### Chapter 4: Harpist Academy (3)
==============================
Looking around, the Harpist Academy sprawled across a vast area.
Under the warm sunlight of early spring, trees just starting to sprout their green buds were surrounded by the fragrant early spring flowers, presenting an impressive blend of grandeur and soft feminine beauty in the academic environment.
“This is the Comprehensive Assessment Arena,” Trissa pointed to the tall, oval building standing proudly in the center of the academy.
“If you could see it from above, you’d notice that this building is actually composed of rectangular sections, with each rectangle representing an area for testing a particular skill. The audience sits around these assessment zones, witnessing the moment when the soon-to-be graduates let their harp-playing skills shine.”
Lin Nan was quite pleased with Trissa’s introduction.
“I have a question. For instance, if you graduate with an A grade, and after a few years, you feel your skills have improved and want to retake the assessment, what should you do?”
Trissa replied, “Generally speaking, that situation is rare. I remember back when I was in school, my teacher mentioned that a harpist’s advancement is closely tied to their innate potential. Most people hit their peak during their graduation assessment and probably won’t surpass it for the rest of their lives. Moreover, so many girls graduate and get married, gradually forgetting all their previous efforts as harpists.”
“Well, there are always exceptions… like me, a harpist who never went through academy training—how would I find out my rating?”
Trissa recalled the fear she felt when Lin, the Lord, crushed her with his harp skills back in Black Stone City. Even though she now knew Lin was a messenger of the Goddess of Destiny, it didn’t change the fact that he was also a master harpist adored by the God of Harmony. With skills at that level, he should be anything but inconspicuous. Or maybe, it was part of her mission as a messenger, bestowed by the Goddess of Destiny.
“Please, follow me.”
Having lived in the Harpist Academy for nearly a decade, Trissa naturally knew the functions of various buildings like the back of her hand.
Dodging the wild, throngs of people entering in batches, the three of them quickly arrived at the office area next to the arena.
“Lisa, it’s been two years! You look several years younger!”
“Is that really Trissa? You’re looking quite fresh yourself!”
After some elaborate compliments, Trissa said, “Teacher, I’m here to request a reassessment of my harpist level.”
Lisa was a slightly pudgy middle-aged woman. Upon hearing Trissa’s request, she was understandably taken aback. “Trissa, you’re not joking, right?”
Trissa shook her head, “Of course not! I think I might have surpass my previous record. And this Miss Lin here also wants to be assessed as a harpist.”
Lisa looked at Trissa, then at the veiled woman next to her. “Trissa, I’ll have to report this to the Dean.”
“Thank you very much!”
As they watched Lisa wiggle away, Lin Nan softly asked, “Who is the current Dean?”
Trissa replied quietly, “The only SS-level harpist in the empire—Lady Janet.”
Before long, Lisa rushed back to the office, panting as if she’d run a sprint. “The Dean approved your request, but Miss Lin, you’ll need to showcase some harpist skills to qualify for the assessment.”
Lin Nan replied, “Of course, no problem!”
Lisa handed her a few forms. “This is for the certification after the assessment, so please fill it out carefully.”
Lin Nan glanced at the forms; they were just the usual details—name, birthplace, family background, and so on.
It seemed that whether in the modern world or on the Asking Dao Continent, schools loved to dig into their students’ backgrounds as the first order of business.
Name: Lin Nan.
Birthplace… East Sea Underground Palace? That seems a bit off. Let’s go with Chaos Forest, Cold Wind City.
Sure enough, when Lisa saw what she wrote, her expression changed to something rather interesting.
Family background… she was always on her own, so she simply wrote “None.”
“All done!”
Lin Nan returned the forms to Lisa.
Lisa scrutinized the paper for a while, then glanced at Trissa.
If Trissa wasn’t the daughter of the Minister of External Affairs, as the teacher in charge of records and examinations, Lisa probably wouldn’t even have noticed this “Lin Nan,” a monster-race girl.
Compared to humans, the position of the monster race is already beneath them.
And the demon race, being the favored ones, had harpists as a precious profession passed down for thousands of years. It was laughable that a mere monster race was trying to game the system through the daughter of the Minister of External Affairs for a harpist title. What a joke!
In thousands of years of history, no race outside of nobility from the empire had ever been known to master harpist skills.
She was simply giving Trissa’s father, the Minister of External Affairs, some face.
“Follow me; just do a quick demonstration in the testing room next door.”
Lisa was well aware that the monster girl named Lin Nan wouldn’t pass whatever “test” awaited her, so her tone unintentionally carried a hint of impatience.
Trissa, being clever, noticed Lisa’s attitude but was about to argue when Lin Nan gently shook her head, signaling her to hold off.
Trissa finally decided to stifle her dissatisfaction.
The first testing room adjacent to the office wasn’t very large. Once inside, they saw a girl standing in the center holding a simple four-stringed harp, surrounded by an excited crowd eagerly watching the star of the show.
Suddenly, from the wall in front of the girl, three white spheres burst out from a crack, rocket-launching straight toward her!
“Ding ding ding…”
A flurry of sharp harp notes rang out, and just as the three white spheres were about to crash into her, they exploded into a shower of sparkles mid-air.
The girl remained unharmed.
“Awesome! Great job!”
With cheers from the excited crowd, the girl bowed confidently in gratitude.
Not long after, the three teachers in charge of scoring all raised “B” grade signs simultaneously.
The girl’s smile froze. She couldn’t believe that her perfect performance had yielded such a mediocre result.
But now that the results were out, there was no way to contest them, so she pouted and sulked off the stage.
“Lord Lin, this is a way to test reaction skills. That girl only destroyed the spheres just before they hit her, so her rating dropped to a low level,” Trissa explained in a low voice.
Lisa turned to Lin Nan, “Why don’t you give it a try? Just one chance.”
Ha, one chance is too generous.
A mere monster race girl, wearing a veil and trying to be all mysterious. Let’s see you embarrass yourself in front of everyone; then you won’t think you can trick your way in any longer.
And Trissa, thinking she’s some kind of top-ranked harpist back in the day, thinks she can waltz in with someone who knows nothing?
Later, she would definitely report everything to the Dean!
