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Chapter 116: He Wasn't A Natural

"I wouldn't have minded it. A peaceful life that is."

It felt like the unreal was real. When Han looked at the hunched posture of Timothy, the bitterness and sting of pain was evident. He couldn't help but feel sorry for them. What exactly had he been thinking? This guy's mother had just died in their village and he decided to adopt them like some kind of pet and drag them along for their adventure?

How callous could Han be?

And yet he couldn't just approach them and give them a pat on the back could they? That would be awkward. Han opted out for something else instead. Although he had cleared out his inventory as projectiles when fighting the Colossal Wyvern, he had ensured that this one would be safe.

"Yeah. A peaceful life is what anybody of us would have wanted." Did he truly believe that? He wasn't sure on that but still Han reached out into the inventory in the air and procured the specific item into his hands.

[ Timothy's Memento ]

A locket that had been worn by his mother, it was passed over to him before she died.

The value of this jewelry is undetermined, bring it to a jewel artisan for assessment.

Undetermined his ass. Something like this was priceless. "But you know, I'm sure that your mother would have wanted you to be happy right?"

"How did you get your hands on that?!" Timothy's eyes widened as he saw the necklace before he tried to keep his face blank.

Han scratched the back of his head and offered it to his friend, "Grandma Moe gave it to me since you pawned it off to come with me. Why'd you do something like that?"

"So what if I did?" Timothy's gaze narrowed at him, "My business is my business. Just because I came here with you doesn't mean that you have the right to question my decisions."

It made him wince, it reminded him of Timothy's personality before they actually went here. When Timothy still kind of hated his guts for being a 'hero'. Then again, maybe it had always been his personality but they had chosen to show their more negative attributes to Sir Leon de Harrington?

"I wasn't trying to"

"Are you trying to give me back that locket?"

Han felt a little relieved at that question. He wanted his locket, of course he did! He gave him a nod, "Well, yeah."

"I pawned it off to Grandma Moe, just because you're giving it to me doesn't mean I'll accept it. I had gotten money to come here and unless I pay that off, that thing isn't mine." Timothy frowned at him, "I don't need you treating me like some charitable cause."

Was this how he was going to lose his [ Companion ]? Han sighed and drew back his hand, "Fine, fine. I get what you're saying, I'll keep it with me until you pay back Grandma Moe."

Han was pretty much penniless as well. 

So in some aspect, he could understand why Timothy didn't want to get the locket, some sense of pride but still well, it wasn't his business. There was no use trying to convince a person who was that stubborn. Han slipped the necklace in his pocket. He shouldn't have done this in the first place, he thought Timothy would appreciate it but they didn't.

"Alright, good." Timothy muttered.

A taut silence drew in the air in between them. Han Jing wasn't sure if he should act too casual yet when he could end up upsetting them again. It made him hesitate. What else should he say? "So Timothy about the"

"I'm going back to my room," His friend turned his back towards him and began to walk off. They had no qualms about leaving them on their own, "Do whatever you need."

And then he disappeared into the next corner.

Drats. He didn't expect that they'd avoid him because of this. Apologizing would do the trickHan sighed and crossed his arms over his chest. Maybe they just needed to cool down and clear their head.

"That's fine." Han muttered to himself, he was able to function just fine without Timothy. It wasn't his loss. If anything, this allowed him the chance to fully concentrate on trying to learn magic on his own.

He didn't need some natural mana magnet guy when he was struggling to gather mana. Why did it work faster for Timothy though? Han shook his head and stared down at his hands, the ambient mana's flow was returning back to regular and he soon tried to draw some of it back into his hands.

A ball of energy.

He could do this. The stream of energy had begun to trickle into his hands, he was using ambient mana. But there was also inner mana for him to usewell, he didn't know how much mana he had to spare. According to the [ High Mage ] there were people who had a certain affinity to magic and spells.

And then there were those who had abysmal chances of learning magic.

Their internal mana was too low to produce spells, maybe they could try to make a [ Flame ] or low tier spells if there was enough ambient mana but that wasn't also a good solution in the long run for him.

To be on the safe side, Han assumed that he was average or maybe weaker than average. It wouldn't exactly be a good thing if he accidentally drained himself of mana. "I should worry about next class. Physical Combat Class." Han wasn't sure what to expect in the next class "Well, I still haven't gotten a weapon at all."

He summoned the status screen in front of him:

[ Student Lvl 1 ]

[ Hastened Learning ]

[ Introduction to Magical Theory - Lvl 1 ]

[ Basic Combat Spells - Failing ]

[ Basic Physical Combat - Lvl 3 ]

[ Preparation for [ Class ] Advancement - Learning ]

[ Defense Against Mages - Lvl 2 ]

[ Homeroom - N/A ]

[ Rank: 999+ ]

[ Evaluation: Lowest of the lowest. A bottomfeeder. Expulsion is nigh. ]

[ Fame: Kraelonia Academy: 40 --> 15 ]

Once again, a few glaring things came to his perspective. His reputation was plummeting instead of increasinghad it been because of the events last night with Penelope Primrose? A [ Noble ] lady like them probably had their influence on certain circles.

That seemed to be the only plausible answer to him.

Well, what were the chances of people not liking him defeating Elliot during their duel yesterday? Perhaps they had some secret fan club or something like that. Did the fame also take into account that Timothy kind of hated his guts right now?

But that wasn't the important thing. He was trying to ignore the word 'failing' in Combat Spells Class.

He sighed inwardly.

The [ Skill ] of hastening his learning didn't exactly seem to be accurate with such dismal scores and ranking. Then again, he managed to increase his lesson mastery in physical combat and defense against mages?

Han Jing made a mental note to really check the attachments sent to him by Peach if they actually contained stuff about being a [ Student ]. Of course him gaining a few levels in new [ Classes ] didn't exactly translate to him being a good student at all, did it?

Speaking of which, he still hadn'twell, he could sense that was something in his hands. It felt kind of warm but he still couldn't visibly see it unlike what Timothy had done earlier. But about the weapon for next class Old Man Joe Light was right, he couldn't have too many [ Classes ]! 

It was just him trying to manage his subject lessons but he was already lagging behind everyone else. Why didn't this body come equipped with skills or magic spells? But he should focus on

He wanted a weapon. But what would even fit him? He was a [ Rogue ] and a [ Psion ], although he wasn't exactly quite aware in what the latter did.

"A rogue using telepathy and scaring their victims off?" Han murmured to himself as he stared down at his closed hands. He should do something that worked for him, but he would still end up trying to gather mana into his hands.

There were some resultsbut it was so slow. They were coming to him like a trickle of shower and to a dehydrated person, that wasn't enough. Hardly enough.

He needed to focus.

Even if he didn't have the natural talent, surely if he kept going at it. He collected the mana into his hands and tried to form it into shape like clay. Beads of sweat slithered down the side of his face

A bell rang.

The doors to the classroom swung open and Han's eyes widened. What? He had been concentrating for that long?! A stream of students would all leave the courtyard, all of them were the ones under the 'Primary Mage' curriculum.

He lost his concentration and coughed. Wasn't it a little embarrassing being caught right in the act of trying to gather mana?

A few familiar faces came to mind. It was Penelope, Elliot and even Ellynn just behind them. But all three of them were quick to leave, he breathed a sigh of relief. They didn't notice his pitiful attempt at all.

"Han!" A voice called out to him. "What are you doing outside the courtyard?"