"Don't laugh! Do you think this is funny?"
"You're already second-years. In the blink of an eye, you'll be facing the reality of graduation and certification exams. This concerns your lives and your futures. There's nothing funny about it!"
At that, Old Yao raised the hand holding his pipe and pointed at Jiang Yu, who had already taken her seat. "Look at her. She's your age, yet in a few months, she'll graduate and become a real Registered Wizard..."
Li Meng raised her hand enthusiastically, seemingly wanting to remind the professor that not everyone in the classroom was the same age. Unfortunately, Old Yao deliberately ignored that short arm and continued his stern reprimand:
"...And you? You already started two years behind everyone else. What about the future? As they say, one slow step leads to slow steps all the way. On the Path of Magic, falling behind by one step may mean missing out for the rest of your life!"
All eyes in the classroom turned in unison toward the upright figure seated in the center of the front row, filled with all sorts of complicated emotions—envy, admiration, and so on.
Yet a small number of gazes furtively shifted toward the corner at the back right of the classroom, falling on a certain male wizard.
Zheng Qing kept a wooden face, expressionless.
Perhaps feeling that his words had been a little too harsh,
the professor paused for a few seconds before changing the subject. "The other matter also concerns Jiang Yu. As I just mentioned, Jiang Yu intends to graduate early, so her coursework this semester is extremely demanding, and she doesn't have more time to focus on class activities. This afternoon, she submitted her resignation to me. I had no reason to refuse... In fact, I was already