Chapter 172 Reuniting with My Ex-Girlfriend
“I give up! I give up!”
Ruan Fu watched helplessly as her hair curled up under the high temperatures of the sea of fire, the hem of her skirt turning to ash and pink in the flames.
After checking her remaining magic source and spellbook, she decisively chose to surrender.
Without any hesitation, she already felt that witnessing such terrifying magic in this match was worth it.
As Ruan Fu announced her surrender, the referee quickly stepped forward to intervene, enveloping her in a vacuum zone that shielded her from the continued harm of the heat waves.
Meanwhile, I dispelled the effects of the spell, but the changes in the environment caused by the magic would not disappear just because the spell was lifted; they would linger for a while at least.
“Are you okay?”
I stepped forward, concerned, but seeing that she was still lively after canceling her transformation spell, she seemed to be fine. The advantage of transformation spells is that injuries sustained while transformed are somewhat mitigated when returning to one’s original state.
However, specific damages such as mental damage or spell backlash were different. This kind of backlash involved not only mental power but also the magic itself; after all, transformation spells are closely tied to one’s body.
“I’m… I’m fine. Anyway, thank you for going easy on me,” Ruan Fu quickly waved her hand, signaling me not to come any closer from a distance.
If this counted as going easy, she preferred to keep a safe distance from me.
With the referee’s loud announcement of my victory, a round of cheers erupted in the arena, but compared to before, it wasn’t as enthusiastic; after all, no matter how many matches one saw, a one-sided victory lacks excitement. Here, a spell that consumed a hundred points led to the opponent’s surrender after just one release—how dull was that?
But this didn’t mean that the audience was not excited; after all, she was the second contestant, after Tan Han, who clearly possessed a hundred-point spellbook.
At this moment, I was already a seasoned contestant, no longer swayed by the various passionate emotions of the audience like on the first day.
So I quickly made my way to the backstage lounge. The cheers of the audience were hollow; if one believed in them, then they would be the laughingstock. Leaving the arena and having people remember you—that is what one truly deserves.
Moreover, I had not forgotten my original intention: the new student competition was merely an interlude on my road to becoming extraordinary; taking it seriously was the real loss.
Right now, my only thought regarding the new student competition was that elusive spellbook that could enhance learning efficiency. Teacher Ji surely wouldn’t use such a poor excuse to deceive me, right?
Although Teacher Ji hadn’t promised me anything either.
Next, I faced the dull waiting for the afternoon match to begin. It was somewhat boring, but I still had a lot of things to do.
At that moment.
Inside the box where Aphhemia Academy was located.
“That girl from earlier, her name is Yang Yuelan, right?”
“Is there a problem? Beijuan, do you know her?” Seeing Yao Beijuan’s excited tone, the male elf beside her stepped forward and gently placed his hand on her shoulder, asking in a comforting manner.
“No, I don’t know her at all… and take your hand off!” Yao Beijuan swatted away his hand dismissively, as if brushing dust off her shoulder.
“Alright.”
After being so rudely rejected, the male elf’s pointed ears drooped immediately, but he didn’t express any emotional outburst in response to the rejection.
“That spell earlier was a bit terrifying; the restless fire elemental almost covered the entire arena.”
“Maybe it was just for show? That sea of fire wasn’t that powerful, and the opponent was just being dramatic; if it were me, I would have shown them what an elf’s archery is!”
The conversation in the private room couldn’t be silenced by Teacher Ariel’s single command for quiet. She had already checked that there were no surveillance devices or magical means here, so she didn’t need to be that strict.
This was the nature of spectating; each person had different insights into battles, and communication was naturally unavoidable.
But her focus remained on Yao Beijuan, and this batch of students naturally centered around her.
The seed awakened in Yao Beijuan was not an ordinary seed.
This was the first fortune seed discovered by Aphhemia Academy, aside from Tan Han.
But it was not the only one.
Through comprehensive investigations into Yao Beijuan, the academy found many clues and ultimately identified her as a “prospective child of fortune.”
She did not gather the greatest fortune during the layout of the global examination ceremony.
Even so, she had an “outstanding” performance in the examination ceremony, particularly in the most crucial part of the ritual: “scores.”
Her examination scores exhibited a dramatic improvement compared to her usual results, so the academy identified several students who awakened their talents after exhibiting such extraordinary scores.
Upon confirmation, it was indeed an unwatered fortune seed.
This discovery immediately shocked the higher-ups of Aphhemia Academy, and they quickly made a decision.
They also confirmed that this exceptional situation might be related to the Abyss Demon race, but how they intervened remained unknown.
At that time, various extraordinary academies competed for Tan Han, but Tan Han had signed up for Holy Angel Academy, so Aphhemia Academy decisively gave up on her and refrained from getting involved, instead adopting the approach of the Witch Academy, aggressively recruiting students, specifically targeting those with abnormal examination scores.
Thus, this year saw the most frequent student recruitment.
After Tan Han ultimately fell into the hands of the Witch Academy, Aphhemia Academy took the initiative to contact the other two academies, as they certainly would have their own “prospective children of fortune.” Rather than wait for them to discover it slowly, it was better to inform them directly to exchange for goodwill.
However, the Witch Academy was still basking in the joy of having easily recruited Tan Han, and they did not contemplate this direction at all.
The other two extraordinary academies ceased their pursuit of Tan Han. Although they publicly stated that she had embarked on the path of the Witch, fundamentally, they were still swayed by the concept of the “prospective child of fortune” from Aphhemia Academy.
Moreover, the three major academies were generally closer than the Witch Academy, so the news was effectively sealed.
However, there would still be such entities in other extraordinary academies; news is difficult to contain.
Thus, the time of secrecy maintained by the three major academies was not long before the Witch Academy discovered the anomaly. After all, the extraordinary witches at the Witch Academy were not fools; even though the teaching philosophy there might be lax and easygoing, some important matters could not be hidden from others.
Such phenomena couldn’t be stopped, so many arrangements were hastily prepared.
This event, not long after the start of the semester, was born from such circumstances.
The multi-academy exchange competition provided a “fair” stage for these children of fortune, and they were eager to see how the non-linear narrative of the story would unfold.
Even if they were well aware that interfering with the narrative would make them not mere puppeteers above the script, but players within it, representing a part of the narrative, concerns regarding interests meant this wasn’t a matter of great importance. Some external force was always needed to ensure the narrative’s progression; at least they were all on the same side, which was reassuring, wasn’t it?
At this moment, seeing Yao Beijuan’s reaction, Ariel did not scold her as before.
Previously, she had higher expectations for Yao Beijuan, and now it was clear she was encountering something very important to her.
“Yao Beijuan, come out with me for a moment,” Ariel said softly.
“Okay.”
Yao Beijuan immediately left the boy she was with and followed Ariel out. In fact, she felt somewhat intimidated by this elf teacher, possibly due to the inherent pressure of a teacher over a student or other reasons. Besides, Ariel was Yao Beijuan’s advisor, which made her appear very restrained before her teacher.
Once outside, Ariel asked directly, as this concerned Yao Beijuan’s own matters, which would likely extend various plot branches; naturally, she would pay attention.
“Yao Beijuan, I noticed you seemed quite concerned about that girl named Yang Yuelan earlier. Is there something going on?”
“Uh… actually, it’s not a big deal.”
“You might as well share; you don’t need to be so afraid of me. I’m your teacher, and I won’t harm you.” Ariel tried to keep her demeanor from being so serious, but the effect seemed lacking.
Still, she wanted to guide Yao Beijuan to reveal some information, as she was curious if they were at a narrative branching point.
“It’s just the name, really. My former deskmate was also named Yang Yuelan.”
“Deskmate?”
Ariel raised an eyebrow. In a narrative, any coincidences and connections are not strange. Since Yao Beijuan mentioned the name being the same as that of her deskmate, she naturally had reason to suspect that the girl was indeed her former deskmate.
So she quickly responded, “In that case, let’s go see her together.”
“Eh? That’s not necessary, right? It’s too much trouble, and she doesn’t seem like the person I know at all; it’s just the same name.” Yao Beijuan instinctively refused.
“But don’t you find it curious?” Ariel’s single sentence changed Yao Beijuan’s mind, and she even fanned the flames, “Was your former deskmate a boy? So you feel this one isn’t the person you know?”
“Well… um, he was indeed a boy.” Yao Beijuan scratched her head, her fingers nervously fidgeting with a lock of her hair.
“Hehe, isn’t that better? Actually, I can tell you that the Witch Academy also accepts boys, but after they enroll, they will become girls; this is quite a common occurrence at the Witch Academy,” Ariel smirked. It seemed there was indeed a story here, and she didn’t mind being the one to promote the plot.
“Really?!” After hearing this, Yao Beijuan’s eyes widened, filled with disbelief and a hint of… excitement and anticipation?
“Of course! Otherwise, why do you think the Witch Academy recruits so many talents, irrespective of gender? But have you seen any males in the Witch Academy? There are none.” She continued explaining.
But shortly after, Yao Beijuan seemed to think of something. “But based on his scores, he shouldn’t be able to attend the Witch Academy…”
“Can’t attend the Witch Academy?” Ariel quickly picked up on the keyword. If his usual scores were poor, but he managed to get into the Witch Academy during the examination, then that guy could also be a potential child of fortune?
This was even more reason to check it out!
“Let’s go check and see, and we’ll know!” Ariel actively suggested, taking the lead without hesitation.
Meanwhile, the senior volunteer outside hurried forward to inquire about the situation. Upon learning the details, she became the guide, leading them to the resting area for contestants.
“Wait! No one else is allowed to enter the resting area for contestants!” Soon, they were stopped by the volunteers stationed there.
“Hello, we are the supervising teachers from Aphhemia Academy. This is our academy’s new student representative for exchange, and we just want to meet a contestant. Could you make an exception?” Ariel politely asked.
“Sorry, my job is to ensure that no one other than contestants disturb their rest.”
“The opponent’s match has already concluded this morning; I don’t think our visit will impact her too much. If we can’t go in, could you please let the contestant know someone is looking for them?”
“This… I can give it a try, but if she’s unwilling, then there’s nothing we can do.” After some hesitation, the senior volunteer reluctantly accepted this suggestion, as it didn’t seem unreasonable.
Before leaving, she asked who they were looking for and then went in.
This senior volunteer was also a bit surprised to find out that the person they were looking for was Yang Yuelan! It seemed that the academy was very attentive to the talents of the Witch Academy.
At this moment, I was studying my spellbook in the lounge, having used the Elemental Sprite’s blessing again in the match earlier. Although it appeared that my opponent surrendered before I could deploy any means, I had still gained quite a bit of information not obtainable in the laboratory.
Such as the appearance of the spell when it unleashed its full power, the range it could affect, and so on. So far, it seemed easy to cover the entire designated arena, but the damage dealt was somewhat lacking.
Of course, this was also a display of the fire elemental’s ability to create a sea of fire, which is a means of wide-area coverage; it’s great for groups but somewhat lackluster against singles.
I have to say that this sprite’s attacking methods weren’t of much help to me. So, the next direction for my modifications to the spellbook had acquired a new approach.
Enhancing the elemental sprite’s means of utilizing elements!
The summoned elemental sprite for spell effects—such exploitation of elements was utterly wasteful!
It should be precise and elegant!
I wondered if another spellbook could be incorporated within my spellbook, considering this enchantment spellbook was far more complex than the fireball spellbook. Adding the internal structure of a spellbook and using runes to represent it shouldn’t be impossible, right?
I’d need to ask Teacher Ji whether this fanciful idea could be realized; if not, I wouldn’t waste time on it.
However, just as I was preparing to continue, I heard a knock at my lounge door.
Typically, there aren’t visitors knocking in the lounge unless they are fellow contestants. Could it be Ruan Fu?
That seemed unlikely.
As I opened the door, I found that the one outside was the senior volunteer who guarded the contestant’s resting area.
The same one who wanted my contact information but didn’t introduce herself; even now, I didn’t know her name!
“Senior, is there something you need from me?” I asked curiously, as given the current situation, it was unlikely she had come to see me for no reason. Otherwise, I would just delete her contact information to avoid any potential hassle.
“Well, it’s like this: today the academy announced that there would be students and teachers from other extraordinary academies coming for new student exchanges, right?”
“I know; what about it?” I tilted my head, intrigued.
“Just now, someone was looking for you outside. No, it should be an elf looking for you. They are a teacher from Aphhemia Academy, accompanied by a student,” the senior explained in detail.
“A teacher from Aphhemia Academy? What do they want from me? I have no connection with them.” I frowned and asked.
“I don’t know either, but they seem to be specifically looking for you. Do you want to go see? They’re waiting outside.”
“They’re waiting? In that case, let’s go see.” I straightened myself out, smoothing over some wrinkles as I spoke. I wanted to find out who was bothering me, particularly from Aphhemia Academy.
Just mentioning Aphhemia Academy filled me with an inexplicable frustration, perhaps because it inevitably reminded me of that ex-girlfriend.
“Thanks, I’ll take you there.” Seeing my cooperation, the senior responded cheerfully, as this wasn’t a matter she had gotten into herself.
When I followed her out, I soon spotted two figures standing out in the vicinity, utterly incongruous to the entire arena.
One had golden or light blonde hair, tall stature, and exuded an air of arrogance conveyed by their obviously pointed ears, indicating their elfin identity.
But it was the elf standing clearly behind the elf teacher that struck me like lightning.
Even though they had transformed into an elf, that face… how could I forget it?
Yao Beijuan?
What is she doing here?
She’s doing so well at Aphhemia Academy that she’s even brought along for the exchange?
The moment I saw her, I felt as though countless llamas were galloping over my head, prompting me to instinctively curse.
“d*mn.”
There were no sentiments, no regrets, no joy in reuniting; perhaps it all began as a game when we confirmed our relationship—you found it fun, while I was merely ending two lifetimes of being single.
Then a silent farewell, and we each went our own way.
Now, meeting again, I was no longer the boy I once was.
