Chapter 288
Chapter 288: Professor, Your Fiancée Beat Up the Other Woman!
Viktor sat inside Principal Rashel's office, one leg crossed over the other, his gaze resting on the desk in front of Rashel.
Atop the desk lay a long green watermelon, eyes shut tight, perfectly still.
Principal Rashel pushed up his glasses, one hand pressed against his slightly feverish forehead, and said with a troubled expression:
"Council Member Clavena, it's not that I don't want to help you—it's just that your demands really are... a bit too steep."
Viktor reclined against the sofa, both hands resting on the armrests.
"If my demands cannot be met, it will have some impact on my combat effectiveness."
"I trust that Principal Rashel, you have already witnessed that for yourself."
Rashel fell silent for a moment, his mind involuntarily drifting back to Viktor's earth-shattering battle in the Padalenbu Sea.
All those dazzling, bewildering spells—and that final, catastrophic attack of terrifying destruction.
Just thinking about it made Rashel feel a dull pressure swelling in his head.
That immense power had cleaved both ocean and sky completely in two.
If it had been on land, perhaps the very ground itself would have split apart.
As a Council Member, it was only natural for Viktor to put forward a few minor requests, and the Council would do its best to accommodate them.
After all, the battle in the Padalenbu Sea had brought the Council enormous public attention.
However, Viktor's particular request was proving genuinely troublesome for the Council.
Something about needing a staff capable of supporting his magic?
No, really—did he even listen to himself when he said that?
The Staff: Ulruste they had gifted him last time was already extraordinarily powerful.
The materials had included a Unicorn horn, the tail of a 4th-Tier magic dragon, and a branch from a hundred-year-old Pagoda tree—all of them top-tier staff materials.
And yet, a staff that could serve any Mage for an entire lifetime had been shattered in the hands of this absurdly overpowered existence known as Viktor.
And the Council Members couldn't even find a reasonable objection.
Broken was broken, after all.
With magic of that magnitude—what staff could possibly hold up?
Rashel let out a long, deep breath, sat in silence for a moment, then continued:
"And besides... honestly speaking, you shouldn't be coming to me with this request..."
Rashel himself was only a 4th-Tier Mage. The magic he took pride in was the Natural Sparrow—useful for surveillance and live broadcasting.
It could also carry out long-distance remote conversations on the side.
What would he know about crafting staves?
"That is precisely why I came to ask you to relay the message to the Council."
Viktor said plainly:
"In some time, I will be bringing people to visit Endymion."
So the delivery window was that period of time?
Rashel thought it over and said:
"Actually, if it's only a matter of crafting the staff, that isn't too difficult in itself."
"One of our Council Members, Council Member Ryan Kent, is a brilliantly talented Dwarf artisan."
"Council Member Clavena, the staff you used last time, as well as that Mage's robe—both were crafted by him."
At that, Rashel paused, glancing at the Coat Viktor wore on his upper body, and sank into thought.
Hmm... he couldn't quite understand why he had never once seen Viktor wearing that Mage's robe.
For a Mage, a proper robe was entirely fitting.
Take himself, for instance—he wore a robe that suited him perfectly and carried no small amount of dignity.
Honestly speaking, he didn't quite understand Viktor's sense of aesthetics.
A robe was clearly far more appropriate for a Mage.
But he didn't dwell on Viktor's Coat any further, and continued:
"The issue, frankly, is the materials—we're genuinely running rather short..."
Materials like a Unicorn horn were merely rare, nothing more.
Something like a 4th-Tier magic dragon, on the other hand—3 or 4 4th-Tier Mages working together wouldn't necessarily be guaranteed to bring one down.
These Council Members were a different matter, of course—find a patch of open ground, tuck themselves out of sight, charge up a spell, and the dragon would be blown apart in an instant.
That was how the materials for Viktor's previous staff had been obtained.
But this time, the material requirements were apparently even more demanding than a 4th-Tier magic dragon's tail...
Those materials were already extraordinarily difficult to track down, and even if they managed to find them, there was no guarantee they could actually defeat whatever was carrying them.
Just as Rashel was sinking into endless worry, Viktor spoke up:
"I can supply a portion of the materials myself."
"Likewise, if the Council encounters difficulties, simply inform me of the remaining materials needed, and I will handle them personally."
Rashel understood now.
What Viktor meant was that he needed someone to design an exceptionally specialized staff—powerful enough to withstand his magic.
But the materials required to craft the staff, Viktor could source himself.
As long as they weren't being sent out to hunt down rare materials themselves, this was suddenly manageable.
Though compared to the previous staff, the crafting difficulty had undeniably risen by more than 1 level.
Viktor's magic was simply too outrageous.
Even the magic used by a 5th-Tier Mage would not necessarily be more terrifying than his.
Rashel gave a nod, the furrow in his brow easing as he said:
"If that's the case, then there's no problem."
He lifted his walking staff and tapped it against the long watermelon lying quietly on the desk.
The watermelon, as though responding to some summons, opened both its eyes and turned its head to look at Rashel:
"What is it, Azure-Blue?"
"Viktor would like to ask you something."
Rashel raised his head and turned back to Viktor:
"Tell it your requirements."
"In a certain sense, it possesses an all-knowing, all-seeing effect."
"Anything pertaining to you—it will tell you."
The watermelon turned its gaze toward Viktor, who was reclined on the sofa, and waited in quiet stillness.
Viktor thought for a moment, and then a sudden flash of inspiration struck him—a memory of a staff he had once liked a great deal in the game.
【Truth of the Great Prosperity】
It was a peculiar staff known as the defective one.
In the game, the Spell Intensity this staff granted was far too low.
So few players had ever used it.
More importantly, its inherent effect was something that drove even more people away.
【Grand Prosperity】
The effect of this staff could grant the user increased HP and Strength, derived from their Magic Power level and Spell Intensity.
But ordinary Mages had no use for those 2 attributes.
Mage-soldiers who cultivated both physical and magical power couldn't use this staff either.
And so, among players, it had earned the title of the most useless staff in existence.
As for why Viktor liked to use it?
Because this staff was exceptionally handy in a fistfight.
Viktor's lips curved into a faint smile at the thought, and he spoke:
"I require this staff to greatly enhance my physical constitution—and if it could amplify my magical power as well, all the better, even if it causes me to consume more Magic Power."
"But the staff's structural hardness must be high. I need it to fully withstand my magic—and even be usable as a close-quarters weapon."
Viktor had no intention of worrying about whether this staff would increase his Magic Power consumption.
After all, he still had Weija as an external Magic Power spring.
"Hard enough to sever a magic dragon's tail without showing so much as a crack."
With every requirement Viktor stated, Rashel's eyebrow twitched once.
By the time the last one was spoken, Rashel had nearly gone down on his knees.
Were these requirements for crafting a staff? Was he absolutely certain?
The way it sounded—it was more like commissioning equipment for a Warrior or a Knight.
They say Viktor, despite being a Mage, liked to fight in close quarters. Surely that wasn't actually true...
The long watermelon listened to Viktor's requirements, and within its eyes, a cascade of chaotic visions flickered past.
One scene after another, like film reels spinning at high speed, blurring to the point of near-incomprehension.
It looked like little more than a jumble of indistinct smears of color.
As the watermelon's eyes refocused, it finally spoke:
"I will need time to produce the blueprints for you, along with the specialized materials required to craft the staff."
Viktor gave a nod and said calmly: "There's no rush."
"But I have 1 more question."
He leaned forward slightly, lacing his hands together over his knees, his gaze fixed intently on the watermelon.
The watermelon looked back at him in turn, its serene gaze carrying a depth like the morning star streaking across a night sky.
"I have already seen it—your experiences."
"At the world's end, chaos is born from disorder; lust spills over from desire."
"The origin of chaos lies buried a thousand miles beneath the earth."
Viktor listened to its cryptic description and seemed to grasp the broad outline of it in his mind. He gave a nod.
What he wanted to ask naturally concerned Heni.
And from the brief phrases the watermelon had offered him in reply, he had understood a rough picture.
In any case, mapped against the broader world of the game, there was quite a lot he could connect it to.
But if he had to narrow it down to what was specifically linked to Heni, Viktor could only think of 1 thing.
Lust.
Yet Viktor had not sensed the presence of any other Demon from Heni's person.
If there had been some oversight on his part, that remained a slim possibility.
But a Demon could never escape Weija's gaze.
Strangely, though, Weija had also not detected the presence of any other Demon's aura.
Viktor found himself somewhat unable to make sense of it.
But in any case, things had not yet developed toward anything worse.
As long as he kept a light grip on the situation, it would be fine.
The watermelon began to drowse, as though it had expended a great deal of energy.
"After some time has passed—when you go to the Sky City, I will bring you the blueprints you want."
With that, the watermelon seemed to have every last drop of energy drained from its body. It shut its unsettling eyes once more and lay back to sleep.
Rashel looked at the watermelon lying there, then lifted his gaze to Viktor:
"I will inform the Council and do my best to recall Council Member Kent."
Viktor gave a nod and rose from the sofa. He had just turned to leave when a rapid knock sounded at the door.
The student outside didn't wait for Rashel to say a word before the door to the Principal's office swung open.
The very first thing out of his mouth betrayed his urgency:
"Principal, something's happened!"
He turned—and suddenly spotted Viktor standing nearby. The words coming out of his mouth changed on the spot to:
"Professor Viktor!"
"Your fiancée—and your 2 students—they've gotten into a fight!"