Ashton didn't know what he was expecting as a reward from Kakaroff, but the thing in his hand was definitely not it. In fact, he wasn't even sure if giving such a thing to a student was appropriate at all. After all, the potion he had in his hands could make him a menace to society. Well, it was a bit of exaggeration, still, it was a dangerous thing to leave in a student's hands.
Professor did not mention what the potion, was thus the rest of the students didn't know either. It was just a vial of colourless and odourless liquid. If they had to guess, their first guess would be that it was water. However, Ashton's eyes knew the worth of the potion.
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Item: Potion Of Secrecy
Type: Invisibility Potion (small)
> Erases the presence of any being that consumes it for 30 seconds.
> The potion is brewed by a Master Potioneer, hence also imparts secondary effects upon consumption
Rarity: Epic
Description:
A colourless and odourless liquid that can be mistaken for water. Tastes a bit spicy but not enough to make the consumer uncomfortable. Can be taken directly or mixed with some other drink.
Note: Do not drink the potion along with sugary drinks. It will cause the potion to break down and poison the consumer.
Additional effects:
> Boosts mana regeneration by 50%.
> Enhances the effect of healing abilities by 30%.
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'Finally got my hands on an epic item.' Ashton thought while placing the vial in his inventory, 'I'll make sure to make good use of it. But I'm afraid I would have to be a bit stingy as I can only use it once. Also... why the heck are they tailing me?'
Due to his heightened [Perception], Ashton could feel that he was being followed even though the followers were being careful enough not to get in his sights. At first, he thought they were heading to their next class. So he changed his path, but the three of them were still tailing him.
'Could they be wanting revenge for what I did to Hugo? It doesn't seem like their levels are high enough for them to qualify as seniors. Hm... I could be wrong though. Should I break them too?'
It was possible that three S rankers were tailing him. He was a bit conflicted because the rest of them would not dare to do anything to him. But he could not imagine the S rankers would do something like that after what he did to Hugo.
If they weren't S rankers, then even if he beat the shit out of them, no one would question him. However, he could be wrong because his perception could be off in interpreting their levels from afar.
Either way, before he did anything, he had to make sure that they were purposefully tailing him. he quickly looked up the map of the academy in his watch and realised there was a place that not a lot of people visited. Also, the place should be out of everyone's sight.
If the three of them were not tailing him, then they should not head that way and Ashton's 'misunderstanding' would be solved. However, if they kept following him then he would have no choice but to abuse the benefits that came with his rank.
He did as he had planned and turned right to head towards the backside of the hostel building. Just like he had suspected, there was no one there. Not a single soul. So he climbed up a ledge and hid in a place where he could see the way he came from but could not be seen. Then he waited.
'There they are.'
Suddenly three students appeared there. Now that Ashton had no doubts they had been following him, he wanted to know why. The director had told him to try and not instigate unnecessary fights, thus he wanted to know why these people were following him before he did something unnecessary.
He jumped off the ledge and landed right in front of the three students. One of them was a girl and the rest were two muscular guys and their intentions did not appear to be of peace. It only took Ashton a glance to realise that they were the Gruntas, along with a dark-skinned dude he had never seen before.
"Oh... there you are." The dark-skinned guy spoke first, although his voice was calm, he seemed to be taken aback by Ashton's sudden appearance. Just like the twins.
"Let's cut to the chase so we don't waste any of our times. Tell me why the heck are you following me?" Ashton said in a stern tone.
"Very well then." Nick smiled and extended his hand, "The potion you got today. Hand it over to us."
"Hm... I don't know how noble werewolves beg for something. But where I come from, they usually get down on their knees and lick the dirt off the ground while grovelling to get something they need." Ashton mumbled while shaking his head, "I don't know why you need that potion, but since I earned it, I have no intention of letting it go."
"It's funny hearing you talk about 'earning' things," Nick replied.
Nick's expression of rage was as clear as the skies above. The only thing was, well, they were under the shadow of the building hence Ashton was not suffering through the de-buff of his stats.
On top of that, Ashton was curious as to why they were so adamant about having the potion in the first place. They couldn't possibly know the contents of the vial.
"We were hoping you would say something stupid like that." Nicole chimed in, "One way or the other, we will be having that potion. Jason, please be a dear and take care of this mutt."
"With pleasure." Jason flexed his neck and the next moment his hands transformed into werewolf claws.
"Don't be surprised bloody mutt. Jason is not a first-year who wouldn't know how to transform. He's a second-year student having a red blessing. No matter how strong you are, you can't possibly defeat him." Nicole laughed thinking Ashton was done for.
They didn't need the potion. Hell, they didn't even care about what was inside the vial. They just wanted an excuse for Jason to beat Ashton up as they couldn't do it themselves. Thanks to the warning they had received from the director. Thus they decided to ask for help from a family friend.
"So the second-years can transform their limbs? Looks like you morons are way weaker than I thought you were." Ashton said while picking his ear, "Don't joke around with me. Excuse me but do you think you can defeat me just because you can do partial transformation?"
In a flash, Ashton transformed his fists and legs as well. Leaving the trio stunned into silence. None of the first years should be able to transform! After all, it was a course they were supposed to take in the second year. Yet, Ashton could transform even better than a second year? What the heck was wrong with this bastard!?
"Let's see what a second-year can do, shall we?"