Word Spirit Test

Morning.

A pleasant alarm rang through Dorm 403.

For the first time, Caesar found the blaring alarm so pleasing to the ear, because once Day of Freedom was over, he would move out of the dormitory and live with Li Lin in Amber Hall or Norton Hall.

The price was getting dragged into the banquet hall by Xia Mi and beaten senseless. His shoulder still felt numb and weak. That little girl looked like she had tiny fists and thin arms, but the agony her punches caused was comparable to taking a Frigg Bullet fired from a Magnum revolver head-on.

"Brother, now I understand why your face twisted in pain when Xia Mi casually slapped you in that combat footage."

While washing up, Caesar sighed as he reviewed last night's encounter with Li Lin.

Unless he had a Desert Eagle and his beloved hunting knife in hand, he absolutely would not dare appear within seventy meters of Xia Mi.

They said a gun was faster within seven steps, but Caesar felt seven steps were still too close. Seventy meters was barely acceptable.

Li Lin had wanted to say that Xia Mi had gone easy on him last night, but when he thought about how she might take advantage of Day of Freedom to beat Caesar up again in a few days, he swallowed the words.

Sometimes, even he could not make sense of the complicated possessiveness Xia Mi displayed.

It was hard to find much romantic ambiguity in it. It felt more like she hoped he could fulfill some overly heavy destiny, or that she had placed some extraordinary long-cherished wish upon him. Yet it was difficult to sense any intention of being "used" from Xia Mi.

Perhaps Xia Mi herself had not figured that out yet.

The only thing Li Lin could be certain of was... Xia Mi probably wanted more than anyone else for him to stay alive and grow stronger quickly.

For some reason, a fanfiction story that had spread around campus popped into his mind: the peerlessly skilled and lonely-as-snow Ximen Chuixue and the equally unparalleled swordsman Ye Gucheng had become acquainted through battle. As the saying went, lofty mountains and flowing water met a kindred spirit. From then on, they set aside their struggle of life and death, became lifelong rivals who tested each other, and left behind a fine tale in the martial world.

Of course, since the story had originally circulated in the notebooks of several female students, Li Lin selectively ignored those Boys Love details.

"Boss, I'm planning to report to the Executive Department today for the Word Spirit test. Is there anything I need to pay special attention to?"

Li Lin had often heard comments on the Night Watchers Forum such as "the Executive Department is full of lawless killers" and "terrorist lunatics who look down on everyone."

Now that he had become familiar with Caesar, he simply asked this second-year senior directly.

Hearing Li Lin's question, Caesar pinched his chin and thought for a moment. "Precautions... Prepare for explosions."

"Although you're reporting to the Executive Department, the actual testing process is generally carried out using equipment provided by the Equipment Department. The Executive Department is only responsible for providing the venue and recording the data."

"What does that have to do with explosions?"

"The Equipment Department likes everything they make to have the ability to explode. If you find yourself surrounded by blastproof glass during the test, be careful."

The moment they left the dormitory, they ran into Xia Mi, who had been waiting outside in advance.

The Forbidden City heroine had always slept very little. Judging by her appearance, she had probably been waiting for quite some time.

When she saw Li Lin approaching, she directly handed him a box of chocolates and a cup of fermented mung bean juice.

"You're finally falling into the world of dark cuisine?"

Li Lin was baffled by the bizarre combination.

Xia Mi stepped on the top of his foot, then handed him the chocolates. "They're from Kyla, a second-year senior. Apparently, she stayed up all night carving her love letter into the chocolate."

"Oh, then where did the fermented mung bean juice come from?"

"I wanted to bring you breakfast. I got you fermented mung bean juice and fried dough sticks, but I got hungry while waiting downstairs and couldn't resist eating the fried dough sticks."

Xia Mi handed the steaming cup to Li Lin. "Please enjoy."

Li Lin returned the chocolates to Xia Mi and silently drank the fermented mung bean juice. Having grown up in Beijing, he had long since gotten used to this uniquely flavored drink, but he simply could not endure the devilish combination of fermented mung bean juice and chocolate.

Xia Mi accepted the chocolates. "You're not eating them?"

"Hurry up and eat them. They'll melt once it gets hot later."

"Fine, fine. Looks like I'll have quite a few 'love rivals' to deal with in the future."

Xia Mi understood Li Lin's unspoken meaning. He wanted her to act as his shield. Since they were childhood friends, she might as well do it.

Thinking so, Xia Mi skillfully opened the gift box and stuffed the chocolates covered in love letters into her mouth.

The person who had made the chocolates must have put a lot of thought into them. Not only were they mixed with nuts and condensed milk, but they also contained a great deal of white sugar.

"Are they good?"

"Way too sweet." That was Xia Mi's brief assessment. Then she picked up another piece and put it in her mouth, looking as though they still suited her taste quite well.

The two walked side by side toward the Executive Department's office building. Paparazzi from the News Department flashed past among the nearby bushes with cameras in hand, but neither of them paid any attention. They had long since grown used to rumors about them spreading across the entire college.

Nearly half an hour later.

Li Lin and Xia Mi, both of whom had taken the entire day off, leisurely swiped their student cards and entered a special passage the Executive Department had arranged for freshmen. As Cassel College's only openly violent department and a semi-military institution, it held far too many secrets that could not be revealed to ordinary students.

They followed the enclosed, narrow passage forward until they saw a fellow countryman dressed in a suit.

"Ye Sheng, Executive Department intern officer. It's a pleasure to meet you both."

The man who called himself Ye Sheng was tall and thin, with a refined bearing, dressed in a Cassel College uniform.

He introduced himself briskly, then led the way ahead. His manner was direct and efficient as he explained the upcoming procedures to Li Lin and Xia Mi.

"Since the Word Spirits of you two junior students are both relatively rare types capable of activating the elements within a domain, the Executive Department has decided to provide you with a testing ground temporarily unaffected by Discipline. We will test your control, destructive power, duration, and other aspects separately."

"When a Mixed-Blood has only just awakened a Word Spirit, the body is still in its adaptation phase. Feeling strained or having difficulty controlling the Word Spirit is perfectly normal. So if the elements in your domain lose control and form turbulent currents later, do not force yourselves out of pride. Be sure to stop releasing your Word Spirit in time and call for help from the staff."

"I remember that a few years ago, there was a senior student who had just enrolled whose Word Spirit was King's Flame. He was too arrogant, and during the test, he directly burned himself into a lump of charcoal with his own flames..."

Ye Sheng tried earnestly to persuade them, only to discover that the two preparatory students were not listening at all. They were still behind him discussing A Certain Magical Index.

He had no idea what to do.

Could these two kids possibly think controlling Word Spirits was as effortless as using superpowers in anime?