The air in the Elliott Building was thick with the distinctive aroma of ink, parchment, and ancient tomes.
"There are three lectures a week, two hours each. Personally, I don't care much for attendance scores, nor do I like wasting time taking roll. Trust between people is essential. However, the previous course head before I arrived, Professor Bronk, had already allocated ten percent of the final grade to attendance. Therefore, in my class this semester, I will still take attendance once as a token gesture. Additionally, I will wipe away all previous attendance records so that everyone can start with a clean slate."
Lanqi shifted his gaze from the ancient tome to the student roster beside him, glancing over the results of the earlier attendance checks from this semester.
Seeing that several students had already lost attendance points, he couldn't quite bear the thought of them losing a point or two just like that.
After all, the final examination only accounted for fifty percent of the total score. This attendance portion was quite substantial and could determine whether a final mark would suffice for the highest grade tier.
Many of the students smiled. It seemed this professor was genial and easygoing, barely caring whether students showed up or not.
In that case, on many days, they wouldn't need to squander precious research time sitting in lecture. Every person seated here was an arrogant genius magic artificer of the Empire; none of them believed a professor so young could be much more capable than themselves.
It appeared not only would the pass rate this semester be exceptionally high, but they could also hope to secure an outstanding GPA.
A Level 4 course carried considerable weight in both weighted average grades and overall GPA.
"The outcome of that single roll call will count directly for the full ten percent," he added.
Therefore, he hoped everyone was lucky enough to happen to be present on the day he called names.
"..."
This gambling addict of a teacher!
Didn't that mean they had to attend every single class from now on?!
So much for trust between people—this was pure psychological warfare!
The clamor in the lecture hall gradually subsided as all eyes converged on the man standing at the lectern.
The tall, slender young man wore an expression that betrayed none of his thoughts.
They had initially thought he would be a gentler professor, but now he seemed exceedingly radical. While his mention of a "balance of terror" was difficult to grasp, he was definitely not like an ordinary person.
Serving as the newly appointed professor at Saint Creti Monastery, Lanqi swept his gaze across the audience below.
The brief self-introduction, casual chit-chat, and Q&A session were over; it was time for him to take control of the classroom and begin his distinct lecture.
"Whether in the Creti Empire, the Alliance of the United Council of Kingdoms to the north, the Northern Continent, or the uncharted lands even further north, people are always imagining the future. Yet that future is something that should genuinely inspire fear," Lanqi murmured calmly. "However, most people will not fear it, because they fail to grasp the significance behind it.
"Though my course is on magic engineering, it is by no means an exercise in arm-chair theory. You are the Empire's youngest prodigies in magic engineering, gathered here today, and I prefer to teach you how to apply the fruits of magic engineering to practical combat."
Before his voice even died down, silence fell over the hall, followed swiftly by hushed whispers.
By rights, after graduating, all of them would secure prime positions in the Creti Empire, conducting the most vital and cutting-edge magic engineering research for the realm—work that might even be tied to warfare.
Yet listening to this professor, his course would fast-forward straight to that stage, guiding them directly into the military industry!
"What exactly is Landry Washington's background...?"
A few students were beginning to be drawn in by the professor's words, but most still maintained skepticism toward this new instructor.
"Why didn't a guy so obsessed with military engineering just go to the Imperial Armaments Department or the Special Operations Division's Development Department instead of coming to Saint Creti Monastery?"
"He looks like a calm madman. Would the headmaster really let him run wild like this?"
"If he truly possesses talent commensurate with his words, Headmaster Violet might prefer having him teach at the monastery rather than seeing him reassigned by the military."
As a newly arrived professor, he was hardly a renowned titan in the field within the Creti Empire, nor did he have substantial research achievements to his name.
In the end, it was difficult to convince the students here, and several looked somewhat bored.
"Those seated in this hall today are the finest minds in the Creti magic engineering sphere. However, merely becoming an outstanding magic engineer is not difficult; what is difficult is becoming a great magic engineer," the grey-robed professor at the lectern said earnestly to the elites in the room.
He looked around at the students below, among whom were several highly talented young magic engineers Headmaster Violet had mentioned during their conversation.
In the classroom, he also caught sight of a somewhat familiar figure—
Elsa Washington, who happened to be Landry Washington's younger sister.
She sat upright, watching the lectern with rapt attention.
However, after their gazes met briefly, Lanqi did not let his eyes linger on her.
After all, in the classroom, even if she were actual kin, he would not give her special treatment. This was his lecture hall.
Although Landry's sister was younger compared to the other upperclassmen, for Headmaster Violet to know her name and converse with her meant it wasn't merely because of her relation to Landry. Violet had taken notice of her primarily because of her innate potential.
Perhaps the Washington siblings each possessed remarkable talent.
"I hope each of you can find a unique idea, an original concept that belongs entirely to you. Only then can you leave your mark on the history of magic engineering."
Lanqi followed up by laying down a challenge to the students.
"!"
These words fell like a clap of thunder, stirring immense ripples in the hearts of those arrogant prodigies.
They exchanged glances, privately contemplating how they might reach the level the professor described.
Meanwhile, an unusual light flickered in the eyes of many students below, appearing confident and eager to try.
As the Southern Continent's premier university for hundreds of years, Saint Creti Monastery cultivated an intensely competitive academic environment with exceptionally high demands for innovation. Any ambitious youth blessed with extraordinary talent undoubtedly had their own goals.
Professor Landry's speech had already ignited and become their desire, spiritual guidance, and source of drive.
"Then, Professor, how does one become a magic artificer who leaves a mark on the history of magic engineering?"
At last, a silver-haired noble lady at the back of the lecture hall raised her hand.
"Or rather... have you managed that yourself, Professor?" she asked.
Many students nodded slightly and turned their eyes to the professor at the lectern.
This was undeniably a question they all cared about.
"I have already done so; you simply do not know me yet," he answered, almost like a soft mutter, utterly assured and laden with a sense of purpose. "As for the way for you to achieve this, it may seem distant, but it is actually very near. After all, the Creti Empire is currently undergoing a massive upheaval. The research topic I study will influence this upheaval—perhaps even become its very core."
Slowly turning around, Professor Landry did not choose to write on the wall-sized whiteboard. Instead, he walked over to one side of the lecture hall and began writing demon race characters on the glass window with a paint marker.
"As is widely known, ancient demon-race magic engineering is renowned for its inventiveness. It could be called the origin of magic—or rather, magic has always been intimately bound to the demon race."
He had already entered full lecture mode, writing unhurriedly on the transparent glass while addressing the gathered students.
Legend had it that humanity initially could not use magic; only after demons imparted magic to humans did humanity gain magical power.
Yet excessive use of Demon Magic Script would cause humans to mutate, go insane, and ultimately transform into monsters—a theory substantiated even in the modern era.
Through countless years of evolution and lineage refinement, ancient human mages gradually adapted the language to create the earliest Human Magic Script, allowing humans to wield magic normally without paying a catastrophic price.
The demon script the professor was writing at this moment appeared to occupy a transitional phase between Demon Magic Script and Human Magic Script.
Not only could humans not read it, but even demons might not necessarily understand it.
Yet for the students present who had chosen to take "Demon Realm Magic Engineering Research," while reading this magical script crafted in the evolutionary space between Demon Magic Script and Human Magic Script was arduous, surprisingly, they could decipher it.
Though they had yet to scrutinize the specific magical details, they deciphered the underlying intelligence—
This was an extraordinarily ingenious principle of high-power chain detonation.
Natural morning light of autumn streamed in through the gaps between his characters, intensely dazzling, yet the students couldn't tear their eyes away, furrowing their brows as they strove to read every black glyph on the glass pane.
His magic engineering technique was modern, yet his mindset and foundational concepts were remarkably ancient.
Any student present who could comprehend what the professor was writing on the window understood the sheer value of his work!
It made them want to ask him: Just who on earth are you?
All the students instinctively fixed their gazes upon the enormous glass window before the professor, while some immediately picked up their pens to record their own insights.
According to the regulations of Saint Creti Monastery, recording or photographing lecture board writing and class content with video magic apparatuses was forbidden without the professor's permission. On one hand, this protected intellectual property; on the other, it compelled students to focus more intently on thinking during class.
In the classroom as quiet as a library, just as students were exchanging puzzled glances, finding the principle presented by the professor unfathomably esoteric, and even doubting its authenticity—
"The final capstone project for this course will be 'Modern Applications of Demon Race Magic Engineering in Demolishing Illegal Structures.' I am informing everyone in advance that it will take the form of group projects. I will arrange the groups and assign them this week."
Professor Landry stopped writing once he reached an overview section, jotted down normal Creti Empire script, and then set down the paint marker.
Although the abrupt halt of the professor's board writing left the students craving more, they were also grateful he hadn't written any further, affording them ample time to digest the information.
It seemed some students also understood at this moment why the professor hadn't written on the whiteboard, but instead onto the classroom's glass windows:
He wanted to give the students sufficient time to linger after class and freely study what was written on the glass.
Such an audacious act: if what was written possessed sufficient value, not only would it not be erased like ordinary board work, but it might even remain in this room for a month, a semester, or perhaps decades.
At the same time, he welcomed all faculty and students across the school interested in this topic to visit this lecture hall and behold the groundbreaking principle he had laid out!
Yet...
At this moment, the students' focus had shifted even more toward the professor's words.
Some courses at Saint Creti Monastery had no final examination; the fifty percent weighting of the final grade was determined by a capstone project, the work for which could span the entire semester.
"Originally, 'Demon Realm Magic Engineering Research' was scheduled to hold a final exam, but after taking over, I changed it to a project format," Lanqi explained. "You may begin preparations now. Likewise, all the knowledge required for this project will be taught in class."
This format placed less pressure on the end of the semester and was much more open-ended; correspondingly, it tested practical application rather than mere theoretical knowledge.
His words stirred wave after wave of murmurs throughout the lecture hall.
Even though the professor beside the floor-to-ceiling glass window put it so euphemistically, the magic engineering students knew better.
The professor had prettified the final project under the moniker "Modern Applications of Demon Race Magic Engineering in Demolishing Illegal Structures."
In truth, during contemporary warfare on the Southern Continent, explosive methods capable of demolishing tower fortifications were unquestionably a pinnacle core topic in military engineering!
Developing a novel, high-performance bomb would not only etch their names into the annals of magic engineering, but it would also garner the highest level of attention from the Creti Imperial Armed Forces.
Landry's demonstration and project announcement were unmistakably an olive branch extended toward them—he intended to identify the most gifted and capable students in the Creti Empire to join his military engineering experiment.
"Lanqi, have you gone mad? Teaching your secret detonation principles to the Imperials—do you really want an award from the Creti Empire? What if they research something and use it against the Alliance?"
Talia had originally thought Lanqi would use some other method to stimulate the students' enthusiasm. She never expected him to flaunt his true capabilities right from the start. An action of this nature was already bordering on outright betrayal of the Alliance!
"Rest assured. As long as this research gains traction in the Empire, Allied spies will naturally obtain the materials. When the time comes, by channeling it through Miss Unity, I can easily let the Allied forces acquire the Empire's progress and results."
Lanqi smiled breezily in his mind, seeing no problem whatsoever.
"..."
Talia thought about it, and it seemed he had a point.
Even if Lanqi had unveiled his research achievements on the Allied side, Imperial spies would have gotten their hands on them sooner or later anyway.
In that case, he might as well exploit the Empire's manpower and material resources to conduct research here, then share it with the Kingdom side.
Not only would this draw significant attention from the Empire, but it would also make it virtually impossible for anyone to doubt Professor Landry's contributions and loyalty to the Empire.
"Besides, Tata, haven't you noticed? Quite a few of the students here are scions of high nobility and prominent ministers. To complete the project, they might actually help me find illegal structures..." Lanqi added to Talia.
"...You!"
Talia had a sudden realization.
The name of this kid's project was actually meant quite literally.
By any means necessary, he intended to mobilize internal imperial forces, leveraging connections and resources, to obtain the coordinates of Blood Moon City—and then blow it to pieces!
Chapter 719