Unfortunately, Nathan couldn't return to the dorm yet since Vivian called him to her office.
In the dimly lit room, Vivian squinted her eyes with a judging gaze. "Congratulations for the third place."
Nathan politely bowed to her. "It's thanks to you, Teacher. Of course, Alisha's lesson helped a lot."
"Is that so?" Vivian paused for a moment. "Now that you get a lot of cores, you should take this chance to swallow all of them for yourself, not for that wolf. By sacrificing more Ena, you will be able to summon a more powerful familiar."
The reason why Vivian gave this advice was because she didn't know about the Soul Contract. It was the norm in this world to focus on getting a stronger familiar at the start rather than evolving a weak familiar.
However, Nathan had a Soul Contract that could share the amount of Ena he had with his familiars. Fenrir was also the monstrous wolf of Asgard. He didn't know if his second familiar would be stronger than him or not.
While it was true that he had someone in his mind, he still didn't know whether he would come or not. There was a high chance that getting a god-like familiar like Fenrir was just luck.
That was why Nathan treated this summoning ritual as a test about his real ability.
"I understand, Teacher. I'll swallow all the cores for myself."
"Good. What do you think about the trip? Have you learned a lot?"
"Definitely. It's just… there is something I'd like to ask." Nathan raised a finger. "I encountered an alien that was much different than most aliens I encountered in the forest."
"A mutant?" Vivian squinted her eyes.
"Is that the name for such an alien?" Nathan asked.
"Yes. Did you subjugate it?"
"I did kill it, but I wasn't alone."
Vivian's expression turned grim. She contemplated for a moment before saying, "Well, I guess it's to be expected after hearing that wolf managed to kill the juvenile class alien."
"Why do you sound so surprised, Teacher? Is a mutant dangerous?"
Vivian nodded. "A normal alien has the chance to mutate due to the change in environment. Sometimes, they gain something that they don't have, such as fins or even wings. Sometimes, they gain extraordinary physical abilities, surpassing aliens of the same class."
Nathan recounted his memory about the alien. "In my case, the alien had a tail shaped like a blade. I saw an alien with a single, robust tail that looked like a bat, but it was pretty much the same as its peers. It was different for this blade-tailed alien.
"Its tail was extremely sharp. While its strength was stronger than its peers, it wasn't that dangerous. Fenrir managed to handle it." Nathan added inwardly, 'He needed to use Alisha's ability though.'
"I see. A proto-class mutant is not that dangerous, but it's a different case for stronger mutants. You know about the five classes of the aliens, right?"
"Proto, Juvenile, Mature, Warrior, and Elite classes," Nathan replied.
"In the past, there were three summoners trying to subjugate a warrior class alien. This was supposed to be an easy job for those three, but the alien mutated during their fight. The warrior class mutant killed them. Because of that mutation, it actually gained the strength close to the elite class alien.
"What I'm trying to say here is that the stronger the alien, the bigger the impact a mutation would bring to that particular alien. If you find yourself fighting a mutant, you should run away immediately."
Nathan didn't expect the mutant was actually such a scary creature.
"Where is the mutant's core?"
"I told you that I wasn't alone at that time, right?"
"So that person got the mutant's core?"
"Yes."
"Who is that person?"
"Raivan Ryzant." Nathan revealed the name without blinking an eye.
Obviously, Vivian was angry, thinking that this Raivan didn't know when to stop. The reason Nathan revealed Raivan's name was because of the trick he pulled in the forest.
He realized that Raivan was not as shallow as he thought, which meant that if Raivan was still harboring hatred, he would plan it carefully.
By mentioning his name, Vivian would probably not make a move on him, but she would definitely put surveillance on Raivan, which basically stopped him from harming him in the future with his 'careful' plan.
Now that he had kept Raivan in check, he could be more bold with showing his strength.
"I don't know if people will know about you defeating a mutant, or will he take credit for it. But I'm sure that your name will be known by a lot of people pretty soon. At that time, if someone dares to ask you to become their student, make sure you reject them."
"Does that include the principal?" Nathan reminded her that she once told him that she couldn't protect him from the principal.
"I'm going to leave the academy if he dares to steal my student."
"Ahaha." Nathan let out a hollow laugh. As he expected, people would care more for their disciples if they were special and strong. If he wanted to get the resources and gain connections, he had no choice but to reveal his strength. There was no point in hiding it.
"Have you thought about what familiar you're planning to summon next?"
"I believe so. Fenrir has given me some clues."
"Alright then. Just write it down on the paper, and the school will handle it. If you don't have any other questions, you can get some rest. Good work."
"Yes." Nathan politely nodded and exited the room.
After the sound of the lock clicked, Vivian leaned back, her expression melting. "This is hard."
"You should have praised him, Mistress. The young master is so pitiful that she doesn't get the praise despite achieving such a great thing."
Vivian's eyebrows twitched as she looked away, saying, "I don't want him to become complacent."
"Are you still unable to move on from that incident?" Alisha shook her head helplessly.
Vivian closed her eyes with a pained expression. "I don't want him to experience the hopelessness and sadness that came after losing a familiar. It's better if he treated me as a cold teacher…"
Alisha couldn't reply, fully knowing what happened in the past.