William couldn't believe what he was reading. Did the System seriously suggest he had made an enemy of nearly all of the disciples present in the Lecture Hall? Even before a few dozen failed the Mana Affinity Test, there were only around 160 disciples.
And who was the Nascent Soul Cultivator? It couldn't be Elder Wen; he was too nice to William! Could it be the parent of one of his opponents in the arena?
It was the only logical explanation, but the reality of the situation was still absurd. He decided not to think about it. After all, he couldn't stop people from being jealous. Enemies would only continue to appear.
William ate breakfast and returned to the Lecture Hall early. Elder Wen was giving the new disciples that passed the initial test their first assignments today, and William wanted to place his challenge before his entire day was wasted once again.
He approached the Ranking Board and looked at the list of disciples between rank 400 and 500. Since William didn't know very many disciples, he couldn't tell which disciple was more suitable for him. He noticed that Elder Wen had given him the 501st position, making his trip up the Ranking Board much easier.
He decided to just select the 401st person on the list, whose name was Kevin. He tapped on the person's name with his hand, but nothing happened. William tried injecting some Mana into it, but that was also wrong. Dammit, I should have asked how to place a challenge earlier.
"You're supposed to place your badge on their name." came a soft and sweet voice from behind.
William found the voice somewhat familiar, but he didn't turn around. He tried placing his badge on the Ranking Board and the advice worked. Words appeared on the tablet notifying William that the challenge was pending and to check back in a few hours.
"Thanks." he said to the unknown female behind him.
"You're welcome Will, it's nice to see you again!" the girl sounded cheery for some reason. William didn't remember any girls from the Sect that were so friendly besides Su Yanyu, but this voice didn't match hers.
He finally turned around and was pleasantly surprised to see Charlotte standing a few feet away. She smiled and ran up to William, giving him a big hug.
William blushed. He didn't think the two were that close. After all, she only healed him back in Thin Creek Village. "What are you doing here Charlotte?"
She took a step back and gave another sweet smile.
"While you were on your long quest to Blue Moon City, a recruiter from the Five Elements Sect happened to stop in our village for a few nights. When he saw me working at the clinic, the recruiter invited me to the Sect."
William nodded in understanding. "I didn't see you at the Lecture yesterday though, how come?"
"Oh, there was an outbreak of Magical Beasts in the Foam Desert a few days ago, so we were delayed a bit. I just got here last night." Charlotte explained.
The Foam Desert? I just cleared that out not barely a week ago. Magical Beasts multiply fast...
William felt something was strange about the incident but didn't think on it too much.
"Are you attending today's lecture then?" he asked.
"Yes! I don't need to test my Mana Affinity since I am already a Cultivator. In fact, I'm technically your Senior since I can Cultivate." she stuck out her tongue in a teasing manner.
William wished he could Cultivate even more now. The privileges granted to Cultivators were obvious, even in a famous Sect.
The two talked for a while longer until Elder Wen arrived and started the lecture. This time it was surprisingly short. Elder Wen started by explaining the requirements of various assignments, mostly consisting of menial tasks or chores.
After the explanation, Elder Wen handed out slips of paper to each disciple that would issue them a random assignment.
William looked at his slip which read out a series of instructions. "You are to work at the Alchemy Hall for the next week, where you will be preparing herbs for the Junior and Senior Alchemists during an exam. On completion with no problems, you will be provided a diluted Mana Stone for your Cultivation."
A diluted Mana Stone? Anyone else would be ecstatic about the reward, even if it wasn't as effective as a real Mana Stone, but William had many Mana Stones already.
I suppose I can hold onto it for later. Maybe it'll be useful at some point. William's hoarding tendencies began to show.
That being said, the Alchemy Hall was probably William's least favorite place to be. That annoying old man and his snotty disciple Briar ruined the experience for him.
William crumpled up the slip and put it in one of his Space Rings. He looked at Charlotte, who had sat down next to him. "What did you get?"
She looked at her slip. "I'm healing the Senior Outer Core Disciples that come back from their missions. My reward is a Mana Stone every day."
"Wow, amazing." he tried to sound happy for her but in his head William was screaming about how unfair the world was.
He calmed down and took a breath. "Well, it seems like we won't see each other for a little while then, since I will be at the Alchemy Hall."
Charlotte frowned. She really wanted to spend more time with William, especially since she hadn't seen him in weeks. "Maybe we could...eat somewhere after we are done? I can even pay; I made good money the last month."
William's eyes lit up. "Sure! You don't need to pay for both of us though, I'm a Manamatus remember?" he flexed his arm muscles that were almost nonexistent.
Charlotte blinked. "Okay...where should we go?"
William immediately thought of Wild Clover. "I know a great place; we can go tonight if you want to try it?"
Charlotte blushed, "To-tonight? Sure!"
She didn't expect this kind of initiative from William, who had been a shy kid from a small town just a month ago. Going out into the world really changed him...
Of course, most of Charlotte's memories of William were of the previous William, whose body was inhabited by the current William when he died from Mana exhaustion.
William's new attitude made Charlotte think to herself. Hopefully leaving Thin Creek Village will also change me. There's no way I can save him if I remain the same forever...