MMORPG: Rebirth of the Mortal Online - Chapter 176

Chapter 176: Extra Lessons
The door opened, and Ilkin stepped into a small break room designed for the Eldertree door guards.

After filling the cup with fresh coffee, he took a seat at the table and let out a couple of yawns before settling in to enjoy the quiet moment of morning relaxation.

A few sips later, the door again opened, and Willibert, with his bed hair and rumpled shirt, shuffled in with a tired smile.

“Good morning, yawn.” Willibert said and took some green bean tea instead, as he didn’t fancy coffee, and then took a seat beside his friend.

“Morning,” Ilkin said and took a sip of the coffee. “Any interesting happening today?”

“The same old shit.” Willibert and then checked the time on his timepiece. “Oh, finish the drink quick; we’ll need to be on our post in five.”

“These work hours suck.” Ilkin said and took a sip of his coffee. “I understand why you complain every day.”

“Oh, the strict Ilkin is finally coming to the light.” Willibert smirked, then finished his drink and went to wash the cup.

Ilkin did the same, and after they put on their work uniforms, they left the break room and walked down a long wood-made hallway until they arrived at the door of the Eldertree.

They shared a glance, then brought out two identical-looking keys and inserted them into the locks simultaneously.

“One, two, three.”

Click.

They turned their keys about 90 degrees, and the door creaked open with a gust of fresh air.

Ilkin pushed the door open and let out a relaxed sigh as he stepped into the morning air.

This was the best moment of his days, taking the first step of the morning and feeling the sun on his face.

However, at that moment, he saw something on his peripheral vision and turned to see what it was.

A young man, in his early twenties, was sitting beside the door, his back against the bark of the elder tree, and his eyes were slightly open, staring at the ants that were avoiding his boots.

“Holy shit!” Ilkin screamed and jumped back in surprise.

Willibert’s mouth hung wide open. “Wait, you’re Adam; why the hell are you outside?!”

They didn’t hear from anyone that there was a student left outside!

“Oh, it’s morning already.” Adam scratched his head and noticed the brightness of the sky.

“Y-you stayed outside the whole night?” Ilkin asked, disbelief in his face.

“Yeah…” Adam stood up from the ground, slipped his hands inside his pockets, and stepped through the door.

The two guards noticed that the back of his shirt and jacket was ripped apart from what seemed to be a result of a fight.

“Why weren’t we informed that someone was left outside?” Ilkin asked.

“Adam must’ve been Bertha’s student. They were the only student group outside yesterday.”

“Why didn’t she tell us?” Ilkin asked.

“Because there’s nothing we could’ve done.” Willibert said. “How did he survive?”

Ilkin gulped.

The same question haunted his mind.

…

At the top floor of the Eldertree, inside the headmaster’s bed chamber.

Renard, snuggled under the blanket, read through some of yesterday’s reports.

Beside him on the bed, Bertha, naked under the blanket, slept soundly, her chest rising and falling with each breath.

At that moment, a sound of hard knocking came from the door.

“Argh, what the hell is it now?” Renard removed his glasses, put them on the bedside table, and then shook Bertha awake.

“Mmh, what?” Bertha’s eyelids fluttered open, and she looked around in confusion.

“Put on some clothes.” Renard said hastily and then shouted towards the door. “Who is it?”

“It’s me, headmaster.”

It was Mr. Caretaker’s voice.

“What does that creepy fuck want?” Bertha asked while revealing her naked self from under the blanket, and then put on the clothes from last night that were crumbled on the floor.

“Silence.” Renard said sternly and shouted. “Wait a second!”

After putting his reports aside, he left the warmth of the blanket and put on his clothes that were scattered around the room.

Once he and Bertha were dressed, the door opened, and Mr. Caretaker stepped inside, bowing to both of them.

“What is it? It better be important.” Renard said and took a seat on his table near the window, while Bertha sat on the bed, fidgeting her toes as she waited for Mr. Caretaker to speak.

“Yes, sir.” Mr. Caretaker nodded. “I’ve received a report that young Adam, who did go missing yesterday, returned safely from night outside.”

“What?” Renard frowned. “He went missing, what?”

“Oh, you weren’t aware?” Mr. Caretaker shot a side eye towards Bertha but quickly turned back to the headmaster.

“Bertha, what the hell is he talking about?” Renard asked with a frown.

“Yesterday, we went to gather herbs and spices. Then, at the end of the day, when the night was starting to near, I heard that Adam encountered some trouble with a minor boss.”

“A minor boss?” Renard frowned. “And he survived? What do you mean that he survived a day night outside?”

“I thought he died to the minor boss.” Bertha said. “It seems that he survived, but didn’t make it to the institute in time and had to spend a night outside.”

“How could this happen?” Renard asked angrily. “Bertha, why do you sound so indifferent? He was your responsibility, was he not?”

“The students die all the time,” Bertha said. “I thought it was better to cut down the losses.”

“Cut down the losses…” Renard looked like he was laughing, but no sound came. “What a joke. Mr. Caretaker, was that all?”

“It looks like there were some losses.” Mr. Caretaker said. “Noel, Renee, Jake, and Yuri, students of Class E, didn’t make it.”

“I am sorry, but I have to ask.” Bertha said in her usual indifferent tone. “So what if Adam had died? Why am I blamed for it? They went and got themselves in trouble in the first place.”

“It’s all politics, you dumb broad!” Renard snapped out. “If even S-rankers die in here, why would anyone keep sending their children here to learn if they just die?”

Bertha stayed quiet.

“S-rankers are off-limits. I also want to convince him to join my cause.” Renard said. “He would be a powerful ally.”

“Adam is waiting for you two, if you want to talk to him.” Mr. Caretaker said.

“Fine, let’s go.”

…

In the headmaster’s office.

Adam, with his legs crossed and a bored expression, waited while reminiscing about yesterday.

He didn’t have to wait much longer as the door opened and the headmaster finally arrived.

After taking his seat at the opposite side of the table, Renard nodded to Adam.

“I am happy to see you well, Adam.”

“Mm…” Adam grunted in response.

Renard’s eyebrow jumped in surprise.

That response took him off-guard, and he had a feeling that Adam seemed slightly different from his old self. It was as if that one bit of childlike innocence that Adam used to have had disappeared.

“Show some respect; you’re speaking to the headmaster!” Bertha screamed out.

“That’s fine.” Renard raised his hand to silence her. “He had a long night, and he must be tired. I doubt you had a chance to sleep, right?”

Adam didn’t answer that question.

He tried to log out during the night as the Sleepwalker Poison and just natural sleepiness tried to put him in a deep sleep.

Surprisingly enough, he couldn’t log out because it was impossible to do so if the game detected that one was inside a combat.

While he wasn’t outright attacked, not even once, he felt like he was stared at non-stop. It meant he was at some kind of combat—combat of auras.

“You can leave.” Renard said after seeing him being non-responsive. “We’ll talk about this later. I’ll allow you to skip today’s classes.”

Adam nodded and stood up; then, as he saw Bertha, he asked. “Do I get the reward? Unfortunately, my partner died, so I suppose I am only one to get the reward.”

Bertha nodded sternly. “The reward was a potion made out of those ingredients. It’s called the Elixir of Stamina. It increases one’s energy and endurance for a full day.”

“May I trade that reward for something else?” Adam asked.

“For what?” Bertha frowned.

“May I get extra lessons about Herbology?” Adam asked. “I’d like to learn how to make potions myself.”

“You’ll learn that from my classes; you don’t need extra lessons.” Bertha said with a frown.

The main reason she refused was because she was too lazy to teach any more than needed.

“Hey, Bertha.” Renard said sternly. “Adam is genuinely interested in learning and could benefit from your guidance. Extra lessons don’t hurt anyone.”

“B-but…” Bertha stammered, but after seeing his cold gaze, she lowered her head and nodded. “Alright, fine…”

“I appreciate it.” Adam said without a smile and then left the office, but instead of using his Floor Orb, he jumped off the railing and started falling thousands of meters down.

Then, his beautiful flower-petaled wings sprouted out of his back like blooming flowers and stopped his fall.

With that, he landed on the floor of the dormitory, and his wings shrank back inside his body.