In a classroom at the Demon Academy in the Shadow World.
This unique, dim atmosphere seemed to make time itself slow down. Every second felt like eternity frozen in amber.
The red tablecloth stood out particularly vividly in the faint light. It was a deep, rich red—absurd, yet brimming with artistry.
In this classroom, light and shadow, brightness and darkness, stillness and movement all shifted in an orderly, rhythmic pattern.
Clearly, the examination had already begun.
Lanchi knew that after arriving in the Shadow World, the most important thing was to observe and understand his circumstances and the current situation.
The Shadow World generally operated according to reason.
Unless a challenger made an operational mistake or failed, there would not be a situation that was certain death or completely unsolvable.
Lanchi's emerald eyes keenly swept over the classroom. The faint lamplight danced in his pupils.
Although he had tried to keep his movements as subtle as possible, he quickly noticed several students behaving improperly.
Their eyes darted about, and they occasionally turned their heads slightly. Every one of them was clearly planning to cheat.
Suddenly, a hoarse voice tore through the silent, oppressive space.
"I'll only give one warning. Whispering to each other will be treated as cheating immediately."
It was the voice of the Demon Examiner patrolling the examination hall. Like a lion's low growl, it exploded through the classroom.
The demon candidates who had been thinking of secretly looking around were instantly scared witless by the cold warning.
The demon candidates who had nearly been caught quickly lowered their heads and focused all their attention on their own exam papers for the moment. Their faces were filled with fear and tension, and the sweat on their foreheads trembled like dewdrops on leaves, as though it might slide off at any moment.
Although they themselves looked quite ferocious and terrifying, the difference in strength was obvious at a glance beneath the Demon Examiner's intimidation.
Afterward.
The examiner resumed his orderly patrol of the examination hall.
But whenever the Demon Examiner turned his head away, a sinister smile that he could barely conceal appeared at the corner of his mouth. He resembled a beast that had been imprisoned for a long time and yearned for slaughter, staring at its cage while waiting for the perfect moment to pounce.
"..."
Lanchi silently took all of this in.
The strength of the demon students was actually easy to judge.
Their magical power was not exaggerated. Most of them were Tier 2 or Tier 3, roughly on par with Lanchi and Hughberlian.
The Demon Examiner who could frighten them this badly was probably more than Tier 4.
He was very likely Tier 5.
In that case, with two terrifying Tier 5 demons present, brute force was definitely not an option if they wanted to pass this initial Demon Examination Hall and head elsewhere.
However, Lanchi also discovered some good news—
Hughberlian was sitting to his left.
There was only one empty seat between them.
The feeling was almost no different from when they had sat in the back row of the Sage Institute before skipping class.
It was as if they had been dragged back into a school classroom from beyond the fear of death itself.
Hughberlian's appearance had not changed, except that she had gained some demonic features.
This made Lanchi certain that his own appearance had not changed much either. After their brief exchange of glances, Hughberlian had recognized him as well.
For some reason, though, Lanchi did not know why, Hughberlian, who had always been calm and rational, looked to be in extremely poor spirits at that moment.
Moreover, when their eyes had met just now, the way Hughberlian had averted her gaze made it seem as if she was afraid he would see her looking like a demon.
"..."
So Lanchi lowered his head for the time being and examined the objects on the desk in front of him.
The Parchment Exam Paper bore a School Badge design at the top. It looked as if a sinister demon's head had been printed on it, its two eyes blazing like flames as though it were watching him from another world.
Beside it was an ink bottle made of magic crystal. Mithril was set into its mouth, while the bottle was filled with ink as black as night. The ink remained perfectly still, as though the heavy magical power within it had been fixed in place.
The feather of the quill was jet-black, and its blade-sharp nib gleamed with a metallic sheen. Unknown patterns were carved into its shaft, reflecting a cold, dark red.
It looked exactly like a set of vintage tools for making Magic Scrolls.
As expected, this was an examination on Demon Magic Text. The candidates' answers involved not only writing but also engraving, much like making Magic Scrolls.
He went straight to the final and most difficult question.
Because he could not answer any of the earlier ones.
Question 10 (12 points): Please write the magic formulas that can be used when processing rare materials, each of which must achieve one of the following effects:
1. Make a magical beast rapidly shed its sharp fur
2. Change the color of a magical beast's fur
3. Slightly harden or soften a magical beast's hair
After briefly reading through the entire exam paper, Lanchi could not help taking a deep breath.
He really could not answer even a single subquestion.
Lanchi discovered that although demon magic was strange, it truly had something to it, because it involved principles of magic formulas that human Magic Text could not achieve.
For example, these three kinds of household magic did not exist at all in human magic in the Real World.
He was finally certain that these questions were not meant for humans. Even Talia might not know the ancient demon magic on this exam paper. The gap between eras was simply too vast, and many civilizations of every race had suffered discontinuities and vanished.
But Lanchi might not know how to use them.
He was like someone who had discovered a new continent. Gradually, he gripped the Parchment Exam Paper tightly, unable to conceal the excitement in his eyes.
He really wanted to learn the three magic spells mentioned at the end of the exam paper!
Since magic like this existed in the questions, it meant that the school must teach it somewhere as well.
These ancient demon spells could be used on livestock. If a Magical Engineering master proficient in both demon magic and human magic improved them with the latest modern technology—
Was it possible to create versions that could be used on people as well?
Lanchi fell into deep thought.
His heart also became ravenous for knowledge!
Lanchi had already begun imagining an Autumn New Products launch event—
In our daily lives, we often see that other people's hairstyles are not very attractive, and may even feel an impulse to help them change their hairstyles.
Clearly, this was a friendly act of helping others, as well as a noble pursuit of the unity between subjective and objective aesthetics.
In that case, "the magic to modify other people's hairstyles" would become extremely practical.
As an artist, Lanchi felt that it was absolutely necessary for him to master this magic, which could theoretically be realized.
He also had to consider whether this was the only chance he would ever have in his life—to secretly learn the ancient demon magic written on the exam paper, then bring it back to the Real World and study practical new magic together with Talia!
So, he absolutely had to pass this examination quickly!
For the moment, Lanchi took advantage of a moment when both examiners had fallen into blind spots in his field of vision and glanced at Hughberlian again.
For some unknown reason, Hughberlian was in an unusually poor condition, as if she was forcing herself to hold on.
He did not have many opportunities to communicate with her for now.
He could only wait until they had passed through this examination hall together, then ask Hughberlian whether she was all right.
Since that was the case, this time, it would all come down to his own performance!
Before you continue