Xyrin Empire
Chapter 752 Joyful Campus Life

Chapter 752: Chapter 752 Joyful Campus Life

The communication between the Imperial Leaders and the Divine Realm was definitely an event worth recording in the history of the New Empire. Afterward, the re-establishment of the direct passage to Xyrin and re-sharing of information, and the mutual dispatch of envoys... Each of these subsequent actions was a major event influencing the structure of the Multi-universe. However, while these projects were underway in Shadow City and Avalon, the rest of Shadow City’s inhabitants continued with their respective lives, enjoying their unique daily routines in this magical metropolis at the nexus of all realms.

Today marked the third day since returning from the Divine Realm. Shadow City’s daily operations had returned to normal, except for those related to the giant Fragment research and the expansion of the passage. Yesterday, I had taken Lord Qianqian and Little Baobao to the park for the day. During that time, we were mistaken for a newlywed couple three times. Little Baobao got lost twice, and I was tormented countless times by Qianqian’s bizarre and quirky ideas. This made me determined that under no circumstances would I accompany those two treasures out for more chaos in the next couple of days. Thus, today, on a whim, I decided to visit the Military Academy—officially to inspect the work, but realistically to see the Sister Misakas and also, incidentally, to check on Du Dao Kazuko—a "sister" who was in some sense just an ordinary person, but even more of a headache.

Looking back, it was a wise decision to strongly recommend that Du Dao Kazuko attend the Imperial Military Academy and return to campus life. After several days of boredom and influenced by my own past strong recommendation, that girl who tended to act in her own unique way among her peers finally returned to the life of a normal high school girl, instead of continuing her maid role-playing game. That’s more like it: a senior female student should be in a school uniform with a wooden sword—anything else is heresy!

Perhaps because I hadn’t been in touch with campus life for a long time, I almost forgot the usual schedule of class times for the students. When I arrived at the Academy, I happened to catch the last class of the morning in session and naturally saw no one. However, this was fine as it gave me a chance to observe the daily teaching activities of this most notoriously brutal Academy in the Multi-universe—something I always wondered about how those ridiculous classes were conducted but never had the time to watch. In a sense, I’m also half in the education business now.

I found Rider in the office, engrossed in her hand-held gaming device. Or, perhaps I should simply call her Medusa now. I planned to have her accompany me to the open-air teaching area for a visit. This Heroic Spirit had been teaching at the Imperial Military Academy for several months now.

Aside from the official teachers, like Medea, many of the Heroic Spirits from Avalon had positions as teaching staff at the Imperial College. When they weren’t on missions (which was most of the time, since the troubles that required the actual presence of the Heroic Spirits were few, and the worlds managed by Dingdang usually had no issues), they would teach students at the Academy, mainly elective courses. Since Qianqian was one of the directors of the Academy, this wondrous school had many unheard-of rules. For example, there was a system where teachers apply for courses themselves. Anyone with a skill and the qualifications to teach could apply to teach an unprecedented course—even instructing on how to tie shoelaces in ten seconds was permissible. As long as there were students willing to enroll after pre-application, you could establish your own subject. And which of these ancient Heroic Emperors lacked a personal talent? As a result, the current course schedule of the Academy had reached an outrageous level. Compared to that, the comprehensive Riding Skill class that Medusa applied for was relatively normal—although, in my opinion, knowledge about Unicorn riding and Bahamut Taming Skill shouldn’t be part of a Riding Skill curriculum.

"This is the teaching area of the Magic Department," Medusa said, leading the way to one of the academic zones of this massive Academy. Although her game walkthrough was interrupted, her mood seemed quite good, and she smiled continually. "The Magic Department’s area is vast, and there’s a division according to specialties. Over there is the teaching point for Undead Magic. The main lecturer of the Undead Department is a Death Knight from Azeroth. She doesn’t have many students, but not too few either. They should be having a practical class right now—oh, they are indeed in session."

The Empire does not forbid Undead Magic or Shadow Magic, although misuse of these powers can easily lead to problems. But we have Magic Girls, many Magic Girls, and the superb magical skills of the Mahou Crows have improved all types of Undead and Shadow Magic spells. They have been refined to be practiced in safe and humane ways and, after removing some negative effects of the spells, they significantly enhanced the aesthetic of Black Mages. This has been well received among the vast community of Spiritualists in Dark City.

The outdoor amphitheater before us was the practical teaching area of the Magic Department. This circular field was specially constructed for magic training, with surfaces cast from high-strength starship materials and coated with Star Gold Stone. An encompassing, switchable Ghost Energy Shield prevented damage to the teaching space from offensive magic and fundamentally eliminated the phenomena of students skipping class. The Death Knight from Azeroth, wearing a regular black instructor’s uniform, stood at the center of the field, addressing the dozen or so students in front of her. Medusa pointed out the Blood Elf to me and introduced her: "That’s the Undead Department’s lecturer, Filia, a Death Knight who was once a minion of the Catastrophe. It’s said that during the final periods of the Salvation War, she regained her free will when she was hit in the back of her head by a wrench that fell from a Goblin airship and then turned against her own ranks in the middle of the battlefield, wiping them all out. Subsequently, she stumbled into joining the Salvation Army in a daze and came here to teach afterwards—because she was a Magic Master of Silver Moon City in her former life."

"Are you familiar with her?"

Medusa nodded, "She’s skilled with her hands..."

The female Death Knight, who had been lecturing the students, noticed our arrival, immediately ceased her explanation, and gestured to us respectfully. I waved my hand to indicate she should continue and watched with interest what a typical lesson in Undead Magic looked like.

"Students, we have already learned about the improvements to existing magic and the skill of optimizing the casting process without altering the flow of Magic Power. Now it’s a rare opportunity to demonstrate—would anyone like to come forward and showcase their improvement to an existing spell?"

An undead Mage with a tall, lean figure and ashen skin quickly stepped forward.

The student seemed a bit nervous, sneaking peeks in our direction to confirm I was focusing on him. Only then did he prepare to cast his spell on the vacant land before him, not forgetting to introduce it: "This is a spell that I have improved and merged from the Bone Wall Skill and Bone Prison Technique. I’ve altered the arrangement of the bones to have them form a large-area, discontinuous barrier—just like this!"

With a brief incantation, a dozen sharp bone spikes about half a meter tall emerged from thin air on the hundred meters of open ground before him.

"These bones are formed by magic power and are extremely durable," a nameless student boasted. "Even a heavy tank would struggle to break any of them, and I can summon more than a dozen at once! Compared to the limited range of the Bone Prison Technique, these improved Bone Walls are more focused on defense."

"Zero points," the Death Knight instructor shrugged his shoulders and evaluated without mercy.

The student was stunned. I was a bit dumbstruck too: the magic at hand was clearly not bad, I mean, the ground is indestructible, yet these bone spurs have sprouted from it out of nowhere—how miraculous is that? And to transform a fixed spell into this appearance, this student must have profound magic proficiency. In his world, he would at least be at the level of a Great Mage, so why zero points?

"Go back and pay more attention to the sports channels," the Death Knight instructor sighed. "Liu Xiang would kill you in just twelve seconds—next!"

The second to come out was a Skeleton Mage. It walked forward while busily using a rope to tie its student uniform to its cervical vertebra, and there was a small device stuck to its lower jaw: a language synthesizer commonly used by skeletons.

"Instructor, the spell I’ve improved is the Bone Enhancement Technique, a precious boon for skeletons," the Skeleton Mage began. "The old Bone Enhancement Technique only increased the hardness and density of the bones without the ability to change their shape, which meant the enhancement was always limited. Now, I’ve found a way to make the bones not only harder but also thicker—please observe!"

As it spoke, the Skeleton Mage took out a handful of white powder and scattered it, summoning a shaky little skeleton out of thin air. The Death Knight instructor immediately interrupted, "Wait—what are your casting materials? How are you summoning a skeleton without a corpse?"

The Skeleton Mage scratched its skull, "I bought some calcium tablets and ground them myself, but the strength isn’t quite there."

Damn, that’s not scientific!

"Uh, okay, I’ll give you five points during the exam even though it’s not very practical. Now show us your enhancement technique."

The Skeleton Mage nodded silently and cast the spell, then, under the watchful eyes of the crowd, a flash of grayish white light passed, and the pitiful, scrawny little skeleton, summoned from calcium tablets, inflated like a balloon, its formerly stick-thin limbs now resembling Schwarzenegger’s majestic peaks.

The Death Knight instructor watched for a while, then suddenly asked in an eerie tone, "What’s your grade in Mechanics?"

"Zero points."

"This one’s also zero points—try having that thing take a step!"

With a clatter, the summoned skeleton that served as a demonstration fell to the ground in pieces.

"Lucky for you that you didn’t experiment on yourself first, or your classmates would have had to put you on a lathe to polish you up again. Didn’t you notice that this thing’s joints are all stuck?!" What have you been experimenting on so far?"

"...The snails Morav raised next door. No wonder those snails haven’t appeared recently, I thought they were just too attached to their new, larger house to come out."

An impressively muscled half-orc immediately popped out of the group of apprentices, screeching and charging toward the skull-for-brains Skeleton Mage, "Damn it, it was you! You suffocated my Muhammad I to death!!"

During the following demonstrations, a few more apprentices came forward one by one. If judged purely on magical skill, they were all talented individuals and, in a standard Otherworld, they would at least be academic leaders. This was evident from their ability to improve upon their magical skills on their own, but regrettably, there was no reliable teaching outcome to be seen. Among the apprentices who had finished presenting, the only one worthy of praise was the Skeleton Mage: he had creatively conjured skeletons using calcium tablets, which left me astounded and effectively lowered my expectations for the world view.

The Death Knight serving as the instructor was obviously very embarrassed. The original intention behind setting up this course was certainly not to contribute to the Empire’s comedy industry, yet the students she recruited seemed to be only talented in this aspect. When Medusa and I left, the Death Knight still looked deeply aggrieved. May Dingdang bless those students who remained behind.

"The original reason I established this academy was to provide a place for my sisters to experience normal student life," I said to Medusa, who was quietly following alongside me. "I never expected it to grow to this scale. But to be honest, I think it’s a bit too chaotic."

Medusa glanced at me, "Lord Qianqian is the chairperson, after all. Who else can restrict her imagination... However, you needn’t worry about this. While the academy does have many ridiculous subjects, the main courses are still under control. Military command, modern technology, high-level magic – these subjects train top-notch skills enabling a regular person to become elite talent by the standards of an Affiliated World in a short time. The first batch of apprentices has already joined the Servant Army. Although we in the Heroic Spirit Army do not know much about the Servant Army, we have heard that even those two-year apprentices show excellent performance when executing missions. As for those miscellaneous courses, well, just consider them extracurricular entertainment."

"Like Bahamut Taming Skill?"

I shot a sideways glance at this elder sister, who also offered a fierce course.

"Riding skill is an important combat technique," Medusa replied earnestly. "In battles across various worlds, it’s hard to predict what kind of mounts might be available, so mastering an additional riding technique might just give you an edge in a fight."

I shrugged to indicate that I had nothing to say about that topic and then enquired about Du Dao Kazuko’s situation at the academy.

Without any special privilege due to the close relationship with the Royal Family, Sayaka had to choose her courses and attend classes like any other student. What I am curious about now is exactly what she has chosen. Considering the various learning aids available, the academy’s basic courses take up only a small percentage of the total, allowing students to take up to a dozen different subjects.

"Miss Du Dao, huh? She is indeed a very energetic person," Medusa’s lips curled up, "Aside from the required courses and home economics, she also chose four types of combat courses, three each of cold and hot weaponry, two military courses including command and combat, a standard Azeroth-style magic enhancement class, pharmacy, poisonology, and, of course, assassination techniques. Although she’s only been enrolled for a few days, she has already joined a club... hmm, the Misaka club. I’m not sure exactly what they do, but I’ve seen mass-produced TX800s exercising nearby, so it might be something like a robotics seminar."

I thought about it and suddenly felt it was a huge mistake to let someone with potential violent tendencies into this school: what kind of attitude did that girl have to enter the school and choose those courses?

For the long-term safety of human society, I need to find time to talk to her.

Medusa and I wandered the vast campus for a while, discussing various aspects of life in Shadow City. The purple-haired Heroic Spirit was not much for small talk, but seemed quite enthusiastic about this topic. She told me about the daily duties and entertainment of the "Dingdang’s Heroic Spirits," as well as topics that were recently popular among them. Noticing the constant, faint smile on her face, I became curious, "You seem to be in a good mood?"

"How would I put it, I guess I like the way I live now," Medusa raised the handheld gaming device in her hand, "and speaking with you brings joy, it has a kind of comforting power."

I quickly waved my hands, "I’m not that great—cough cough, could you say that again?"

"Can’t you find another way to brush it off?" Medusa turned her face away, "Heroic Spirits all have their obsessions, but beyond those, we have our emotions too. We also hope to live a life we like, and when that wish is fulfilled, expressing gratitude is only appropriate. But what are you thinking about?"

"Me?" I scratched my face, "What did you notice?"

Medusa just smiled without saying anything, but it seemed my recent preoccupation with decrypting the fragment was rather obvious, written all over my face.

The bell rang right at that moment, and two minutes later, a long-haired girl in school uniform indeed came from the road ahead. Du Dao Kazuko, who had returned to her student identity, accompanied by a Misaka and a Three-perspective Mercury Lamp, approached. The three of them, with their staggered heights, resembled ordinary campus girls, chatting and laughing as they walked.

The three of them (counting the Three-headed Mercury Lamp, I guess?) looked up and, almost in sync, smiled. Misaka and Kazuko trotted over, while the short-legged Three-headed Mercury Lamp simply jumped over and clung to Kazuko’s leg.

"I came to check on you," I blurted out first and preemptively declared to Kazuko, "Call me ’brother,’ or by name, let’s not use the word ’master’ here."

The long-haired girl struggled with the choice for a bit but reluctantly chose the former.

"It’s really unexpected to be able to return to school, though it’s quite different from my old school." Kazuko smiled faintly, oblivious to the frustrating batch of classes she had chosen. Meanwhile, I was keenly observing the Three-headed Mercury Lamp, bouncing around my legs and trying to climb up, "You shouldn’t count as a student, right? Who are you behind?"

"Today I caught a cold, so the Replacement Doll is attending the class. Misaka responds through the Replacement Mercury Lamp, and is very dissatisfied with my severe reduction in height!"

"The Replacement Mercury Lamp is a method used by us Misakas when we are unable to attend class, ensuring perfect attendance. Except for practical classes, the teachers allow Replacement Mercury Lamps to help with attendance. Misaka 12580 happily explains to Brother."

These girls sure know how to have fun; now the mass-produced Mercury Lamps have almost become as much of a fixture as the windmills and cylinder robots from Academy City in another world!

After chatting with Kazuko about school matters, I could tell she was quite happy. Being able to return to school was the first joyous thing, and getting to study some explosive courses she liked was the second, which made Du Dao very satisfied with her current situation. However, her initial intention for enrolling here was a bit headache-inducing:

"I want to make myself more useful, and if I could go on a campaign with you next time, that would be great."

I felt that the original purpose for recommending her to enroll had been completely turned on its head. (To be continued. If you like this work, welcome to QiDian (qidian.com) to vote for recommended tickets and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation.)