Cheating on the Tower Seizure chessboard? If it were Grace Howard herself doing it, she could indeed break through the board’s restraints and quietly hide a piece without anyone noticing. But with this group of students who haven’t even completed their Dream Awakening? Don’t even think about it—it must be a misunderstanding… Besides, whether or not there was cheating isn’t even the point. Looking at the two groups of freshmen standing before her, faces bruised and swollen, clothes in tatters, yet still glaring at each other with bared teeth… Grace Howard could only feel a deep sense of sorrow.

“Classmates, what on earth is wrong with you? Look at the state you’re in… Aren’t you ashamed? What kind of conflict could possibly make you raise your fists against your own classmates? No matter how much the academy encourages competition, you are classmates, friends—not enemies! If you want to compete, there are class progress rankings every few days, and the academy also arranges all kinds of competitions. If you want to prove your abilities, there are plenty of opportunities! Don’t act like savages and resort to violence.”

Grace Howard’s voice wasn’t harsh, but after her speech, all the students involved in the fight looked ashamed, lowered their heads, and were filled with regret.

Although what Grace Howard said was rather general, combined with the hypnotic effect of Dreamweaving, her words could penetrate deep into their hearts, making the students sincerely accept them.

This ability to manipulate hearts and minds is something even Dreamweavers a level above her would struggle to achieve, only possible thanks to her extraordinary bloodline power. The academy’s exceptional decision to appoint the young Grace Howard as a mentor was largely due to this very reason.

After a brief admonition, Grace Howard dismissed the gathered students. Having been scolded by their mentor, the students looked dispirited and returned to their dorms to rest.

Since it wasn’t mealtime yet, the huge cafeteria had only a few people left. Among them was Ethan Green, accompanied by a loyal follower.

“Those bastards from Class Four, they’ll pay for this sooner or later…”

Ethan Green was resting at a table, one hand on his waist. He’d taken too many cheap shots in the brawl earlier. Though he wasn’t seriously injured, it still hurt quite a bit.

The tall follower, David Brooks, hesitantly tried to persuade him: “I think what Ms. Howard said just now was right. We’re all classmates, there’s really no need to…”

“Shut up!” Ethan Green shot him an annoyed glare.

Grace Howard’s hypnosis was extremely powerful—even Dreamweavers of her level could fall for it if they weren’t careful. With Ethan Green’s current cultivation, he shouldn’t have been able to resist at all. However, his family’s bloodline gave him strong resistance, and Grace Howard had greatly underestimated the anger in Ethan Green’s heart.

“Henry, Kelly, and that William Carter… Of these three, especially the last two are the most detestable.”

David Brooks asked in confusion, “The last two?”

“Henry is from the Bourbon family, after all. In terms of family background, the Bourbons and the Lin family are almost equals. As my rival, Henry is qualified… But what are Kelly and William Carter? One’s from a minor noble family, the other is just a commoner! Filthy bugs like them dare to stand up to me…”

David Brooks cautiously said, “That William Carter is indeed hateful, but I don’t think Kelly has ever provoked you…”

“Shut up! I don’t need your opinion!”

“Oh…”

After cursing angrily, Ethan Green was about to get up and leave. But as he moved his hand from his waist, he suddenly noticed something was wrong.

“Huh, where’s my money pouch?”

It was clearly tied to his belt, but after feeling around, he realized it had vanished! Ethan Green figured he must have lost it during the brawl, but there wasn’t much money in it anyway, so it wasn’t worth worrying about. What was truly valuable, though, was something else.

“David Brooks, pack up the chessboard, let’s go back.”

“……”

“David Brooks!?” Seeing no response, Ethan Green frowned, cursing David Brooks’s sluggishness today—not only was he bad at talking, he couldn’t even get things done. Truly useless!

“Lin, Ethan Green, something’s wrong.”

“What’s wrong?”

“The chess… it’s gone!”

“What!?”

This shocked Ethan Green to the core. The Tower Seizure chess set was missing? That wasn’t some mass-market set you could buy in the trading district for twenty or thirty Liberty Coins. The pieces were finely carved from top-quality jade, and the board was crafted by a senior Dreamweaver to manifest the rules—every part of it showed its value. This set of Tower Seizure chess couldn’t be bought for even three to five thousand Liberty Coins; it was priceless!

Even for a noble like Ethan Green, there was no way he’d treat something worth thousands of Liberty Coins lightly. The moment he heard David Brooks say the chess set was missing, Ethan Green jumped up: “Find it for me!”

Of course, they didn’t find it. Ethan Green kept cursing in the cafeteria until a nearby mentor arrived and forcibly escorted him back to the dorm.

Meanwhile… “Kelly, here’s something nice for you. You can finally throw away those broken chess pieces of yours~”

“This… where did you get it!?”

Chapter Five: It’s Not Like This Is the Holy Empire’s Consulate in the Free City…