Su Cheng really didn't want to become famous in the school this way.
She could only count herself lucky that no one knew her yet, so in everyone's gossip, she was just "someone."
The relationship between Cross Star Academy and the royal family wasn't bad, but it wasn't particularly close either. Unlike places like South River Academy, the admissions standards here were extremely strict. Perhaps someone could use connections to take the exam early or after the recruitment period ended, but to be admitted, they still had to pass the test and meet the school's requirements. Otherwise, even members of the royal family would be rejected.
Similar things had happened more than once.
From another perspective, Cross Star Academy didn't give the royal family that much face; they didn't have many privileges here.
"...How did they even see that," Rowan muttered. "Was it on purpose? Don't private bathrooms have protective magic?"
Su Cheng glanced at her. Thinking her neighbor was just curious, she explained.
"Those private bathrooms charge by the quarter-hour and have great conditions. Once someone goes in, the door locks, and there are spells to prevent anyone from spying on your privacy..."
"That's nice," Su Cheng said, her mouth twitching. "By the way, are you done picking your classes?"
The change in topic was a bit abrupt, but they were both freshmen, and Rowan never had much interest in dragon knights anyway. Hearing this, her interest was instantly piqued.
"Almost done. I'm still debating between two classes. Mainly because my magic is actually..."
They excitedly discussed their courses. Although they were in different colleges, since they were both mages, there was some overlap.
"Right," Rowan suddenly reminded her. "If you know third-tier magic, you'd better pass the beginner's assessment first. Some courses have rank requirements."
Su Cheng had completely forgotten about this. "...Yeah, you're right. I'll go down and take the test right now, or else I'll end up putting it off again."
There was more than one teleportation magic array in the academy, making coming and going quite convenient, and the town of White Dew also had a branch of the Magic Guild.
Ninety-nine percent of the people who came here for assessments were students from Cross Star. The staff were used to it and didn't ask many questions.
The person in charge took her identification documents and inspected them.
"You need to demonstrate at least two second-tier wind magic spells, as well as one third-tier wind magic spell. The standard of your spellcasting must at least meet the requirements stipulated in the latest edition of the Elemental Mage Rank Promotion Standards..."
The person in charge recited the rules rapidly and emotionlessly. Su Cheng listened in silence, then raised her hand and formed a wind blade.
The man nodded and swiped his hand, conjuring a pale blue water elemental shield in front of him. "Let's test the strength."
Su Cheng threw the wind blade at it.
Ripples appeared on the water shield. The wind elements shrieked and surged, attempting to tear the shield apart. The air currents rolled relentlessly but were ultimately swallowed by the water waves.
"Not bad," the person in charge raised an eyebrow. "What else?"
Su Cheng cast Wind Perception.
Gentle streams of wind swirled and wrapped around her fingers, then rushed outward, amplifying all sorts of trivial, subtle sounds and transmitting them to her ears.
Su Cheng cleared her throat. "There are five people walking around in the lobby. The receptionist is talking to a man. The receptionist is saying, please let me check your reservation, and the man is saying, who cast this Wind Perception."
The person in charge was speechless.
Su Cheng was also speechless.
Su Cheng withdrew the spell. "I hope that gentleman doesn't think I'm trying to eavesdrop on any secrets."
The person in charge shook his head. "Alright, which third-tier spell do you choose?"
Su Cheng chose Wind Levitation.
The person in charge wasn't surprised at all; clearly, this was a common answer. "Begin. Keep going until you touch the ceiling beam. Don't dispel the magic until I tell you to stop."
"In my name, I call upon the spirits of the wind..."
Su Cheng chanted almost soundlessly.
The guild mages responsible for observing and recording couldn't help but take another look at her.
She used a breathy voice to cast the spell, and her speed was faster than normal speaking. Most people who came for the exam chanted at a normal volume or even loudly, as this could further guarantee the success rate.
This showed that she was quite familiar with the spell, and had probably surpassed the bare minimum required for the assessment.
Wind elements gathered in the room.
A pale cyan mass of air lifted the black-haired girl's body, raising her into mid-air. She reached out and touched the room's crossbeam.
"Good," the person in charge nodded. "How long do you think you can maintain this?"
Su Cheng thought for a moment. "In this state... more than ten minutes shouldn't be a problem."
The man raised an eyebrow. "Then your magic power should already be close to the fourth-tier level. Have you ever been exposed to fourth-tier magic?"
Fourth-tier magic introduced spells with genuine lethal power. In terms of effects, it meant being able to kill a group of people or destroy a house with a wave of a hand.
Therefore, the difficulty was also a step higher.
Su Cheng replied, "In an environment where elemental spirits gather, I can achieve that level of effect. I haven't tried it at other times though."
She wasn't in much of a hurry either.
Anyway, judging by her leveling speed, she was definitely much faster than Lin Yun. That guy couldn't even cast a first-tier spell when he enrolled.
Moreover, for now, the enemies she had to face couldn't be dealt with using low-to-mid-tier magic anyway.
"You passed the test," the person in charge nodded, looking at the hourglass. "You are now a junior mage."
The third-tier insignia for an elemental mage was a short staff with a triangular gemstone. The wind insignia featured a cyan gemstone, looking quite elegant.
Below it were six small stars.
The star rating mainly depended on magic intensity and proficiency in specific spells. Getting six stars on the first promotion to the third tier was already considered very good.
Su Cheng admired the mark on her chest, feeling that it looked much better than the second-tier one.
At the corner of the corridor, she almost bumped into someone.
She was now a half-baked warrior, so she barely managed to turn and dodge at the last moment.
The other person stepped aside at the same time.
"...Sorry."
They said it almost in unison.
The person's voice was clear and crisp, sounding very pleasant and very familiar.
It seemed to be the same guy from the lobby just now.
Su Cheng looked up to see him, but the person kept walking without stopping, leaving only a tall, slender back.
She walked away indifferently as well.
Rowan was sitting in the lobby waiting. Seeing her neighbor from afar, she jumped up. "Congratulations! Although according to you, it was a guaranteed pass."
Su Cheng thanked her.
Rowan shook her head, looking a bit excited again. "I just saw Yin Ning. Do you know this person? He's the top student of your Secret Academy's Elemental Department!"
The so-called top student referred to the one with the highest dueling points ranking. The Secret Academy had a total of four departments, and each department had a top student.
Su Cheng was speechless.
The name Yin Ning was familiar to her. In the original novel, this was the great school beauty, the goddess of the academy, lacking nothing in looks, strength, and background.
Su Cheng asked, "Is this person a guy or a girl?"
Rowan looked at her strangely. "A guy, obviously. Speaking of which, he just walked from that direction, and you came from there. Didn't you two run into each other?"
She then went on to talk about the deeds of this school heartthrob.
Su Cheng listened intently and summarized, "So, if you want strength, he has looks; if you want personality, he has looks; and if you want looks, he has looks?"
Rowan: "...I just think that as the chief, he definitely has strength, so there's no need to emphasize that, right? Besides, he's not really my type, but that doesn't stop me from appreciating him!"
Su Cheng understood, "Got it, so he has a bad personality. Why are all beautiful men like this?"
As expected, the commander is still the best.
She thought secretly to herself.
Rowan looked at her speechlessly. "It's not exactly bad, just that he's not the approachable or easy-to-talk-to type. He's quite aloof. Of course, compared to His Highness the Prince, he's probably much better. That one feels like the type who would beat you up if you so much as took an extra glance at him in the hallway."
Su Cheng: "...Speaking of which, how old is Peier? That makes him sound like a grumpy little boy, but he certainly doesn't look young."
Rowan didn't overthink it at all. "Did you run into him at the academy?"
"Yes."
"He was admitted during the autumn recruitment, but because he had some matters to attend to, he's only reporting in now. You two might even bump into each other in class. Pfft, I've heard some things about him, though I don't know if they're true. They all say there's something questionable about his biological mother's identity—"
The Emperor was obsessed with magic and naturally favored magicians; only like-minded people could truly converse with each other.
His three wives, who were granted the title of Prince through marriage, were all mages of noble birth, and their ranks were all very high.
Of these three, one died during a rank advancement, one died exploring an outer plane, and the last supposedly went mad from researching forbidden spells.
Su Cheng had read the original novel. The original story stated that the Emperor was simply unlucky; her three husbands had all died inexplicably, leaving her with no mood for romance.
But there seemed to be some other conspiracy behind this, one that even the Emperor himself was unaware of.
On the surface, however, this was entirely set up so that when Lin Yun had a one-night stand with the Emperor, the Emperor would be in a state of not having done such a thing with anyone for years.
So she even praised him.
"...Isn't Peier's mother Prince Paris? The Emperor's third wife?"
"Nominally, yes, but there are rumors," Rowan lowered her voice. "High-tier mages cannot conceive naturally, and the Emperor and his wives are no exception. Therefore, their children were all born with the help of certain methods. Nowadays, these Princes—I mean the Emperor's children—some of their biological mothers aren't actually the Emperor's wives. Instead, they are high nobles who wanted to gain benefits through a child. But it's just like how no one obsesses over who the current Emperor's biological father actually is."
Su Cheng actually knew this; it was the same as the original novel, just with the genders reversed. "Then what's the problem with Prince Peier's biological mother? Was she also some lord or minister who treated him as a political investment?"
"If it were just that, it wouldn't be called a problem," Rowan hesitated for a moment. "They say that after an outdoor adventure, he brought back his mount, a dragon. Because of this, some people doubted his identity. They said they saw him talking to the dragon and using Draconic. You know ordinary people can't speak Draconic; humans lack the corresponding vocal organs, so many sounds can't be pronounced."
They conversed in low voices as they walked outside.
It was still early morning, and the shops on the street were opening one after another.
The buildings here were constructed from grayish-white stone and wood, with emerald green vines climbing the walls and broad, sloped roofs.
The air in the town was fresh. After running down a street, they could smell the aroma of freshly baked bread mixed with the sweetness of jam.
The bakery Rowan recommended had just opened. The shelves were not yet full, and the owner and his wife were busy, occasionally bringing out iron trays.
Su Cheng bought a bag of cream rolls and a bag of small jam buns, stuffing both paper bags to the brim.
Rowan took out a gold coin to pay, seemingly wanting to cover the bill for her as well.
Su Cheng's pupils quaked. She lunged forward and nudged her aside, "...I'll pay, I'll pay!"
Saying this, she slammed three silver coins onto the counter, making a loud bang.
The owner was nearly startled by her. "Two is enough, miss."
Su Cheng silently took back one silver coin.
Rowan looked at her with an indescribable gaze and then laughed, "What was that just now? Pfft, if I didn't have battle aura, I probably would have flown across the street by now."
Su Cheng puffed out her cheeks. "You already gave me pastries, so I should be the one paying for this."
Lin Yun felt completely at ease letting others spend money on her all day long while secretly complaining about them in her heart. Su Cheng couldn't be bothered to judge that behavior, but she definitely wouldn't do the same herself.
"Oh, I'm used to it," Rowan pulled a meat floss roll out of her own bag. "In the past, when I went out drinking with friends, I was always the one paying, even when we went to—wait, how old are you?"
"Old enough to enter all age-restricted venues," Su Cheng said with a smile. "So you can say whatever you want."
They then went next door to a shop that sold drinks. A copper kettle inside was emitting white steam, and a young man was opening a clay pot filled with honey. Seeing customers stop at the door, he enthusiastically invited them in.
Five minutes later, Su Cheng came out carrying two bottles.
This was a fruit brew made by picking local specialty berries, mashing them, and fermenting them with malt juice, then sweetening them with honey and syrup. Melting ice cubes rolled around at the bottom.
Being in a town near a magic academy had this kind of perk: various magical devices could be seen everywhere, making ice production in spring and summer hassle-free.
However, because the costs were slightly higher, the drink prices were also a bit expensive.
This street was entirely dedicated to food. Walking forward past a small plaza, bookstores began to appear nearby; at a glance, one could see four or five of them.
Some were spacious and bright large shops, their display windows showcasing exquisitely bound tomes with gold-stamped lettering. Others were narrow little attics, yet clean and tidy, with books densely packed on shelves that wrapped around spiral staircases.
Almost all of these shops had signs out for purchasing ancient texts, and they also listed catalogs of newly arrived books.
"Right, I need to make a trip to the Warrior's Guild. I should be able to rank up."
Rowan looked at her. "Are you going to get a Battle Attendant rank?"
"No."
"Why not?"
"...So that others will underestimate me?"
"Wow," Rowan raised her eyebrows. "True, if your enemies don't know you have battle aura, it will give you more opportunities. Not bad. I won't tell anyone you have battle aura either, though people with real strength will easily be able to tell, right?"
"I know, but if it's someone of that level, I wouldn't use battle aura to deal with them anyway."
Rowan didn't ask how she planned to deal with them.
The two parted ways there.
Su Cheng casually browsed through the nearest shop and found an abundance of magic-related books, ranging from basic theory to specific spells.
Elemental magic was the most prevalent, followed by magic arrays, alchemy, magic runes, souls, and other fields. There were also a few scattered books on curses.
Su Cheng flipped through the books on curses, only to find that she couldn't understand a single bit of it. She didn't even recognize more than half of the words, as if she had suddenly become illiterate.
Su Cheng: "..."
There were also travelogues, poetry collections, mythological stories, and even notes circulated from Cross Star Academy, or second-hand textbooks with annotations.
She casually picked up a copy of Principles of Spell Construction and found that there were still many unfamiliar words in it, prompting her to rub her eyes.
I am doomed.
Am I going to fail my classes all the time?
Although she might not even be able to attend class every day.
Thinking this, Su Cheng crouched down to put the book back. As she lowered herself, a glass bottle of fruit brew fell out of her pocket.
Su Cheng: "!!!"
She quickly turned to catch it, but the space between the bookshelves was narrow, and she almost knocked the entire cabinet over.
Fortunately, she managed to catch it in the end.
"...What is wrong with you?"
A deep voice sounded from above and behind her.
Su Cheng turned her head and saw the tall figure of the Blood Mage.
The blond man lowered his eyebrows, looking at the young girl on the ground who had her back to him and was still in a crouching position.
He seemed a little displeased. His gaze flickered over the waistline visible under her thin shirt, and then he leaned closer, seemingly wanting to pull her up.
"Did you bump into something?"
As it happened, the latter was just standing up, and her forehead bumped right into his chin.
Su Cheng: "!"
Camus: "..."
Su Cheng almost dropped the glass bottle again. "What the heck?"
The Blood Mage took a deep breath, as if he could not bear it any longer. He reached out, grabbed her arm, and pulled her up in one swift motion. "You still have cuts on your hand, right? I thought you would heal them first."
His large, distinctively jointed hand completely encircled her upper arm, but as soon as he finished speaking, he suddenly let go, as if he did not want to touch her any more than necessary.
"It does not matter," Su Cheng was already used to those injuries. "Besides, I checked the map. There is no temple in this town, and anyway, we will be entering the imperial capital soon—"
Before she could finish, Camus threw a scroll into her arms. "Did you not know you could buy this?"
Su Cheng looked down and found the Holy Church's Cross Flame emblem on it. It was impressively a scroll containing a sealed holy spell.
Su Cheng: "Where did you buy this?"
Camus: "A magic item shop on the next street. I forgot the name."
Those kinds of shops sold scrolls with sealed spells, and occasionally a few holy spell scrolls would be mixed in. Healing spells were the most popular.
The Holy Church actually had its own shops selling scrolls, which usually guaranteed quality, but they were very expensive.
Some clerics who wanted to make extra money would seal a few holy spells themselves and secretly sell them to the public. This kind of behavior was technically not allowed.
However, if they were just selling basic healing spells and the like, there usually would not be any consequences.
For one thing, true dark creatures and heretics could not use these things anyway. For another, the effects of these low-level holy spells were relatively limited.
"Thank you."
Su Cheng casually handed him a bottle of fruit juice. "I drank a bottle at that shop and thought it was pretty good, so I bought two more. One for me, one for you. I figured since our tastes are similar... Of course, if you do not want it, just give it back to me. I can finish it myself."
Camus did not stand on ceremony with her, nor did he show any disdain. He simply took it and took a sip.
A few seconds later, he tilted his head back and chugged half the bottle. "Where did you buy this?"
The Blood Mage asked this, his handsome, profound face still entirely serious, looking as if he was holding back the urge to punch someone.
Su Cheng inexplicably wanted to laugh. "On the west side of the square, there is a shop called Happy Berries or something—"
"Berry Whispers?"
"......Right."
Both of them fell silent for a few seconds.
"It feels like the recipe is a little different," Camus said in a low voice. "The last time I was here, I also bought their special mix—"
Su Cheng looked at him curiously. "Do you come here often?"
"I occasionally pass by on my way to the imperial capital," he shook his head slightly. "Is there anything else you want to buy?"
Su Cheng blinked. "There is no one on this floor right now. I just saw the boss go up to the third floor. So if you have something to say, you can just say it directly, right?"
Camus: "..."
He pursed his lips, his gaze sweeping over the cramped aisle between the bookshelves.
The relatively petite girl was close at hand, and the paper bag in her arms exuded wisps of sweetness, inexplicably giving off a strange feeling.
The Blood Mage's fingers, hanging inside his sleeves, twitched slightly. "Since your curse flared up last time until today, have you felt anything?"
Su Cheng knew he was asking about the curse. "I have not really felt anything. One night it seemed to get a little hot, but it was extremely brief."
Camus's face darkened slightly. "Why did you not say anything?"
"I was sleeping, and I was too tired," Su Cheng said softly. "Plus, you were far away from me at the time. Most importantly, it only lasted for a very short while, and then I was fine. It has been several days since then."
Camus looked a little angry. "Far away? Our distance—!"
His steel-blue eyes seemed to be cast in shadows, as if dark clouds were surging within them.
After a long moment, he suddenly gritted his teeth and said, "...He is not the only one who can catch you!"
Su Cheng was dumbfounded.
Su Cheng: "Huh???"
What was he talking about?
Su Cheng: "Actually, it also heated up a little bit just now, but it went away quickly. It did not fully flare up."
Camus was almost about to leave, but upon hearing this, he stopped in his tracks, suppressing his emotions as he asked, "Just now? When you were at the school?"
Su Cheng sighed. "Because of this and that, I accidentally bumped into Prince Peier while he was taking a bath—"
Camus: "......"
The expression on his face looked quite spectacular.
After a few seconds, he abruptly turned around and walked downstairs.
Su Cheng could not help but call out to him again. "Actually, I also wanted to ask, do you want to eat these little jam buns? The boss said they were very sweet, so I specifically bought a few extra."
The blond man's figure paused on the stairs. He suddenly turned around, walked back with a dark face, and snatched the paper bag from her arms.
"Thank you!"
He said angrily, then turned around and left again.
Su Cheng: "......"
