Chapter 23 Surge_1

While Rivers was filled with rage, Erick was busy conspiring with someone.

The object of his conspiracy was a girl that Erick fervently pursued last year, Mina Havcheck, who Rivers victimized and consequently abandoned.

Initially, Mina Havcheck was on the verge of accepting Erick's advances, but during an event hosted by the New Blood Mutual Aid Association, Rivers, overwhelmed by lust, used his means to forcibly abduct Mina.

Rivers didn't stop at merely victimizing Mina. He also left behind some "photos" and "videos".

Using these as leverage, Rivers forced Mina to accompany him several times, until Mina finally seized the opportunity to destroy these "photos" and "videos".

After a period of self-healing, Mina regained her spirits and decided to seek revenge on Rivers.

Through careful observation and analysis, Mina found a common trait among two other girls who were also victimized by Rivers - they, like Mina, were all blonde with blue eyes.

As a new batch of New Blood was about to arrive, Mina was certain that Rivers would certainly make his moves on this batch.

The reason was simple, Mina reached out to all the girls from her and Rivers' batch who fit Rivers' preferences, revealed Rivers' atrocities using herself and the other two victims as examples, and warned them against him.

After that, Mina approached Erick.

She knew Erick well and understood that despite his rugged appearance, Erick was crafty and craved power, unwilling to be subordinate to anyone.

After several conversations with Erick, Mina confirmed the plan against Rivers.

The plan was to make Rivers consumed with desire and suffer from the side effects of the "Rage Inferno Meditation Method", robbing him of the chance to advance to an official wizard.

This way, she could exact her revenge on Rivers and ruin him. At the same time, Erick would have the opportunity to replace Rivers' position in the New Blood Mutual Aid Association. Moreover, they wouldn't be violating any of the academy's rules and would avoid punishment.

Once the plan was set, the two coordinated their roles.

Erick was responsible for arranging "chance encounters" between Rivers and girls who fit Rivers' preferences, stirring and intensifying Rivers' lust.

Mina, secretly connected with these girls, unveiled Rivers' true colors in the form of sharing academy anecdotes and discouraged these girls from getting close to him.

Jasmine Kidman was the first girl arranged by Erick for Rivers to "accidentally encounter" this term.

Afterwards, there were the puzzling "threats" and incidents where a "younger sister" kept passing messages to Jasmine, which seemed inexplicable to Link.

"Are you sure this will work?"

As things were about to take place, and almost everything was ready, Mina Havcheck suddenly felt uneasy.

She had a hunch that something had gone wrong.

Under Erick's instigation, Rivers arranged for someone to teach Link Grande a lesson the next day. This would provoke Link Grande's anger, and Mina would then appear to lead Jasmine Kidman to a certain location.

Erick would then claim to Rivers that he had Jasmine Kidman under control and Rivers could enjoy her at any time.

Behind the scenes, Mina would lead Link Grande to report to the academy and arrive in time to prevent Rivers' atrocity. This would cause the unreleased lust within Rivers to backfire.

With the academy's Intelligent Law Enforcement Puppet nearby, there was no need to worry about Rivers resorting to violence.

This way, Rivers would get punished, Jasmine Kidman would be unharmed, and apart from Link Grande getting beaten, everyone would be happy.

"Of course."

Erick nodded confidently, "The 'Rage Inferno Meditation Method' is a meditation technique meant only for official wizards. Its requirements include not only a super affinity towards the Fire System Elements but also strong emotional control or the consumption of desire-dampening potions. Rivers has none of these. He is even practicing an incomplete version of it. As long as we proceed with our plan and keep sparking his lust without letting him vent, he will surely be consumed by his desire in the end."

"What if he loses control and, before Link Grande arrives with the Intelligent Law Enforcement Puppet, forces himself onto her and does something unspeakable?"

Mina couldn't help but ask. She only wanted to take revenge on Rivers and didn't want other people to get hurt.

"Don't worry, if he loses control and goes berserk, I'll stop him."

Erick thumped his chest, promising confidently.

However, what he was thinking was different - wouldn't it be better if Rivers made a huge mistake and got caught in the act?

The academy would then punish him.

Once he advanced to the position, the seat of the deputy president of the New Blood Mutual Aid Association would surely belong to him, Erick.

Mina Havcheck, not Erick, was the one who wanted to ruin Rivers.

What Erick wanted was merely the position and the resources and hidden benefits that came with it.

For this, he was willing to humble himself and become Rivers' henchman, just to find the right opportunity to deliver a fatal blow.

Mina was plotting with the tiger for its hide.

After Erick left, Mina Havcheck still couldn't ease the unease in her heart.

After hesitating a few times, her desire for revenge gained the upper hand.

In the end, Mina discarded the idea of revealing the truth to Jasmine Kidman.

...

The next day.

Early in the morning, Link went to the Third Botanical Garden.

Link used a plentiful amount of spiritual power and magic power to moisturize all the Silver Star flower seeds in the greenhouse with the secondary Misty Rain Technique.

In actuality, the consumption of the secondary Misty Rain Technique wasn't so high.

With Link's current spiritual power around 21 and the corresponding magic power his body could withstand, he could continuously perform the secondary Misty Rain Technique in normal mode four times.

But the greenhouse was a bit too large, and the number of seeds scattered was high, so the rain produced by the secondary Misty Rain Technique in normal mode couldn't moisturize all the seeds.

Link slightly changed the casting method, choosing to consume more spiritual power to extend the duration of the secondary Misty Rain Technique, and made the rain sufficient in one go.

Sitting on the furrow, Link went through a round of Shallow Meditation and fully recovered all the consumed spiritual and magic power before leaving the greenhouse and the Third Botanical Garden.

Since it was Sunday, there were no classes.

As Link went towards the library, he remained cautious against possible attacks along the way.

The journey was tranquil.

Nearing a corner close to the library, a few people blocked Link's way.

They were some of the Fifth-Level New Blood who joined the New Blood Mutual Aid Association.

Link wasn't in the least bit bothered, he smiled and asked, "Is a fight inevitable?"

Those people glanced at each other. One of them, a New Blood almost as tall as Link, stepped forward to answer, "You brought it onto yourself by offending the deputy president! Don't worry, we're only going to beat you up this once. As long as you don't report it to the academy, you'll be fine. But if you do report to the academy, there will be more trouble for you in the future."

Link looked at them with a scornful expression on his face and mocked, "It's a shame that promising people choose to become dogs! You guys are supposed to be geniuses with fifth-level qualifications. It's pitiful that you don't have the slightest bit of dignity of a genius and allow yourselves to be manipulated. It's such a humiliation to share the same roof with you."

While saying this, Link raised his left hand and pointed out, "Take a look, the spell-breaking sleeve crossbow, loaded with three crossbow bolts. Any three of you who wish to die, feel free to try."

They looked at each other in disbelief.

Why so serious?