Chapter 12: The male protagonist Leon Chester

Sila remained unperturbed as he gently placed the beautifully wrapped ancient tree into a kraft paper envelope.

At the same time, the frosty aura from earlier instantly transformed into sharp ice blades, hurtling towards the wall with ferocity, neutralizing the tea that had been splashed onto it earlier. Unfortunately, despite the wall being chilled by the low temperatures, the list recording the reservations for the practice rooms was still ruined beyond recognition by the "tea." leaving only Sila's reservation visible.

"How could this be?" exclaimed a voice filled with shock from nearby. Immediately afterward, a figure dashed over to the wall. It was Scott, who had been disciplined by Sila earlier.

His expression was bizarre, a mixture of disbelief as he said, "Corrosive potion. Just to grab a practice room?"

"Are you crazy?"

Scott's teeth felt a bit sour at the thought. Corrosive potions were extremely valuable, costing at least a few thousand gold coins. They were precious resources consumed in significant quantities when exploring ancient ruins.

Who would have thought that Sila would be so extravagant and wasteful just to compete for a spot in a practice room?

Behind Scott, a young man clad in a crimson robe couldn't help but furrow his brows slightly as the magical patterns of frost still lingered on his palm. "Young Master Sila really doesn't hold back." he remarked.

Sila walked straight towards the practice room, glancing at the various smudged inscriptions on the wall and said calmly, "I call it efficiency."

Seeing this, Scott and the young man in the red robe quickly stepped forward, blocking Sila's path. Sila's brows furrowed slightly, and he asked coldly, "Is there a problem?"

"You ruined the practice room schedule. Shouldn't you give an explanation?" Scott demanded.

Before Sila could even open his mouth to refute, suddenly a dozen people rushed over from the side. The young man in the red robe's eyes lit up, a mischievous smile curling his lips as he leaned against the wall with interest, ready to watch the drama unfold.

"Those rushing over are all members of the Brotherhood. It seems Scott isn't completely stupid after all, he arranged people here in advance." he thought. But what he never expected was that the first words out of those people's mouths struck him like lightning.

"What are you doing?" exclaimed a member of the Brotherhood loudly, then turned to Sila and said respectfully, "Don't worry, Young Master Sila."

"Those two are defaming you. The practice room schedule has nothing to do with you. We all saw it, you were standing by the side the whole time, without moving a muscle."

Upon hearing this, the smile on the young man in the red robe froze instantly.

He looked at the scene in front of him in disbelief, expecting Sila to be surrounded and attacked, but the situation had suddenly reversed.

Scott was even more furious, his face turning red as he pointed at the Brotherhood members, stammering, "You... "

The Brotherhood members remained unmoved, their faces filled with righteousness.

Mainly because they wanted to earn the ten thousand gold coins for next month!

So their attitude towards Sila was clear – 

Loyalty!

Seeing that the Brotherhood members had blocked the way ahead, forming a solid barrier in front of him.

Sila didn't even bother to say an extra word. He walked towards the practice room with a casual and stylish demeanor.

At this moment, he was actually somewhat grateful to Scott.

Spending ten thousand gold coins to win the loyalty of a student with elite status was a deal that was worth it for the people of the Leviathan family.

In the academy, some students from wealthy families wouldn't easily bow down to money. Thanks to Scott, who couldn't afford to pay much, he specifically chose a group of financially struggling individuals to form the Brotherhood, and now they were all benefiting Sila.

Unfortunately, running the Brotherhood required a monthly expenditure of 160,000 gold coins.

As such, I had to quickly come up with a way to increase my income sources, otherwise, even with my allowance, my assets would still decrease by a net 40,000 gold coins each month.

Seeing that their attempts to stop Sila were fruitless, Scott and the young man in the red robe felt powerless to pursue the matter further.

They had no choice but to head towards the practice room on the other side. "Forget about him. It's just the lowest-tier practice room anyway." Scott said with disdain on his face. "The boost to training efficiency is less than a third of what we get in our practice room."

The young man in the red robe echoed his sentiments, a hint of contempt flickering across his face, but secretly he was wary of Sila's methods.

He couldn't fathom how Sila had managed to turn the members of the Brotherhood, who had once obeyed Scott without question, against him so suddenly and make them stand firmly by his side.

"This... Sila doesn't seem to possess any extraordinary charm." 

The young man in the red robe mused, completely unaware that Sila had employed the most straightforward approach – bribery.

It was just that Sila had offered too much.

The members of the Brotherhood were putting in their best efforts, driven by their newfound loyalty.

As the two groups gradually faded into the distance, the tense atmosphere in the library slowly returned to normal.

Soon, a student bluntly voiced what everyone was thinking: "It's like dogs fighting among themselves."

Upon hearing this, the ambiance around became instantly lively.

"That Sila deserves to die, and Scott isn't any better." someone said.

"Too bad we didn't see Sila's expression at the end. He's so arrogant, yet he had to settle for an inferior practice room. He must have been furious."

"Scott and his new ally Livia aren't saints either. Seeing them lose face to Sila brings me joy."

"How did the Brotherhood suddenly betray Scott? Did they get bribed by Sila?"

...

The library was filled with chatter.

In the eyes of the students, neither side in the conflict was a good person, and they hoped for both to suffer defeat.

Their disdain for Sila was even more pronounced in their conversations.

In a world where strength is respected, Scott and his group at least had impressive power.

What about Sila? Besides having some money, what else did he have? A waste of space, as everyone saw him, actually trying to lord over them. It was infuriating.

Amidst this lively atmosphere, three figures slowly entered the library.

Leading the way was a young man in lightweight leather armor with dyed orange hair.

Following him was a pale, petite girl in a gray and white checked dress adorned with jingling metal accessories, walking gracefully.

Last was a poorly dressed young man, out of place in the library's setting, curiously observing everything around him.

"Hey? What just happened here?" the poorly dressed young man asked curiously.

If Sila were present at this moment, he would likely feel a significant sense of caution.

The three people before him were none other than the three key characters from "Journey of Radiance" – the male protagonist Leon Chester.

Vivian Rockefeller, the genius girl from the Academy's Alchemy Department and one of the female protagonists in the game.

Isaac, the orange-haired young man in leather armor who met the protagonist early in the game, serving as both an informational tool and a "good buddy" for players.

Leon's boisterous demeanor caused many students in the library to frown.

However, in this place, as long as you also hated Sila, you could instantly become everyone's "buddy."

Soon, an inquisitive student approached them and began explaining what had just happened.

After hearing the full story of the conflict, the original trio from the game's plot couldn't help but furrow their brows slightly.

Leon Chester, always blunt and straightforward, spoke up first: "So, it's this Sila who, for his own selfish gain, disrupted the schedule for everyone to use the practice rooms? This guy..." Leon shook his head, a rare flash of disdain gleaming in his eyes, and his tone was not as cheerful and light as usual, but rather sharp and cutting, "He's really disgusting."

Meanwhile, Vivian and Isaac didn't immediately express their opinions, furrowing their brows and contemplating silently.

Putting aside Scott and his group's poor reputation on other days, judging solely from today's incident, it seemed that Sila was indeed being unreasonable.

In no time, guided by the helpful student, the trio joined the ranks of those who believed that "hating Sila makes us friends."

Many students began to complain: "It's all Sila's fault for messing up the schedule. We'll have to wait for the teachers to come and fix it before we can use the practice rooms. This is such a waste of time!"

"A waste who can only use an inferior practice room yet still likes to cause trouble?"

As these noisy voices grew louder and louder, on the other side, in the passage leading to the practice rooms, Scott and Livia's smiles faded.

But soon, they realized something was off.

It seemed like something was not quite right.

The numerous students in the library outside had, at some unknown point, fallen inexplicably silent... As if something had clamped down on their throats!