Bathed in the gentle dawn light, the once-dim walls and furnishings of the dormitory seemed imbued with life, awakening from the night's slumber.
"I really hope I have better options than Mental magic."
Out on the balcony, Lanqi fed his animal friends, muttering to them even though they likely had no idea what he was talking about.
Although the Poet of Great Love involved melody magic as a magic card, she fundamentally belonged to the [Mental] school, since she influenced the enemy's mind either directly or indirectly through music.
In fact, the vast majority of melody magic fell under the broader umbrella of Mental magic.
Lanqi had now reached Tier 3. Having cleared the intense entrance exams and just finished tackling a Shadow World, he finally had some downtime. His plan for today was to ask Talia to help him test whether he possessed a higher affinity for any magic school other than [Mental].
"Right, I also need to buy some potted plants for the room."
Lanqi spread open his palm to feed the chirping little birds that bobbed their heads as they pecked, suddenly remembering something.
Back at the Demon Realm academy, the wonderful time the Poet of Great Love was supposed to enjoy had been ruined by the cultists. After returning to the mortal realm, Lanqi had summoned her briefly to apologize. To his surprise, the Poet of Great Love hadn't taken advantage of the situation to make unreasonable demands; she had merely mentioned wanting to raise flowers and asked Lanqi to let her out from time to time.
Lanqi had agreed without hesitation.
Thinking about it carefully now, though, with one of them growing flowers and the other raising birds, Lanqi felt that if this continued, his dorm room was going to turn into a natural wildlife reserve.
After finishing feeding the little creatures, Lanqi returned to the living room and sat on the sofa, pondering where he should go for breakfast today.
After clearing a Tier 4 Shadow World, the academy granted students a two-week discretionary break to allow the thoroughly exhausted youths to recover.
Right now, Lanqi had an almost excessive amount of free time.
For at least two weeks, he wouldn't have to sit in classrooms and endure the torment of the School of Sages' professors.
"Maybe I should just head over to Master's place first thing in the morning."
Lanqi figured that since he had already planned on visiting Talia today anyway, he could ask about magic affinities and have an enthusiastic discussion with her on that critical research project—"Hairstyle Transformation Magic."
As for picking a place to eat each time he went out with Talia: though she never stated her preferences outright, one could tell from the subtle shift in her pupils whether a restaurant was "acceptable" or "uninteresting."
And any restaurant that caught Talia's eye was guaranteed to be genuinely superb!
Lanqi had essentially come to treat her as a humanoid gourmet detector.
So far, however, Talia didn't seem to have realized that Lanqi was using her that way.
Walking over to the mirror, Lanqi took his coat off the solid wood coat rack and draped it over his shoulders, preparing to set off.
When they parted last time, Talia had told him that she would be moving.
Since she planned to stay in the royal capital long-term, wasting money living in an inn made no sense, so she had found a new residence.
Lanqi remembered the address was not far to the east of the school, only about a ten-minute walk away.
*Knock, knock.*
Just then, a sudden knock sounded at the door of Dorm 101.
"Coming, coming!"
Hearing the knock, Lanqi hurried to the entryway.
He had no idea who would come knocking so early in the morning. Good thing he hadn't left yet, or the visitor would have made the trip for nothing.
He had a feeling that once the location of his dorm room was discovered and spread around, people would keep coming to look for him over the next few days even if he stayed in and skipped classes.
When he returned to the school yesterday before daybreak, quite a few students along the path had cheered for him, making him feel like a celebrity.
It seemed his positive, upbeat performance in the Shadow World had won the approval of his peers. Everyone had also been very polite; knowing he needed rest, none of them had disturbed him yesterday.
With that in mind, Lanqi pressed down the door handle.
As the door swung open, an elderly man with silver hair, a white beard, and a tall, robust frame stood outside.
"Hello...?"
Lanqi did not recognize the old man, but judging by his attire, he was likely a professor from the School of Sages, and of high standing at that.
Though the man's high-bridged nose and refined facial features were etched with the marks of time, they only made him appear all the more wise and dignified, radiating an unfathomable depth of magical power.
If he was a professor, that made sense—naturally, he would know which dorm room Lanqi lived in.
"Student Lanqi, do not worry. I am only here for a casual chat,"
the old man said in a gentle voice, clearly noticing Lanqi's confusion.
"I am Ron, Vice Dean of the School of Sages. You will be seeing me in class in the future."
Even though Lanqi had skipped Vice Dean Ron's final class on the very first day of term—delaying an introduction that should have happened then until this first proper offline meeting—Vice Dean Ron had already witnessed far too many of Lanqi's "splendid" performances from the School of Sages' conference room.
"Professor... Ron, please come inside."
Hearing this, Lanqi had almost folded his hands behind his back, given a slight nod, and prepared to debrief the vice dean on critical administrative matters.
Fortunately, he quickly realized that this was Ikerite Academy and he was no longer the Headmaster. Hastily switching roles, he politely invited Professor Ron into the living room and offered him a seat on the sofa.
Lanqi felt a lingering sense of trepidation. It seemed he had developed a bit of an aftereffect from the Shadow World—the moment he saw a school leader, his "Headmaster" instincts had nearly kicked in.
In the living room, Ron cast a brief glance over the layout of Lanqi's dorm. It was kept remarkably neat and tidy.
Clearly, Lanqi was a student with excellent living habits who took good care of his quarters, a far cry from those slovenly, headstrong youths.
Yet Lanqi's gentle, polite demeanor gave Vice Dean Ron an almost surreal sense of science fiction.
It was hard to imagine that the well-mannered, composed, and upright young man before him was the very same great demon king who had stirred up winds and clouds in the Demon Realm, as watched by the entire faculty of the School of Sages in the conference room just yesterday.
Ron couldn't help but sigh in relief that Ferrat, the examiner for the third round of the entrance exam, had only faced the mortal Lanqi who was constrained by the law. Had it been the Glow Demon from the Shadow World, Ferrat would likely have ceased to exist by now.
Lost in thought, Ron felt as though a lifetime had passed. He could not fathom how a single person could possess such a black-and-white duality.
Still, he had to admit that Lanqi was undeniably the most outstanding freshman in the School of Sages this year.
He was just a bit too outstanding.
And along with that came a degree of danger that no ordinary person could ever predict.
Of course, the danger was reserved only for those who failed to grasp just how dangerous this student was—and still intended to provoke him.
Chapter 87