Flynn didn't care at all. The main reason was that Lilia was too high in status; he couldn't afford to mess with her.
He continued, "The freshman secret realm opens in three days. However, I can give you two a privilege to enter two days early. You need to hurry up and try to reach stage 2 before the academy competition."
"Dean, I have no problem," Lilia said calmly. She was confident in her own strength.
"I can too," Allen quickly chimed in, looking very eager to show off.
"Good. Meet here tomorrow at 8 AM sharp. I will open the secret realm for you personally," Flynn nodded, signaling that they could leave.
Lilia stood up and left immediately.
Allen didn't move. He looked at Flynn and asked hopefully, "Dean, I don't have any skills yet. Even if I enter the secret realm, I can't kill any monsters. Can you give me some skills?"
"Alright." Flynn shifted his eyes and pulled out three scrolls. "These are three basic magic skills. Just like our earlier deal, I'll sell them to you at the market price."
Damn it, this skinflint is trying to squeeze me dry!
Allen felt angry but kept his face calm. He thanked him gratefully, took the scrolls, and already started plotting his revenge in his mind.
"Dean, if there's nothing else, I'm heading back," he said, then stood up and walked out.
Once Allen left, Flynn leaned back in his chair. His smile faded. He muttered to himself, "He really is such a simple-minded kid. I almost felt bad for scamming him. Oh well, for the sake of the school's reputation, I'll just build a statue for him in the academy later."
...
Allen walked out of the school. It was long past dismissal time, so the area was empty.
At the school gate, a slender figure stood tall. Her fiery red hair was especially eye-catching.
It was Lilia.
Allen didn't pay her any mind as he walked past her.
"Hey, can't you see me?" Lilia got annoyed. She stepped forward and blocked his path.
"Is there something you want?" Allen was totally confused. To be honest, Lilia and he were worlds apart in terms of status. Unless they had both awakened SSS-rank class this time, they would never have had anything to do with each other.
Lilia furrowed her pretty eyebrows. No boy had ever been this cold to her, which made her even more annoyed.
But strangely, Allen made her feel a sense of closeness. Or maybe it was that he looked so tempting, giving her a sudden urge to bite him.
The thought that just popped into her head scared Lilia. She quickly shook her head and said seriously, "Don't you know that old man is trying to scam you?"
The Heaven-Curseds use their lifespan to release skills. If Allen really wants to join the academy competition, with his current sickly state, he'd be lucky to live past 20.
"I know what I'm doing," Allen said, suspicious. Why did this little girl seem to be worried about him?
Could it be that I'm just that charming?
By now, the sky had turned dark. Lilia stared intensely at Allen's neck. The veins there, beating slightly, seemed to have some magic, pulling her in.
Without realizing it, she licked her lips. Acting almost on autopilot, she moved closer to Allen's neck.
"What the heck are you doing?"
Allen jumped in shock. Reacting on instinct, he slapped her.
Slap!
A sharp sound echoed through the air. Both of them froze for a moment.
Lilia's beautiful eyes widened. She felt a stinging pain on her cheek as she stepped back, her voice trembling. "Y-You dared hit me…"
"You were trying to assault me first," Allen argued logically.
"Liar!" Lilia was utterly ashamed and angry. But in that moment, she came back to her senses.
She hadn't been trying to assault Allen just now. She had wanted to bite through his veins and suck some blood deeply…
A chill ran down Lilia's spine. It felt like she had been controlled, like she was possessed by a demon.
Beep, beep!
Suddenly, the clear sound of a car horn broke the tension. A black limousine stopped at the school gate. It was there to pick up Lilia.
She quickly shook off her thoughts, glared fiercely at Allen, and snapped, "This isn't over!"
Before Allen could react, she covered her flushed cheeks and ran frantically toward the car.
The door opened, and a handsome man in a sharp suit stepped out. He opened the car door for Lilia. His eyes briefly glanced at Allen without meaning to.
As the car drove away, Allen finally let out a long breath. He was really scared Lilia would go tell on him. After all, she was the daughter of a City Lord. Even if he had awakened an SSS-rank class, he wouldn't dare to mess with her.
"Strange, is this girl really that bold?"
Allen scratched his head. Rumor had it that Lilia was a cold, untouchable goddess. But after meeting her just twice, she actually tried to assault him?
Could she really have fallen for him?
That thought was too absurd.
Allen shook his head and stopped overthinking it. He took out the three scrolls and the cultivation manual the old dean had given him.
Fireball, Wind Blade, and Earth Shield. All basic magic skills: two attacks and one defense.
Allen immediately chose to learn them.
[You have mastered the basic magic skill Fireball. Due to your profession, it has been upgraded to Forbidden Spell The Heaven-Cursed·Fireball.]
[You have mastered the basic magic skill Wind Blade. Due to your profession, it has been upgraded to Forbidden Spell The Heaven-Cursed·Wind Blade.]
[You have mastered the basic magic skill Earth Shield. Due to your profession, it has been upgraded to Forbidden Spell The Heaven-Cursed·Earth Shield.]
[You have learned the Martial Sect Cultivation Method. Current rank 1, level 1. Constitution +1, Strength +4.]
Allen felt a warm current flow through his body, and his strength slightly improved.
"Sure enough, they all upgraded to Forbidden Spells," he said, excitement in his eyes. He opened his status panel to check.
[Name: Allen]
[Age: 18]
[Profession: SSS-rank The Heaven-Cursed]
[Level: stage 1, level 1 (0/100)]
[Constitution: 12]
[Strength: 13]
[Mental: 22]
[Agility: 7]
[Manuals: Art of Immortality, Martial Sect Cultivation Method]
[Art of Immortality: Tier Unknown; Effect Unknown; Current rank 1, level 1 (116/1,000,000); Lifespan +100 years]
[Martial Sect Cultivation Method: High-Tier Mortal Grade; Current rank 1, level 1 (0/5000); Each level up grants Constitution +1, Strength +4]
[Skills: The Heaven-Cursed·Fireball, The Heaven-Cursed·Wind Blade, The Heaven-Cursed·Earth Escape]
[The Heaven-Cursed·Fireball: Forbidden Spell; level 1 (0/100,000); Deals Fire Magic Damage equal to Mental Power x 100 to the enemy; Costs 1 month of lifespan]
[The Heaven-Cursed·Wind Blade: Forbidden Spell; level 1 (0/100,000); Deals Wind Magic Damage equal to Mental Power x 100 to the enemy; Costs 1 month of lifespan]
[The Heaven-Cursed·Earth Shield: Forbidden Spell; level 1 (0/100,000); Summons an earth shield that can block damage equal to Mental Power x 100; Costs 1 month of lifespan]
[Equipment: None]
...
"Are these Forbidden Spells really this powerful?" Allen read the skill descriptions and let out a sharp whistle of surprise.
This was just level 1, yet it could deal damage equal to a hundred times his Mental Power.
It was a pity that his Mental Power was only 22 right now. Even so, crushing a strong opponent at stage 2 would be a breeze.
If both his Mental Power and the skill levels increased later on, the damage would be unimaginable.
But the cost was terrifying: one month of lifespan per use.
If he didn't have the Art of Immortality, he wouldn't dare to cast these skills casually.
"Strange, why didn't that old man give me any physical damage skills?" Allen wondered. Since he was cultivating the Martial Sect Cultivation Method, which mainly boosted Strength, having physical damage skills would make him even stronger.
Could it be that the old man didn't actually know that The Heaven-Cursed could cultivate physical skills?
Allen couldn't figure it out.
The old dean had swindled him for over 10000 gold coins. He hadn't forgotten that debt.
If the old man wanted to force him to work for this skinflint, Allen decided he'd take the academy's Rookie Secret Realm in exchange first.
He already had a plan for revenge: enter the Rookie Secret Realm two days early. In just two days, he could clear it out completely. The materials from all the monsters inside would be enough to pay back those 10000 gold coins.
Night had fully fallen.
Allen forced himself to stop wanting to test the power of his skills right now. Instead, he quickened his pace and headed toward the slums.
...
The City Lord's residence was brightly lit.
Inside the study, a dignified man sat at his desk, flipping through a book.
It was Lucas, the Blackspire City Lord and a Viscount. He was a stage 5 expert, his power only surpassed by bishops of the Church of Light.
Squeak.
The door creaked open. A man in a sharp suit stepped inside. It was Simon, the driver who had picked up Lilia earlier that day.
Lucas put his book down and asked, "Simon, is Lilia asleep yet?"
"She just went to bed," Simon answered, nodding before casually sitting on a nearby chair.
Lucas continued, "Did you hit her? Is that what she got from the scar on her face?"
"Not on your life," Simon said with a bitter smile. "It was a student who did that."
"Hmm? What happened?" Lucas frowned, a dark killing intent flashing in his eyes.
"Calm down for a moment. The fault was actually on the little lady's side," Simon paused before adding, "It seems she couldn't control herself. She wanted to drain that student's blood."