been a Rank 10 male powerhouse. From the very beginning, your fate was destined to yield no results. No matter how hard you work, what’s the use? Once you step out of this Academy, you’ll still be that minor border noble, Lomio Arkadi. No one will remember you, and no one will care about you.”
Lomio braced himself against the edge of the table and stood up, stretching his wrists. “So you live your whole life just to be remembered? Do I need you to care about me?”
Beatrice shrank back slightly, her fingertips digging into the armrest of the rattan chair. “You’re only acting tough now. Once the social banquet is over and no one is covering for you, let’s see if you can still be this arrogant.”
“Covering for me?” Lomio laughed out loud. “I, Lomio, need someone to cover for me?”
He raised a finger and pointed toward the auditorium downstairs. It was packed with students, most of whom were there for the Ace Team.
“See those hundreds of people down there? Eight out of ten of them are talents belonging to the Ace Team.”
“A rabble. No matter how many you gather, what’s the use?” Beatrice gave a disdainful smile. “You don’t actually think Elena and Lilith are the peak of combat power, do you?”
“Whether they are at the peak or not, we’ll only know in the future.”
Lomio wasn’t about to tell this person that those two characters required specific training methods to reach their full potential!
“You think you know a lot? You have the nerve to come out and teach me how to live?” Lomio shook his head. “Why waste your breath on a man like me? Why don’t you go practice your tongue’s flexibility instead? You won’t lick a single credit out of me.”
Beatrice’s face turned beet red. Dark magic surged at her fingertips, but she forced it back down.
“I don’t know anything? This is how the world works! Men can’t survive at all without relying on women!”
“Oh?”
Just then, footsteps echoed from the stairs of the terrace. A woman in a black mage robe walked up, carrying a small bag of freshly roasted nuts.
“My, what a fascinating topic.”
The woman was dressed in purple, exceedingly charming. Her pale purple hair flowed down over her shoulders to her waist, partially obscuring a magnificent and mysterious right eye. The finely crafted mage robe was slit from the side of her leg almost all the way up to her shoulder. Her impressive stats filled out the robe’s side profile perfectly.
Calling her “stunningly beautiful” wouldn’t be an exaggeration.
“This senior looks familiar…”
Lomio paused his steps and immediately realized who the person in front of him was. “Could it be the one known as the Shadow of a Thousand Changes, Senior Epicolis?”
As he spoke, he concealed his presence and quietly released his charm aura.
“Oh my?”
Being called by her name by a strange man surprised Epicolis. She looked the boy over.
*Thump!*
With just one look, Epicolis felt as though those teal-gold eyes were being etched into her memory!
“The topic just now… was indeed very interesting.”
Lomio nodded. Just as he was about to strike up a conversation, Beatrice stood up first, a flattering smile plastered on her face.
“Senior Epicolis! I am Beatrice Cromwell, the second daughter of the Cromwell family. My brother is Camille Cromwell. We met the last time you attended the banquet in the capital!”
Beatrice’s voice was sickeningly sweet. She moved closer, intentionally revealing the silver pendant around her neck.
Epicolis frowned. With a wave of her hand, Beatrice vanished from the spot, reappearing instantly back in her chair. “There’s a foul smell on you. Don’t talk to me.”
As she spoke, she walked over to Lomio and held out the bag of nuts. “Junior Lomio, right? Do you like nuts? I just ran into Master Ankat. She said you are very talented and seem to want to pursue further development in alchemy?”
Lomio took the bag of nuts.
‘Whoa, did the alcoholic brat get the MVP?’
A few days ago, when he visited Ankat, he had indeed dropped some hints and asked about teleportation-type alchemy cards. And the result? He had already found his target!
“I do want to develop my skills properly.” Lomio reached in and politely took two nuts from the bag, then stepped back slightly, reigning in his aura. “For the sake of the team, I want to learn how to make some auxiliary alchemy cards, but I’ve been struggling to grasp the essentials.”
“In that case, things are simple.”
Epicolis nodded. she pulled a crumpled price list from her robes and handed it over. “Well, since you are Master Ankat’s student… individual guidance will be at this price.”
**[Teleportation Alchemy Construction: 150 credits/hour]**
‘Are you kidding me!’
Seeing the number, Lomio felt his vision blur and his brain reel. In the game’s plot, this was something given for free just by grinding favorability, but now it cost 150 credits?! And that was only for one hour of guidance! Even if Lomio poured all his credits in now and drained his account dry, it would only last for half a day!
“However…” Epicolis took back the price list and lightly tore it to shreds. “If you really are a student of the Sage Genoa, as Master Ankat said… it’s not impossible to exchange knowledge for your unique operational procedures at the alchemy station.”
“My, such a mutually beneficial thing, yet you still had to give me a bill first to scare a newcomer?”
Lomio finally understood. She was after his alchemy QTEs!
“Senior, you’re quite wicked. But compared to stupid women, I prefer wicked ones.”
As he spoke, Lomio glanced at Beatrice. Beatrice stood frozen, her knuckles white from clenching her fists, her entire body trembling.
Epicolis! The top teleportation master among all the third-year students was actually approaching a freshman like Lomio and even offering a discount? Why?!
Having received the answer she wanted, Epicolis smiled. “It’s getting late, and it’s too noisy here.”
She reached into the front of her robe and pulled a gold coin from the mysterious valley of her cleavage. “After school tomorrow, I’ll be waiting for you in the workshop.”
“Thank you.”
Taking the coin, which still held her body heat, Lomio stored it into the Talent Tree system. He noticed a flash of confusion in her eyes.
“No mana fluctuations, yet the storage is complete?” Epicolis’s already interested expression grew even more playful. “As a first-year, you really are interesting, Junior.”
“If you’re willing to learn more, Senior, there will definitely be more surprises,” Lomio countered. “Why don’t we take our time exploring them starting tomorrow?”
“I look forward to it.”
A purple light flashed over Epicolis, and she vanished instantly.
‘So fast?!’
Watching the moment of teleportation, Lomio instinctively compared it to her performance in the game. There was almost no hand movement and no warning! Was she even more broken than she was in the game?!