Chương 284: chapter 279

People are bewildered by the fact that Master Brendev just farted.

"Is it the emotion? The thrill of winning?"

"Maybe it's because of the power of the fruit?"

"Maybe the fruit sat in the sun a bit too long?" WHAT ARE THESE IDIOTS SAYING?! Master Brendev innerly laments, feeling like his insides are being torn apart. WHAT THE HELL IS HAPPENING TO ME?! Yet, it's clear that something is very wrong when Master Brendev's aura suddenly starts shrinking and shrinking, until it's barely a Diamond Rank aura at all. And with every shrink of the aura, a louder fart comes from the esteemed Tutor. A few people are finally hit by the downwind and start retching.

"For all the demons in hell, what is this?!" A person beside starts retching, "it's the worst thing I've ever smelled!"

"I think I'm going to pass out!" A few women and children start crying and several people have to run outside and projectile vomit their breakfast. Master Brendev is now in a fetal position on the ground, spinning like a wild compass, propelled by his mighty bowel winds like a galleon in an ocean of shit.

"Is he going to be ok?" Delilah asks Jacob, who seems to be the only one knowing what's going on.

"The Dragon Stinker is a Diamond Rank parasitic fruit which forms its seed by leeching off the power in the body of those who eat it. It's easily confused with the Dragon Claw Fruit and when you're enticed to consume it, it will actually drain Mana from your body and set you back several years, draining both your Class and Skills." Delilah looks terrified at that. What the man just described is akin to crippling somebody!

"He'll be fine, he's strong enough that he'll just lose a year or two of progress, I reckon," Jacob says.

"And by the way, can you bring me the other supposedly-True-Diamond herb. Oh and, the seeds will soon be expelled from his body. It's not going to be nice. You might want to have someone throw him on the street before he makes a mess of Lily Hall." Delilah goes pale and immediately orders several disgusted attendants to pick Master Brendev up.

"I am—I—" The man is torn by the cramps and can barely speak while they throw him as far as possible, half a block away with a powerful Diamond Rank Skill, to avoid making a big mess.

"Could you fetch me two ingredients—I'll pay for both. But I need them in order to show you how this works," Jacob smiles. Delilah, still with the vivid image of Master Brendev… indisposed bows to Jacob in fear that she'll be the next to lose all her dignity in front of everybody. Why is she scared? Jacob muses.

"What can I bring you?" She asks, still bowing.

"One Cork Mushroom and one Gray Death Stalk." Those are both Diamond Rank ingredients but Delilah doesn't even flinch at the request and immediately has some assistants rush over. In the meanwhile, a hooded figure has appeared to the side and when Delilah sees it, she freezes but says nothing. Jacob takes the two ingredients and looks over the instructions again. [Grimoire Analysis] [Jolly of the Stars, Supreme Quality] Jacob raises an eyebrow.

He doesn't know much about Alchemy, but he knows that Supreme Quality is as close as it gets to Perfect Quality, the highest grade an ingredient can aspire to reach. Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. [Currently Dormant. Awaken by mixing Cork Mushroom juice and grinding a gray Death Stalk over it. Cut the petals as soon as it blooms to harvest it.] Jacob, as they bring him the ingredients, follows the instructions and, soon, the unassuming bulb slowly blossoms into a wide, five-petaled flower that resembles a star. And when it does, a terrifying aura spreads around Lily Hall.

"What the hell?! It's truly Adamantite's tier! Can you feel that fearsome aura?!"

"How can it be?! How can such a rare ingredient appear here!?"

"It must have been confused for a Lucullus's Amphora!" Jacob, ignoring the chit-chat, immediately cuts up the petals, much to Delilah's horror since the rest of the flower starts wilting. But he soon offers it to her and says, "that is how you harvest the Jolly of the Stars." Delilah is about to take the precisely severed petals with bare hands when an aura at the very Peak of True Diamond Rank covers Lily Hall, shutting everyone down. Jacob smiles when he sees a hooded figure appear.

"Master Velnaris?" Jacob guesses. The man slowly takes off his hood to reveal a handsome, rugged middle-aged man with a thick head of black hair and a bushy beard. The man creates a bubble of Mana and makes the petals float in it.

"Jolly of the Stars can induce Mana poisoning because of its potency," the man says, eyeing Jacob.

"It's better if not touched by those below Advanced True Diamond Rank."

"I see," Jacob nods.

"I didn't know that." I should have prompted the Grimoire for more info, Jacob thinks, berating himself.

"That's Master Velnaris!" Finally someone from the crowd recognizes the man who doesn't like showing his face in public.

"Yes," Master Velnaris says, "I would like to tell everybody that this young man has won the contest. That was indeed Jolly of the Stars and the other ingredient you saw was a cursed Dragon Stinker. That said, I will now be taking this young man for a private consultation." Before Jacob can realize what's happening, Master Velnaris gestures for him to follow. Jacob, Master Velnaris, and Delilah walk to the back of the hall, into a private room where there's a lingering, thick scent of medicinal herbs.

"You know your herbs and you know how to put on a show," the man says, removing the hooded robe and revealing a plain set of leather clothes below.

"It's good that you had that buffoon removed. He's a liability to this country—I suspect he's also involved in some shady business."

"Master," Delilah clears her voice, "should I—""Stay," Master Velnaris replies, and turns toward Jacob.

"Could you remove your disguise now?" Jacob raises an eyebrow.

"Excuse me?"

"It's a flawless Primordial Spell, I'll give it to you," the man says, looking at Jacob with a smirk, "but you still smell like the Academy. You have the stench of the Headmaster all over you. And also… corruption. You must be a new secret operative or…" Jacob removes his disguise and Master Velnaris smirks.

"Or the Leader of Champions of the first year, Jacob Cloud."

"Who are you?" Jacob asks, frowning, and finally noticing all the privacy spells that have been layered in this room.

"I am Sir Lucas Valaris," the man says, looking at Jacob straight in the eyes.

"I have been hunting a motherfucker who's trying to monsterify the entire country."

"What?" Jacob blinks several times.

"The Dark Champion?"

"I assumed you knew him," Lucas says with a frown.

"My cover as Master Velnaris is how I came in contact with him a few times. But he found out I hate his guts and that I want him dead—he has some kind of empathetic Rainbow Skill that also makes him a real monster when it comes to researching reagents, alchemy, and anything where you mix stuff. His name is Delefagus Blackgale. I'll bring you up to speed later. I had contacts in a few local cults, but they have all been killed about a week ago. I came here suspecting that something big is about to go down."

"I was warned by another Champion that something was going down here. I didn't know a Knight was investigating the fact."

"The Headmaster knows that not even he should know everything. Knights are working all kinds of Quests and operations to exterminate the big cults and fight back against the Evil Gods. This, here, is my daughter, Camelia."

"Oh," Jacob blinks a few times, "nice to meet you." Camelia, who assumed the identity of Delilah, nods.

"I am a Knight-in-training on the field," she says.

"My father is responsible for my training and—""She's a fucking genius," Sir Lucas says without looking at her.

"But she takes it from her mother, who died precisely while looking for Asmodeus's bastard followers."

"Oh, I'm sorry," Jacob says, "I… I have lost someone to Asmodeus."

"Yeah, I have reports from the Academy every month. Yours was a special edition. You killed your fellow Champion, the damn Princess of Infernals. Congrats. Knights often get in sticky situations but this… you may have upset an entire country in one fell swoop."

"I wasn't the one who killed her," Jacob specifies.

"But it doesn't matter. I would like to help. What should we do?"

"I have scent tracks all over this damn city and they all lead to the mines," Sir Lucas says.

"I suspect Delefagus is hiding there and about to unleash mayhem like Ashenmere has never seen before."