Academic gathering with a lich-Chapter 128 - 113 Outdoor Teaching

Nia had been away from his side for almost a full day, and Lyle had thought that without a living humidifier in his clothes, his movements would become much more effortless. However, in reality, he felt utterly unadapted to the absence of talent. There were no tentacles randomly poking out from his sleeves, no mysterious disappearances of food beside him when he wasn’t paying attention; he only felt a sense of loss, and anticipation for the night to come.

Today, as dusk neared, Lyle pressed down on Andrey’s ring.

The little figure sat on the luxurious velvet seat of the Cup of Opulence, her two slender legs straight as lotus roots, dangling in the air. Her pink butterfly dress, scattered like petals, and a strand of stubborn hair had somehow appeared on her neatly coiled black hair, swaying with her wiggling feet. Humming a cheerful tune, her plump little hands held a silver fork, rhythmically piercing the pastries on the plate before stuffing them into her cheeks, which were constantly chewing like a squirrel’s.

Her features were very delicate, the familiar contours of her eyes and nose resembling the little girl in the murals of the Naslan Mausoleum; it was Alianna as a child, her beautiful face chubby with baby fat, as if one could bite into it and squeeze out water.

As soon as Lyle appeared in the middle of the carved marble, the little one dropped the fork, her two small arms and the hair on her head fluttering in the air.

"Gurulu!" Like a child seeing a beloved toy, she waved her hands energetically, speaking as if she were singing, "Over here, over here!"

Lyle had a premonition about her identity and his body slowed a beat as he thought.

The little one seemed unable to wait anymore, her hands pressed against the chair.

Her heels touched the floor, then her knees, belly, hands, face.

She completed a cute fall flat on the ground, with a not-so-quiet smack upon impact.

The sounds around her stopped.

That pretty face slowly lifted, arms propped on the ground, smiling at Lyle, who was just as bewildered.

"Nia forgot how to stand."

She was his talent, and it seemed Nia’s transformation ability not only didn’t disappear with her physical change but had also strengthened quite a bit.

"Come here, come here."

Pattering on the ground, as if acting petulantly.

Lyle slowly approached, his eyes like sapphires locked onto hers.

The palm clad in black leather gloves touched the little flesh-pink hand.

The little girl’s body transformed rapidly, like a cloud of expanding black mist. Tentacles coiled around Lyle, the black nodules climbing onto his shoulders, slowly taking shape, the black eyeballs reopening.

Her tentacles danced in the air.

"Rua! Nia is back!"

Lyle smiled, swatting away the black tentacles that landed on his bird beak mask.

"Gurulu, lick lick."

"No!"

"Uh."

Gurgle was the nickname that Nia gave to Lyle. It was the first sound she heard after she was born, the first sound she heard coming from Lyle. Over time, it became Lyle’s nickname.

Lyle and Nia spent some affectionate time together before stepping out of the Cup of Extravagance.

Tonight there was another lesson from Mister Dragon, and it was a rare outdoor class.

Lyle took out the note that Mister Dragon had left behind the night before they parted.

"White Bone Forest? One hundred meters east of Andrei Academy’s rear garden."

The rear garden.

Calling it a garden might not be quite accurate, as the giant flowers here could grow up to the height of a building, the sturdy stems rivaled tree trunks, and the edges of the massive leaves were serrated. Moreover, the rampant growth of these plants showed no signs of human cultivation.

Lyle did not enter but walked around the garden’s periphery. No one knew what lurked in the depths of the garden. Lyle looked at the vast expanse of Felt Moss in front of him, with its red, bulbous glands covered in dew, looking like beautiful red gems. Lyle could not think of any massive insects that would be attracted to this stuff; surely it wasn’t mimicking jewelry to trap people as its prey. Taking another small step back, Lyle recalled the Gentleman mentioning that eighty percent of the injuries and disabilities among members of Andrey came from inside the Academy; it was still better to be careful.

Just as Lyle was about to leave, Nia instantly turned into a big mouth and bit ferociously into one of the Felt Moss’s red glands.

"Disgusting," she spat the barely chewed red bits back out. At this moment, the Felt Moss slowly began to curl in on itself. Nia crossed off Felt Moss from her list of tasty treats, denying its value as food.

"I remember, didn’t Mister Dragon’s White Bone Missiles flatten the rear garden before? They’ve grown back so quickly."

Impressed by the rapid growth capabilities of the plants, Lyle ventured deep into the woods, leaving the bare Felt Moss swaying in the wind.

Even in the height of summer, the woods surrounding Andrei Academy were very cool. There were no clamorous noises of insects, and the occasional breeze carried with it desolation and a chill.

The surrounding trees had no leaves, just sinister and twisted branches resembling ghastly claws, flailing viciously. Under the moonlight, those monstrous shadows fell on the ground, on your body, dragging your consciousness into fear.

But this did not affect Lyle much. Nia, being the mischievous girl she was, struck down every stick within reach as if she were a lawnmower cutting a path, leaving broken twigs scattered on the ground.

After some time tending to horticultural activities, Lyle’s view widened, and he arrived at a new area.

The distribution of plants had thinned significantly, with the few that remained looking malnourished and decrepit. The texture of the soil here had changed, with the top layer completely turned to sand under the moonlight, revealing a pale white hue. Stepping on it caused a slight indentation but did not hinder walking.

He was in the right place. Those classmates who resembled statues stood on this white sandy ground, maintaining a distance from each other like feuding enemies.

The giant doll costume worn by Mister Dragon was still very easy to recognize, and the massive White Bone Golem beside him was even easier to identify.

The creature was four meters tall, with skeletal parts that clearly showed traces of human bones, with bone spurs protruding out of the gaps in its ribs, and two bone arms like raised battering rams. Lyle imagined the collision of this war machine; its bone spurs would skewer you first, then the subsequent impact would squeeze your bodily fluids and organs out of the previously created holes like water from a sponge. You would die in the instant of the collision, your remains crashing to the ground like a squashed orange.

Mister Dragon climbed atop the White Bone Golem, looking at the students gathered around him.

"Today, we learn the most important lesson in Spirit Summoning Studies, Creature Modification."