Chương 31: Chapter 31: Student Jarvis

"Good morning. Can you please give me directions to the faculty room, Ms. Receptionist?"

"Good morning! Of course, I… uh… what's your business with the faculty?"

Once again, Lucian was in front of a receptionist — this time, however, it was a receptionist of the local Cultivator Academy, or the legal and longer name of it, the Academy for the Superior and Inherently Gifted Individuals.

But as a matter of course, the original name was no longer being used in the modern times as the new generation was saying that it was a tad bit too insensitive for the normal humans.

The Cultivator Academy, however, has withstood the test of time and will continue to do so — currently, there are around 3 Academies in the continent of the Safe Cities. Luckily for Lucian, he did not really have to go far at all as Old York, being one of the oldest cities, had everything.

Cultivator Association, Academy, and it was also quite near the barrier separating the Safe Cities from the Demon Continent — that is why there are a lot of monsters that happen to slip into the cracks, giving looters a lot of jobs.

The Academy is the oldest building in the Old York, and it has scars to prove it. The building was ancient, almost — and the privilege and honor it accumulated were also painted along its tall walls, wide pillars, and vast floors. If you ask Lucian, however, he would say they were wasting space.

"I was told to meet someone named Harriet Curry," Lucian then handed a piece of paper to the receptionist, who quickly grabbed the paper and then stared at Lucian from head to toe after she was done reading it.

"You're… a new student?" The receptionist squinted her eyes as she then stared at Lucian's obviously exhausted face. His beard was patched, and his hair was disheveled, and most importantly, the bags beneath his eyes almost made the receptionist think he was wearing an eyeshadow. But after a few moments, the receptionist just shrugged and showed the direction to Lucian,

"Did you get all of that?"

"Yes, Ms. Receptionist."

"Okay then, please don't wander off anywhere else!"

Aside from the few glances, the receptionist did not really say anything else or even mention Lucian's age. One might think that being 30 years old, Lucian would be out of place in the Academy — but not at all.

There were many people there wearing the students' robes who looked much older than Lucian. Some even already had graying beards. After all, the path of a cultivator is eternal — there was no age limit to it.

But of course, seeing old people in the Academy may be common, but even now as Lucian was just walking across the wide halls of the Academy, the looks the old cultivators were getting from the younger cultivators had an obvious hint of mockery and jest. After all, the higher your cultivation is, the slower you age.

That means the older one was in the Academy, the less talented they were. But of course, Lucian couldn't care less—no. In fact, he was completely oblivious to the looks the younger cultivators were giving.

He was only here as a prerequisite of his contract with Charlotte and the Lotus Pharma Sect. In truth, Lucian truly did not want to attend the Academy at all, but when he saw the conditions Malenia and Maeve would be living in on the Lotus Pharma sect, he started thinking of what would be good for them.

And there was also the fact that he doesn't need to cook and clean anything anymore, which would actually save him a lot of time. Of course, he had to be careful in placing Waldo's meat on the refrigerator, telling Charlotte that it only belonged to him.

Charlotte and the caretakers were a little weirded out at first, but the only thing they could do was agree. The meat was clearly already a week old or more than that, but perhaps Lucian just liked his meat aged — they all thought.

"Hm…" Lucian let out a small breath as he let his thoughts continue to wander, "...I would probably need to find and butcher more meat soon."

And after what seemed like an entire 30 minutes, Lucian was finally able to reach the faculty room — further proving Lucian's thoughts that they were wasting space.

"Harriet! Someone's here to see you!"

"Ah, that's the new student! Just tell them to wait outside since we're already about to go to class anyway!"

Harriet Curry quickly grabbed her books and other teaching materials as she rushed outside; her bouncing bright red hair, almost glowing as it contrasted her dark skin. And as soon as she stepped outside the faculty room, she quickly looked around for the new student — but the only one that was standing there was Lucian.

"Are you…" And after a few more seconds of turning her head, she finally focused on the person in front of her, "...Lucian Zhang?"

"Yes," Lucian nodded. Charlotte wanted to change his name, but Lucian vehemently refused; even clearly adamant about it, "Are you Ms. Harriet Curry?"

"Just… call me Harriet."

"But I am your student."

"Right, right…" Harriet squinted her eyes as she looked at Lucian from head to toe, "...Charlotte said you were a special case and that… you have a unique constitution?"

"That is what they said, yes," Lucian once again just nodded.

"Huh…" Harriet let out a small hum, "...Cool. Anyway, you're just right on time — your first class is with me."

Lucian then followed Harriet as she gestured to him to start walking with her.

"You want me to show you around first…? We'll be a little late, but that's alright since I'm the instructor."

"No need, Ms. Instructor," Lucian shook his head.

"...Right," and once again, Harriet started looking at Lucian with her eyes squinted, "...Is this why she said you're… a special case?"

"Hm?"

"N…Nothing!" Harriet quickly cleared her throat, "Anyway, uh… since you're a special case, Charlotte registered you in classes that have the most credit since she wanted you to gain credentials as fast as possible. So…

…you'll be mixed in with the higher classes. That's only allowed, by the way, since you're registered as a special student. But I do need you to be wearing them 1st Year robes, okay?"

"Okay," Lucian nodded, "When can I get them?"

"Before you leave today, maybe," Harriet shrugged, "Usually, people really only spend 1 year in the Academy just to get credentials to apply for more missions. Those who finish the 6-year course are mostly from those who are already in a sect or want to join a sect. You don't really need to know all of this, but I'm still telling you. Ack, I'm blabbering, stop listening to me."

"You are my instructor, Ms. Instructor," Lucian shook his head, "I will listen to you."

"Well, you're in luck since you'll be listening to my voice for 3 hours more," Harriet then stopped in front of a door before opening it and stepping inside, "Come."

"Is that your new boyfriend!?"

And almost immediately as Lucian entered the class, the students started to jeer and shout; they did not even wait for Lucian to take 2 steps inside before howling like monkeys.

"All of you shut up or I will have you facing Master rank monsters later!" Harriet quickly pointed her pen and even threw it at one of the nearest students, hitting her dead on the forehead. Harriet then let out a small sigh as she calmed herself down and looked at Lucian,

"Don't worry about them — I am quite close to my students since I'm very hip and modern."

"Okay."

"...That was a joke," Harriet once again sighed as she just pointed Lucian to an empty desk, "No need to introduce yourself, you can sit on that empty desk on the top for now. And if someone treats you badly because of your age, just tell me. Okay?"

"Okay," Lucian just nodded before proceeding to step up the bleachers, not looking at any of the students at all even when they were clearly whispering about him. And soon, he reached the top of the bleachers and sat next to a student, whose neighboring desks were both empty.

Lucian did not really say anything at all and just quietly sat down. But as soon as he did so, the student beside him very slowly turned his head and glared at him…

…only for the student's eyes to turn wide.

"What the…

…Old man!?"

It was the noisy young man Lucian met during his Cultivator exam, Jarvis.

"Jarvis."

"...It's Harvey."

Harvey, one of the sons of the current head of the Cultivator Association of Old York.