Victor's imposing presence overwhelmed everyone present. The students were holding their breath, no one daring to make a move. Once things had settled down, Victor asked, "Now, tell me what happened."

A civilian student standing in the front spoke up, "Erica, relying on her noble status, deliberately came here to humiliate us. A student has disappeared under her magic!"

The remaining civilian students immediately echoed in agreement. Erica hurriedly tried to defend herself, and the scene descended into chaos again.

"Quiet!" The noisy space fell silent once more.

Victor rubbed his brow, realizing that no matter what world, arguments are always so annoying.

"Is that so, Erica?" Victor questioned her impatiently.

Erica gradually calmed down and continued to explain, "I was not trying to humiliate them. I was practicing magic here, and that unfortunate person accidentally entered the failed teleportation spell, which is why he disappeared."

The surrounding students naturally did not believe her words, but the professor did not speak up, so they dared not voice any doubts.

Vega whispered in Victor's ear, "I saw it. The teleportation array sent the person to another dimension."

"It doesn't matter, I'll handle this." Vega's single eye flickered, and a wisp of black energy slowly drifted out from under his wings.

Victor understood its meaning and activated the Mage's Hand, immediately causing six magical arrays to appear in the air.

"Another six-stage casting?" Seeing this scene again, Erica was only surprised. She didn't expect Professor Victor to be so adept at this high-difficulty spell.

Vega quietly added some runes to his magic array, and six thread-like black runes gradually joined the array. The entire array began to emanate a reddish glow, blending with the light of the setting sun, illuminating the entire Arcane Hall.

The crowd was blinded by the brightness. Until the light faded, a sudden exclamation startled everyone present.

"This is... the Arcane Hall? I'm back?"

The student looked around in amazement, his eyes brimming with excited tears. "I'm back! I'm really back!"

The gathered students gradually opened their eyes and saw the familiar face. The civilian students, seeing their classmate return, couldn't help but burst into cheers.

Erica also stood there dumbfounded, not expecting Victor to so easily reverse her failed spell.

"So this is... a third-tier mage?"

Erica murmured to herself.

Seeing the matter resolved, Victor coldly said to Erica, "Erica, apologize."

Hearing this demand, Erica became defiant. She had resentment in her heart, how could she possibly listen to Victor's words? By what right? She acknowledged that Victor had rescued her mistake, but it was unintentional, and that unlucky person had blindly stumbled into her array! Moreover, her innate status and environment told her, "How could a noble apologize to a commoner?"

Victor saw her unwillingness and couldn't help but mockingly say, "Unwilling to apologize for your mistakes, lacking in academic skill, and questionable in character. Is this the upbringing of the Du Croix family?"

This sentence struck a chord with the civilian students. They most despised how those noble families used their status to oppress them. Seeing the professor speak up for them, their eyes seemed to shine with a new light.

This statement ignited Erica's emotions, but she knew she shouldn't lash out. As Victor said, she was the one in the wrong. She should not let her problems bring shame to her family.

Erica's sizable chest heaved as she took a deep breath, calming herself. She then straightforwardly bowed to the unfortunate student.

"I apologize for my negligence."

Seeing the originally proud noble lower her head, the students couldn't even find any mocking words. After all, they were all peers.

The unfortunate student Jack also recovered from his fear and awkwardly accepted the apology.

"I also made a mistake. If I had been more careful while walking, this wouldn't have happened."

Victor arched an eyebrow, finally somewhat satisfied.

This was a peaceful resolution, the kind of beautiful campus environment.

But a simple apology is not enough. Since a mistake was made, one should lead by example.

He glanced at Erica and indifferently left a sentence, "Come to my office."

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

Erica lowered her head in silence but still followed him. The two of them left under the gaze of the crowd.

Immediately, the students erupted in discussion.

"My goodness, he's so handsome! Do you know who he is?"

"Looks like he's a teacher? Probably a new one!"

"Heavens, that was multi-casting, and six-stage at that! That's the most I've ever seen! How could he be a normal teacher?"

"In my class, that's the new professor Victor. He just taught us this afternoon!"

"He's a professor? No wonder he's so powerful, but he's so young too?"

"I wonder when Professor Victor's lecture series starts, I'll definitely sign up for it!"

...

Victor, who had left, could not hear the noisy chatter among the students. Erica followed behind Victor, with his assistant Hernie by his side.

When they arrived at the wizard's tower, after going through identity authentication, the three were teleported to Victor's office.

Victor gently drew a magic array with his hands, and Erica's hair clip suddenly appeared in his hand. He handed it back to her.

Erica was stunned, as she had never expected him to return her belongings.

"Keep your own things properly, and don't do something like this again," he said.

Erica pressed her lips together and took the hair clip, looking down.

Victor naturally sat down in the chair, and the unruly Erica stood in front of him, seemingly about to be disciplined.

Victor tapped his fingers on the desk, then slowly spoke.

"Listen, Erica, no matter what conflicts we've had in the past, this is the Royal Magic Academy, not a place for you to act recklessly. I am the teacher, and you are the student. Adjust your attitude accordingly."

"Magic is dangerous. If you cannot control it perfectly, do not casually release it in public areas. This was just a simple teleportation spell. What if you were practicing a powerful area-of-effect spell?"

Erica remained silent, but her slight trembling revealed her fear. If she truly lost control, it would be a disaster.

Victor's lecture continued. "The words you said in class were correct, Erica. As a teacher, I do have the obligation to answer students' questions."

"But the premise is that you are here to learn sincerely, not to deliberately challenge me."

With that, Victor began to demonstrate the principles of teleportation magic and more advanced array formations in front of her.

"Watch closely, I will only explain it once."

The runes and magic arrays danced on Victor's fingertips, and Erica, regaining her focus, watched the scene intently.

He showed her how to teleport objects to another dimension and retrieve them.

After the demonstration, he gave Erica a homework assignment.

"Practice this, write a report, and bring it to my assistant tomorrow morning for her to pass on to me."

Erica didn't speak, just nodded and left the office.

In the corner, Hernie, who had witnessed the entire process, didn't forget to say after Erica left, "Professor, you're really a good person, completely different from the rumors. It's this Erica that I don't like."

She had also heard about the incident in the classroom today and knew that Erica had deliberately challenged the professor.

Fortunately, Victor had calmly resolved the situation and even scored a victory against the other party.

Victor didn't look at her and said indifferently, "If you were a minor and a man in his late twenties confessed and harassed you, I imagine your resentment would be no less than hers."

Hernie was startled and asked in surprise, "Is that really true?"

Victor just chuckled lightly, stood up, patted her head, and left a sentence before teleporting out of the office, "Tomorrow, bring Erica's notes and presentation draft together."

...

Erica got off the carriage, and a man was standing at the gate of the courtyard. He had the same golden hair and eyes as Erica, sharing the same bloodline. He was the one she was proud of - her father, Duke Revy.

Time had not left any wrinkles on his face.

"My dear, why are you back so late?" Revy Duke greeted her with a smile, but when he saw Erica's gloomy expression, the smile gradually faded.

"Erica? What happened? Has someone bullied you at school?"

"Tell Father, and Father will make them pay the price!"

Erica interrupted, "It's fine, Father, no one has bullied me."

"I just saw Victor. He has become a professor and joined the academy today."

Hearing this, Revy suddenly straightened up, saying resentfully, "That bastard! I'll make the Royal Magic Academy dismiss him tomorrow!"

Although he was just venting his anger to cheer up his daughter.

Revy knew that Victor was extremely talented and was already a third-tier mage. Especially now that he had become a professor at the Royal Magic Academy, he had completely allied with the royal family.

Unless the king himself spoke up, no one dared to move against him openly.

But Erica didn't know this, so she quickly persuaded him, "No!"

She recounted the events of the day, and the duke's expression softened a bit after hearing it.

Erica continued, "I'm indeed no match for him."

She didn't tell her father about the conflict with the commoner, only the dispute in the lecture hall today.

Revy nodded understandingly and comforted her, "If that's the case, then learn magic well under him."

"Victor became a third-tier mage at the age of twenty, so he must have exceptional talents."

"But you are my daughter, and your talent is something your father understands better than anyone."

"Learn from his strengths, then defeat him. I believe you can do it."

Hearing the duke's words, Erica obediently nodded and returned to her room silently, followed by the servant.

Seeing his daughter leave, he sighed.

No matter how much Erica was wronged by Victor, he couldn't intervene.

Ultimately, he was a duke. His actions and deeds should serve the country.

Sitting in this position, Revy could not behave in a childish manner.

The empire did not allow it, and the stature of a duke even less so.

"I'm sorry, Erica."

----

When Victor returned home, it was already deep into the night. As Victor just stretched his body after arriving in the courtyard, he saw a servant approaching him.

"My lord, your sister has summoned you to the study."

After saying that, the servant hurriedly left.

Victor furrowed his brow.

"This late at night, the visitor must be up to no good..."

Pushing open the door to the study, Leah was sitting in the chair, having waited for a long time.

"What is the matter?"

Victor asked his sister, but he was met with Leah's angry gaze.

"Take a look for yourself!"

Leah slapped a consumption statement down on the desk in front of Victor. The desk shook from the force of her hand.

"Why are you so angry?"

Victor glanced lightly at Leah, and picked up the statement.

It detailed Victor's consumption records, showing that he had spent a large sum of money on materials, and a large amount had mysteriously disappeared.

Of course, Victor knew where this money had gone - purchasing materials and learning magic.

The former was understandable, but the latter was a privilege only available to players, which Leah could not discover.

But was the household really so short of money?

"The recent income from the estate has not been very smooth, and you are still extravagantly wasting money like this? Do you want to drain the last drop of blood from the estate?"

Leah stood up, forcefully poking Victor's chest with a finger, heavily criticizing him.

"Explain this to me!"