Lanchi's First Class of the Semester

In September, the temperature in the Royal Capital of Ikelite had gradually shed the summer heat.

The morning breeze at Iketerite Academy carried a hint of coolness, making Lanchi, who lived on the first floor, unable to resist a yawn.

Today was the first day of school, so he couldn't oversleep.

He rolled out of bed, walked out of the bedroom, and with a toothbrush in his mouth, the sleepy-eyed Lanchi looked out the floor-to-ceiling window of the living room. He saw several chirping birds perched on the edge of a small, independent garden-like courtyard, which was his dorm's balcony.

When Lanchi pulled back the curtains and slowly walked towards the birds, they continued to hop around, showing no intention of flying away.

Just like that, Lanchi stayed in the courtyard for a while, and more and more small birds gathered around him.

They seemed very close to Lanchi, as if they were eager to stay by his side.

"I'm not a Druid, so why are you all so fond of me?"

Lanchi mumbled indistinctly while brushing his teeth.

He had actually noticed this before. Whether it was in the border town, where just walking would attract many cute little cats, or after coming to Iketerite Academy, the birds on campus treated him as a friend.

The small animals had absolutely no guard against him.

Perhaps his Emerald Green Eyes were naturally gentle, or perhaps the aura around him was as poetic and picturesque as a painting.

In any case, he didn't dislike the feeling of being surrounded by these little creatures.

After washing up, Lanchi put on the Sage Institute student uniform that had been delivered by the Student Service Center.

Then he stood in front of the mirror.

The young man's face in the mirror had beautiful contours. The hair on the left side of his head was neatly combed behind his ear. His soft black hair appeared calm and bright under the sunlight. Beneath his long, light eyebrows, his Emerald Green Eyes were gentle and friendly, yet elegant and composed.

A long coat in a deep blue main color covered his slender body. The design of the Sage Institute uniform was like the midnight sky, mysterious and profound. Golden stitching decorated the loose cuffs and hem of the coat, forming Hutton Style patterns, which were also ancient Southern Continent characters.

The collar of the shirt inside the coat was folded into a retro white collar decoration, adorned with a small golden badge in the center, engraved with the Iketerite Academy School Badge and the protective spell formations of the Sage Institute, shining like brilliant stars under the sunlight.

The pants and a pair of boots beneath the shirt were both dark-colored. The boots were meticulously polished, gleaming with a black luster.

Lanchi stomped his foot. They were both sturdy and comfortable, perfectly meeting the needs of an adventurer.

"Perfect, let's go."

Lanchi's legendary life began today!

Iketerite Academy, Sage Institute Main Building.

Compared to the other classical buildings in the academy, this building appeared quite new and distinctive. The roof was composed of a series of folded light-sensitive magic devices, introducing different natural light while blocking low-angle sunlight.

The Sage Institute had over a hundred qualified students this year, randomly divided into three classes.

Elective courses did not have fixed classrooms; students needed to go to the corresponding buildings according to the course schedule, sometimes even to the multi-functional classrooms or experimental fields of other departments.

However, compulsory courses were required for all students regardless of their elective choices. Students in the same class would gather in a fixed classroom during the time for compulsory courses.

First-year students at the Sage Institute had almost no opportunities to challenge the real Shadow World in the first semester, so the basic compulsory courses were quite packed.

For example, today, there were four compulsory courses: Introduction to Magic Control, Casting Techniques, Principles of Silent Casting, and Magic Detection and Shielding.

"Ready for class."

Following the map on campus, Lanchi quickly found the classroom.

When he looked inside, there were already quite a few students present.

He should have arrived quite early, but he spent a few extra minutes feeding his animal friends on the balcony.

The tiered classroom with wooden floors was very spacious, with ample room and desk space for each student.

Outside the side floor-to-ceiling windows was a green lawn. Sunlight streamed through the windows, making the classroom bright and warm. The lighting was a combination of natural and artificial light, adjustable as needed.

When the students in the classroom saw Lanchi enter, they all showed expressions of "discovering a rare individual."

The noble young man with black hair and green eyes was undoubtedly the top student in the Sage Institute's entrance examination this year, the "Dark High Judge."

This was a title some students at the academy had given Lanchi, representing a new category among the magic-using professions in the Sage Institute.

Although Lanchi's performance in the second round of the examination was quite famous, no one knew his actual combat ability.

The more widely circulated rumor was that "this guy had incredibly good luck and encountered an examiner who suffered from a congenital cardiovascular disease in the third round, so he passed easily."

Therefore, many students were actually a little envious, jealous, resentful, and skeptical of Lanchi.

"Hmm."

Just as he entered the classroom, Lanchi looked at the scattered seating arrangements and quickly spotted a solitary figure in the back row, like an outlier—

Duke Miss Hughberlian.

She was the good teammate he had met in the third round of the practical assessment, the [Infinite Phantom Canyon].

She seemed to have deliberately chosen a seat in the back.

But it wasn't just that; there was no one sitting in the entire area around her, as if everyone was intentionally avoiding her.

Looking at it this way, it felt as though Hughberlian was being isolated.

Lanchi felt that this phenomenon was not good.

So he walked up the steps towards the back of the classroom until he reached the row where Hughberlian was sitting and took a seat near her.

"Good morning, Hughberlian."

Lanchi greeted her with a smile.

"Mm."

Hughberlian glanced at him with a hint of surprise, then immediately turned her head away, no longer paying attention to him.

Her conflicted gaze clearly wasn't meant to deliberately snub Lanchi; it was for Lanchi's own good, maintaining a slight distance from him.

Seeing this, Lanchi didn't engage in much small talk with Hughberlian.

For him, it didn't matter where he sat to listen to the lecture, and Hughberlian was the only person he knew.

So he opened the Hutton Kingdom Judicial Examination - Collection of Real Cases in his hand and began to study diligently.

During the wait for the class to begin, having this morning reading material was truly the best.

The first three mandatory classes, which had been predictably dull, finally ended today.

It was four in the afternoon.

The sky had turned orange-red, and the sun would soon begin its slow descent. The shadows of the trees outside the classroom window stretched long across the grass, and the leaves rustled in the wind.

Hughberlian was still sitting in her usual spot at the back, and Lanchi was still seated near her.

However, their states were completely different from the morning.

Hughberlian found these courses very easy, even effortless.

As for Lanchi...

He was now slumped over his desk, fast asleep.

It was as if the previous three classes had overloaded him, and this half-hour wait before the last class began was his rare moment of respite.

This classroom was located in a historic, renovated building within the Sage Institute. The wooden frames of the classroom doors and windows blended almost seamlessly with the red brick walls outside.

The high ceiling, a distinctive feature of this space, was made of plaster and retained the classical Hutton Style details. Several automatically adjustable magic lamps in the dome cast a soft light, making the students in the classroom feel particularly comfortable.

Despite being an empty classroom during a time without classes, it was much livelier than in the morning.

Besides the students who had arrived early and were sitting at their desks, quietly reviewing their textbooks while waiting for the next class to start, there were also upperclassmen or students from other institutes who came to the corridors and classrooms in the Sage Institute area to chat about various anecdotes with acquaintances who had just started school today.

In stark contrast, the back of the classroom appeared particularly empty, as if a barrier insulated the two spaces.

Hughberlian, with her amber eyes, sat there quietly. Her indifferent gaze looked out the window at the distant sky. Her face was expressionless, but there were many thoughts in her eyes.

Some of the upperclassmen who came to "visit" were already good friends or acquaintances of the new students before they enrolled. There were also "star freshmen" like Princess Vivian from other classes, who would be reserved by teams even before enrollment and would be surrounded by admirers.

However, none of this excitement concerned Hughberlian.

Even though she was the second-ranked new student in the Sage Institute this year, no team would try to recruit her.

In the past, with her father around, no one dared to bully her because of her Demon Race bloodline, and it seemed like everyone around her was kind. Now, being isolated and weak, she finally felt the extent of the hostility and suspicion the Demon Race faced in this country.

It was already fortunate that she had made it through the afternoon smoothly today.

Unlike most people, she didn't want anyone to come looking for her.

Because if other upperclassmen actively sought her out, they would inevitably be those troublesome figures from the Royal Capital, bringing only misfortune, not blessings.

Another thing that could be considered fortunate was perhaps having a gentle person beside her. He didn't despise her for being a jinx and had never harbored a trace of malice since they met.

Hughberlian couldn't help but look at this talented, yet somewhat troubled, sleeping young man.

A few students from other classes had already come to the classroom to inquire about Lanchi, but when they saw him sitting next to her, their expressions changed, and they found an excuse to leave.

Also, Hughberlian had finally discovered something.

Lanchi, this guy who seemed very smart, was actually a magic idiot.

Besides using Magic Cards, he hadn't learned how to use any spells himself at all, completely unlike a normal magic-based combat professional.

But he was also particularly straightforward. Even though he was suffering greatly, he wasn't willing to skip class or not study seriously.

Hughberlian sighed helplessly. She hadn't expected that Lanchi, who seemed capable of anything, would have something he wasn't good at.

Despite the students chatting in the classroom and the noise from the corridor outside, Hughberlian quietly flipped through her book, turning the pages gently, trying her best not to wake Lanchi beside her.

A kindness for a kindness, she always held grudges, but she also remembered the good deeds of others.

What's more, for some reason, Lanchi's presence seemed to come with a talent that would unconsciously calm the minds of the living beings around him, even when he was just sleeping there.

Unconsciously, her thoughts also became immersed in the book.

The sky outside the French window quietly changed as each minute passed. Thick clouds seemed to drift by, briefly blocking the brilliant warm afternoon sun. The natural light in the classroom occasionally dimmed, and the light and shadows on the ground seemed to be covered by a thin veil.

However, this did not affect Hughberlian's reading, as she only felt an inexplicable sense of peace. It had been a long time since she had experienced this feeling.

"Hughberlian, I didn't expect you to actually be able to enroll smoothly."

Along with a soft and abrupt voice, a chill ran down Hughberlian's spine. She quickly turned her head.

She saw a pale-faced young man standing in the aisle beside her seat at some point, his hands behind his back. His expression was calm and composed, with an air of ease and arrogance.

"..."

Even though Hughberlian's expression didn't change, her aura had become quite bad.

"Modan... What do you want from me?"

Clearly, this was someone she really didn't want to see.

Modan Gasigas, the second son of Marquis Gasiges, was also a powerful and talented third-year student at the Sage Institute, a challenger of the Shadow World.

Compared to the nobles from the opposing faction of her father, Duke of Aransal, the Gasiges family, who had originally been on good terms with Duke of Aransal, was even more detestable to her.

Since Duke of Aransal's disappearance, Marquis Gasiges not only had no intention of helping her but instead eyed her covetously, wanting to force her to marry into the Marquis's family to control her.

"Hughberlian, if you want to challenge the Shadow World in your first year, you can consider joining my team. Or rather, you can only join my team, because only I will be willing to take you through the Shadow World."

Modan's words sounded polite, like an older brother talking to his younger sister, but his eyes did not hide his naked possessiveness and predatory desire for Hughberlian.

"No need."

Hughberlian just responded coldly.

She knew that even though she, like Lanchi, had become an Iron Tier adventurer without taking the exam due to the high evaluation of the entrance examination, the rule that first-year students could not challenge the Shadow World alone meant she was destined to waste many opportunities to become stronger in her first year.

Because, as Modan said, no team or its members in this school would be willing to accept a Demon Race like her.