A tuft of cotton-like cloud drifted quietly across the clear sky, dimming the once-bright morning sunlight.
Lan Qi glanced at Huperion’s lowered brows and felt she might have misunderstood something.
His teacher wasn’t even human.
How could there be any “disdain for Huperion” in the first place?
The tricky part, however, was that—Talia thought Lan Qi didn’t know she was a demon. She had been pretending to be human all along.
So even if Talia didn’t dislike Huperion in her heart, she would still act like she despised her, just to keep her disguise believable. That cold, merciless old woman wouldn’t care about Huperion’s feelings, nor whether her words hurt her.
“Uh… actually, my teacher treats demons and humans equally, just like I do. She doesn’t dislike demons at all. But her temper is really bad, so she always looks like she’s scornful of everyone. If she snaps at you, don’t take it to heart… So maybe let me introduce you when she’s in a better mood. She’s actually quite interesting—when we start our company, she might even serve as our technical advisor!”
Lan Qi chuckled heartily as he spoke.
“Alright.”
Huperion nodded seriously. She believed Lan Qi.After all, anyone who could train a student like him couldn’t possibly be a bigot against demons.
Lan Qi’s smile faded back into seriousness.
“Although we said earlier it won’t be easy to catch the Resurrection Church mole at school, I’ve thought of another way to nail their cultists.”
“What way?”
“Since the Resurrection Church wants to meet us in the Shadow World, let’s turn the tables—form a special task force, and in the next Shadow World, make it our mission to capture their cultists! Cults are a cancer on society. For the sake of our families, for the harmony of our nation and our city, we must crack down on them with absolute force!”
His voice brimmed with conviction and responsibility. As a citizen who believed in love and justice, Lan Qi couldn’t wait to bring those cultists to justice.
He also knew the law well.
In the Shadow World, even if you captured a Resurrection cultist, you couldn’t directly bring them back to reality to hand over to the state.
The law clearly stated: “If a challenger encounters a Resurrection cultist in the Shadow World, preserving one’s own life is the top priority. Any means may be used to deal with the cultist. In case of accidental killing, the challenger will bear no legal responsibility.”
Meaning: in the Shadow World, you could deal with cultists however you pleased.
Even capturing them for a round of “ideological re-education” was perfectly fine.
“Pssshhh—!”
If this had been Huperion’s first time hearing such a plan, she would have thought Lan Qi needed a mental checkup.
But now, strangely, it sounded highly feasible!
In the Shadow World, Lan Qi was like a ghost.
Last time, they hadn’t had enough time to interrogate that cultist fugitive, Lilette.
If next time they ran into cultists again, and came prepared—acting like the “bad guys” and taking the offensive—they might really capture one!
They could interrogate them for intelligence, paving the way for their infiltration of the Resurrection Church in the Northern Continent.
Not to mention, they now had a heavyweight like Frey joining their team.
Still…
With behavior like this, weren’t they the real Resurrection Church?
Huperion felt that if this kept up, her demon citizenship would be confiscated!
A light breeze stirred their clothes, the plants seemed to wave their branches in greeting, and the stream through the alchemy garden carried the gentle sound of running water. The air grew rich with the scent of flowers and damp freshness.
“We’ve got about a month left before our cooldown is over and we can enter the Shadow World again. Right before that, I can also take a Cardmaker Association exam.”
They started walking again, chatting as they strolled along the wooded path.
Generally, student council duties weren’t too busy, leaving plenty of time to rest.
The president, Monast, was actually quite pleased that these first-year rookies wanted to team up for Shadow World challenges. It meant a big haul of unexpected team points for the council, which could then fund more school-sponsored council activities.
“It’s just a pity the timing of the next Shadow World overlaps with the academic delegation from the Kingdom of Yaloran,” Lan Qi added.
By the time the three of them entered the Shadow World, the Yaloran delegation would probably arrive within a day or two.
But Monast had reassured them: they should focus on the Shadow World challenge and not waste their cooldown time. The hosting duties would be handled by him and the vice president. If things got tight, they could even drag the elusive council secretary out of hiding to help.
“If our Shadow World run goes quickly, we might even come back in time to help the president with hosting the Yaloran delegation.”
Huperion smiled as she replied.
After that, a month of preparation would lead right into winter break—perfect for starting their Northern Continent research project.
Everything was neatly lined up.
But then Huperion suddenly looked at Lan Qi in surprise.
“Wait—Lan Qi, you can make cards?”
She had always thought he could only do simple magical gadgetry!
The Cardmaker exam was no joke. It wasn’t something amateurs could just luck their way through.
Which meant… his cardmaking skills were actually far beyond ordinary.
Could it be that all those distinctive starter cards of his… were actually made by him?
She stared at him, wide-eyed.
“Of course. Once I refine my skills a bit more, we’ll have a battlefield cardmaker on the team. And in the future, if you need any cards, you won’t even have to go to the Association—I’ll make them for you!”
Lan Qi grinned.
“My magic cards are top-notch!”
“You really are a jack of all trades, Lan Qi.”
Looking at him, Huperion couldn’t help but smile warmly.
The clouds finally drifted away, sunlight once again flooding the path, painting the emerald forest in glittering hues.
“They say one of the visiting Yaloran students is a brilliant technomancy prodigy, especially skilled in wind magic. He’s coming to consult Dean Loren about the [Primal Slate – Wind]. Since our student council has no Technomancy students, the president worried we’d look like technomancy illiterates—but now it seems you’ll be our saving grace.”
In fact, Monast and the mysterious secretary were both Alchemy students—Monast in commerce, the secretary in intelligence. The vice president Asina was a third-year in the Sage Faculty, and Frey was from the Knight Faculty. But they had no Technomancy students.
Past councils rarely had techno mancers either. Most preferred to bury themselves in research, and when they did join a team, they were usually treated like VIP support units in the Shadow World.
A Sage Faculty techno mancer like Lan Qi was an even rarer breed. Though he didn’t master the spell craft typical of Sage students, his talents were piling up fast.
Besides being dubbed the “White Magician,” he was also a lawyer, a headmaster, a techno mancer, and who knew what else he would learn next.
“Well, this month I’ve got to practice making third-tier magic cards nonstop. I’ll try to ace the exam and jump straight to a high-ranking cardmaker grade. I hear the official badge carries quite a bit of prestige.”
“Then I’ll come watch your exam next month—to cheer you on.”
“No problem!”
The two strolled leisurely across the lawn near the old Liberal Arts building, sipping cool, tangy juice as they chatted, their voices relaxed and full of ease.
Tomorrow I’ll fight tooth and nail to pump out more chapters—finish the Cardmaker Exam arc in one go, and then move on to the second volume: the Shadow World!