Chapter 502: 502. A personality flipped too soon

"No control over beasts. No coordination at all," the professor said bluntly.

Orrin stared at the professor with a frozen gaze. He hadn’t realized the professor had been observing their group so closely.

"Professor, this one here has been making decisions that put our group in danger," Orrin said while pointing at Theo.

Theo looked at the boy in disbelief. Was this guy serious?

The professor continued staring at Orrin with those same mad eyes, and as Orrin struggled to maintain eye contact, Theo finally understood what was going on.

Kaela and Mikel were also throwing side glances to Theo as if he had done something wrong.

"Professor, I would like to request a disadvantage for myself," Theo suddenly said, drawing the professor’s attention.

The professor’s demeanor shifted slightly, and he nodded, as if telling Theo to continue.

"I want to work alone instead of staying in a group. That way, I can truly show you what I am capable of on my own," Theo said confidently.

The surrounding students looked at him with mixed emotions. The guy was leaving the group just like that.

For many of them, things didn’t make sense, and Orrin was the first one to chime in again.

"You were the one that made this group, and now you’re leaving it?" Orrin asked with a raised eyebrow. 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝘦𝓌𝑒𝑏𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝘭.𝒸𝘰𝑚

Theo’s gaze met Orrin’s and saw an arrogance in his eyes that immediately irritated him.

’What is his guy even trying to do? Is he trying to make me his enemy?’ Theo wondered while forcing himself to remain calm.

There was no way he would lose control and do something now that he knew the guy was provoking him.

"I permit you to work alone, student," the professor said abruptly before walking away with a click of his tongue.

Now that the mantis had returned to the beast space, Orrin walked toward Theo and stopped right in front of him as if challenging him.

"Your gaze is awfully high. How about you come down here?" the guy said, his eyes filled with arrogance.

The sudden switch in demeanor caught Theo off guard; it was something he hadn’t expected at all, but one thing was clear: he wasn’t going to have this at all.

"Make me," Theo replied as he stepped forward, making Orrin seem even smaller.

A vein bulged on Orrin’s forehead as he tapped a finger on Theo’s chest, trying to provoke him further.

"Do you know who I am?" Orrin asked.

This time, Theo smirked.

"Actually, I should be the one asking you that question, ’Sir’ Orrin. What is my name?" Theo asked, the same smirk still on his face.

"I don’t care anymore. But do you know who’s backing me?"

Theo leaned closer to the man’s ears, his eyes still carrying that same arrogant edge.

"Theo Merrick. That’s my name," he said before giving Orrin one last look and stepping aside.

He was willing to let go of the campfire issue since it had only been an idea and not something he had actually done, but there was no way he was going to leave the cut tree behind.

Orrin continued staring at Theo, but something had changed. The arrogance in his gaze was gone.

A faint cold sweat rolled down his forehead, but Theo didn’t bother looking. He didn’t care about the man anymore, just what he needed to finish right now.

Leaving the group behind, Theo unsheathed his sword, aura quickly enveloping the blade.

Theo swung it downward in a clean vertical strike, making another seamless cut through the fallen tree.

Then came another strike, this one splitting half of the log into two parts.

After two tries, Theo had successfully divided the half-tree into two usable logs.

He pulled one upright and examined it, only to see that it was nearly his height.

He had already made the arrangements without caring about the stares directed toward him; Theo cut down and processed another tree over the next ten minutes before preparing the ropes.

Once he got into the zone, his work speed increased rapidly; by the end of the first hour, Theo’s hut was complete.

He headed deeper into the small woods in search of larger leaves and eventually found a tree with exactly the kind he needed.

Theo plucked around twenty of those oversized leaves, leaving one side of the tree nearly bald.

Using the large leaves, he carefully tied together a roof, and by then, his camp had already become a spectacle.

Only after finishing the hut did Theo finally glance at the others.

Utter ridicule immediately appeared on his face.

Out of the twenty groups, only a few had managed to build an actual hut like his. Most were constructing the weirdest things imaginable.

It was as though they had never camped a day in their lives, much less struggled to survive.

Even the completed huts looked crude and lifeless. They lacked both a proper design and practical utility

There was only one exception—a camp positioned near the corner.

When Theo focused his gaze on it, he recognized a familiar face.

It was the same muscular man from the essence extraction class.

The moment Theo saw the hut’s structure, he immediately understood that this man had likely been part of some expedition before. His camp looked genuinely well-made.

Then Theo’s gaze shifted back to the group he left not long ago.

The four individuals were struggling, and even that was an understatement.

It looked like they had never properly controlled their beasts or had experienced any kind of survival situation.

Meanwhile, there was that look on Orrin’s face as if everything had already been sorted out despite having contributed almost nothing by himself.

Theo shook his head and decided to make a smoker as well since there was still plenty of time left.

After another 20 minutes of making more stuff, a group of students hurried toward him.

When Theo looked at the girl leading them, he couldn’t help but feel that she was hesitant to approach him, though there was desperation in her eyes.

"Greetings, Young Master Theo," she said with a bow.

Theo no longer had the energy to tell people to stop addressing him that way.

"You have built quite a spectacular camp all on your own. Especially this hut," the girl began.

"My name is Cassie Radon, and can I ask you for a favor."

With each passing day, more and more people were becoming connected to Theo, and he honestly didn’t know how to feel about it.