In September, the capital city of Icerite was gradually shedding its summer heat.

The morning breeze at Icerite Magic Academy carried a hint of coolness, making Lanqi, who lived on the first floor, yawn involuntarily.

Today was the first day of school, so he couldn't afford to sleep in.

Rolling out of bed and walking out of the bedroom with a toothbrush in his mouth, the sleepy-eyed Lanqi looked out the floor-to-ceiling window of the living room. He saw several chirping birds perched on the edge of a small garden-like private courtyard - that was the balcony of his dormitory.

As Lanqi drew back the curtains and slowly walked towards the birds, they continued hopping about, showing no intention of flying away.

And so, Lanqi stayed in the courtyard for a while, with more and more small birds gathering around him.

They seemed to be very close to Lanqi, as if longing to nestle beside him.

"I'm not a druid, why are you all so fond of me..." Lanqi mumbled indistinctly while brushing his teeth.

He had actually noticed that whether it was in the border town where just walking would attract many cute cats, or after coming to Icerite Academy where the small birds on campus all treated him as a friend.

Small animals had absolutely no wariness towards him.

Perhaps it was his naturally gentle emerald eyes, or the poetic and picturesque aura he exuded.

In any case, he didn't dislike being surrounded by these tiny creatures.

After washing up, Lanqi put on the Sage Academy student uniform delivered by the student service center.

Then he stood in front of the mirror.

The young man in the mirror had beautiful facial contours and a straight nose. The hair at his left ear was neatly combed behind his ear. His soft black hair looked steady and bright in the sunlight. His long, slender eyebrows formed a striking contrast with those emerald eyes, gentle and kind, yet elegant and composed.

The deep blue long coat jacket elegantly covered his slender frame. The design of the Sage Academy uniform was like the midnight sky, mysterious and profound. The sleeves of the jacket were loose, with gold thread decorations along the cuffs and hem, forming patterns in the artistic style of the Hutton Kingdom, which were also ancient Southern Continent script symbols.

The collar of the shirt inside the jacket was folded into a vintage white collar ornament. In the center of the collar ornament was a small gold badge engraved with the school emblem of Icerite Academy and the protective magic pattern of the Sage Academy. It sparkled in the sunlight like a brilliant star, not lacking in artistic sense.

Below the shirt was a pair of dark trousers and a pair of boots. The boots were carefully polished, gleaming with a black luster.

Lanqi stamped his feet. They were both stable and comfortable, perfectly suited for an adventurer's needs.

"Perfect, let's go."

Lanqi's legendary life was about to begin today!

...

Icerite Academy, Sage Academy Main Building.

Compared to other classical buildings in the academy, this building appeared quite innovative and distinctive. The roof was composed of a series of folded light-sensing magical devices, introducing different natural light while blocking low-angle sunlight.

The Sage Academy had over a hundred qualified students this year, randomly divided into three classes.

Elective courses didn't have fixed classrooms, but required going to corresponding buildings according to the course schedule. Sometimes they might need to go to multi-functional classrooms or experimental sites in other departments.

However, compulsory courses were required for all students regardless of their course selection. Students in the same class would gather in fixed classrooms during compulsory course times.

First-year students of the Sage Academy had almost no chance to challenge real Shadow Worlds in the first semester, so basic compulsory courses were scheduled at a slower pace.

For example, today there were four full compulsory classes: "Introduction to Mana Control", "Spellcasting Practicum", "Principles of Non-Verbal Spellcasting", and "Mana Detection and Shielding".

"Time for an invigorating class."

Lanqi quickly found the classroom according to the campus map markers.

When he saw the classroom, there were already quite a few students inside.

He should have arrived quite early, but he spent a few extra minutes feeding his animal friends on the balcony.

The tiered classroom with wooden floors was very spacious, with each student having free and expansive space and desk area.

Outside the floor-to-ceiling windows on the side was a green lawn. Sunlight shone through the windows, making the classroom bright and cozy. The lighting was a combination of natural and artificial light, adjustable as needed.

When the students in the classroom saw Lanqi enter, they all simultaneously showed expressions of "discovering a rare creature".

The black-haired, green-eyed young nobleman was undoubtedly their Sage Academy's top scorer in this year's entrance exam, the "Dark Magistrate".

This was the title some students at the academy gave to Lanqi, belonging to a new category of magic profession in the Sage Academy.

Although Lanqi's performance in the second round of exams was quite famous, no one knew about his actual combat abilities.

The most widely circulated rumor was - "This guy has incredibly good luck. In the third round, he encountered an examiner who had a congenital cardiovascular disease, so he easily passed."

So quite a few students actually felt a mix of envy, jealousy, hatred, and doubt towards Lanqi.

"Eh."

Just as he walked into the classroom, Lanqi glanced at the scattered seating of everyone and quickly discovered an outlier in the back row -

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Duchess Huberrian.

She was his good teammate from the third round practical exam [Infinite Phantom Valley].

She seemed to have actively chosen a position towards the back.

But it wasn't just that. The entire circle around her was empty, as if everyone was intentionally avoiding her.

Looking at it this way, it gave the impression that Huberrian was being isolated.

Lanqi felt this phenomenon wasn't good.

So he walked along the steps towards the back of the classroom until he reached Huberrian's row and sat down near her.

"Good morning, Huberrian," Lanqi greeted her with a smile.

"Mm."

Huberrian glanced at him with some surprise, then turned her head away and no longer paid attention to him.

Her conflicted expression clearly wasn't meant to coldly ignore Lanqi, but rather to maintain some distance for his own good.

Seeing this, Lanqi didn't chat idly with Huberrian.

For him, it didn't matter where he sat to listen to the lecture, and he only knew Huberrian anyway.

So he opened the "Hutton Kingdom Judicial Exam - Real Case Collection" in his hand and began to study seriously.

During this waiting time before class started, having this morning reading material as a companion was truly perfect.

...

Until today's boring compulsory classes ended the first three periods as expected.

3 PM.

The sky had already turned orange-red, and the sun would soon begin to slowly descend. The shadows of trees outside the classroom window cast long shadows on the grass. The wind blew, rustling the leaves.

Huberrian was still sitting in that position in the back row, and Lanqi was still sitting near her.

However, the state of the two was already completely different from the morning.

Huberrian found these courses very easy to learn, even effortless.

As for Lanqi.

He was now lying face down on the desk, fast asleep.

It was as if the previous three classes had caused too much load on him, and this half hour before the last class began was his rare time to recuperate.

This classroom was located in a historically renovated building of the Sage Academy. The wooden frames retained in the classroom doors and windows formed a stark contrast with the red brick walls outside.

The high ceiling in this space, which was quite distinctive, was made of exquisite plaster, retaining details of the Hutton Kingdom's classical style. Several magical lamps on the dome that could automatically adjust cast soft light, making the students in the classroom feel very comfortable.

Although it was during the vacant time between classes, it was much more lively than in the morning.

Apart from students who had arrived early and were sitting in their seats looking at textbooks while waiting for the next class to begin, there were occasionally senior students or students from other departments coming to the corridors and classrooms of the Sage Academy, chatting about various anecdotes with familiar faces who had just started school today.

In stark contrast was the particularly empty back row of the classroom, as if there was a barrier isolating two spaces.

Huberrian with amber eyes sat there quietly. Her cold gaze looked through the window towards the distant sky. There was no expression on her face, but there were many thoughts in her eyes.

Some of the senior students who came to "visit" were already good friends or acquaintances of the new students before they entered school. There were also "star freshmen" like Princess Vivian from other classes who would be surrounded by admirers even before entering school.

However, none of this liveliness had anything to do with Huberrian.

Even though she was the second-place freshman in the Sage Academy this year, no team would come to recruit her.

In the past, with her father around, no one dared to bully her because of her demon bloodline. Everyone around her seemed to be good people. Now that she was powerless and alone, she finally felt how much hostility and suspicion demons would face in this country.

Being able to peacefully get through to the afternoon today was already a fortunate thing.

Unlike most people, she didn't hope for anyone to come find her at all.

Because if other senior students came to actively seek her out, it would inevitably be those troublesome figures from the capital, which would only bring misfortune, not fortune.

Another thing that could be considered fortunate was perhaps that there was still a gentle person beside her who didn't despise her as a bringer of disaster, and had never harbored any malice since they met.

Huberrian couldn't help but look at this talented yet somewhat foolish sleeping youth.

Originally, several students from other classes had come to the classroom to inquire about Lanqi, but when they saw Lanqi sitting next to her, they also changed their expressions and left with excuses.

Also, Huberrian finally discovered one thing.

Lanqi, who looked very intelligent, was actually a magic idiot.

Apart from using magic cards, he hadn't learned how to use any spells himself at all, completely unlike a normal magic combat professional.

But he was also particularly straightforward. Even though he was deeply tormented, he was unwilling to skip class or not study seriously.

Huberrian sighed helplessly, not expecting that this seemingly omnipotent Lanqi also had things he wasn't good at.

Although there were students chatting in the classroom and noises from the corridor outside,

Huberrian still quietly flipped through her book, gently turning the pages, trying not to wake Lanqi beside her.

A kindness for a kindness. She always remembered grudges, but she also remembered others' goodwill.

Moreover, for some unknown reason, Lanqi's presence seemed to be accompanied by a talent that would unconsciously calm the spirits of surrounding creatures, even if he was just lying there sleeping.

Unconsciously, her thoughts also immersed in the book.

...

The sky outside the floor-to-ceiling windows changed silently as time passed minute by minute. It seemed that thick clouds drifted by, briefly obscuring the brilliant warm afternoon sun. The natural light in the classroom occasionally became dim, and even the light and shadows on the ground seemed to be covered by a layer of gauze.

However, this didn't affect Huberrian's reading, because she only felt inexplicably at ease. It had been a long time since she had experienced this feeling.

"Huberrian, I didn't expect you to actually manage to enroll successfully."

Accompanied by a soft yet abrupt voice that sent a chill down Huberrian's spine, she hurriedly turned her head.

She saw a fair-skinned young man standing in the aisle beside her seat, his hands behind his back, with a calm and composed yet arrogant demeanor.

"..."

Although Huberrian's expression didn't change, her aura had already become quite bad.

"Modan... what do you want from me?"

Clearly, this was someone she very much didn't want to see.

Modan Gasigus, the second son of the Gasigus Marquis family, was also a third-year student of the Sage Academy known for his strong abilities and exceptional talent as a Shadow World challenger.

Compared to those nobles who were hostile to Huberrian's father, Duke Alansar, the Gasigus Marquis family, which had originally been on good terms with Duke Alansar, was more detestable to her.

Since Duke Alansar's disappearance, Marquis Gasigus not only showed no intention of helping her but instead eyed her covetously, wanting to force her to marry into the Marquis family in order to control her.

"Huberrian, if you want to challenge the Shadow World in your first year, you can consider joining my team. Or rather, you can only join my team, because only I would be willing to take you through the Shadow World."

Modan's words sounded polite, as if an elder brother speaking to his sister, but his eyes did not hide his naked desire to possess and plunder Huberrian.

"Not necessary," Huberrian responded coldly.

She knew that even though she, like Lanqi, had already become an iron-level adventurer without taking the exam due to her high evaluation in the entrance exam,

Due to the rule that first-year students couldn't challenge alone, she was destined to waste many opportunities to become stronger in her first year.

Because,

As Modan said,

No team or its members in this school would be willing to accept a demon like her.