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*Sizzle* Dante smiled as he saw his arm slowly rotting away at the end of a spell cast by his teacher. It was currently late in the night, but they were still working hard on making progress on his body. "You scammed me." "Teacher, you were the one to make the offer." "Even so, you've scammed me." "But why do you keep saying that?" Dante asked with a gentle smile, slowly regrowing his arm on the steel plate. "It's too hard to work with your body right now; you have to get stronger so your limbs and all can resist more experiments." Iris answered in an irritated tone. "Teacher, want to hear a joke?" "No." "What do we say when a statue is a drug addict?" "I don't want to know." "He's stoned." Dante proudly replied. After he looked at his silent teacher, "Dante, you do know that it was so bad that you would be hanged for your sin?" She exasperatedly voiced "Come on, it wasn't that bad. Was it?" Dante still maintained his smile. "You can go back to your room; you're useless to me right now. Go make yourself useful." As she said that, she returned to my other dissected arm and continued her experiments. "Teacher, do you ever eat?" He asked curiously. "I eat when I finish my work. It's one of the rules of research. Never let go of your experiment when you have started, or you have a greater chance of likely failing." "What kind of things should I do then?" "Do something to strengthen your muscles and bones or something. I don't know." She looked annoyed. "So do I have to see you in my free time from now on?" Dante asked; this time, his smile had faded away. His eyes were serious and attentive. His teacher couldn't see his state. "You won't need to until I tell you to." "Can't I come here whenever?" "No. What do you think this is? A club?" She answered back. "When are you going to need me then?" His voice became more and more serious, and this didn't go unnoticed by Iris. She turned around and looked at him. "Teacher, will you call me if I become stronger?" "Of course!" "Alright then." Was the last thing he said as he exited the teacher's apartment. 'Why is he so clingy all of a sudden?' She thought before brushing that off and getting back to work. … "Good morning, students. Today we're going to practice magic for the last time. I need all of you to come before me and hit the mannequin with a spell." Victor, their magic practice teacher, tasked them with "First, Nyx." The blue-eyed girl walked to the mannequin, and after chanting for about a minute or so, wind was summoned toward the mannequin. Slightly moving it. "Good. If I were to rate your performance and give you a note, I would give you an A. There were a lot of things that were messed up, but it was good overall." With that, he patted her head as if asking her not to worry. "Next!" This time, the red-haired Rowan came forward and cast a spell, taking longer than Nyx. But this was different; fire appeared before him and was pushed toward the mannequin. Not even scorching it. He looked proud. "A B-" However, after hearing his note, he got slightly frustrated. And so on, the students showed their skills one by one until it was Sylph's turn. Everyone became extremely attentive as she stepped toward the mannequin. Her every step showed confidence, or more likely, laziness. Like before, a spear of ice appeared and hit the target, pushing it back. Even if it was the second time they saw this, they were still in awe. "A well-deserved A+" "And the last one. You don't need to "Alright, my turn." Dante interrogated him and walked in the middle of the aren. Everyone looked at him, not out of curiosity but out of hate. They hoped that he would fail miserably, like last time. He then held his hand toward the target as a stone spear appeared after a minute. Everyone looked surprised and was expecting him to launch his spell, but he didn't for another whole minute. They started getting impatient when they suddenly heard a whistle. Between the stone spear and his hand appeared compressed air. Before anyone could react, they heard a small bang as the stone spear was projected at a very fast speed. It then hit the mannequin in the head, completely obliterating it. They were all stupefied by the fact that the one they thought was a weakling suddenly showed this kind of prowess. They then heard their teacher's voice. "Incredible show of logical spell casting. A well-deserved A. You unfortunately spent too much time casting it." "Thank you, teacher." Dante slightly bowed his head and walked back to Sylph's side. The teacher then taught them how to use their mana in a better way. Even if he taught them something similar to what their theoretical magic teacher did, it would take a huge amount of time. Friday afternoon was free to them, so they could have time to go home during the weekend. .. On his way back to his room, Dante had a sudden thought. He grabbed the bird in his hand and then cast his most useless skill. { Name: Skully Specie: Barn Owl *Mutation: biologically engineered living being (Dante) Description: This barn owl has been biologically altered (unrecognized, system database insufficient); this living being has been modified to accommodate the cores of three evolved giant crocodiles. This creature now possesses the skill "Fortress of Scales. Attributes: Strength: C Agility: B Mana Pool: D- Mana quality: F Dexterity: C+ Intelligence: F Magic: F Stamina: E System appraisal: "Poor living being..." Skills: [Fortress of Scales] (mutated)] (New) [Fortress of Scales]: This skill allows the user to grow a very sturdy scale-like shield to protect itself. The user, however, can't move during casting. Mutation: This skill has been engineered by Dante. It allows the user to move and can also choose the thickness of the shield. Bond: Dante Current status: rejuvenated, shortened life span, growing 'Shortened life span?' Dante thought and was met with an answer. This creature is a combination of three. It is biologically unstable for now, and its current estimated life span is six years. You should hunt three more evolved giant crocodiles to unlock their skill. 'That's right, I need to make use of Everlasting Evolution." Just as he entered the house, a thing flew toward his neck and pinned him against the wall. "Eugh!" When he looked at who was the culprit, he saw a man with black eyes and dark hair looking at him. "What are you hiding?" He asked in an extremely cold voice. "What are you talking about? Eugh!" Just as he was about to finish, he felt the hand on his neck clench harder. "Why is there such a smell of blood in that room?" "I killed students." Dante said it without thinking, a small smile appearing on his face. "Stop lying; I have read the school student database, and no one was absent except you." "Alright, alright, eugh... "How about you release me?" *tud* He fell to the ground and held his neck, finally able to breathe. "Hey, mister, that's not really a way to treat a poor kid." Dante said it jokingly. "So what have you been doing until now for it to smell like this? You thought we couldn't notice it, but it was so badly cleaned it smelled outside the room." "I was feeding my pet." He said it confusedly, and he then looked at the bird who had been knocked on the side. Before he could make any other deductions, another bigger owl flew by the window with a small raccoon in its talons. As it entered the room, it looked around, confused. Then, as if having understood the situation (misunderstood), he slightly bowed his head and said, "I apologize for my comportment. You, however, should warn the academy of this kind of activity." "This is the heart of the kingdom, so violent measures are to be taken to secure this important place. I hope you don't mind my behavior." "Of course not. I just didn't know that pets were allowed in this school until yesterday." Before Dante could talk any further, the person in front of him disappeared in the blink of an eye. His eyes then started to glow a deep red as he muttered. "I'm sure tomorrow's hunt will be interesting." He smiled slightly. …

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