The beaker was half full of rainbow liquid. Its seven muddled colors looked as if someone had dumped every paint color in at once—an eyesore that made your stomach turn. And separating those seven colors was even harder!
But Victor had happened to read about it while previewing the material, and he thought he could do it!
Professor Thompson glanced at his somewhat haggard face and asked with concern, "Gaude, are you all right?"
"I'm fine, Professor."
Victor took a deep breath and began channeling his magic into the mercury glass rod.
Rainbow liquid was a special kind of liquid. Each color had a different affinity for different concentrations of magic.
So all he had to do was divide the magic in the mercury glass rod into seven levels of concentration, then make gradual adjustments as he stirred at a steady pace. The different colors of rainbow liquid would adhere to different concentrations of magic, separating the seven colors into seven distinct layers!
Of course, theory was one thing; practice was another.
Victor had a lot of confidence in his magical talent, but he wasn't in good shape right now.
To avoid making a mistake, he slowed down as much as he could.
When Victor began stirring, Dark raised his head.
The Son of the Hero's sudden burst of effort surprised him. He wondered how far Victor would get.
At the lectern, Victor had already managed to divide the magic into seven levels of concentration, but the crucial part was still ahead.
Maintaining a steady flow of magic, keeping its concentration stable, and stirring the mercury glass rod at an even pace was extremely difficult!
Among the first-years, only Dark could do it with ease.
Next came the diligent Emma and Sara Swati of Magister House.
Professor Thompson had originally planned to call Dark up to demonstrate, but Victor had raised his hand first.
Still, since it was the Son of the Hero who had volunteered, Professor Thompson placed considerable trust in him—even though he hadn't performed well during his first month at school.
Fortunately,
Victor was a little slower than Professor Thompson had expected, but he was using the right method.
It slightly changed the professor's opinion of the Son of the Hero.
A few minutes later,
the rainbow liquid in the beaker finally separated into seven layers, from top to bottom.
Sunlight slanted across them, making them look dreamlike and illusory.
"I did it!"
Victor let out a long breath of relief.
"I did it, Professor!"
But when he turned excitedly toward Professor Thompson, the magic flowing into the mercury glass rod suddenly went out of control, and the seven freshly separated colors mixed together again.
He froze in shock.
Applause rang in his ears.
Professor Thompson was encouraging him.
"Nicely done, Gaude. Five points!"
Overcome with excitement, Victor practically grinned his way back to his seat.
That should have narrowed the gap between Dimon and me a little, right?
But just as he was about to sit down, Professor Thompson's stern reprimand rang out again. "I've said since the very first class that sleeping is absolutely not allowed in my classroom! Broheim, minus ten points!"
The end-of-class bell rang.
Victor quietly woke Robert, who had slept through nearly half the class.
"What is it, Victor? Is class starting?"
"Yeah, class is starting. Second period."
"By the way, Robert."
"What?"
"I scored fifteen points more than you."
Second period was Summoning Technique.
Now that he was awake, Robert didn't make any more mistakes.
But the duo soon realized that Last-Minute Cramming was useless.
Even though neither of them fell asleep that period, they still came away empty-handed.
Fortunately, they didn't lose any points.
After class, the two sat in the classroom and took stock.
"75+20+20-5-10+20=120. We're still forty points short."
Victor sighed deeply. This was so hard.
He had clearly already done his best. Why still wasn't it enough?
Robert was just as dejected.
After failing so many times, he'd lost all the ease and wishful thinking he'd had before.
In despair, Robert said helplessly, "Victor, maybe we should ask Emma to let us off the hook?"
Victor turned to him, eyes bloodshot and wide. "Seriously? Did you forget how you cursed her out a couple of days ago?"
"It was only a couple of remarks," Robert said guiltily. "She'll forgive us."
Victor covered his head, overwhelmed. "What are you thinking? Get this straight—we're already sworn enemies!"
Robert said, "But..."
The light returned to Victor's eyes, brightening little by little. "No buts! Paying your debts is only right and proper! I won't run away from it. Besides, we still have a chance! Come on, let's play another round of Magic Chess."
Robert was stunned. "You still want to play Magic Chess?"
"Of course I do! I'll sleep after the next game. I haven't slept in thirty hours!"
"Let's eat first. We don't have any more classes today anyway."
"Fine by me."
The two went to the Cafeteria, ordered a few dishes, and sat down.
Robert ate a lot.
Victor, on the other hand, had no appetite.
He noticed people around him giving him strange looks, and instinctively tried to smooth down his bedhead.
Just then, students from all four houses received the same notice.
Astronomy was starting!
Secret Technique: Ten Thousand Recommendations into One!
The Beginning of Dark Demon's Astrology
Astronomy was basically an elective, and class times depended entirely on Professor Didi's schedule.
Although the timetable listed it as 19:30–21:00, the time could change.
For instance, today's Astronomy class would begin at 18:00.
Since there were no classes on Wednesday afternoon, most students weren't in a hurry. After receiving the notice, they only chatted quietly for a while, guessing what Professor Didi might teach them in Astronomy.
But Astronomy had so few points of contact with everyday life that it seemed even more nebulous than magic, which they had experienced firsthand. The students had to rely on their imaginations, drawing inspiration from legends and old tales.
Victor and Robert had no such luxury.
They immediately grew tense.
It wasn't as though they planned to preview the material—there wasn't even a textbook for Astronomy!
Besides, once one o'clock in the afternoon passed, their debt would double to a full 320 points!
They had only 120 points between them, and earning the remaining 200 from their next three classes was impossible.
So they had completely given up on earning points in class.
Robert just wanted to lie down and wait for death.
Victor, meanwhile, pinned his hopes on the in-class tournament in Friday's Dueling Class!
The tournament champion would receive a full 1,000 points. If he could win that prize before one o'clock on Friday afternoon, paying off their debt would be a piece of cake!
Victor had originally planned to start practicing duels with his Magic Phantom Beast tonight to improve his chances of winning.
Now his evening was taken up, and he'd have even less time to catch up on sleep!
"Wait. Speaking of Magic Phantom Beasts..."
Victor looked at Robert and muttered, "Robert, we have Magic Theory tomorrow morning. Where's your Magic Phantom Beast?"
Robert's expression shifted from tense to terrified.
Dark Demon was in the library.
Among the first-year students, four spent most of their free time there.
One was Dark, another was Emma, the third was Sara, and the last was an unknown student from Fool House.
One from each house, exactly!
They were also their respective houses' top students, the very best of the best.
After receiving the notice that Astronomy class was starting, Dark had decided to look for some books on the subject.
Since Astronomy was an elective with no final exam, he didn't search too seriously.
Astronomy Symbols.
Starry Sky Decoded.
Both caught his interest.
He took the two books off the shelf and carried them to a table in the reading room.
He was interested in Astronomy Symbols because its cover showed a circle of symbols, one of which was "⊙," the same symbol that had appeared on Pride's crest.
"I see. This is the symbol for the sun."
Dark drew a circle on a piece of paper, then added a dot and pondered it.
"It doesn't seem so unreasonable that the sun represents Pride."
"The sun is the central celestial body of the Solar System."
"The eight planets, asteroids, meteors, comets, trans-Neptunian objects, and interstellar dust in the Solar System all orbit the sun."
"And Pride's position in the sequence is one, which fits the idea of being at the center."
"If I remember right, one of Eevee's evolutions possesses Solar Power."
"That gives me a point of reference."
"Figuring out how the sun relates to Pride might help me analyze the Great Sin of Pride."
Before you continue