Monster Files

Towering, massive classroom buildings stood as students from different grades carried books and moved between different classrooms.

The teaching model here was very open. Aside from several mandatory basic courses, students could choose whatever other classes they wanted. If they felt energetic enough, they could even fill their schedules with more than a dozen courses.

Besides the mandatory language, mathematics, and basic foreign language classes, Tang Qi had chosen Ancient History, Ancient Art Appreciation, Global Geography, Basic Biology, and a niche course called "Mystical Legends."

For the entire day, Tang Qi obediently carried his books and followed the crowds between the classrooms for those courses.

He neither made friends nor did anything out of line, perfectly playing the role of an exceedingly well-behaved Asian student who listened attentively in class. With the help of that stereotype, he had genuinely blended into the student body.

Of course, while blending in, Tang Qi also kept testing the derivative skill he had just acquired.

An unexpected surprise!

Furnace Eyes!

After more than half a day of experimentation, Tang Qi had vaguely figured out what the skill did.

Just as the Special Interface had indicated, when he injected the Mental Power gained through the Meditation Method into his eyes, his pupils would briefly turn pale gold, producing an intimidating effect that ordinary people found difficult to withstand.

As for the so-called Calm Spirit, Tang Qi was still exploring it.

Though it could barely be considered an auxiliary combat skill, it was already a pleasant surprise for Tang Qi at this point.

After all, the Sword of Damocles had been hanging over his head all along. Whenever he thought of what Old Morgan's diary had recorded about his mother Samira, who possessed bizarre nicknames such as "Ukuru Guardian" and "Black Serpent Witch"...

Just those scattered details had already filled Tang Qi with shock and awe.

An old Black woman possessed the evil power to kill more than a hundred people.

Most importantly, Tang Qi had killed her son.

Tang Qi was not blindly optimistic. He would not hope that this family would simply never come looking for him.

And the only external help Tang Qi could rely on now was St. Thorn High School's uncertain protection. Other than that, there was nothing.

As for Mr. Ronald, after helping Tang Qi deal with the inheritance and handling two minor favors, the debt of gratitude between them had been exhausted.

In the end, Tang Qi still had to rely on himself.

Meditation Method, Furnace Eyes.

Oh, and some Saha Continent fighting techniques I learned from the diary.

These are clearly not enough. I hope I can get a little more time.

In the hallway, Tang Qi followed the student crowd while reviewing the power he possessed. No matter how he calculated it, Tang Qi knew very well that he could currently handle a few ordinary people, but he was still far from being able to fight a Dark Witchcraft family.

Tang Qi was anxious inside, yet he maintained absolute calm on the surface.

He already had the beginnings of a plan. He merely needed time to put it into action.

Suppressing the Sense of Crisis in his heart, he followed the few male and female students ahead of him into the classroom for the day's final lesson.

The subject of this class was "Mystical Legends."

It was a very niche course, mainly covering mystical legends from all over Origin Blue Star, whether domestic or foreign, ancient or modern.

Although Tang Qi found it strange that a high school that looked like an aristocratic academy would offer such an unusual course.

For Tang Qi, who longed to enter the Supernatural Realm, however, merely reading the course description had made him choose it without hesitation.

The moment he entered the classroom, Tang Qi's gaze shifted as he spotted an unexpected person.

It was the girl who had bumped into Tang Qi before and dragged him into the campus bullying incident: Unlucky Sally, her messy blond curls exceptionally conspicuous.

There were not many students in the classroom, only a scattered few. Even someone as ordinary as Tang Qi made some noise when he entered.

The girl named Sally slightly raised her head. When she saw Tang Qi, she clearly froze for a moment. Seemingly recalling something, her face turned bright red with a swish.

She really is a timid girl.

Tang Qi sighed inwardly, but kept a polite expression and gave Sally a friendly smile.

Perhaps because she had not received such treatment in a long time, Tang Qi's smile left the girl flustered. Her face, half-hidden behind black-rimmed glasses, reddened as though it were bleeding, and she nearly buried her head in her chest.

Fortunately, at that moment, a slovenly old man who appeared to be the teacher walked in.

There was no small talk and no roll call. The old man merely glanced at the scattered students, then began lecturing on his own.

"Since school has just begun, I'll be teaching you a brand-new subject: Monster Files, records of all the Demon Fairies and Ghosts slain by several Holy Warriors of the Divine Eagle Federation. The complete volume can be borrowed from Messer Library."

"Now, I'll recount the first chapter for you. His Excellency, the Holy Axebearer, Justice Lincoln, slew a demonic creature in Jersey Swamp. It was shaped like a giant bat, with a dog's head and a horse's face..."

After hearing only a few lines, Tang Qi somewhat understood why such a strange course existed.

If he had guessed correctly, this was probably a historical leftover.

St. Thorn High School had originally been nothing more than a church school, so naturally it promoted the greatness of God and the greatness of faith. Some indoctrination was therefore necessary.

In the so-called Monster Files, the monsters were secondary. What truly mattered was the greatness of God's warriors, who, guided by the power of faith, slew those monsters.

With the advance of modern civilization, it was perfectly normal for this kind of course to be abandoned. It might even be abolished soon.

Tang Qi's original self had believed in God, but unfortunately, the current Tang Qi did not.

Although the old man's lecture was wonderfully embellished, Tang Qi focused instead on the descriptions of those monsters.

After listening for a while, a peculiar feeling surfaced in his mind.

Real!

That was right, it was a sense of reality.

In the year 1841 of the Divine Eagle Old Calendar, Mrs. Liz of Jersey State gave birth to her thirteenth child. Deeply dissatisfied with becoming pregnant again and again, she shouted, "I'm tired of children. Let the devil take him away!"

The instant her words fell, the infant transformed into a winged monster. It swiftly devoured Mrs. Liz's other children, then flew away through the chimney.

The legend sounded absurd to ordinary people, yet for some reason, when it reached Tang Qi's ears, it gave him an immensely eerie sense of reality.

He shook his head and suppressed the strange feeling.

Tang Qi continued listening as the old man told the story of a second monster, the Deep Mountain Yeti. This time, the protagonist was Holy Spear Warrior Morogan.

Time passed quickly. Just as Tang Qi was listening with an unsatisfied expression, the dismissal bell rang.

The old man had just reached the crucial part, yet he had no intention of dragging out the class. He rolled up his book and left the classroom like the wind. The few students in the room also lazily rose and departed.

As Tang Qi stood, he added Messer Library to the list of places he intended to visit soon.

The final class was over. Carrying his books, Tang Qi followed the male and female students out amid the bustling crowd, just as he had when he arrived.

Though it was only the first day, things had generally met Tang Qi's expectations.

Aside from the unpleasant beginning, Tang Qi had almost perfectly integrated into St. Thorn High School and achieved the effect he wanted. Who would care about an utterly ordinary male student?

Unfortunately, the moment that satisfaction arose, it was immediately shattered.

The moment Tang Qi stepped out of the classroom building, he felt a burst of malice. He looked up at once, peering past several obstacles, and sure enough, he saw several tall, burly young men standing on the lawn some distance away. They were all white, and their leader was the Ancient Sword Team Captain whom Tang Qi had intimidated earlier.

After spending the day at school, Tang Qi had also learned who the two prominent figures from that morning were.

They were not much different from what he had imagined. The girl named Angela was St. Thorn High School's Cheerleader Captain. Her father was one of the City Councilors, while her mother was a lawyer. She had an exceptional family background, a hot figure, a pretty face, and a sharp tongue.

As for the white youth, Ryan Clooney, his father was a wealthy tycoon, while his mother was both a school board member and the Hospital Director of Messer City Hospital. He himself was the high school basketball captain, the Ancient Fencing Team captain, and the boxing club president. He was practically the perfect boyfriend in the eyes of every female student.

An ordinary student, when faced with figures like these, would be too busy currying favor to ever consider offending them.

Tang Qi had offended both of them at once.

What was about to happen was probably the classic after-school scene: don't leave, let's settle this with a group beating.

If Tang Qi had really been an adolescent overflowing with hormones, he might have been interested in joining in. Unfortunately, he was not.

Tang Qi felt a slight headache. He was not worried about being beaten badly by a few high school students. Although his original body's physical condition was rather average, some of the fighting techniques he had learned from Old Morgan's diary appeared quite practical.

It was simply that those techniques were rather vicious.

Just as Tang Qi hesitated, a Familiar Figure approached from the side. Messy blond hair brushed past Tang Qi's nose, and a pleasant yet faint voice said, "Come with me."

After saying that, she passed through the walkway beside the classroom building and headed toward a secluded corner.

Tang Qi froze where he stood for a moment. Soon, he smiled faintly and followed without hesitation.