Chapter 247: The Wayward Boy Lusen
“Who! Who is following me?”
Lusen suddenly turned around, looking back with a hint of panic, but saw nothing.
Today was almost the last day of the Wizard Academy at the Witch Academy, and it was the only time everyone could truly enjoy themselves.
He just wanted to take a stroll in this harmonious and bright academy, because once he returned to the Wizard Academy, there would be no so-called punishment, but the atmosphere there was very oppressive.
The terrifying Wizard Tower affected the weather, leaving the entire Wizard Academy in a place shrouded in darkness without sunlight.
However, this thought urged him to leave his residence, and after stepping outside, he felt something unusual. The keen perception granted to him by his arcane skills told him someone seemed to be intentionally following him, but he couldn’t identify who it was.
But in this moment of looking back, he collided headfirst with two soft masses.
“Ah?” Lusen instinctively took a step back, feeling his face flush as he saw the person in front of him; it seemed like he had just bumped into…
“Sorry, I’m so sorry!” Lusen hurriedly apologized to the witch before him. After all, at his age, he had never even held a girlfriend’s hand, and suddenly finding himself in this situation certainly left him feeling at a loss.
Moreover, the key point was that this was the Witch Academy!
The home field of the witches!
If the witch in front of him suddenly turned hostile, he wouldn’t be able to handle it. Besides, she didn’t look like a new student; he… he couldn’t even defeat new students of the Witch Academy, let alone the senior witches!
If this all happened at the Wizard Academy, he might expect punishment and venting from the other side as the price for his offense.
“Hey? I know you, Lusen, right? I saw you at the exchange competition!” This senior girl wasn’t angry at all; instead, she started chatting with him in a cheerful tone.
“You… you know me?”
“Of course! The exchange competition has been even more popular than you expected these days!”
“What?”
Upon hearing this, Lusen suddenly fell into embarrassment. High popularity meant that their embarrassing appearances had been seen by even more people!
What good could come of that!
“What? Are you worried about being laughed at for your performance? It’s okay; everyone has their own opinions. I think you performed brilliantly on the field!”
“Th… thank you.” This was the first time someone had complimented him after being eliminated, but he wasn’t about to let it go to his head.
“Would you like me to buy you a cup of tea? Let me tell you! Boys usually aren’t allowed in the Witch Academy, so many are really eager now that you’re here.”
“Ah?”
Lusen took a moment to process her words, but quickly realized that the Witch Academy was an all-girls school, which explained why he felt so popular.
“This time it’s on me. I heard that the atmosphere at your Wizard Academy is really oppressive. Want to tell me about it? I’ve never been to your Wizard Academy.”
This enthusiastic senior led Lusen to a nearby tea room. There weren’t many people there, and they were seated on the second floor with a nice view.
“Our Wizard Academy… does have a pretty oppressive atmosphere. It’s challenging for new students—those without talent are completely overlooked…”
At this moment, Lusen also started to vent, as a new student, it was only natural for him to complain when the academy he had chosen didn’t meet his expectations.
“Those Wizard apprentices really have it tough. Have you thought about transferring?”
“Transfer? It’s not that easy. The Wizard Academy absolutely won’t let you leave.”
Lusen instinctively touched the spot where his life-sustaining bug was located; it was something that ensured his life and prevented him from dying suddenly. It even provided some degree of immunity to curses, but if he left the Wizard Academy, it would cost him his life!
“So, you plan to live like this forever? Your performance at the exchange competition didn’t turn out too well for your Wizard Academy. But don’t get me wrong, I’m not mocking you. I just hope you’ll recognize what you’ll be facing when you return to the academy.”
“I… I’m sorry, I have to go.” Lusen put down his teacup and suddenly stood up. However, as he did so, he immediately felt a bit dizzy…
“What? You… you drugged me!”
“Don’t make me sound so terrible. It’s just a weak potion. The effect kicks in when you stand up, and if you’re willing to chat a bit longer, the potion might not even take effect.”
“H… help…” Lusen wanted to shout for help but found he couldn’t manage to produce any sound. In that moment, he finally fell into a state of helpless panic.
“It also includes a silence ceremony effect to prevent noise!”
“Wh… what do you want?” At this moment, Lusen tried to question but couldn’t produce much sound.
“Wanted to… do what?” The senior girl repeated his words from his lip movements and then smiled, “It’s all right. I’m helping you solve your worries. Don’t be afraid, kid.”
“From now on, your name will be… Lucien Polite, how about that? Welcome to the Witch Academy, and become a happy witch~ No more oppression from the Wizard Academy, and no need to feel the stifling atmosphere of the academy!”
At that moment, the senior girl’s hand reached through Lusen’s collar, exploring inside him.
Then Lusen felt a sharp pain in his shoulder, followed by a tearing sensation flooding his mind, and he saw a grotesque long worm being pulled out of his body by the witch in front of him.
At this moment, Lusen’s eyes widened; it was his life-sustaining bug!
How could this happen!
How could someone so casually extract a symbiotic life-sustaining bug from a wizard!
“What an ugly thing.”
The senior girl casually cast a spell to burn the disgusting worm, and he felt a burning sensation coming back, but before he could let out a scream, she pulled out something unseen—this was a magic source. To Lusen’s eyes, it was just an illusory object in her hand, but he wouldn’t think there was nothing to it.
“Come on~ Don’t be scared, it’ll just hurt a little. Let’s become witches together!” The senior girl forcefully inserted the magic source into Lusen—oh no, he should be called Lucien Polite now.
“Remember my name, okay~ I’m Daphne Smith. Just call me Sister Daphne~”
At that moment, Lucien could only watch helplessly as a powerful magic force took control of his body, but Daphne kindly used a spell to prevent the unusual phenomenon from attracting other people’s attention.
And such scenes were not happening in just this one location.
Who could know how many wayward boys and girls from other academies would also end up permanently trapped in the Witch Academy?
At this moment.
I walked out of Teacher Ji’s office.
I had just chatted with Teacher Ji quite a bit and learned a lot of things.
And I also learned something very important: the “Witch Secret Realm.”
This is a special place offered by the Witch Academy for its students to undergo trials.
And its origin stems from the senior witches who graduated from the Witch Academy.
That’s right, graduation means becoming an Extraordinary Witch. After they graduate, they can apply to create the Witch Secret Realm, processing the resources, notes, skills, spellbooks, and even magic sources they can leave behind or don’t need after becoming extraordinary into a special reward as a trial realm, specifically for new students.
It also serves as a form of repayment to the Witch Academy. In reality, the Witch Academy doesn’t require any repayment from the extraordinary witches who graduate, but they don’t refuse such actions. The Witch Secret Realm can be seen as a “custom” formed by the original graduating seniors of the Witch Academy.
It’s also a source of motivation for new students.
Moreover, the Witch Secret Realm is managed by a special club, but the academy also provides funding for it. For instance, if the academy believes a completed Witch Secret Realm holds significant training value, additional rewards will also be supplied for students to continue their training.
And this club’s name is very straightforward: the “Witch Secret Realm Association.”
The Witch Secret Realm has undergone many changes since it was first established. It has become the largest source of spellbooks and magic sources in the Witch Academy.
Of course, entering the Witch Secret Realm requires a fee, but it’s not high; it varies based on the difficulty of the realm to prevent people from exploiting it indefinitely or occupying a space without using it.
Moreover, all the fees collected go toward maintaining the realm since the secret realm exists in another space, and maintenance can be quite troublesome.
However, the difficulty of the Witch Secret Realm is also considerable; most of the time, there’s actually very little gain. After all, it is fundamentally a trial area that mainly focuses on trials and self-learning. If the purpose is solely for rewards, it undermines the very essence.
Rewards are merely a form of motivation, not the end goal.
Unfortunately, many in the academy fail to realize this.
Though I already have more spellbooks than I can use, I feel that the more spellbooks and magic sources I have, the better. After all, who doesn’t want to be a hoarder?
As for the rewards from the exchange competition, that was a matter of principle. Unfortunately, that guy Tan Han didn’t pick up on the hint, so I had to accept everything.
And now, I need a place like this to improve my skills.
Though Teacher Ji said that the Witch Secret Realm isn’t suitable for new students or lower-grade witches, as the designs of these realms come from senior witches who have become extraordinary!
There will always be those who are reckless, and Teacher Ji also advised me not to aim for rewards. Even though I’m already quite strong, getting the rewards is still very difficult.
But Teacher Ji didn’t say it was impossible, meaning there’s still a chance for me.
After leaving Teacher Ji’s office, I didn’t head straight back to my villa but instead went to the library first.
I’ve decided to develop both my skills and theory, so I need to plan what to read during this time and make good use of my fragmented time in life to record everything properly.
Additionally, I’m writing it down on the Memory Shelf spellbook, which allows for efficient studying.
Just in case, I’m a bit of a celebrity now. Being number one in the exchange competition has certainly brought me great fame and also huge troubles, so I decided to go out in disguise.
I was recognized at the arena earlier, which is why I got spotted. I didn’t believe anyone would connect me now to Yang Yuelan in this appearance.
I looked at myself in the phone; my long white hair was flowing down my back, unbound, though the hairstyle did look somewhat odd.
However, after a little trim at the barbershop, I looked quite nice, though now I also faced girl-specific hair troubles. Even though I didn’t get much cut, it was still expensive. I was complimented a lot on the quality of my hair and how pretty it was, but in the end, they all recommended various services like perming and dyeing.
Fortunately, I ran fast, or I might’ve gotten stuck there, but I have to say, even at a small barbershop in the Witch Academy, the skills were impressive.
It just took a lot of time.
But that’s not a problem; perhaps I really should slow down the rhythm of my life. Otherwise, I feel like I’m completely out of sync with the relaxed and joyful atmosphere of the Witch Academy.
I arrived at the library, which was not my first time here, but the collection of books was really rich, both in paper and e-books.
And fortunately, I had high-level access.
This time, I chose books on runes that began to avoid popular science materials. Since I was officially beginning to study, popular science materials were indeed as Tan Han said, too superficial.
Besides giving me basic knowledge, they lacked substantial content. However, I was going to lay the groundwork for magically modifying spellbooks, and no matter how challenging it was, I had to study well.
Worst case, I could use the integration spell for hints. I was very clear that I needed to learn a lot, and even if my body starts to slack off and relax involuntarily, the integration spell would fix that flaw.
Sadly, this was merely a self-suggestion spell rather than one that truly brought me to the ideal mental state of merging knowledge and action.
But that was fine; as long as it worked for me, it was enough.
The book on runes that Teacher Ji had given me was still a basic one, and I prepared to use it for keyword searches to continue exploring this series of books, as having more of such books was certainly better.
I looked at the time; it was almost noon. It seemed I had spent quite a bit of time with Teacher Ji and at the barbershop. However, I wasn’t hungry, so I decided to read first in the library.
After all, this was the library; theoretically, it had a good learning atmosphere and wouldn’t be disturbed by others.
Time passed quickly, and the afternoon slipped away bit by bit.
And my gains were quite substantial.
I wasn’t just reading; I was recording the key points from these books in my Memory Shelf spellbook. This allowed me to note things down, grasp them mentally, and record the spell effects efficiently.
This was my personal accumulation, and reviewing was much easier than flipping through physical books. Moreover, physical books had a return deadline, and even though I had storage equipment, I didn’t want too many books taking up my storage space.
“Ah…”
I stretched, easing the fatigue from sitting too long. Even though I possessed so many magic sources that altered my body, I still felt tired at this moment.
However, if it had been before, just recording so much knowledge would have exhausted me. Now, it was just a stretch.
The transformation into a witch visibly improved and enhanced my body…
Although this was the library, the study atmosphere was still somewhat different from what I imagined. During this time, I was approached by quite a few unfamiliar senior girls.
However, it was somewhat expected… After all, I experienced firsthand how eager the senior girls at the Witch Academy were. If they were the type who liked quiet studying, there would always be senior girls pretending to study just to strike up a conversation.
Looking at the current situation, there were quite a few.
And I was grateful that I had already changed my hair and eye color. As for my appearance, I hadn’t changed much since I thought I looked quite good as I was.
Although I was told by the senior girls that I had a quiet, literary vibe, thinking back to my performance in the exchange competition, wouldn’t that contrast be too stark?
It seemed I needed to adjust how others saw me.
I was dedicated to being a witch focused on extraordinary research, not a violent person.
I hope my performance in the exchange competition hasn’t left a bad impression on the senior girls or the others from different academies.
After all, that was in the dream world, everything was fake, and I couldn’t completely let go of myself, could I?
I stood up, holding a stack of books, categorized the recorded ones by number, and prepared to borrow the remaining books I hadn’t managed to document yet.
“Please take good care of borrowed books. If they are damaged, you will need to compensate accordingly!”
“Uh, thank you.”
After finishing the registration for borrowing at the front desk, I took this stack of books and placed them into my storage equipment. Now it was time to go back; perhaps I should bring some dinner back and see if anyone in the dormitory wanted me to bring food.
We now have a group for our dormitory, initiated by Hong Chanyi. After adding me to the group, he directly made me the group admin, and the group name is “Sister Xiao Han Support Dormitory.” But I didn’t bother changing the name.
Yang Yuelan: “Does anyone need me to bring dinner? Let me see if it’s on my way.”
