The days back at school were more agonizing than being in the dungeon.
After Jasper submitted the mission, the guild paid him the fifteen-thousand-yuan reward. He paid off his family's debt, but the remaining five thousand wasn't enough to buy even the lowest-quality life potion. He could only spend his days and nights nurturing Nidhogg with his own meager spiritual energy, which left him in a state of extreme weakness. His face was as pale as a corpse's, and he would sometimes uncontrollably doze off in class.
The truth about the "Whispering Woods" incident was suppressed by the school and the official church. The publicly announced version was that an elite team of students, led by Hunter, had unfortunately encountered a rare goblin tribe during a training exercise. After a fierce battle, they successfully annihilated the enemy and rescued the trapped students.
In this glorious battle report, Jasper's name was nowhere to be found.
He was once again the forgotten, insignificant "loser."
This outcome made his situation at school even more difficult. The old mockery was now mixed with an even more intense, vicious contempt.
"Look, that freeloader is sleeping again."
"He got so damn lucky, managing to tag along behind Senior Hunter and scrape by."
"I heard his precious lizard got scared to death in the cave. Now he carries the corpse to school every day. What a freak."
These whispers buzzed around him like flies. Jasper ignored them all. All his attention was focused on the fragile little life in his coat. Nidhogg's breathing was still faint, but at least it hadn't gotten any worse.
The conflict finally erupted during combat practice that afternoon.
Ryan and his two followers cornered Jasper, who had just finished a sparring session and was resting, in a corner of the training grounds.
"Well, well, if it isn't our great hero," Ryan's face was plastered with unconcealed sarcasm as he looked down on the weakened Jasper. "What, did you find some treasure in the cave that left you looking so drained?"
One of his followers pinched his nose dramatically. "Tsk, tsk, it stinks. Jasper, did you fall into a goblin latrine? Oh, I forgot, you crawled out of a sewer to begin with."
A wave of suppressed snickers came from the onlookers. Everyone was watching with the expectation of a good show, waiting to see how this overreaching loser would be humiliated by the class strongman.
Jasper didn't even look up at them, just reached into his coat and gently stroked Nidhogg's cold body.
This blatant disregard completely enraged Ryan. He took a step forward and reached for Jasper's collar. "Loser, I'm talking to you! Why isn't that damn gecko of yours dead yet? Let me help you take care of it!"
Before his hand could touch Jasper, it was caught in a grip as strong as iron pincers.
"Get your filthy hands off him."
A cold, hoarse voice, filled with an unquestionable authority, sounded from behind Ryan.
It was Hunter.
He had appeared there at some point. He had changed into a clean school uniform, but the paleness of his face and the darkness deep in his eyes could not be concealed. He gripped Ryan's wrist tightly, and the immense strength of a Sequence 8 'Barbarian' instantly made Ryan's face turn purple.
"Hunter... Senior... what... what are you doing?" Ryan was both shocked and furious.
"What am I doing?" A cold, self-deprecating smile touched the corner of Hunter's lips. "I'm just stopping you from harassing my savior."
"Savior? Him?" Ryan looked as if he had heard the world's greatest joke. "Senior Hunter, did you get your head bashed in? This loser who's almost out of spiritual energy?"
"Shut up." Hunter's voice wasn't loud, but it seemed to drop the temperature of the entire training ground. He swept his gaze over the surrounding students who were watching the show. Everyone who met his eyes instinctively looked away.
"You don't know anything," Hunter's voice trembled with an uncontrollable emotion. "What do you think we faced? A group of ordinary goblins? Do you have any idea what we went through?"
He violently flung Ryan's arm away, sending him stumbling. Then he pointed at Jasper and said to everyone, "When the genius in your eyes was chained to a stone platform like livestock, waiting to be violated and slaughtered, it was this 'loser,' as you call him, who charged into that hell alone!"
"When he fought until his spiritual energy was depleted and his companion was on the brink of death just to tear open a path for us to escape, where were you?"
The entire training ground was dead silent.
"I, Hunter, a Sequence 8 'Barbarian,' owe him my life." He walked over to Jasper, his gaze falling on the ash-white Nidhogg in his arms, a flicker of guilt in his eyes. "And it... I owe it a life too."
He ignored the dumbfounded Ryan and the other students and crouched down, speaking to Jasper in a tone of equality and solemnity. "I know of a potion, 'Diluted Sap of the Tree of Life.' It might be able to save it. It's very expensive, but I have a way to get it. I'll pay."
Jasper finally lifted his head. He looked at the school heartthrob who had cast aside all his pride, and for the first time, a ripple of emotion stirred in his dark eyes.
"Condition?" he asked.
"No conditions," Hunter shook his head, his gaze incredibly firm. "I just know that what was in that cave was only the tip of the iceberg. I need a back I can trust, and you... you're more reliable than anyone I've ever met."
He held out his hand.
"I'm Hunter. Sequence 8, 'Barbarian'."
Jasper was silent for a moment, then slowly extended his own hand.
"Jasper. Sequence 8, 'Contractor'."