Academic gathering with a lich-Chapter 153 - 146 Great Idea

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The air was filled with a bone-chilling cold, which could be a psychological effect on Lyle or the manifestation of the wielded Ice Magic Power, or perhaps both.

The manipulator seemed as if he had just stepped out of a sauna room, with ribbons of white smoke rising from his body like satin streamers; that was the solidified Magic Power. Just like the small cluster of ice spikes at the tip of his Magic Wand, shining with a sharp glint, it was as if a blade raised to pierce straight into Lyle’s eye sockets.

"Do you think you can stop me and Mr. Plague Doctor alone, Manipulator? We will defeat you before your brother creates something capable of turning the tide."

Mr. Shiny did not choose to stand idly by; he firmly took Lyle’s side. If Flexibility did indeed create Necromantic Creations, those Skeleton Materials would surely be monopolized by the two brothers, leaving him not a single bone. To ensure that his efforts wouldn’t go to waste, he had to quickly defeat Manipulator alongside the Plague Doctor and then deal with Flexibility. Once the brothers had fallen out, there was no peaceful resolution left; they were all prey, and they were all hunters.

Mr. Manipulator was not disheartened, even though Mr. Shiny’s words were exactly the reality. He moved his head, causing a creaking noise from his neck. Paying no heed to Mr. Shiny’s threats, Mr. Manipulator’s gaze was fixed on Lyle.

"Mr. Plague Doctor, although defeating you so easily is not what I wanted to see, I see no reason to toss away a victory that is within my grasp. I’m sorry, Mr. Plague Doctor, but... I will personally dismantle your bones to use as materials for constructing my creation, and with your remains, become the top scorer in this examination. Mr. Plague Doctor, please stay by my side and witness my strength."

Dark lines formed on Lyle’s forehead. What kind of morbid statement was that? Was this Manipulator sick in the head?

It was just an examination; was it necessary to kill a classmate and then desecrate his body? In his heart, Lyle negated Mr. Manipulator’s character.

Confronted with such a Manipulator, Lyle tilted his head.

"Your time is up, Mr. Manipulator."

Plague Messenger, symptom, rigidification.

Lyle had long discovered something: his classmates were extremely ill-adapted to a state of rigidity, as if they lacked the muscle tissue to move their bodies.

From the beginning, the Plague Messenger’s target was not just the Skeleton Mammoth. It would be fair to say that under Andrey’s influence over time, Lyle had developed a bit of a dark heart. Mr. Dragon had already confirmed that there would be a first place at the start of the exam, meaning the others were merely enemies.

Watching Mr. Manipulator, who was shaking all over and desperately trying to move, contrasted starkly with his previous bravado.

Lyle felt a rare sense of mischief; he walked up to Manipulator, his beak mask facing Manipulator’s mask, and then brushed past him.

"I’m afraid I won’t be able to join the remodeling of your creation, Mr. Manipulator, but don’t worry, I won’t do any harm to your body, nor indulge in retaliatory actions like yours."

"Why?" Unexpectedly, the rigidified Manipulator could still articulate normally, "Because I’m not worthy of your recognition?"

"No, I just find such behavior rather distasteful." Toying with a classmate’s remains was indeed quite bad.

"...I see, no one can quite catch your eye, is this the perspective of the rising star of Spirit Summoning Studies, aloof from the world... I’m still lacking after all."

"..." Lyle realized he and Manipulator were in two different worlds.

"I... and my brother... will make you take notice, Mr. Plague Doctor."

"If there’s a chance, I look forward to it." Lyle responded noncommittally.

"No, you’ve already seen it. Flexibility’s Spirit Summoning Studies ability, including ’Advanced Remodeling.’"

"Advanced Remodeling? What do you mean?"

"It means..."

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Lyle’s back suddenly filled with a chilling sense of crisis, as if a bee’s sting had penetrated his spine. He swiftly darted aside, narrowly missing the flying bone spike.

The scraping wind tugged at his clothes, and the meter-long bone spike buried itself completely into the soil in an instant.

Flexibility stood nearby, a spherical, sea urchin-like cluster of bone spurs hanging in the air. After waving his hand, Flexibility said the words he intended to command.

"What this means... is that I can create necromantic creations extremely, extremely fast. Plague Doctor, it looks like we’ve won this battle for resources." Flexibility gave a new command; the White Bone Sea Urchin spun around, a sharp spike aiming straight for Lyle, "Now, Plague Doctor, could you return my dear brother to me?"

Lyle kept himself hidden behind the Plague Doctor, the Magic Wand bearing the depleted Magic Curse’s purple mark, threatening Flexibility, "Then please bring some Skeleton Materials to trade for your dear brother, Mr. Flexibility."

Flexibility paused for about a second, and eventually, it seemed that he had a revelation.

"Or let’s just shatter my brother along with you, it’s okay, I’ll piece him back together afterward."

A downpour of bone spears made of White Bone enveloped Lyle, including the Plague Doctor.

Lyle, clinging to the Plague Doctor, frantically dodged, while muttering in his ear, "He’s crazy, your brother is crazy! Goes straight for tearing up the hostage." Special forces from Goose Country, huh!

The Plague Doctor was much calmer. "Isn’t this normal behavior? I would do the same, brother isn’t as useful as materials." 𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮

Cursing silently that they were all mad, Lyle tossed the Plague Doctor to the ground and fled in a panic.

...

Only after confirming he was safe did Lyle stop to catch his breath.

In this solemn and somber land, the only sounds were his own living breaths.

"So my first hunt ends in failure, well, not quite a failure."

Nia crawled out from another shadowy spot and handed Lyle a deep purple Chimera Pouch.

Before the Skeleton Mammoth exploded, Nia had already disguised herself as a shadow. She darted towards the pile of materials the moment the blast faded.

"Nia’s got some good stuff."

Lyle poured out all the collected Skeleton Materials, among which the three huge Mutated Spinal Bone Noses stood out the most, glowing faintly with an eerie light. These were Mutated Materials, quite excellent ones, and as the Mammoth’s most powerful weapons, they were possibly the most precious materials from the hunt.

"Mutated Materials," thought Lyle, remembering that terrible class on Advanced Remodeling, couldn’t help but smirk at his past self.

He looked into Nia’s large eyes and saw his own bizarre Plague Doctor attire reflected in her black vertical pupils.

"Let’s give them a big surprise, Nia."

Nia climbed onto Lyle’s back, her tentacles excitedly flailing in the air.

"Experience the great ideas from the era of information overload, Nia must be the first!"

Advanced Remodeling!