Guided by Bachel, they reentered the teaching area. They wound their way through layers of spiral staircases, surrounded by ink-black voids. Gradually, dim yellow light illuminated the path ahead. The spiraling stairs vanished behind them, replaced by an ancient stone corridor.
This starting corridor felt as though it nurtured everything within the teaching area. Lime encrusted the stone walls, bearing the marks of time. The candlelight reflecting off the stone cast a faint halo, and the air was tinged with the scent of ancient rock and a subtle dampness.
Every corridor possessed its own distinct marker—perhaps an engraving, a worn spot, or even a peculiar metal floor tile.
To Bachel, these minute differences served as crucial clues to recognizing each corridor.
Lanqi and Hyperion followed in Bachel's footsteps, traversing corridor after corridor as they ventured deeper into the interior.
Finally, Bachel stopped before a delicate, compact wooden door.
Imprinted on the door were three whole demon marks.
"Rumor has it that this is a painting classroom—and one of the few arts classes at Difficulty 3," Bachel explained to the two.
Hearing this, Hyperion instinctively took half a step back. She felt somewhat traumatized.
In her eyes, Demon Realm art had become something more or less terrifying.
Even now, she couldn't forget the previous Difficulty 2 music classroom.
Still, musical magic had happened to play directly to Lanqi's greatest strength, given that his natal magic card, Poet of Great Love, was a musical-magic-type summon.
Now, however, they were facing an even higher-difficulty painting classroom.
"Lanqi... how are your painting skills?" Hyperion looked at him and asked.
"I know a thing or two." Lanqi gave a calm, composed smile.
"Okay." That put Hyperion's mind at ease.
Though she didn't know precisely how confident Lanqi was, trusting him was never wrong.
Next, Lanqi took the lead and pushed open the door. Hyperion followed him into the small, surprisingly refreshing classroom.
The classroom was circular, its walls composed of grayish-white stone slabs and murals. It lacked a traditional front or back; instead, all seats were arranged around a central round table, providing a complete 360-degree panoramic view.
This design allowed the instructor to interact more easily with every student and facilitated smooth discussion among the students.
It was also the most normal classroom Lanqi had seen thus far.
[Seminar: Demon Realm Art Appreciation]
[Location: Corridor F17, Painting Vault & Seminar Study Room]
The grayish-white stone slab on the wall displayed clear text.
It appeared every wall in this classroom could serve as a whiteboard for instruction.
The basic rules of this classroom were also crystal clear.
[Attacking other students is prohibited.]
[Seminar Content: Appraise whether a painting was created by an academy professor ("Yes" or "No").]
[Senior Professor Mogute will randomly select works from the painting vault—]
[Paintings may have been created by several fine arts professors in the academy, or they may be works by former graduates; there will be differences in artistic skill.]
[Students are required to distinguish between them.]
By the time Lanqi and Hyperion walked in and took their seats, there were only five students in total.
An elderly demon professor stood at one end of the classroom, checking his pocket watch and sensing that class was about to begin.
The demon professor quietly opened the door behind him, entered the painting vault, and wheeled out a small cart loaded with artwork. He then retrieved four paintings from it and hung them on the wall so that all five students could see them clearly.
"I am a senior professor of the fine arts department at this academy. First, I will show you a few examples. For instance, these two over here are works by the academy's fine arts professors, while the other two are student works," Professor Mogute pointed to the paintings on the wall and spoke at an unhurried pace.
The few students in the classroom immediately turned their eyes toward the paintings, observing them with rapt concentration.
Because the paintings varied in medium—among the four were oil paintings, watercolors, and charcoal sketches—Hyperion found little basis for comparison. In fact, she could not discern the merits or flaws among the four at all.
Beside her, Lanqi rested his chin in his hand, gave the four paintings a brief glance, and then gave a slight nod.
"The rules are as follows: a correct answer awards 1 point, an incorrect answer deducts 1 point, and failing to answer within five minutes will automatically deduct 1 point. If your score falls into the negative, the professor will execute you.
"In the first round, if no one volunteers to answer first, I will select one person at random, and we will proceed clockwise through a full round of answers. Starting from the second round, you may buzz in freely to answer.
"By the end of this class, avoiding a negative score is all that is required to pass. The higher your score, the better your reward will be. As of now, the highest record stands at 21 points."
Professor Mogute surveyed the five students as he explained.
The recent crop of students didn't look like anything special; the hopes of breaking the record were slim.
...
Inside the School of Magic Engineering's laboratory, bright yellow light shone down upon cluttered workbenches and a dazzling array of tools. Even though it was already late at night, several students could still be seen seated before a large screen broadcasting a live Demon Realm Shadow World feed that looked strikingly real.
Their faces looked exhausted yet thoroughly entertained, their eyes glued to the display as if watching a match.
The entertainment value of this Demon Realm Shadow World broadcast was simply off the charts.
Although back in the music classroom Lanqi had subjected all of them to absolute torment, they had gradually come to realize that Lanqi was an utter troll. They had never seen someone cause such chaos in a Shadow World before.
"Will a Difficulty 3 classroom be even more terrifying than that Difficulty 2 music classroom from earlier?" One magic artificer couldn't help but voice the same worry Hyperion had felt.
"Definitely. But even if it's pure torture, I still want to see the Poet of Great Love. She's so gorgeous, I really want to—"
"*Ahem!* A person cannot—and should not—fall in love with a magic card! You need to reread Professor Borao's *Code of Ethics for Card Makers*!"
"Speaking of which, if you don't know anything about art appreciation, how on earth are you supposed to tell them apart?"
The magic artificers in front of the screen began discussing the matter after hearing the rules.
Meanwhile, beside a workbench on the other side of the room, a young man seated on a sofa raised a finger and offered guidance:
"Actually, aside from differences in skill, the ink and pigments on the paintings should leave behind faint traces of mana. Anyone with exceptionally precise mana identification abilities can detect the painter's mana signature. After answering a few questions and using the previous answers as reference, one can gradually memorize the mana signatures of the academy's professors, making subsequent identifications easier and easier.
"The true difficulty of this classroom lies in the very first few questions of round one. Those are undeniably the riskiest, because there's no prior information to build upon—you can only rely on analyzing artistic technique or try your luck."
The young man's words brought sudden enlightenment to the second-year students in the front row.
"As expected of Your Highness Ainuoer!" A second-year student turned around and gave the young man a thumbs-up.
The young man on the sofa—none other than Second Prince Ainuoer of the Hutton Kingdom—grinned broadly.
He carried himself with no aristocratic airs whatsoever, seeming just like any ordinary senior.
"Didn't Her Highness Vivian say that this fellow named Lanqi is very good at appraising paintings? Doesn't that mean he'll take to this classroom like a fish to water?" The young woman, a Silver-rank card maker still keeping him company, asked Ainuoer.
"No, no, the difficulty is exceptionally high. The art styles of the Demon Realm's Lost Era are completely foreign to us humans. Even if I were the one appraising those four sample paintings, I couldn't say with absolute certainty," Ainuoer's brow furrowed slightly as he pondered.
"Then if you were to appraise the next painting, what would your chances of getting it right be?" The girl stared at Ainuoer's handsome face, which wore the demeanor of an aloof master, and asked.
"A whole fifty percent," Ainuoer answered with utter confidence.
"?"
The girl froze for a moment.
She thought to herself: Aren't true-or-false questions always at least a 50% guess anyway?
Immediately, she gritted her teeth to stifle her irritation, her fists clenching tight.
Chapter 67