Chapter 147: Cat and Mouse Game — Please Choose a Faction

Chapter 147: Chapter 147: Cat and Mouse Game — Please Choose a Faction

After Jeremy finished reading, the other four also happened to fold their screens away.

Leon turned off the light screen: "Consider it a good thing. At least during the tournament, that wicked jellyfish-head won’t banish us anywhere else."

Banish...

That truly sounded like the unfortunate feeling of someone exiled to a desolate land.

But that word was extremely accurate.

Jeremy expressed his agreement, casually glancing at his dragon wings and the tail behind his back.

If they hadn’t exited the secret realm today, it would have been time to swallow the pill Griffin gave them to solidify the beastkin form.

But now that they were back at the academy, that pill wasn’t needed anymore.

Five days later, this state would automatically disappear. However, the uniform pet shape and outfit stipulated by the academy... seemed to also come with a transformation spell.

With the group like this, they could be considered to have a destiny with animal forms.

But whatever.

As long as he wasn’t assigned to the Mouse faction, it was fine.

No intention to discriminate. Just that the positioning of the Order Mouse was too unlucky.

Not only having to scavenge for items but also having to run and hide, and seven days later even getting played by the advanced Star-Reversers.

No matter how you looked at it, it was too passive.

Jeremy silently prayed he would fall into the Cat faction.

Before Griffin returned, the group hadn’t been dismissed yet. He decisively leaned back in his chair and sat down, casually asking: "Of these three factions, which one do you guys prefer?"

Leon answered without needing to think: "Being a Cat in the early stage, and a Star-Reverser in the late stage is the absolute best."

Evelyn: "Cat."

Lucius: "Whatever."

Seeing everyone had answered, Phoenix finally spoke quietly: "Mouse."

Finding people or catching people is too tiring.

His thoughts were almost written all over his face. Jeremy thought of that personality paired with a sneaky mouse outfit and found it a bit amusing: "Wish you get what you want."

But since it was random allocation, meaning there was a complete probability that the group would stand on opposite sides of the battle line.

The rules didn’t prohibit using magic, and allowed the use of Sacred Weapons. Meaning opposing factions would definitely have a clash.

This could also be considered the first time their team had to point weapons at each other.

Nearly half an hour later, Griffin finally appeared.

Instructors also had Magic Spirit cards, only with higher authority.

He seemed to not have been at the academy these past few days either. The exact moment he stepped out of the teleportation matrix in the middle of the classroom, the notification sounds from his Magic Spirit card rang out continuously.

But he only indifferently opened it, cast a glance, then snapped it shut, clicking his tongue: "Boring."

After that unceremonious evaluation, he said lazily: "You lot fend for yourselves. Just don’t rank at the bottom and make me lose face. I won’t be at the academy for the next few months, so before the final exams are over, don’t contact me even if something comes up."

Finished speaking, he vanished, not giving anyone a chance to reply half a word.

The five in the classroom fell silent.

...Truly unable to comprehend how the academy tolerates this person.

Doesn’t the school rule clearly state that unless necessary, instructors, like students, are not allowed to leave the school at will? Yet to him, those lines were merely for decoration.

But that irresponsibility wasn’t what surprised them. After all, Griffin had always been like that — doing whatever he pleased, appearing and disappearing unpredictably.

What stunned the group was that this time he didn’t demand they take first place, but merely requested they not rank at the bottom?

This could reluctantly be considered... good news.

Just as they thought they could breathe a little easier for the next few months, Griffin’s voice suddenly echoed from the void:

"For summer break, your training location is a C-rank Wasteland rift. If you have a death wish, then just give up for these next few months."

The five: "..."

Under that threat, Jeremy’s group didn’t dare to idle around before the opening day. And actually, they couldn’t afford to idle.

That very night, Jeremy handed over the entire batch of spatial storage artifacts picked up in the Myriad Beasts Domain to a mage who had connections with both the Isle of All Things and the Valmont family to break the seals.

The quantity was too large, and there were a few quite tricky items, so the processing time required more than two months.

Perfectly aligning with when the tournament ended.

The other party was reliable, and Jeremy wasn’t in a hurry. After placing the deposit, he tossed the matter aside.

For the remaining days, aside from cultivating, he sparred with his teammates.

Additionally, he buried his face in the academy library, searching for documents related to life-and-death blood pacts.

But unfortunately, the answers found were all four words: no way to dissolve.

As for the primordial divine beasts Phoenix mentioned, no need to discuss further. According to records, the next time divine beasts reappeared would be at least tens of thousands of years away.

By that time, Leon’s corpse would have long turned to dust, let alone signing a pact.

All paths pointed to the same conclusion: the life-and-death blood pact cannot be dissolved.

So currently, Jeremy’s group had no other way but to find every possible method to elevate his strength.

As for what happens three years later... overthinking it now would only dig up terrible answers. Better not to think about it.

Leon himself didn’t care in the slightest; he had arranged his fate long ago. But seeing his teammates so dedicated, he reluctantly cooperated in acting to make them happy.

Then followed this scene: twenty-four hours a day, twelve hours were spent taking turns in one-on-one duels with the four, then followed by a one-versus-four session.

Just sitting down to rest for a few minutes would instantly be accused by his teammates of lazily giving up, followed immediately by an unannounced sneak attack.

Leon’s inner thoughts when beaten black and blue, his tolerance hitting rock bottom: "???"

Maybe forget it, just close my eyes and die right now.

To be honest, no need to wait three years, right now he already felt he was about to die.

If he had known this, he wouldn’t have acted up that day and blurted everything out.

Under that agonizing "torment", the tournament Leon had been anticipating for days finally arrived.

At exactly six in the morning that day, the five, as stipulated, arrived at the assembly point on Island Number Seven.

Upon arrival, the square was already packed with students.

Five minutes after everyone had fully assembled, a voice rang out from all directions.

[The Great Cat and Mouse War officially begins! Due to six students being absent, to make up the numbers, we have specially invited six second-year students to participate. Naturally, their realms have all been suppressed to a reasonable level, please do not worry.]

[The starting locations this time are random teleportations, please be ready.]

[Countdown five seconds: Five... Four... Three... Two... One.]

When the final number fell, a massive magic array expanded beneath the feet of the entire square.

Jeremy only felt the world spin. By the time things stabilized, he was standing in the middle of a place that looked exactly like a labyrinth.

Just as he stood steady, the voice of the Student Council Vice President rang out from all directions.

[To ensure the safety of the little mice, the cats will be pinned in place for half an hour. During this half hour, please little mice, find a place to hide very carefully~]

Finished speaking, the light screen automatically popped open. On it displayed a line of text: [Please choose a faction.]

There was no one else around. Jeremy pressed confirm.

After a bout of the wheel spinning wildly, under his expectant gaze, the pointer stopped at... the icon of a mini mouse.

Jeremy’s face instantly went blank, wiped clean of emotion.

Ha... as expected, he was still as unlucky as always.

After choosing, the screen auto-turned the page.

[Role this time: Mouse No. 1. (Total Mouse faction members: 200. Total Cat faction members: 200.)

Today’s task: Survive.

Final task: Collect all ten elemental fragments, activate the Wheel of Fortune.

Note: Please find at least one fragment within three days, otherwise you will be considered eliminated.]

Mouse No. 1...

No matter how much he didn’t want to be a mouse, there was no changing it now.

Jeremy pressed confirm.

Then a bizarre thing happened. A blinding light flashed — didn’t even know what the Student Council did to complete both changing clothes and transformation in a single blink.

Right in front of him happened to be a rusty piece of iron standing at a slant. Just looking up, he immediately saw his current appearance.

A pure white, fluffy one-piece guinea pig outfit. On top of his head sprouted an extra pair of white guinea pig ears. And naturally, a tail as well.

"..."

Jeremy didn’t expect the school and the Student Council to be crazy to this extent.

Calling it the Great Cat and Mouse War, so they turned them into actual cats and mice?