[You have killed a domestic cow, 297 exp.]

[You have killed a domestic cow, 265 exp.]

[You have killed a domestic cow, 236 exp.]

Not a single one gave him 300 exp, let alone over that. Well, he already guessed that much after laying eyes on them. It was a shame that he was just a little short of exp for the next level.

Alexander inwardly chided himself. It was his greed talking.

But could he complain? Never, he got more than what he hoped for. To him, it felt like a bonus salary.

Alexander was not running toward his house but his university. And like the beautiful downy horizon, his eyes were completely red. His feet weren’t stable either, as he found it quite hard to keep his balance. Unsurprising to say that from look or behavior, he perfectly encompassed a pot smoker. A sentiment not even a veteran pot addict could deny.

As for why he was dragging himself through, that was obvious. If he missed uni today, he would have to start all over; never gonna do that. And as there was a chance of getting attacked today, he decided to finish all his work earlier. And also, the university was quite far away. As for why he did not get a taxi, that was the simplest answer. In these off hours, some, if not most, taxis charged more, and he was a damn stingy person.

It took him almost 3 hours, well plus or minus 15 minutes, to reach the university. But he had no mood to determine it either, as he quickly ordered an espresso from the café conveniently placed right opposite the university gate. The convenient part was not, of course, for people like him, but for the many couples littered around the university.

He took the first sip. “Oh, damn, this was bitter.” Then the second one, no improvement on the taste department. Then the third sip, and that’s when it hit him. And man did it hit him, like a damn truck. Knocking the sleep right out of his system.

The fourth sip and it started to taste a bit better and a little less bitter. And by the final sip, Alexander felt like he got his money’s worth completely. Alexander almost stood up ready for a day’s work and possibly a fight. But thinking of the fight, he paused a bit.

“Sigh.”

Sighing, he ordered another cup of espresso, consoling himself, or rather his pocket, with a promise that he was going to thoroughly enjoy every sip. A promise he kept thoroughly, in memory of his spent money, oh his dear money.

While paying, his face was so mournful that every barista had looked at him weirdly. But he was, of course, too sorrow-stricken to actually notice that.

Walking through the university gates, Alexander decided to use his newfound sorrow as a motivation for his work. As he did not do the work with utmost of his capability, he would not be able to justify his spending money, oh his dear money.

The work was, of course, tough, but he managed. By the time it was almost noon, considering everything, he was quite done for his last day of work. Well, technically not the last day, as he still had a half day’s worth of work pending. But he could do that anytime later, even after joining the classes again, which he planned to do. Partly to throw the seniors off if they decided to attack him tomorrow on the basis that he would come for the half day.

Now all that was left was to report to Mr. Anwar and go on his merry way. Except there was one teeny, tiny, minuscule problem. Even today, he felt gazes on him. But it seemed from when he entered the uni to up until now there was only one single pair of eyes following him, or at least that’s what he could infer.

Maybe they will not attack him today after all. The thought put a smile of relief on his face, which in the next moment turned mischievous. Something suddenly popped into his mind, and he could not wait, or rather wait to try it.

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Alexander was just about to report to Mr. Anwar, but instead of that, he just sat on the roadside bench. His face in an exceptionally contemplative mood. And contemplation he did. But on what he did not know as most of the time was spent on dissolving into the subject, getting lost in the cosmos of his mind. Yes, there was no way he was actually dozing off.

Next, he went into the cafeteria, and after ordering some food, he again did some deep thinking, some philosophy, some high-level thinking and all that, so much so that he did not even notice when food was just in front of him. Mostly because he had his eyes closed but in deep thought, that tends to happen, right?

There was no library in the university anymore, so he did some spiritual mourning in front of the library next. You know, the kind where you sit under a tree and with your eyes closed mourn the loss of the previous building.

Like this, one after another, he contemplated, meditated, and got lost in deep thought throughout the day, with his eyes closed of course.

This continued until Alexander felt like the senior following him might not be able to endure more and come for him. At which point Alexander decided to go to Mr. Anwar’s room for reporting. And also because it was almost after noon and it was his leaving time.

But Alexander had to give it to the senior; he was still watching him. The damn thing had patience, if nothing else.

As expected, the senior did not try to follow him into the administrative building. Mr. Anwar was on the 2nd floor, if Alexander did not hear wrongly. After some time of snooping around, he found the teacher’s room and entered. Getting permission first, of course.

Alexander was granted entry but he had to stand to the side; Mr. Anwar was already talking with someone, Mr. Shine, another newly joined lecturer.

Mr. Shine was an odd one. If Mr. Anwar was someone that could be described with the word strict, Mr. Shine was something of an oddball. Mr. Shine did not attend most of his classes, and the ones he did attend, he completely half-assed them. As if to say he put no effort into his teaching.

And just to drive the point home, even now he had a paper-wrapped bottle on his side, undoubtedly alcohol. The only time Alexander saw him without alcohol was when he was in the classroom. To be frankly honest, the man reeked of alcohol.

Why such a new teacher was talking with someone as veteran as Mr. Anwar, who was a professor in rank Alexander had no idea. And frankly, there was no way to tell either, as though Alexander could completely see their mouths move, there was no way to actually hear anything. The room was completely silent. Alexander knew of this common skill. From the stage after the Xoe 9, which some called E-rank, people can use it. Well, theoretically, they can, but it requires a good grasp of qi control, on the inner and outer qi. As it mainly uses qi control to distort sound.

It was kind of given; at least the teacher let him in, that’s good. But the thing that truly perplexed, and really perplexed, was that according to their gestures and postures, they looked almost equal. It even seemed Mr. Anwar held Mr. Shine in high regard. Alexander scoffed; that cannot happen. Alexander chalked it up to the fact that Mr. Anwar was just being nice to his junior colleague. Mr. Anwar was nice like that, but the word nice and the image of Mr. Anwar clashed in his mind, immediately and with fervor.

It took around 5 minutes before Mr. Anwar depleted the barrier of qi, as Mr. Shine stood up to go.

“Oh! Alexander, how is it going?” Mr. Shine said, a bit of shock in his voice. “Wow, it seems you have opened more than 5 paths, well even more, it seems.” He then looked at Mr. Anwar and said, “He must have passed your exam easily then.”

Then again turning back to Alexander, Mr. Shine said, “Well, it seems you are working hard, kiddo. Keep it up.”

Saying this, he exited. But Alexander’s mind just exploded. First, when did he learn his name? Alexander was no one important. Second, how did he know he had opened more than 3 paths? And third, and most importantly, his breath stank. Alexander almost felt like vomiting.

“Hey, Alexander, did you come to report?” Mr. Anwar asked as he stood up.

“Yes, sir,” Alexander answered with utmost respect.

“Can you come here and help me with this?” Mr. Anwar said, pointing at an object on the wall that looked like a 7.5-foot tall metal pole or something as he could not see it due to it being completely covered in a polyester-like cloth of some kind.

A teacher needing help, Alexander was all for it. But he became perplexed when the task seemed to be physical. Like you cannot ask a result of a teacher out of respect, Alexander too could not ask about a teacher’s cultivation level. But he doubted, I mean really doubted that Mr. Anwar can need help on something physical. And that too form some one like him. Considering a teacher had to be a B-grade at the least to be a professor-level teacher in any university but the capital. In the capital, you had to be at least an A-level just to qualify for teaching. Yeah, it was a completely different case there. After all, there was a reason it was the source that produced most of Earth’s geniuses after all.

“You just stand there. If it falls, just catch it. That’s all,” Mr. Anwar said as he went to pick the thing up. But suddenly his hand slipped, and the thing tilted and slid on the wall toward Alexander.

As per instructed, Alexander tried to stop it. But as soon as his hand made contact, he felt like he was actually stopping a 100 kg man or something. No matter what this thing was, it sure as hell was extremely heavy for its size. But from how pointy or rather sharp it was on its edge, Alexander was sure this was some kind of edge or modern art piece or something.

“Sigh,” Mr. Anwar sighed in relief. “It’s a good thing I placed you there. You see, nowadays my hands are quite slippery.” Saying this, the man easily swiped the object from Alexander’s hand.

Alexander walked out of the teacher’s chambers with confusion on his face. There was something off, but he just could not put a finger on it.

After he took the object, Mr. Anwar dismissed him, saying he would take care of the report. No need for him to worry, for which Alexander was of course grateful.

But he was more bothered than happy, not understanding the oddness in that room. Like a fly, it was buzzing in his mind.

But all that was thrown out the window as he saw one of the seniors, who he was sure was stalking him, stop right in front of him with his hovering motorcycle