Chapter 247: The Fallen Youth, Lucien
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 247: The Fallen Youth, Lucien
"Who! Who's following me!"
Lucien spun around abruptly, looking behind him with a hint of panic, but there was nothing there.
Today was practically the final day for the Wizard Academy students at the Witch Academy, and it was also the last bit of time everyone had to truly enjoy themselves.
He simply wanted to take a walk through this harmonious, bright academy. Even if he returned to the Wizard Academy, where there were no so-called punishments, the atmosphere there was incredibly oppressive.
Terrifying wizard towers influenced the celestial phenomena, keeping the entire Wizard Academy shrouded in a sunless, gloomy gloom.
It was this very thought that had urged him to leave his quarters. However, the moment he stepped out, an odd sensation washed over him. The keen perception granted to him by his wizardry allowed him to sense that someone was intentionally tailing him, yet he couldn't discover their location.
But as he turned his head this time, he slammed face-first into two mounds of softness.
"Huh?" Lucien instinctively recoiled. Seeing the person in front of him, he couldn't help but blush. What he had just bumped into seemed to be... seemed to be...
"I-I'm sorry." Lucien hurriedly apologized to the witch before him. After all, at his age, he hadn't even held a girlfriend's hand; to suddenly have things escalate to this point left him completely at a loss.
More importantly, this was the Witch Academy!
This was the witches' home turf!
If the witch in front of him suddenly took offense, he wouldn't be able to withstand it. Moreover, she didn't look like a freshman. He... he couldn't even beat a freshman from the Witch Academy, let alone a senior witch.
If this had happened at the Wizard Academy, he would likely be facing punishment and the other party's venting rage as the price for his offense.
"Oh? I recognize you. You're Lucien, right? I saw you during the exchange competition~" This senior sister wasn't angry at all. Instead, she began chatting with him, her tone light and airy.
"You... You know me?"
"Of course. The hype surrounding the exchange competition these past few days is even higher than you'd imagine~"
"What?"
Hearing this, Lucien immediately felt awkward. High hype meant that their humiliating performance had been seen by even more people!
How was that a good thing?
"What's wrong? Worried people will laugh at your performance? It's fine, everyone has their own opinions. I thought your performance on the field was quite brilliant~"
"Th-thank you." This was the first time he had been praised since being eliminated, but he wasn't about to let it go to his head just yet.
"How about I treat you to a cup of tea? Let me tell you, boys rarely get to enter the Witch Academy. Since you're all here this time, quite a few people are itching to make a move."
"Huh?"
Lucien didn't quite register her words at first, but he quickly remembered that the Witch Academy was an all-girls school with no male students. No wonder he felt like he was being so well-received.
"This time it's on me. I've heard the atmosphere at your Wizard Academy is very oppressive. Why don't you tell me about it? I've never been there myself."
The senior sister enthusiastically led Lucien to a nearby tea room. It wasn't crowded, and they sat on the second floor, which offered a lovely view of the scenery below.
"Our Wizard Academy... the atmosphere is indeed oppressive. For new students, it's just... if you don't have talent, you won't receive even a shred of attention..."
Lucien began to vent. Being a freshman, it was natural for him to pour out his grievances after finding that the academy he chose didn't live up to his expectations.
"Then you wizard apprentices really have it rough. Have you ever thought about transferring?"
"Transferring? It's not that easy. The Wizard Academy would never let anyone go."
Lucien instinctively touched the spot where his Voodoo Gu Life Bug was located. It was a good thing that ensured he wouldn't die suddenly, and it even provided a degree of immunity to curses. However, if he ever left the Wizard Academy, it would take his life!
"So you plan to stay like this forever? Your Wizard Academy's results in this exchange competition weren't exactly ideal. Don't misunderstand, I'm not mocking you; I just want you to see things clearly. What will you face once you return to the academy?"
"I... I'm sorry, I should go." Lucien set down his teacup and stood up abruptly. But the moment he rose, his head suddenly felt heavy and dizzy...
"What? You... you drugged me!"
"Don't make me sound so villainous. It's just a Weakening Potion. The trigger ritual is the act of standing up. If you had been willing to chat with me a bit longer, the potion might not have even taken effect."
"He... help..." Lucien tried to scream, but found he couldn't make a sound. In that moment, he finally fell into a state of helpless panic.
"I also added some Silence Ritual effects to forbid any noise~"
"Wh... what are you going to do?" Lucien opened his mouth to demand an answer, but no sound came out.
"What am I... going to do?" The senior sister repeated his words by reading his lips, then smiled. "It's nothing. I'm helping you. I'm helping you resolve your future worries. Don't be afraid, child."
"From now on, how about your name be... Lucianne Politt? Welcome to the Witch Academy, and to becoming a happy witch~ You won't have to suffer the oppression of the Wizard Academy anymore, nor feel that stifling atmosphere!"
The senior sister reached her hand through Lucien's collar, probing inside.
Lucien felt a sharp pain in his shoulder, followed by a tearing sensation that flooded his mind. He then saw a hideous, long worm being pulled out of his body by the witch.
Lucien's eyes widened in shock. That was his Voodoo Gu Life Bug!
How was this possible!
How could someone just casually extract a Voodoo Gu Life Bug that was symbiotic with a wizard!
"What an ugly thing."
With a casual spell, the senior sister incinerated the disgusting insect. Lucien felt a faint, searing heat, but before he could even scream, she produced something else he couldn't see. It was a Mana Source. In Lucien's eyes, it looked like she was holding something invisible, but he didn't for a second believe there was nothing there.
"Come now~ don't be afraid. It'll only hurt for a moment. Become a witch with me~" The senior sister shoved the Mana Source into Lucien—or rather, she should be called Lucianne Politt now.
"Remember my name~ I'm Daphne Smedley. You can just call me Senior Sister Daphne~"
Lucianne could only watch helplessly as a powerful mana took control of her body. Daphne even thoughtfully used a spell to prevent the phenomenon from attracting outside attention.
And such scenes were happening in more than just this one place.
Who could say how many fallen boys and girls from other academies would be trapped forever in the Witch Academy, never to return?
* * *
At that moment.
I walked out of Teacher Ji Niang's office.
I had just finished a long chat with her and learned quite a lot.
Specifically, I learned about something very important: the "Witch Secret Realm."
These were special training grounds provided by the Witch Academy for its students.
Their source? The senior sisters who had graduated from the Witch Academy.
That's right. Graduation meant becoming a Transcendent Witch. After graduating, they could apply to create a Witch Secret Realm. They would take resources, notes, techniques, spellbooks, and even Mana Sources that they no longer needed or had left over after ascending to the Transcendent level, and subject them to special processing. These would serve as rewards within the secret realm, providing a specialized trial for new students.
It was a way of giving back to the Witch Academy. In truth, the academy didn't require any repayment from graduated Transcendent Witches, but it didn't refuse such gestures either. The Witch Secret Realms had essentially become a "custom" passed down by the very first graduates of the academy.
It also served as an incentive for the new students.
The Witch Secret Realms were even managed by a special club, though the academy provided subsidies. For instance, if a secret realm had already been cleared but the academy felt it still held great training value, they would replenish the rewards so students could continue to use it for practice.
The club's name was very direct: the "Witch Secret Realm Club."
By now, the Witch Secret Realms had evolved significantly from their original form. They had become the primary source of spellbooks and Mana Sources within the Witch Academy.
Of course, there was a fee to enter a Witch Secret Realm, though it wasn't high. The entry threshold varied depending on the difficulty of the realm. After all, the fee was mainly to prevent people from infinitely farming resources or squatting in a spot without using it.
Furthermore, all fees collected were used for the maintenance of the realms. Since these secret realms existed in separate spaces, maintaining them was quite a hassle.
Naturally, the difficulty of the Witch Secret Realms was not to be underestimated. Most of the time, one would come away with nothing at all. After all, these were places of trial; the primary focus was the trial itself and self-improvement. Seeking only the rewards would be putting the cart before the horse.
The rewards were an incentive, not the ultimate goal.
Unfortunately, many in the academy failed to realize this.
Although I already have more spellbooks than I can use, I feel that one can never have too many spellbooks or Mana Sources. After all, who isn't a bit of a hoarder?
As for the exchange competition rewards, that had been a matter of principle back then. It was a pity that Tan Han was so tactless; I had no choice but to take the whole lot.
And now, I needed a place like this to improve my techniques.
Although Teacher Ji Niang said that the Witch Secret Realms weren't suitable for freshmen or low-level Prospective Witches—after all, the ones who designed these realms were all senior sisters who had become Transcendent Witches!
There would always be those who didn't know their limits. Ji Niang also advised me not to make the rewards my goal. Even though I'm not weak now, obtaining the rewards would still be extremely difficult.
But Ji Niang didn't say it was impossible, which meant I still had a chance.
After leaving Teacher Ji Niang's office, I didn't go straight back to my villa. Instead, I went to the library.
I had already decided to pursue a dual development of technique and theory. Taking advantage of the present, I needed to plan out what I wanted to read and make good use of my fragmented free time to memorize everything.
Moreover, I would record it using the spell effect of the Memory Book Spellbook. Reading books this way would yield twice the result with half the effort.
To be safe—since I'm technically a celebrity now, and my status as the number one in the exchange competition has brought me immense fame as well as immense trouble—I chose to go out in disguise.
Back at the arena, I had been cornered at the door, which is how I was recognized. I didn't believe anyone would associate me with Yang Yuehan in my current state.
I looked at my reflection in my phone. My long white hair hung loosely behind me, unbundled, though the hairstyle was a bit unusual.
After a bit of a trim at a hair salon, it looked quite good. I also experienced the frustrations of a girl getting a haircut—even though they didn't trim much, it was very expensive. I was praised several times for having great hair quality and being beautiful, but it always ended with them recommending various services like perms or coloring.
Luckily I ran out fast, otherwise I would have been stuck there. But I have to say, even for a small salon in the Witch Academy, the craftsmanship was excellent.
It was just very time-consuming.
But that didn't matter. Perhaps I really should slow down the pace of my life; otherwise, I feel like I'm becoming out of sync with the relaxed and pleasant atmosphere of the Witch Academy.
I arrived at the library. This wasn't my first time here, but the collection of books was truly rich, with extensive access to both physical and electronic books.
And I happened to have high-level permission.
This time, the rune books I selected began to steer clear of popular science readings. Since I was starting formal study, popular science was indeed as "watered down" as Tan Han had said.
Aside from giving me my initial understanding, they contained almost no substantive content. However, I was about to lay the foundation for the magic modification techniques of spellbooks. No matter how hard it was to digest, I had to learn it properly.
At worst, I could just use the Unity of Knowledge and Action spell for self-suggestion. I knew clearly that I needed to do a lot of learning. Even if my body involuntarily started to become lazy or relaxed, the Unity of Knowledge and Action spell would cure me of that habit.
It was a pity that this was only a Spirit Spell used for self-suggestion, rather than an ideal mental state that truly achieved the unity of knowledge and action upon use.
But that didn't matter; it was enough for my purposes.
The rune book Teacher Ji Niang had given me before was for basic runes. I planned to use that book for keyword searches to continue looking for books in that series. After all, one can never have too many of such books.
I checked the time; it was almost noon. It seemed I had spent quite a bit of time with Teacher Ji Niang and at the hair salon. I wasn't hungry, though, so I decided to start reading in the library first.
This was a library, after all. Theoretically, the study atmosphere was good, and I wouldn't be disturbed by others.
Time flew by, and the afternoon hours slipped away bit by bit.
My gains were immense.
I wasn't just reading; I was recording the key contents of these books onto my Memory Bookshelf spellbook. Recording it once by hand, processing it once in my mind, and recording it once via the spell effect made for very high learning efficiency.
This was my own accumulation. Furthermore, flipping through it was much more convenient than flipping through physical books. Not to mention, physical books had a deadline for return. Even though I had storage equipment, I didn't want so many books taking up my storage space.
"Mmm~"
I stretched, loosening my body after sitting for so long. Even with all the Mana Sources I possessed and the modifications they had made to my body, I still felt fatigued.
If this had been the old me, just recording this many knowledge points and highlights would have left me exhausted. Now, it was just a matter of a quick stretch.
The modification and enhancement of the body through Witchification were truly visible to the naked eye...
Although this was a library, it was a bit different from the "good study atmosphere" I had imagined. During this time, I had been approached by quite a few stranger senior sisters.
Then again... I had already experienced how thirsty those senior sisters at the Witch Academy could be. If they liked the quiet, studious type of girl, there would always be senior sisters in the library pretending to study while actually looking for someone to hit on.
Looking at the situation now, their numbers were not small.
I was also glad I had changed my hair and eye color. As for my actual features, I hadn't changed them much, as I felt my current appearance was quite good.
Although the senior sisters who approached me said I was quiet and had a literary aura, if they remembered my performance in the exchange competition, wouldn't the contrast be a bit too great?
It seemed I needed to change the way others perceived me.
I was a witch dedicated to Transcendent research, not a violent maniac.
I hoped my performance in the exchange competition didn't leave a bad impression on the senior sisters or the students from other academies.
After all, that was in a dream. Everything was fake—couldn't I just let myself go for once?
I stood up, cradling a stack of books. I returned the books I had already recorded to their shelves according to their call numbers, and prepared to check out the ones I hadn't had time to record yet.
"Please take good care of the borrowed books. If there is any damage, you will need to pay the full price as compensation~"
"Okay, thank you."
After finishing the checkout at the front desk, I took the stack of books and put them into my storage equipment. It was time to head back. Maybe I should pick up some food on the way. I'd ask if anyone in the dorm wanted me to bring something.
Our dorm had a group chat now. That fellow Hong Chenyi had taken the initiative to set it up. After pulling me in, she immediately handed the group leader position to me. The group name was "Sister Xiao Han Fan Club Dormitory," but I was too lazy to change it.
Yang Yuehan: "Does anyone need me to bring dinner? I'll see if it's on my way."