On their first day of officially "enrolling," Cui Ciyou and his three companions accepted Ariel's invitation and visited a standalone white building in the center of campus-the student council headquarters.
Unlike the ordinary classroom buildings, this place looked more like a small palace.
The interior was elegant and luxurious. Thick, dark red carpets in the style of the Asura royal family covered the floors, exquisite oil paintings depicting historical events hung on the walls, and even the air carried a faint fragrance of incense that helped calm and focus the mind.
In the tastefully furnished student council president's office, Ariel personally brewed a pot of fine black tea for everyone, every movement displaying the grace of a princess.
"Mr. Ciyou, Sylphy, Aisha, Bannie."
Ariel set down the delicate bone china teapot, her usual warm smile on her face. "Once again, welcome to Ranoa Magic University. Before you begin your campus life in earnest, I thought it would be best to tell you a little about our small circle of 'special admission students.'"
"Oh?" Cui Ciyou lifted his teacup and blew across the steaming surface, intrigued. "I'm all ears."
"You may already know that there are very few special admission students."
Ariel raised one slender finger.
"Including Sylphy, Bannie, and Aisha, who passed their assessments yesterday, there are currently only twelve special admission students enrolled in all of Ranoa Magic University."
Twelve!
Cui Ciyou's eyebrows rose slightly.
Out of more than ten thousand enrolled students, only twelve had been selected as "special."
This was no longer a matter of being one in a hundred. They were practically one in a thousand!
The distinction carried far more weight than he had imagined.
"You could say that every one of these twelve possesses exceptional abilities-a genius capable of holding their own in a