Chapter 22: Reward

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio  Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

Several students grew increasingly shocked. They did not expect Su Ye, who was quiet for the entirety of last year, to speak in such an organized manner. He even had a faint demeanor that only teachers had.

Some of them noticed that Su Ye had grown much taller, as well as more muscular than he was last semester. He did not look like a mage, but instead like a warrior.

Hort by the side said, “That’s right, what Su Ye said is right. We are all students, let’s stop this.”

“I think we should forget it,” Jimmy, another student at that desk, laughed and said.

The bustling classroom turned silent. More and more students looked over.

Hutton’s expression changed as he reached out and pushed Su Ye. Su Ye leaned backward and hurried to support himself on a desk, but he nearly flipped over and hit his head.

Hutton was furious. “What do you mean? I was merely joking with you, yet you made the situation so serious! Don’t mess around if you can’t afford to!”

“I did not have the intention of messing around with you in the first place.” Su Ye’s tone was still gentle.

“Are you provoking me?” Hutton took a step forward. He looked down at Su Ye with a ferocious gaze using his height to his advantage.

A bench sat between the two of them.

Su Ye patted down his long robe and then turned to look at Hort by his side. He let out a gentle smile and said, “I am in a little bit of trouble. Do you have my back? You don’t have to take action.”

The expression of several students changed slightly. To soldiers, having someone’s back meant that they were going to do battle together. Even though Su Ye did not require Holt to take action, it meant that Su Ye might take action himself.

Hort pushed his chair away with his leg as he stood up.

Standing up with his 2.1-meter frame, he looked like a giant. Coupled with his muscular body obtained from his years of training, Hort exerted immense pressure.

“I will never expose my partner’s back to the enemy.” Hort gave a serious answer.

Hort had a great reputation in school, and he would never cause unnecessary trouble. However, he would attend any conflicts between his schoolmates and the warriors from other schools or private wrestling and boxing matches without hesitation.

“Thank you, Hort.” Su Ye turned his head to look at Hutton. He had on a smile as he said, “I do not like to be called ‘Third Fool,’ nor do I like to be called ‘Second Fool.’ So I hope that you will give your word in front of everyone that you will not call me Third Fool or any other nickname in the future. You will treat me as you would treat an average student.”

“You are still provoking me!” Hutton’s expression turned cold.

“No,” Su Ye replied earnestly.

Hutton’s expression turned gentle as he said, “That’s good! Whoever I call and whatever I call them is my choice. You can’t tell me what to do!”

“Are you sure?” Su Ye asked.

Hutton let out a cold laugh. “Why, you want to hit me? You have to think this through. As long as we do not use magic, Divine Power, or any weapons, the academy does not forbid any private fights. You’ve seen how I beat Peyrusse up back then…”

Su Ye suddenly flailed his right arm without waiting for Hutton to finish his sentence. His fist landed fiercely onto Hutton’s nose.

Hutton, who was caught off guard, let out a pathetic cry. He took some steps back in retreat, and his back hit the wall.

Blood sprayed everywhere.

Su Ye leaped after him. He slipped past the two students who shared a desk with Hutton and quickly gave him an uppercut that landed squarely on Hutton’s stomach.

“Argh…” Hutton looked like a hunched prawn and retched from the intense pain in his stomach.

Hutton’s deskmates were about to take action when Hort placed a hand on each of their shoulders.

“This is a matter between the two of them.”

The two clenched their teeth and tolerated the immense pain in their shoulders. They did not dare make a move.

Hutton covered his bloody nose, crying in pain as he cursed out.

Su Ye grabbed Hutton’s chin and pressed Hutton’s head onto the wall. He looked calmly into Hutton’s eyes and said, “When I said ‘no’ just now, I meant that you are not fit to be provoked by me.”

“You are asking for death… Ah…”

Su Ye’s knee landed heavily into Hutton’s abdomen.

Hutton had one hand on his nose and the other on his stomach. He fell to the ground as he let out a constant stream of low, painful wheezes.

The students in the class were dumbfounded. These fights were normal, but how could the always quiet child have beaten Hutton?

Su Ye looked down at Hutton and said peacefully, “I admit that my grades were bad, but as long as I put in the effort to study and study with better methods, my grades will definitely improve. What about you? Bullying classmates, forcing people to quit school and destroying someone else’s life. If you do not admit your mistakes, then your despicable nature will seep into your bones and turn into sin that you will have to carry for the rest of your life. Tell me that you were in the wrong.”

“No!” Hutton shouted.

“Tell me.” Su Ye’s tone was more collected than before. He slowly raised his leg and aimed at Hutton’s face.

Hutton, who was on the ground, clenched his teeth tight. However, for some reason, he suddenly thought of the soldiers who had killed other people when he looked at Su Ye’s ice-cold gaze. His body trembled as he said in a fluster, “I was wrong, I will never call you Third Fool in the future! Never again.”

“Say it again.”

“I was wrong, I’ll never call you any nicknames again, ever again.”

“Su Ye,” Laker softly reminded Su Ye.

Su Ye glanced at Laker and nodded, signaling that he would not blow things up in the classroom.

Su Ye smiled as he bent down and extended a hand toward Hutton. “Very good. I hope that from this day on, our misunderstandings will be dispelled, and we will still be friendly classmates.”

Hutton stared at Su Ye for a good while, then nodded and extended his hand out to be pulled up.

Su Ye patted Hutton’s shoulder and said, “Go get looked at by a teacher. I’ll treat you to a meal at Dolphin River in a few days when your injuries are healed.”

Hutton nodded and walked out with his two deskmates.

Many students heaved a sigh of relief. Su Ye said that he would treat Hutton to a meal, which meant that there would not be hatred between the two of them. He must have been joking when he chose the Dolphin River. It was the best restaurant outside of the noble sector, and it was not somewhere Su Ye could afford to go.

The classroom quickly slipped into commotion once again. A few students watched Su Ye in secret. They realized again that Su Ye was very different from how he was last semester.

Su Ye leaned on a wall, and his emotions slowly regained their calm.

He was incredibly frustrated. He did not expect to encounter this many incidents in a row.

A shadow enveloped him. Su Ye turned his head to see that Hort was standing beside him with a friendly smile.

“Good job!” Hort gently pushed his fist onto Su Ye’s shoulder.

“Thank you very much,” Su Ye said.

“I did not expect you to attack so fiercely!” Hort said.

Su Ye shrugged as he said, “I merely did not wish to continue rewarding him.”

“Reward?” Hort looked at Su Ye, confused.

The blue-eyed young lady who was paying attention to Su Ye sat with her back facing them. She tilted her head slightly to listen.

Suddenly, Su Ye realized that he just said something he should not have. Now was not the time to go into things such as the habit loop of cues, routines, and rewards, or other related information.

Su Ye smiled and said, “If my memory does not fail me, you seem to like eating honey.”

“That’s right! I love eating honey.” The innocent Hort cracked a smile and laughed joyfully.

“Why is that?”

“It’s sweet!”

The 2.1-meter tall giant looked like a 200-pound child when he spoke about sweets.

Su Ye smiled. “To you, this sweetness is a reward for the action of eating honey. You like this reward, so you’ll want to eat more, and the more you eat, the more rewards you get. You will then want to eat honey even more. Think about it, does this make sense?”

“It does.” Hort nodded in understanding.