He then turned to the left and started heading to the earth element hall.
All the students looked at each other, their eyes conveying the same message. They would rather go with Harry to the principal's office than follow the instructor.
Unfortunately, they didn't have a choice in the matter, they could only follow him while blaming their bad luck. So they could only curse inwardly while following the instructor.
-A few minutes later,
Harry and Han stood in the principal's office. Harry's expression was indifferent and expressionless while Han kept snickering in annoyance.
The fact that he was standing together with Harry frustrated him to the core, however, he had to control himself before the academy's principal or he could get into more trouble.
'You just watch, you think you're saved because the principal called us to his office. You're still the academy's trash without a mana core foundation, I'm one of the most talented students. All these would surely end up in my favour.' He said inwardly.
He glanced at Harry hoping to find a fearful and timid expression, however, what he saw was the exact opposite. Harry wasn't shivering in fear, he looked rather confident with a bold expression on his face. Han raised his brows slightly when he saw this, he inwardly scoffed as he focused his attention on the principal.
Han's perspective was influenced by the fact that a similar incident had previously occurred.
When Harry was still new to the academy, Han began to bully him. Harry tried reporting to the instructors, hoping for a change. Unfortunately, no one seemed to care and nothing was done, if anything, it only got worse for Harry.
The only difference this time was that Han used a spell against Harry, and it wasn't just any spell; it was an overloaded spell.
Han was still unaware that his mana core had gone down by one stage. He had been feeling a weird sense of weakness, but he thought it was related to the physical stress he faced when using magic spell overload; he still underestimated the effects of using overload and didn't bother to check the state of his mana core.
He also noticed that his mana reserves were low, but he felt he could just absorb more and fill it back up. Even back then, when he was about to cast the spell, he noticed his mana was slightly lesser than before. He didn't put much thought to his though—mainly because his mind wasn't stable due to his anger.
The principal looked at the both of them and couldn't help but sigh, if not for the Intervention of Leon, That attack would have definitely killed Harry—or so he thought.
Unbeknownst to him and the rest of the academy, Harry actually had a way to escape the spell, however, the price he would have to pay was more than he could bargain for—at least currently.
For Randy, all these were very annoying. Harry was involved in a mana beast attack that happened a week ago, due to this, the attention of the AMO was temporarily on the academy—and possibly that of a grand mage.
Harry was given a one week break so he would recover from all his injuries, both physically and mentally. He just got back from the break and had barely entered the academy when Han attacked him.
A silent sigh left his lips again as he stared at Han who was still looking smug.
"Han, you used a spell against Harry, you do know that's against the academy rules, right?" The principal said while looking at Han to see his reaction.
When Han heard the principal's word, he looked down and acted like he truly felt bad for what he did. However, his little act wasn't enough to deceive Harry and the principal.
Without wasting too much time, Randy immediately let out his punishment as he still had other matters to attend to. "You're suspended for one week, and when you return from the suspension, you'd take over the cleaning job for another one week." He said.
He was using almost all his willpower to restrain himself from smacking Han's face into the ground.
Using Overload was a very dangerous thing to do, even if Harry wasn't contributing to the academy(since he doesn't have a mana core foundation), that doesn't mean they could just let him die, especially now when a grand mage might be watching him.
"What?!" Han exclaimed in shock. Throughout his stay in the academy, he had never gotten punished for his crimes. As long as he didn't offend the wrong people(those with powerful backing or from wealthy families) he would surely get away with his actions. Even if he was to get punished, wasn't two weeks' too much?
"But… what about Harry? He broke my…"
He wasn't able to complete his words when he suddenly felt as if huge mountain was placed on his shoulders.
Even though the principal only unleashed a little of his pressure, it was still something someone like Han can't withstand and it was even worse since his mana core had regressed.
'Strange… He's still being so nice.' Harry thought. Just like he expected, he was unfazed by the principal's pressure. Unlike the first time, he wasn't too surprised by this.
"Do you even understand the consequences of overload?! If Leon wasn't on time to stop the attack, it could have killed Harry or exploded and killed all the students around that vicinity. It could even kill you!!" Randy said in anger. He subconsciously released more of his mana pressure, making Han feel like his lungs were being squeezed by an invincible hand.
The principal immediately retracted his pressure when he noticed that Han was having difficulty breathing. He took a deep breath as he calmed himself down.
'Harry… he was taken care of by the AMO themselves after the mana beast attack. I'm not sure if they are still monitoring him… especially that Nate.' Randy thought. He didn't want to get into any trouble with the AMO, the memory of what happened the last time he did so was still fresh in his mind.
He was really lucky that Han wasn't from a rich or powerful family, or else everything might have been worse for him.
As for Han, he felt like his whole world was collapsing. 'How could I get a suspension. I was even asked to clea… how would other students look at me?! That's..'
The principal's voice broke him off his thoughts, "Ohh… Han, you should check the state of your mana core. You'll find something interesting, and learn your lesson to never use magic spell overload again," without even waiting for Han's reply he continued, "you can leave now. Next time I wouldn't be so lenient."
Han looked at the principal for a few seconds before finally stepping out of the office.
He was still surprised by the fact that he was punished while Harry was simply let off. He felt he was the victim since Harry didn't even get a scratch but he didn't have a choice as he knew the principal wouldn't change his mind; no matter what he tried to say or do.
Harry didn't give much thought to what happened, although he felt glad that he wasn't punished or suspended. The idea of staying at home for another week or weeks wasn't appealing to him.
He turned around and was about to leave but the principal's voice stopped him in his tracks.
"Harry you wait." Randy said.
***
Just like he expected, the principal only stopped him to ask about his condition. He even suggested another break from the academy but Harry rejected it, claiming he was completely fine—he never needed the first break to begin with.
He could imagine staying at home for another week or weeks, it was pure torture for him.
Harry brushed off all insignificant thought from his mind as he checked the system's notifications about the Quest completion. Back then, he wasn't able to check it properly due to the appearance of instructor Leon, but now he had the time.
—
[Sudden Quest Completed]
[Manaless Mage's Pride]
[Rewards Granted: +1000EXP +5 stat points +5 skill points]
[Hidden Punishment for Quest Failure: Loss of Lightning Affinity.]
————-
A grin appeared on Harry's face as he looked at the quest's rewards. A strange expression flashed through his eyes as he noticed the hidden punishment places below the rewards. He couldn't help but feel a slight chill run down his spine as he read the punishment.
'So if I had decided to let them go, this stupid system would have taken away my… Lightning affinity. I would have lost something I just gained… Isn't that punishment a little bit too severe?' He thought. He bit his lips slightly as he inwardly thanked his stars that he wasn't a goody two shoes and didn't ignore the quest.
His thoughts was interrupted by the level up notification that flashed across his eyes.
———
-Level up!
————
His lips curled into a smile when he noticed the level up notifications.
'I really wish this type of quest popped up every day.' He thought.
*******
Join the discord: https://discord.gg/PqCseyu2Kh
Don't forget to support this novel using power stones and golden tickets.