Azure

The classroom fell silent.

In the morning sunlight, the students' eyes sparkled like gems.

Suye hadn't been in a classroom for a long time. Feeling everyone's gaze, he felt some pressure and almost tapped his right thumb and index finger together lightly.

"Sorry, Teacher Niedern, I'm late."

Suye bowed ninety degrees to Niedern, very respectfully.

Admit mistakes when you're wrong—that was Suye's good habit.

As he straightened up, he met Niedern's kind gaze, but Suye felt completely seen through.

Niedern's stern voice rang through the classroom.

"This is the worst class I've ever taught, and you are the worst student."

The students burst into laughter.

Suye's face flushed hot, extremely embarrassed.

"However, I believe you can do better." Niedern's voice softened.

"Thank you, Teacher." Suye quickly said.

"I know a little about your situation. But you must understand—only by putting in effort that makes your own skin crawl can the future give you strength."

"Thank you, Teacher!" Suye lowered his head, earnestly memorizing Niedern's lesson, and silently savored the words in his heart.

In the world of magic, Suye completely regarded himself as a student.

A few students in the class looked at Niedern, recalling his words, lost in thought.

"Go back to your seat." Niedern nodded slightly and turned to face everyone.

Suye breathed a small sigh of relief, scanned the classroom, and found it completely different from Blue Star.

Here, there were only five crude, rough long tables, placed horizontally facing the Magic Blackboard at the front.

The first four tables were already full, with only the last table having empty seats.

Last year, Suye had also sat at the last table.

Suye glanced quickly, hugged the wall, and hurried toward the last table.

Some students winked at Suye, some stared at their Magic Books, and a few whispered a word mockingly.

Third Idiot.

Hearing that word, Suye's body instinctively felt uncomfortable, and his expression turned cold.

Earlier, as Suye ran all the way, he had also been recalling.

Last year, Suye had ranked third from last in the class.

The student who ranked last had already dropped out.

The one who ranked second to last had repeated First Year for five years, only entering Second Year after a special approval from the dean. He was 25 this year, named Hote.

Unlike the children of Blue Star who learned from a young age, Greece had no basic education at all.

Over 90% of boys in All of Greece started learning farm work or trades from age 7, while girls learned weaving or housework. Only less than 10% of children from wealthy families received education after age 7, mainly reciting poetry or learning some arts or skills.

In ancient Greece, poetry held a status above all other literary forms—whether history or opera, both ranked below poetry.

However, of that 10% of children, only one in ten had sufficient literacy skills. Because the slaves who taught wealthy children to read and write were mostly slaves themselves, and no one wanted to appear like a slave.

Still, with the rise of mages, this situation changed slightly, and more people began to read.

By age 14, a very few children from wealthy families would follow famous teachers to learn knowledge or skills, while the rest either continued farming or working, or began military training.

Sparta was the exception.

The Spartans had no mages; they were all warriors, with the weakest adult being at least a Black Iron Warrior.

Because any Spartan man who didn't become a Black Iron Warrior by age 20 would be executed.

Before last year, Suye hadn't received enough education, so even though he worked fairly hard, he still ranked third from last.

Thus, Suye, Hote, and the dropped-out student were mockingly called the Three Idiots of Plato Academy.

Suye was called the Third Idiot.

Suye reached the last table and found six people sitting behind it.

One was Hote, the young man called the Second Idiot, whose face looked more mature than anyone else in the room.

No one could ignore his presence, because it seemed like he was the only one standing, even while sitting.

Hote was a full 2.1 meters tall and still growing.

He smiled at Suye, looking simple and honest.

The reason he hadn't been expelled was due to his father's dying wish.

His father, a veteran, had discovered the movements of the Persian Army in the wild, led a team to deliver the news, evaded multiple pursuits, and finally succeeded in getting the intelligence to the Athenian army. After expressing his wish for his son to study at Plato Academy, he passed away peacefully.

Hote was the classmate Suye got along with best. Suye first nodded to him in greeting.

The few others at the last table had an okay relationship with Suye, but had exchanged no more than three sentences with the other noble classmate, Rolon.

Rolon had transferred into this class midway through last semester. Word had it his family held considerable status in Athens City, and he'd originally studied at the city's renowned Aristocratic Academy. No one knew why he'd suddenly shown up here. Later, rumors spread that Rolon had seriously injured someone at the Aristocratic Academy and been forced to leave.

Suye nodded one by one to Jimmy, Lake, and Albert, but made no gesture toward Rolon.

Rolon didn't look at Suye either.

Only when he drew close to the table did Suye suddenly realize he had stepped into an ocean of azure.

A girl in a white long dress sat at the table, her long black hair cascading behind her like a waterfall of jet, as if every strand was inlaid with black diamonds.

Suye looked at her, and all his attention was drawn to her eyes.

Her eyes were as clear as sapphires, like the azure lakes on a pure white snow mountain.

The azure lakes reflected the blue of a clear sky.

Around the girl's neck hung a matte Gold Necklace, its pendant a woman's side face. The hair of this golden woman was woven from nine golden snakes, each snake's eye socket set with a pair of red diamonds.

This Gold Necklace was exquisite yet grand, ancient yet vibrant. Suye was almost immediately certain it was not only a noble heirloom but also an exceptionally powerful Magic Artifact.

On anyone else, this Medusa Necklace would have been the center of attention. Yet Suye had completely failed to notice it before.

This new classmate—Suye was seeing her for the first time.

Suye wondered to himself. A girl this beautiful—he should have spotted her the moment he entered the classroom. But he hadn't noticed until he got close. Could it be related to this necklace?

Sensing Suye's gaze, the girl turned to look at him.

Her delicate face was utterly expressionless, cold as an ice sculpture.

Suye wasn't good at dealing with women. He merely gave a slight nod and was about to take his seat, then paused.

The large table could seat eight people, but only the seats to the girl's left and right were empty.

Suye had no choice. He sat down between the girl and the big guy, Hote.

In his peripheral vision, it was azure like the sea.

Magic Book in hand, Suye received a Magic Letter the moment he sat down.

At that moment, Teacher Niedern's voice came from the front of the classroom: "Next, I'll lead everyone through a review of all last year's language courses. After the review, I'll briefly summarize the six new Foreign Race language courses added this year. Other new courses will be introduced by other teachers..."

"Six? And other new courses? Did I hear that wrong?" Suye was puzzled. Then memories filled with despair, panic, helplessness, and madness flooded his mind. Suye felt his ears ring and his heart pound wildly.