Chapter 248: Darks’ Return to Youth (4k)
Emma’s duel seemed to be a dividing line.
The matches of the first-year outstanding students after her became relatively easier.
Not long after,
With Sarah Swati’s victory, the recruitment tournament entered its third round.
In this third round, Darks and Diana successively encountered ordinary second-year students and won.
The two professors quietly left during the third round and were replaced by two senior students who should have been seated there.
Night fell, and the venue outside gradually darkened.
The recruitment tournament was nearing its end.
The Dueling Club spent half an hour tallying scores and selected those with a score above 6.2, achieving about an 80% pass rate.
Those who did not pass were mostly first-year students and a very small number of second-year students.
Originally, this recruitment tournament was a semi-observational competition, not overly difficult.
The staff of the Dueling Club recorded the new members’ scores, which would be combined with their performance in the subsequent novice tournament to form an internal score.
Many things afterward would be handled based on this internal score.
If the internal score reached a certain standard, the club would provide corresponding resource support as encouragement.
…
After the score sheet was posted, students gathered around the bulletin board.
Just like almost all exams, some were happy while others were disappointed.
The first-year dropouts were fine; this time they were just trying.
Second-year dropouts couldn’t handle it so well.
For them, this was undoubtedly a sentence!
But competitions always had winners and losers, and there was no other way.
Darks and Diana squeezed close to see their names.
Darks naturally ranked first.
Although his performance in the third round was average, considering the opponent wasn’t strong,
the reviewing seniors still gave him face, and after removing the highest and lowest scores, he averaged 10 points.
As for second place, it was naturally the third-year senior Anglia.
Then, Diana, Sarah, and Emma also ranked high.
Additionally, Tudor from the Noble Academy, Wit from the Knight Academy, and Justin Wayne also successfully passed the recruitment tournament.
Upon closer inspection, seven freshmen successfully joined the Dueling Club in their first year!
This was remarkable, regardless of the year.
Especially this year, three students from both the Knight Academy and the Noble Academy were selected, making the students of both academies exceptionally excited.
While only Sarah from the Mana Academy stood out, her score was high enough to be acceptable.
Only the Fool’s Academy had no one selected, which was quite regrettable.
…
Darks and Diana clapped hands together, then followed Deputy Minister Inia’s instructions and received a duel club badge from the staff.
It was a gold-red badge with dual swords in the center, and four regions divided by the swords each bore a crown, knight sword, magus, and tarot card.
The badge itself was symbolic and needed to be worn during official events.
Other details such as duel points and rankings were still recorded on the selection card and updated in real-time.
Darks infused a bit of mana into the duel badge and pressed it against his chest. The mana device attached to the bottom activated quickly, sticking firmly to his uniform.
Diana looked over, took the badge, and placed it on her chest, then smiled at Darks and asked, “Does it look good?”
Darks reached out to pinch her cheek, which was soft: “Of course it looks good.”
Rose approached, joyfully saying, “How about we go celebrate at Traveler’s Street?”
Diana immediately raised her hand: “I agree!”
Darks actually wanted to return to the dorm early, but now it wouldn’t be good to dampen the mood. So, he went along with them to Traveler’s Street and had dinner at “Waltz Music Restaurant.”
Listening to elegant music and watching Diana eat with a cute, messy mouth, Darks couldn’t help but smile.
The Dueling Club wasn’t a formal club, except for occasional training sessions. There were no regular club activities.
Even for training sessions, participants could choose whether to attend based on their own wishes.
Regarding duels,
New club members could start registering for the novice tournament starting next week on Saturdays.
However, Darks currently had plenty of credits and didn’t have immediate plans.
After dinner,
The trio wandered through the night market on Traveler’s Street, accompanied by laughter and youth.
…
As night deepened, the cold wind blew.
Darks didn’t know that right next to where they were dining, Wit was having a meal at another restaurant.
Wit and Scott, who had barely passed and barely failed, respectively, obtained completely different results due to just a one-point difference.
The Sect organized a gathering at a private room in a restaurant to celebrate Wit’s victory and comfort Scott’s failure.
Sixteen plus one people gathered in the small private room. From toasting to complaining, it only took ten minutes.
Robert watched the sixteen people, including Wit, huddle together and complain, feeling ashamed of his occasional thoughts about joining the Sect.
In this space filled with carbon dioxide, he felt like an outsider, unable to understand the Sect members’ thoughts.
Even Wit seemed unfamiliar to him.
He found it hard to imagine that Wit could have such a side, complaining yet enthusiastically designing a costume for a sea creature called “Sponge.”
What is Sponge?
Sea cotton?
Robert was bewildered.
But the Sect now even had an official name, sounding normal—Oceanic Creature Research Department.
Are you guys so fond of ocean creatures?
…
Night deepened, and the sounds of people gradually faded.
Darks, Rose, and Diana returned contentedly to the tower of the Noble Academy and parted ways on the second-floor corridor.
Darks entered his bedroom, placing the full food bag down.
Inside were many cut fruits and some cooked food and drinks suitable for golems.
Today, they were the biggest contributors, and Darks naturally wouldn’t forget to reward them.
But with ten mouths to feed, it was quite a lot.
If it were any other first-year student, they might not afford it.
But Darks had plenty of credits.
He took out “Paradise” from his card pack and projected a set of stone furniture from a theme park in his dorm. Then he began summoning the golems.
Summoning all ten golems took some time.
He released the imp beast from the spell cage under the imp’s urging and started absorbing “Pride.”
The worm tree was in good condition thanks to his care, and with tonight’s “Pride,” he accumulated a total of 5.5 points.
He watered each cat grass plant with cat juice, finally completing tonight’s task.
This made him sigh in relief and then he lay down in the bathtub.
In the cold winter, immersing his body below the neck in hot water, the warmth continuously seeped into his skin and bones, gradually easing his fatigue.
Through the door, he could hear the chattering of the golems.
There was a peculiar sense of warmth.
…
Hours later, Darks suddenly woke up.
He realized he wasn’t in the bathroom anymore.
Lying on the bed, he stared at the ceiling for a while, confirming he hadn’t left the bathroom.
“It seems the golems brought me back to bed.”
Darks felt a warm heart, pulled his hands out from under the covers, and slowly got up.
Soaking in gradually cooling water in winter would likely lead to catching a chill.
Fortunately, with the golems around, he wouldn’t have to go to the infirmary tomorrow morning.
Unlike usual, tonight’s bed was filled with sprawling golems, looking very satisfied and sound asleep.
Darks quietly got out of bed, adjusted his pajama collar, and unconsciously walked onto the balcony.
It was already dawn, and the sky was slightly brightening.
The castle was covered in white frost, giving off a serene winter atmosphere.
“How nice.”
Darks sincerely sighed.
…
A little later,
The sky suddenly rippled.
The barrier of St. Maryan opened a door.
A slender white dragon with shimmering white scales flew through, its fine scales reflecting a rainbow-like light.
Pandora Dragon rode atop the dragon’s spine, the wind blowing through her snow-white hair.
But soon after entering the academy, her smooth white hair turned black at the roots.
…
“What a beautiful white dragon!”
Darks happened to witness the dragon flying through, feeling his heart race.
“I wonder whose mount it is?”
That white dragon was different from most Western dragons in this world, resembling an Eastern dragon more akin to a snake.
Its delicate beauty was captivating and irresistible.
“Meow meow meow—”
“Okay, you’re also beautiful.”
Darks bent down to pick up the cat grass by his feet, a smile forming on his lips.
A new day had arrived.
…
The first weekend of the new semester.
The first-year students who had experienced the recruitment tournament of the Dueling Club were still full of energy, spreading and causing a commotion, raising the temperature of the castle.
After assigning reading and writing homework to the golems, Darks took his bag and headed to the library.
Professor Nina assigned a paper on the Sucking Spirits, and he needed to find information in the library.
Around ten in the morning, Darks finished his paper and didn’t return to the dorm but continued studying in the library.
From morning to evening,
Many people came to the library, most leaving after checking their materials, while a few stayed behind.
Darks unexpectedly saw Wit and Robert, who were diligently working on their assignments with a rare determination.
But Darks didn’t pay much attention to them and soon immersed himself in his research.
Learning about “zoos” required a lot of time.
The problem of “fusion” was nearly resolved.
But because Pandora hadn’t returned, the experiment had been delayed.
However, such delays couldn’t continue indefinitely.
If the senior didn’t come back, he planned to do it alone.
Magic synthesis, even if it meant taking a few detours, still held meaning.
Of course, it was also because of his ample credits that Darks dared to say such things.
He was ready to go to Traveler’s Street on Sunday to buy materials for fusion, at 1500 credits per piece, and could initially purchase three pieces.
Anyway, even if he synthesized many fusions, it wouldn’t be a problem—what he feared was synthesizing none at all!
…
Suddenly, his vision was obstructed.
Darks raised his head abruptly and saw a smiling face.
He instantly showed joy: “Senior, when did you return?”
Pandora pulled out a chair and sat opposite him: “This morning.”
Darks sized her up and suddenly asked, “Did something good happen?”
Pandora’s eyes narrowed into crescents.
She raised her index finger, cheerfully saying, “Secret.”
It appeared to be genuine joy.
Darks thought for a moment and cautiously said, “But I’m very curious.”
Pandora shook her head slightly: “Curiosity isn’t allowed. Well, not yet. When the time comes, I’ll tell you. How about it? Heard you did something big again?”
“Not really.” Darks didn’t press further, “Just encountered some danger in the secret passage…”
Both lowered their voices to minimize disturbance to the阅览室里的人.
Darks recounted everything about the secret room, treasure, and vampires in detail.
Pandora also revealed some of her holiday itinerary.
After the Christmas ball, she left St. Maryan.
She didn’t stop anywhere and flew straight on a golem, arriving at her birthplace—the Exile Forest within a week.
“The Exile Forest?” Darks raised his eyebrows, almost involuntarily raising his voice.
Pandora supported her cheek with her hand, looking distant as if recalling: “It’s a cursed forgotten land. People die one by one, disappear one by one. Whether punished or abandoned, none can escape the curse of death…”
Her casual words carried an undeniable sense of despair.
Pandora was still grateful to Principal Altair, who saved her from there.
She was the only survivor in the Exile Forest.
When she was young, there were people in the Exile Forest.
They taught her language, hunting, and then died one by one, leaving behind stone graves.
Three years after the war, the Exile Forest was completely forgotten, and no one was sent in anymore.
Until Principal Altair suddenly appeared before her, she learned that there was a world beyond.
