Assistant Iver

In fact, Professor Bard is very open-minded and knowledgeable.

In fact, he is basically the most authoritative historian of Avalon.

However, he was not good at lecturing—he was better at studying alone in old books than giving lectures.

At that moment, a thought arose in the history professor's mind.

Perhaps... we could hire Iver as our teaching assistant.

His knowledge in this area is already higher than that of many third-grade students.

But that might not be a good fit. Teaching assistants are generally only open to outstanding third- or fourth-year students, like Hai Na.

Mr. Iver is only a first-grader, which is not quite right...

Just as Professor Bard was deep in thought, Iver had already skillfully steered the conversation back to the Stibium Kingdom, capturing everyone's attention and anticipation:

"This is why the Path of Wisdom and the Path of Love are sealed off within Avalon."

"Have you ever thought about what would happen if they weren't banned... but instead developed in a balanced Path of Authority?"

"Then what we're going to talk about is the demise of the Herasul Empire."

Iver lowered his head as he spoke, then raised his voice, referring to the content in the lesson plan. "Students, please turn to page 241 of your textbooks."

The classroom instantly returned to silence.

The sound of pages turning in unison filled the classroom, exceptionally clear.

"The Herasul Empire has a long history and a vast territory... which means that there are extraordinary individuals from all walks of life within it."

"You may find it hard to imagine, but the most mainstream art in the Empire is demonology. In fact, that's where the profession of ' Demon Scholar ' originated. People study demons just like we study mechanics or physics; they develop new rituals just like our inventors invent new things. And below the Path of Transcendence, alchemists of the Equilibrium Path and artists of the Path of Beauty both have their own societies."

"The balanced development of ritual, alchemy, and art made the empire prosperous."

At this point, Iver put down his lesson plan.

He raised his head and began to speak, and the students all looked up at him. "But just a year before the Land Partition War began, alchemists and artists clashed violently."

"The initial spark that ignited the war was a painting called 'The Alchemists.' It depicted the working environment of alchemists. Alchemy was originally a closed and secret practice, but an alchemist opened his workshop to a painter friend, allowing the painter to sketch his work."

"But this painting displeased the alchemist. Firstly, it was not accurate enough, with numerous errors in the poses, placement, and clothing, all distorted for the sake of aesthetic appeal. Secondly, it was too precise, so much so that a secret painting the alchemist had hung on the wall as a background was clearly depicted—a painting that hinted at the ancient technique of 'creating artificial mice using grains and Luo Le leaves,' a very valuable piece of knowledge."

"... Artificial mice?"

Hai Na, standing next to Iver, couldn't help but frown and repeat, "What's the use of this?"

She had never heard this story before.

And Iver's loudspeaker picked up her rant. This caused the students to murmur amongst themselves.

Iver smiled and nodded, then slowly said, "Of course, we all hate rats. We wish they would be extinct... But in any case, this is a mysterious technique of ' Life Creation.' And 'creating life' is one of the three ultimate pursuits of alchemists."

"Because of this serious leak, the alchemist and the artist involved were executed for the crime of leaking secrets. However, the impact had already been felt, and the alchemists, still furious, began to denounce the artist, believing that the negative impact was caused by the artist's failure to notify the Alchemy Association for review when publishing the paintings about alchemy."

"So the alchemists began to order Alchemy Shop across the country to stop selling pigments to people who looked like painters—until the artists agreed to 'creative censorship.' This threat was actually not very effective because they did not prohibit resellers, nor did they clarify what the criteria were for 'people who looked like painters.'"

"But the artists believe this was a premeditated overreach of power by the Alchemy Association against the Art Association. If these things cannot be leaked, then they should not have been displayed in the first place, or the painters should have been notified in advance. The painters are only responsible for painting them and exhibiting them to others, and are not responsible for leaks caused by the models' mistakes."

"So they immediately retaliated by creating numerous paintings that hinted at the secrets of alchemy. Because there was no explicit disclosure, but only symbolic hints... and because alchemy doesn't have a set of commonly used technical terms, but rather each person has their own unique code, they had ample excuse to show that they had no malicious intent to leak the secrets."

At this point, Iver looked around. "I believe many of you have seen those 'paintings that hint at alchemy,' haven't you? The oldest of those paintings appeared around this time. And because of their large production volume and low price, they quickly flooded the Imperial market, becoming so valuable that Imperial lords could easily collect multiple copies."

"This move broke the Alchemy Association's monopoly on alchemy, leading to the emergence of a large number of non-academic folk alchemists. They were not professional enough and lacked systematic alchemical knowledge... But at this time, alchemists from another faction who had previously been persecuted and suppressed by the Alchemy Association joined them and formed a folk alchemy society called ' The Twelve Keys, ' which still exists today. They hid among the people and, with the help of the Art Association, revealed all the most secret alchemical techniques to the public through the suggestive means of alchemical paintings."

"The enraged Alchemy Association demanded that the Demon Scholar arrest and punish these traitors, but the Art Association insisted on upholding the legitimacy of the ' Twelve Keys,' demanding that the Demon Scholar refrain from arresting innocent artists. The struggle between the supernatural guilds gradually came into the open..."

"While the two sides were arguing fiercely, a type of vampire monster known to the Empire as ' Si Cui Ge ' infiltrated the capital. It means ' Harbinger of Doom,' and some also call them ' Child of the Moon ' or ' Child of the Dragon.' They are not phantom demons, but they can devour weaker demons to become stronger and can be reborn repeatedly after death."

"Therefore, the Demon Scholar who occupied the pinnacle of power became the prey to be hunted. Soon their power weakened, and when they became weaker than the Alchemy Association and the Art Association, the two previously noisy associations suddenly fell silent and began to join forces to seize the political influence of the Demon Scholar."

"These Child of the Moon are a special race of the Path of Love, and a group protected by the Constant Self. Newborns among them can only move under the moonlight. Extraordinary beings of the Path of Love can be transformed into them through a certain ritual, just as Demon Scholar of the Path of Demons can become demons—when a person of the Path of Love dies after being drained of blood, they will become a 'newborn' after forty days, devouring demons and drinking their blood at night. As long as they obtain enough nutrition within the forty days of becoming a newborn, they can evolve again into a true Child of the Moon after another forty days, that is, eighty days after death, and possess the ability to move under the sun."

"It is said that this immortality originated from a curse, while others say it is a form of love. Their ability to prey on demons is related to the blood of the Serpent Father, leading some scholars to believe that Constant Self has a secret connection with the Serpent Father. Just as these two Pillar God simultaneously wield the mysterious art of 'curse.' Even the fact that advancement rituals are always held 'under the moon' may be related to this..."

Aiden paused for a moment when he heard Iver on the podium say this.

He suddenly realized something.

An immortal, blood-sucking, and resurrected evil spirit...

He glanced at Professor Bard instinctively, only to find that the professor wasn't offering any corrections. Instead, he was looking at Iver with great enthusiasm.

This means that...

Was everything written in * Dracula * really true? Meanwhile, Iver continued his lecture in that gentle, clear tone, as if he truly were a teacher. "Students, this is what the book says: 'The decline of the Demon Scholar ' power led to the emperor losing faith in them, and the Demon Scholar themselves became unable to control the increasingly tense political situation of the empire.' I think this is a key point..."

As he spoke, Iver looked at Professor Bard and asked for confirmation, "Is that so, Professor?"

Professor Bard was increasingly shocked and delighted as he listened.

"... Ah, yes! Yes!"

The old professor paused for a few seconds before reacting, squeezing to the microphone, and said in his stern, flat tone, "Did you hear what Iver said? This sentence is important, write it all down. Including the following sentence, 'In order to regain political power, the Demon Scholar risked holding a new sacrificial ritual...'"

He read through the textbook for a long time, and the students, who rarely attended Professor Bard's history class, actually followed Professor Bard's instructions and highlighted the key points.

After he finished speaking, the old professor did not grab the microphone.

Instead, he stepped aside, smiled, and patted Iver on the shoulder, gesturing for him to continue.

The more the old professor looked at this handsome and learned young man, the more he liked him.

Especially considering that he himself is not good at teaching...

It must be said that Iver's grasp of the classroom pace is truly remarkable! If he weren't a superhuman, but instead studied history in the Faculty of Humanities, he would undoubtedly have become an outstanding historian. Or perhaps he could have become an excellent mentor.

It's just a pity... he probably wouldn't give up the Dedication Path.

However, Professor Bard has now made up his mind.

Even if it goes against the rules, he'll still snatch Iver away and make him his assistant coach!

Forget about "in principle" --

Otherwise, other tutors would discover Iver's strengths sooner or later! At Royal Law University, there are quite a few tutors like him who are good at research but not good at lecturing.

But they can't beat me, because I have to strike first!

The old professor squinted with delight and couldn't help but exclaim repeatedly, "No wonder he's a young man favored by Princess Isabel... Seeing is believing!"

...ha?

Hai Na, standing to the side, paused for a moment, then asked, "Princess Highness?"

"Yes," the old professor explained kindly to his student, whom he also liked, "Last night Iver was invited by Her Highness Isabel to a private dinner. He didn't return until very late... Now the entire upper echelons of Avalon should know about it."

"At first I thought it was a rumor, but now it seems to be true. Not only is he knowledgeable, but more importantly, he has such a demeanor—lecturing in front of so many people for the first time, and students he had never met before, yet he was not intimidated at all and controlled the pace. He must have the adaptability to Path of Authority."

"Now I believe that he really did decisively shoot the Demon Scholar dead. When I saw the news before, I thought it was flattery of ' Moriarty ' and attributing your achievement to him... After all, how could a disabled mortal actively attack a transcendent who has resonated with the path of the Dao? The suppressive power of transcendents over us ordinary people is absolute... Just the fact that they don't tremble to the point of being unable to move already shows that they have an iron will."

"That's true."

Hai Na instinctively defended Iver in a low voice, "I saw it with my own eyes."

But she still found it hard to believe.

Because she had met Her Highness the Princess and knew what kind of person she was.

That adorable girl who looks so withdrawn... would she actually invite people over for dinner at her house?

Moreover, they stayed until very late...

—Is it the one she was thinking about that was very late?