Chapter 428: Back at the Witch Academy and the Inescapable Monthly Exams
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 428: Back at the Witch Academy and the Inescapable Monthly Exams
As the summoning ritual was completed, a flash of white light erupted from it, and a figure suddenly appeared atop the array.
"Mmm... here... Teacher Ji Niang?" Feeling the constraints of the summoning fade from my body, I slowly opened my eyes.
The first thing I saw was a very familiar place. Then, glancing to the side, I spotted an even more familiar figure.
It was indeed Teacher Ji Niang.
"Xiao Han, so you finally remembered how to come back?" Ji Niang turned her gaze toward me, her tone carrying a hint of exasperation.
"Teacher Ji Niang, I couldn't exactly control when I came back! If no one summons me, I couldn't return even if I wanted to, right?" Having assessed the situation, I immediately shifted the blame. Whatever was happening, it definitely wasn't my fault!
"I suppose that's true. So, if I hadn't summoned you, were you planning to stay there for the rest of your life?"
"How could I? I’ve been dying to come back lately. Teacher Ji Niang, you really are my savior!" I flattered her quickly. "So... Teacher Ji Niang, did you call me back for something specific? Or is there somewhere you need my help?"
I remembered that Teacher Ji Niang was busy researching [Transcendent Knowledge]. It was common for her to disappear into her laboratory for days at a time. The fact that we were in her old office meant she had come out specifically for a reason.
"There is something, of course, but it’s not related to [Transcendent Knowledge]. We haven't reached the point where we can't proceed without you yet. It’s something else." Ji Niang saw right through my thoughts and straightened her expression.
"Oh, okay." I nodded quickly, adjusting my posture. I knew I wasn't strictly necessary for the [Transcendent Knowledge] research yet. "So, Teacher Ji Niang, why exactly did you summon me?"
"Why... Honestly, Xiao Han, do you realize how many months have passed since the start of the term? How many monthly exams have you missed? I applied for a course exemption for you, but I never said you could ignore the exams."
"Uh..." Reminded by Teacher Ji Niang and pinned under her intense stare, I felt a mountain of pressure. Once the initial shock passed, I realized the implication. "Wait, is it time for another monthly exam?"
"It’s only been one semester. Count on your fingers how many monthly exams you’ve actually taken. How many have you skipped? No classes, no exams—are you even a student here? The academy has rules."
"Uh... Teacher Ji Niang... since I have a course exemption, is there an application for an exam exemption too?" After reflecting on her lecture, I decided to choose between "taking exams on time" and "skipping" by asking if I could just be exempt entirely.
"Heh..." Teacher Ji Niang let out a soft chuckle, though I couldn't tell if she was genuinely amused or just exasperated. "The monthly exam is a tool to measure a person's progress in stages; it’s not a hurdle for you to leap over in one go. Is the knowledge tested in these exams meaningful? No, at least not significantly, because it’s just what you learned that month. It’s a threshold to check your results for the past thirty days."
"But I have a course exemption. If I still have to test for the knowledge taught this month, what’s the point of the exemption?"
"The exemption is to save you from wasting time in a classroom, not to let you stop learning entirely. If I didn't know you and your learning capacity, your behavior would look like nothing but self-abandonment to anyone else."
"Well, I don't really need to live my life for other people's eyes, do I?" I had no interest in performing "effort" just so people knew I wasn't slacking off.
"It’s a metaphor. Do you understand? You might not need others to understand you, but you must understand that the Witch Academy you are in is, after all, an academy."
"But the stuff they're teaching right now is just too simple..." I muttered, pouting slightly.
"If it's simple, then find your own challenges. Regardless, you are not skipping this monthly exam. You’ve already missed two. The first time, the Academy Dean covered for you because you were helping her. The second time could also be blamed on the Dean. But another month has passed since then; there’s no reason for you to still be out there. The Academy Dean isn't going to take the fall for you every single day." Teacher Ji Niang’s tone was firm and left no room for argument.
"Okay, okay." I nodded repeatedly. Since I was already back, taking a monthly exam wasn't a big deal.
I had been thinking about returning while I was in that small world anyway, and Ji Niang’s summoning was perfectly timed.
"Don't agree so quickly. There’s one more thing I need to tell you."
"Something else? What is it?" I was curious. If Ji Niang felt the need to mention it specifically, it couldn't be a minor matter.
"It’s not a huge deal, but the academy has undergone some changes while you were away."
"Changes?" I was puzzled. Surely the Witch Academy hadn't just expanded its campus?
"Yes. Your year is the most unique one yet. I won't go into why, but the academy is planning to use your year as a starting point to adjust the emphasis on combat power cultivation. As you know, the first three years at the Witch Academy usually have a fixed curriculum with very few resources available—mostly just some simulated combat. Usually, the focus is almost entirely on theoretical knowledge."
"Uh... is the academy going to start handing out Mana Sources and Spellbooks in bulk? Or provide special ways for freshmen to get them?" I asked, surprised.
"Combat power is the one thing witches never lack, and it’s not just about Mana Sources and Spellbooks. But for those of you who have just become Prospective Witches... well, excluding you, the academy's educational philosophy has generally been not to measure everything by combat power. After all, Academic Witches make up a huge portion of our population. However, times are changing. In the very first Witch Academy, students only had one Mana Source, and Spellbooks weren't nearly as numerous as they are now. The academy has changed so much to get to where it is today."
"So... why the change now?" I asked. I had always felt the academy's teaching style was a way to aggressively filter out average students—quality over quantity. But now it seemed they actually cared about the student body.
"It’s because of Tan Han... and you. Right now, in the freshman year, there is a massive, tiered gap in strength. I heard that girl Tan Han even handed all her Spellbooks over to you?"
"Yeah, but I didn't touch them," I said with a shrug, not caring if Ji Niang believed me. "So, is the academy compromising? Or is this to prepare for the Script's development by fostering more high-end combatants?"
"Indeed. The previous educational model ensured that the freshman group wasn't suited for combat exchanges with other academies. You saw it, didn't you? During the Dream Exchange Competition, you and Tan Han saved the day while the other eight were mere background characters. Their strength is still worlds apart from yours, and they only rank in the middle among all Transcendent Academies. Most of their power comes from their Spellbooks, but anyone given those books could do what they do."
"Hmm... so the academy isn't planning to focus solely on the Children of Destiny anymore?" Back then, Tan Han was the only Child of Destiny. It seemed strange for the academy to suddenly value those who weren't.
"Of course everything still revolves around the Children of Destiny, but so what? If all the focus is on them, they’ll just be a group of isolated individuals playing in their own bubble while their peers lag behind. Their stage would only ever be as large as what they can see. That’s wrong. Their stage is the entire world. The people around them shouldn't be cannon fodder who exist only to highlight the gap before being left in the dust. A Child of Destiny isn't superior because we give them special treatment; they are the ones who can still shine brilliantly even in a fair environment. That is the true essence of Luck."
"Uh..." Hearing Ji Niang put it that way, I found myself agreeing. That’s how it should be. I was surprised someone had thought it through so clearly.
That’s some high-level perspective!
Still, I was curious. Such an idea wouldn't just appear out of thin air.
"I have to ask... did all this happen because the concepts of Children of Destiny and Luck were exposed, causing some people to get a bit too full of themselves?" I asked tentatively.
"You noticed? That’s pretty much it—one of the reasons, anyway," Ji Niang said dismissively. Then, her tone shifted as she gave me the boot. "Anyway, as long as you understand. Go on, get out of here. Don't skip the monthly exam. Go back and prepare properly."
"I know, I know!" I felt a push of force ejecting me from the room. I called out as I left, a bit disappointed that she didn't want to chat more after we hadn't seen each other for so long. I was quite curious about the academy's changes, but I guess I’d have to find out through other channels.
Well... it didn't matter. Once I was kicked out, I brushed off my clothes. I was still wearing the outfit from that small world, but in a place like the Witch Academy, where everyone pursued their own personal style, I didn't look out of place.
Leaving Ji Niang’s office, I took a long, deep breath. The air of the Main World was just different from that small world; it felt much more comfortable here.
However, I soon felt a different kind of discomfort: the suppression brought by the Main World Great Weakening Spell. The stark contrast made me clearly feel the weight this Great Spell placed on Transcendents and the ambient Transcendent energy. It was all-encompassing!
Feeling this intense disparity again, a spark of inspiration flashed through my mind—a fleeting, wondrous idea.
But I was somewhat used to this. With the perfection of my Tree of Knowledge, it had integrated my two most important Spellbooks—the Memory Bookshelf for learning and Practical Learning—and combined with the effects of the Great Wisdom Enlightenment Art, I was, frankly, terrifyingly strong.
Even if my available methods were the same as before, I could now do things the old me wouldn't have dared to imagine—like instantaneously deriving spells during combat to adapt to any situation.
The old me couldn't imagine such a genius existing. Now, I would just say: "Of course such a genius exists." This transformation was centered on me, so I knew exactly how large the gap was between my past and present selves, and that it was a gap that could be bridged through effort.
Of course, the prerequisite for that effort was having the right capital to start with.
After leaving Ji Niang’s office, I hesitated for a moment. My rational side told me that since I was back, I should go to the academy library to look for literature and research on Ley Lines to find the knowledge I needed to perfect the techniques derived from my Tree of Knowledge.
But my emotional side told me I should go back to my residence—the academy dorms—and see how my roommates were doing after all this time.
I actually missed them quite a bit.
In the end, reason and emotion reached a compromise. Knowledge can be accumulated at any time, but the period of settling after accumulation is equally important. Changing one's lifestyle helps with that process. Furthermore, interpersonal relationships can promote self-improvement. If I lowered my guard, weren't those girls in the dorm my friends?
Thinking about it, I wondered how Dongli Yiren and Senior Sister Sofiri were doing with their planting techniques.
After I gave Guan Qiuling a piece of my mind, did she start focusing more on herself?
As for Hong Chenyi... I hoped she and Shi Huiyu were enjoying their blissful life together.
And Yu Yuetian... I wondered how she was. As an Ascetic, she should have her own way of looking at things; she probably wasn't as much of a handful as the other three.
Of course... more importantly, I wondered if Sister Bai had returned. Maybe she hadn't found me. Since Ji Niang didn't mention it, she likely wasn't back yet. Otherwise, knowing Sister Bai, if she couldn't find me, she would have definitely gone to Ji Niang.
I pulled out my phone, which hadn't been used in ages. As soon as it powered on, a flood of messages popped up on the screen.
It looked like a lot of people had been looking for me. Or maybe it was just group chat spam.
When I checked, Sister Bai’s pinned contact was still silent; it even showed that she was unreachable.
Seeing that, I let out a heavy sigh. I almost lost the motivation to look at the messages below. They were all old news by now; it didn't really matter if I read them or not.
But curiosity won out in the end.
My contact list wasn't very long. Most were group chats or temporary chats.
For example, the class group, the mutual aid group, and so on. I saw quite a few private messages about my position as Class Monitor being revoked.
Only then did I remember that I had told Ji Niang I didn't want to be the monitor anymore. I didn't expect so many people to care...
Unfortunately, I wasn't going to reply to them one by one. I just cleared the red notification dots.
Then I scrolled to Tu Xingyue. She was the new Class Monitor Ji Niang had appointed. She had been the Vice Monitor, so she finally got promoted. I skimmed her private messages and then quickly pulled the screen away.
"Yikes... so cheesy. It’s just a monitor position, is all that really necessary?"
Then I found messages from Hong Chenyi and the others. Nothing urgent, mostly asking about summoning rituals, but they hadn't followed through for fear of bothering me.
"Fine, fine... so the reason no one summoned me for so long was because they didn't want to be a nuisance? That’s a bad habit." I shook my head, then noticed another one further down...
"Sofiri? She’s... oh! The seeds. Such an important thing... sigh, I’ll go check on her when I have time. By the way, that kind of fruit shouldn't spoil, right?"
After all, there were preservation spells. As a Planter, Sofiri should have access to them, or at least similar means. There was no rush. I’d send a quick private message to check the situation. If it was urgent, I’d make time to head over there today.