Following Lanqi's demonstration, Zestira gently reached out and touched the crown of the fox's head. A soft, warm sensation met her hand. The great fox let out an aloof yet affectionate sound, as if offering her a friendly welcome.
A ripple of indescribable joy welled up in Zestira's heart.
She had never interacted with animals before.
Standing at a distance, the elderly teacher watched the two students with the magical beasts. The scene seemed to freeze into a heartwarming portrait, overflowing with the colors of love and understanding. Squinting his nearly shut eyes, he offered sincere blessings and hopes for the two children in his heart.
'If only all the students in this academy were good children like them, how wonderful that would be,' the old man thought.
Just then, the bell outside the classroom finally rang. Its chimes were deep and resonant, carrying a faint touch of magic that pierced the walls and echoed into every corner of the evaluation zone.
When the chimes ended, the evaluation would officially begin.
As the chief examiner, he would also inform the two students of the specific tasks they needed to complete for this exam.
No matter the outcome of the evaluation, he was willing to give these two students the highest score possible.
However.
The lingering chime abruptly cut short.
Before the elderly teacher could speak, a chill wind swept in like the harbinger of a storm, violently tearing through the warm and harmonious atmosphere.
The doors were violently slammed open under a heavy impact.
Several students barged into the classroom, their gazes dripping with hostility.
Their eyes held cold indifference and contempt, disregarding everything before them.
Without warning or a single glance at the elderly teacher, they strode into the classroom, poised to strike at Lanqi and Zestira.
Already fully armed, they entered a combat stance the instant the evaluation began. The weapons in their hands gleamed with a cold metallic sheen, reflecting in their eyes and revealing resolute murderous intent!
Yet the magical beasts were even quicker to sense the malice and threat.
A blaze of fury suddenly ignited in their eyes!
Their calm, gentle expressions instantly shifted into vigilance and ferocity.
By pure instinctual reflex, they pounced toward the intruding students.
In an instant, chaos engulfed every corner of the classroom!
Crashes, roars, and the clash of metal against claw and fang intertwined as the magical beasts fought against these hostile ruffians with their innate strength and magic.
Zestira stood to the side, her eyes wide with terror.
She had not expected these people to be so vicious.
Judging by the number of figures on the distant corridor when they entered, the first wave of students should neither have been so numerous nor so decisive!
Amidst the commotion, Lanqi's eyes carried a hint of worry as well.
"Students, stop! These children aren't aggressive!"
The elderly teacher hurried into the center of the fray, hoping to use his wisdom and experience to calm this sudden turmoil.
Unfortunately, right before him, a student took a deep breath, cocked his right fist back against his abdomen, and blasted forward like an arrow.
"Aorta Rupture Fist!"
BOOM!
His room-shaking opening punch echoed through the air, crashing into the magical beast's body like a thunderclap.
Or rather, right into the old man who had stepped in to break up the fight.
The old man was knocked flying along with the beast, skidding several meters across the classroom floor.
The beast's body was sturdy and seemed unharmed, but whether the old man was all right remained to be seen.
Staring at the chaotic scene, Zestira's mouth fell open in shock.
Lanqi wore a distressed look, his arms crossed over his chest.
He appeared deeply troubled by the moral decay of students hitting their teacher.
"Students, stop at once!"
The old man pushed himself up from the floor with effort, but the frenzied students paid him no mind.
He had experienced being challenged with violence by hot-blooded students a few times over the years.
Even so, taking such a savage blow was a first.
If he were a decade older, that hit might well have sent him to meet the Goddess.
How truly lamentable.
Whether his eyes were open or closed was impossible to tell, but the old man sighed sorrowfully.
Just what had happened to the students these days?
While vicious behavior had always existed, in recent years the students had grown increasingly violent and insolent.
Did none of them possess consideration, a heart that cherished people and things, or respect for their elders?
Though living conditions across the empire had improved, had the children's hearts truly fallen so far?
How wonderful the past had been.
That era shortly after the Holy War ended, when everyone was united in camaraderie.
Naturally, the old man's thoughts drifted back decades.
Back then, how pure-hearted the students of Protos Royal Magic Academy had been, bursting with passion and burning with hope for the future.
Their respect for him hadn't been because of how strong he was on the battlefield, but simply out of shared ideals.
He recalled their cheerful voices:
"Major, we will definitely master magical beast husbandry from you!"
"What's this little fox's name? It's so adorable."
"To think that someone known on the battlefield as the 'Mutilation Reaper' could be such a gentle person. War really is to blame, isn't it?"
Everyone lived in harmony and love...
Just like this.
Even students with fiery tempers would secretly risk being reported to rescue beast cubs bound for the slaughterhouse, registering them under research permits to protect them.
Whenever he reminisced about those years, warmth would fill his chest.
Why were there no students like that anymore?
No, there were—such as those two kindhearted children.
In the brief span of his reverie, time slipped by, and the classroom had become an all-out battlefield.
What was once an elegantly decorated room filled with all sorts of tools and ingredients was now a complete mess.
Licorice strewn across the floor mingled with dust and fallen beast feathers.
The beasts' roars blended with the students' enraged shouts, forging a deafening rhythm—one that had persisted since the Holy War, gradually transforming into the specter of the Protos Empire, an unresolvable hatred.
Faced with this miserable scene, the old man shook his head, looking as if the spirit had been completely knocked out of him. He could not even muster the strength to hug the magical beasts he had doted on for years and raised like his own children.
No, no.
I cannot get angry.
At my age, how can I let emotion get the better of me?
The old man forced a faint smile and told himself:
'One day, the future of the Protos Empire must be handed over to the youth.'
'As a teacher, one should not correct students with violence that answers evil with evil.'
Just as he had realized in his youth, one could not tame magical beasts with brute force.
Thinking this, his pale brows still radiated kindness.
Just as he prepared to offer his old bones once more to try and reform these wayward students—
Crash!
The door was violently smashed inward, and a cabinet came flying through. Struck square on the head by the cabinet, the old man tumbled to the floor once again.
"Thank goodness it's only a Tier 1 classroom!"
"Time to slaughter!"
More students surged in. Looking at the chaotic culinary classroom, their eyes gleamed with cruelty and greed. They readied their weapons, looking as if they couldn't wait to butcher every last ingredient beast, carve them apart, and claim that 130,000-credit bounty.
Chapter 288