Lanqi's First Day of Class

In September, the heat of summer was already beginning to fade from the royal capital of Ikerite. A touch of morning chill drifted through Ikerite Magic Academy, making Lanqi, living on the ground floor, let out a yawn. Today was the first day of class; there was no staying in bed. Rolling out of bed, he walked out of the bedroom with his toothbrush in mouth. Bleary-eyed, Lanqi gazed out the floor-to-ceiling windows of his living room to see several chirping little birds perched along the edge of a small, garden-like private courtyard—the terrace of his dormitory. When Lanqi drew back the curtains and slowly walked up to the birds, they continued to hop about without the slightest intention of flying away. Lanqi lingered in the courtyard for a while, and more and more little birds gathered around him. They seemed remarkably fond of him, as if yearning to snuggle close by his side. "I'm not a druid... Why are you guys so attached to me?" Lanqi muttered indistinctly around his toothbrush. He had actually noticed this long ago. Back in his border town, just walking down the street would attract a flock of adorable stray cats, and since arriving at Ikerite Academy, the wild birds on campus treated him like a friend. Small animals let their guard down around him entirely. Perhaps it was because his emerald-green eyes were naturally gentle, or perhaps his aura was as placid as a lyrical painting. In any case, he hardly minded being surrounded by these tiny creatures. After washing up, Lanqi put on the School of Sages uniform delivered by the Student Service Center. Then he stood before the mirror. The young man in the glass had graceful facial contours and a straight nose, the fringe by his left ear combed neatly behind it. His soft black hair appeared composed and bright in the sunlight, while his slender, elegant eyebrows formed a striking contrast with his emerald eyes—gentle and approachable, yet refined and composed. A long dark-blue coat draped elegantly over his tall, slender frame, its design reminiscent of a midnight sky, mystical and deep. The wide cuffs and the hem of the coat were embroidered with gold thread, tracing motifs characteristic of the Hutton Kingdom's artistic style as well as ancient Southern Continent script. Inside the coat, the shirt's collar was styled into a vintage white cravat. At its center rested a small gold badge engraved with the Ikerite Academy crest and a School of Sages warding spell formula, glittering in the sunlight like a brilliant star while maintaining an artistic touch. Beneath the shirt, he wore dark trousers and a pair of boots, carefully polished to a gleaming black finish. Lanqi stamped his feet. They felt sturdy and comfortable—everything an adventurer could ask for. "Perfect. Time to set out." Lanqi's legendary life began today! *** Ikerite Academy, School of Sages Main Building. Compared to the campus's other classical architecture, this building appeared remarkably novel and distinct. Its roof featured a series of folding light-sensitive magical apparatuses that brought in varied natural light while shielding against low-angle glare. The School of Sages had over a hundred admitted students this year, randomly divided into three classes. Elective courses had no fixed classrooms; students moved to different buildings according to their schedules, sometimes traveling to multifunctional lecture halls or testing grounds belonging to other schools. Compulsory courses, however, were mandatory for all students regardless of what they chose. The students of a given class would gather in a designated room for every compulsory lecture. First-year students in the School of Sages had almost no opportunity to challenge real Shadow Worlds during their first semester, leaving their schedules packed with foundational core classes. Today, for example, had four full compulsory lectures: *Introduction to Mana Control*, *Practical Spellcasting*, *Principles of Incantationless Casting*, and *Mana Detection and Shielding*. "Off to class in style." Lanqi quickly located his classroom using the campus map markers. When he looked inside, quite a few students were already present. He should have arrived fairly early, but feeding his animal friends on the terrace had taken a few more minutes than planned. The tiered lecture hall had polished wooden floors and was exceptionally spacious, giving every student plenty of room to stretch out at their desks. Outside the floor-to-ceiling windows on the side lay a verdant lawn. Sunlight streamed through the glass, making the room bright and welcoming, while lighting that combined natural and artificial sources could be adjusted as needed. When the students saw Lanqi walk through the door, they uniformly adopted expressions that said, *A rare creature has appeared.* A young gentleman with black hair and green eyes—this was without doubt the top-ranked examinee of this year's entrance exam for the School of Sages, the "Dark Arch-Justiciar." That was the title certain students had given him, marking him as a brand-new breed among the School of Sages' magical combatants. Though Lanqi's performance in the second round was renowned, no one understood his actual combat capabilities. The most widespread rumor claimed: *That guy was insanely lucky; during the third round, the examiner suffered a sudden cardiovascular episode, so he just breezed right through.* Consequently, quite a few students looked on him with a mixture of envy, jealousy, and skepticism. "Oh." Stepping into the classroom, Lanqi glanced around at the scattered seating and quickly spotted an outlier seated near the back. Lady Hyperion. His reliable teammate from the third-round practical assessment, the Infinite Phantom Gorge. She seemed to have intentionally picked a desk in the rear. More than that, an entire ring of empty desks surrounded her, as if everyone was deliberately avoiding her. It gave the distinct impression that Hyperion was being ostracized. Lanqi felt that this was rather unfortunate. He climbed the steps toward the back of the lecture hall until he reached Hyperion's row, taking a seat nearby. "Good morning, Hyperion." Lanqi greeted her with a warm smile. "Morning." Hyperion glanced at him with a hint of surprise, then promptly looked away and said nothing more. The conflicted look in her eyes made it clear she had no desire to snub him; she was merely keeping her distance for his own good. Seeing this, Lanqi did not press for conversation. To him, listening to lectures was the same no matter where he sat, and Hyperion was the only person he knew here anyway. With that, he opened the copy of *Hutton Kingdom Judicial Examination: Real Case Collection* in his hands and began to study in earnest. While waiting for class to begin, having this morning reading material for company was truly wonderful. *** True to expectations, the first three dry compulsory lectures of the day came to an end. Four in the afternoon. The sky had turned a fiery orange-red, and before long, the sun would begin its slow descent. Tree shadows outside the classroom stretched long across the lawn, leaves rustling gently in the breeze. Hyperion remained in her seat in the back row, and Lanqi was still sitting nearby. Yet the state of the two differed entirely from the morning. Hyperion had found these subjects effortless, even handling them with plenty of ease to spare. As for Lanqi... He was currently slumped over his desk, fast asleep. The first three lectures seemed to have placed an excessive load on him, making this half-hour window before the final class a precious moment of respite. The lecture hall was set within one of the School of Sages' historic renovated buildings, where the preserved wooden frames of doors and windows formed a stark contrast with the exterior red-brick walls. The towering ceiling overhead, a distinctive feature of the space, was crafted from exquisite plasterwork that preserved the Hutton Kingdom's classical aesthetics. A few self-adjusting magical chandeliers in the dome cast a gentle light, lending a soothing ambiance to the room. Even though class was not currently in session, the room was far livelier than it had been in the morning. Aside from students who had arrived early to wait for the next lecture, sitting alone and reading their textbooks, upperclassmen and students from other schools occasionally drifted into the School of Sages' hallways and classrooms to chat with newly enrolled acquaintances about various campus anecdotes. In sharp contrast stood the conspicuously desolate back row, separated from the rest of the room as though partitioned by an invisible barrier. Hyperion sat quietly, her amber eyes gazing indifferently through the window toward the distant horizon. Her face was expressionless, but a multitude of thoughts drifted through her mind. Some of the upperclassmen dropping by were old friends or acquaintances of the freshmen before they enrolled. There were also "star freshmen" from other classes, like Princess Vivian, who had been sought after by expedition teams even before setting foot on campus, surrounded like stars around the moon. None of that lively bustle had anything to do with Hyperion. Even though she was the runner-up among this year's School of Sages freshmen, no team would ever come to recruit her. In the past, with her father around, no one dared mistreat her over her demonic bloodline, and everyone around her seemed kind. Now that she stood alone without backing, she finally felt firsthand the sheer depth of hostility and suspicion demons faced in this kingdom. Making it through the day until the afternoon without incident was already a stroke of luck. Unlike most people, she had no wish for anyone to seek her out. If any upperclassmen came looking for her of their own accord, they would inevitably be the troublesome figures of the capital, bringing misfortune rather than blessings. Another thing that could be considered fortunate was the gentle presence beside her—someone who had never treated her as a jinx and had never harbored the slightest malice toward her from the moment they met. Hyperion could not help looking at the talented, somewhat eccentric boy who was sound asleep. Earlier, a few students from other classes had dropped by to scope Lanqi out, but upon seeing him seated beside her, their expressions had shifted, and they quickly made excuses to leave. Furthermore, Hyperion had finally discovered something. This fellow, who appeared so clever on the surface, was an absolute dunce when it came to spellcasting. Aside from using magic cards, he had never learned to cast a single spell himself—completely unlike an ordinary magic-oriented combatant. Yet he was remarkably earnest. Even while suffering through the agony of the lectures, he refused to skip class or slack off. Hyperion let out a helpless sigh. It turned out that the seemingly all-powerful Lanqi had weaknesses of his own. Though students were chatting in the classroom and noise drifted in from the corridor, Hyperion quietly turned the pages of her book with utmost care, doing her best not to wake the boy beside her. A kindness returned for a kindness received; she held grudges fiercely, but she also remembered every bit of goodness shown to her. What was more, for some reason, Lanqi seemed to possess a natural aura that brought peace of mind to living beings around him, even when he was merely slumped over the desk asleep. Without realizing it, her thoughts were drawn back into the pages before her. *** Beyond the floor-to-ceiling windows, the sky subtly shifted with every passing minute. Dense clouds drifted across, briefly obscuring the warm afternoon sun, causing the natural light in the classroom to dim intermittently while soft veils of shadow fell over the floor. This did nothing to disturb Hyperion's reading, for she felt an inexplicable sense of peace—a feeling she had not experienced in a very long time. "Hyperion, I must say, I'm surprised you managed to enroll successfully." A soft, abrupt voice sent a sudden chill down Hyperion's spine. She whipped her head around. Standing in the aisle beside her desk was a fair-skinned young man with his hands tucked behind his back. His posture was relaxed, bearing an air of calm arrogance. "..." Though Hyperion's expression remained unchanged, the tension in her aura soured drastically. "Modan... What do you want?" Clearly, this was someone she desperately wished to avoid. Modan Gaxiges, the second son of Marquis Gaxiges, and a third-year student in the School of Sages whose formidable strength and exceptional talent as a Shadow World challenger were well known. Compared to the nobles of factions hostile to her father, Duke Aransal, Hyperion loathed the Gaxiges family—once on friendly terms with the Duke—far more. Ever since Duke Aransal had disappeared, Marquis Gaxiges had shown no intention of helping her. Instead, he eyed her like prey, attempting to force her into marriage with his family to bring her under his control. "Hyperion, if you want to challenge the Shadow World during your first year, you might want to consider joining my team. Or rather, you can only join mine, because I'm the only one willing to carry you through." Modan spoke in a polite, gentle tone, like an elder brother speaking to a younger sister, yet his eyes made no effort to conceal his naked possessiveness and greed. "No need," Hyperion replied coldly. She knew that even though she, like Lanqi, had received an exemption to become an Iron-rank adventurer due to her top exam scores, the rule barring first-years from solo expeditions doomed her to lose countless opportunities to grow stronger. Because... Just as Modan had said. In this entire school, not a single team or member would ever willingly accept a demon.