After Dark handed a portion of the teaching materials to Professor Lily for copying, he brewed some tea, seizing this rare opportunity to relax for a while.
Not long after, Professor Lily finished copying. Holding the materials, she complained, "Coming up with exercise problems is so hard!"
Dark couldn't help rolling his eyes. "Then shall we swap?"
Professor Lily: "Swap tonight, and swap back tomorrow morning?"
Dark: "You stand here and don't move; I'll go buy some peaches."
After saying that, he took the materials, turned around, and left, never to return.
...
February 13th, Tuesday.
Only one day remaining until Valentine's Day.
The festive atmosphere made the entire academy slightly restless.
The fake professors couldn't be bothered to pay attention.
The real professors had plenty of ways to handle the students.
Beep, beep, beep!
Dark took out his Sorting Card and, sure enough, saw a notification sent by Professor Jones.
He injected magic power and opened the notification.
"Is today's Dueling Class in Dueling Arena No. 2?"
Dark put down the newspaper and took a sip of milk.
Since the start of the second semester, Dueling Class had rarely involved practical practice.
Even when classes were held in the Dueling Arena occasionally, it was merely for the convenience of demonstration.
According to Professor Jones, apart from the final exam, there should be one more in-class duel this semester, but not now.
Dark didn't pay too much attention to the notification about the classroom change.
He touched the Fox Grass that had rubbed against his foot and looked up at the sky outside.
The sky was clear and cloudless.
It was hard to imagine that heavy snow would drift down a day later.
But real prophets never made judgments lightly. What they spoke out, whether divined or not, would mostly come true.
After all, for those who made a living this way, success rate was everything!
If the prediction success rate was low, they wouldn't get orders.
If they didn't get orders, there would be no performance results.
If there were no performance results, there would be no food to eat.
If there was no food to eat, they could only starve to death.
And if they starved to death, they naturally wouldn't be "real prophets" anymore.
Following this logic to the end, Dark couldn't help but hook the corner of his mouth, revealing a trace of a smile.
"Every walk of life is not easy!"
...
Eight o'clock sharp.
The first-year students from all four houses gathered on time at Dueling Arena No. 2.
Professor Jones didn't say anything after the class started. She just stood there with her arms crossed, smiling and pointing to the edge of the arena.
The students understood immediately. After stretching their muscles and bones slightly, they began to run laps.
After a whole semester of exercise, even the delicate girls could barely complete the lap-running task.
However, after giving the students about five minutes of rest, Professor Jones assigned the next phase of the task—running laps with their Magic Guide Spirits!
Upon hearing this task description, the little magisters stared at Professor Jones almost as if looking at a demon.
But Professor Jones didn't feel the slightest bit of "remorse." She spoke with fervor about "the importance of coordinating with Magic Guide Spirits," thoroughly justifying the task of "running laps with Magic Guide Spirits."
The forcibly "persuaded" little magisters could only resign themselves to fate, summoning their respective Magic Guide Spirits and beginning the second round of running laps...
Dark hadn't expected Professor Jones to assign such a task at all, but fortunately, he carried his card pouch with him.
Except for the Magic Guide Cards for [Meowth] and [Paradise], basically everything else was in the card pouch.
He picked out the Magic Guide Card for [Magic Beast (Eevee)] from it, then recalled and summoned it again, bringing Eevee-chan from the dormitory directly to this Dueling Arena No. 2 in an instant!
"Vee?"
The sudden change in environment made Eevee-chan very unadjusted.
After Dark left the dormitory, it had secretly slipped back under the covers. It never expected to be summoned outside.
The comfortable and warm environment was gone.
Here was the Dueling Arena with its chilling cold wind!
...
Dark took Eevee and began to jog along the edge of the arena.
Running laps with a Magic Guide Spirit required constant attention to the spirit's pace, adjusting one's own speed according to the spirit's speed.
How should one put it?
This was indeed somewhat helpful for cultivating tacit understanding with one's Magic Guide Spirit.
However, generally speaking, it was cultivating toward the direction of actual combat, not dueling competitions.
The magister and the Magic Guide Spirit fighting in coordination, using agile positioning to avoid danger, keeping oneself always within the protection range of the Magic Guide Spirit.
—These were all basic qualities a magister must possess in real-world combat!
But saying too much about this aspect couldn't compare to a practical demonstration.
Only when it was truly needed would the little magisters realize the importance of the current training.
...
In short, the little magisters at this moment were mostly full of complaints.
Dragging their weak legs, bringing along their confused and stiff Magic Guide Spirits.
Running lap after lap around the arena!
When students fell behind one after another on the running route, the person and pet leading the team in an orderly manner at the front appeared conspicuous.
Dark Demon went from securely occupying the second tier last semester to leading the front row this semester. The progress happened imperceptibly, to the point where people didn't even notice the abruptness.
Robert suddenly looked back, seeming to realize only today that in this project he took the most pride in, he no longer possessed an absolute advantage.
...
By the time this segment of "running laps with Magic Guide Spirits" gradually ended, the vast majority of students were tired as dogs.
Professor Jones watched with a composed look, very satisfied with the effect achieved in this segment.
Students should look like students.
Being lovey-dovey all day long was annoying to watch!
In the final analysis, it was the professors' fault for giving them too much time and space to talk about love!
But it was not too late to mend the fold after the sheep were lost.
...
After about five minutes of rest time.
Professor Jones struck while the iron was hot, calling Dark Demon up to assist in a demonstration.
She mainly spoke about a tactical technique named "Shadow Follow."
Through tacit cooperation and precise positioning with the Magic Guide Spirit, the magister hides in the shadow of a larger Magic Guide Spirit, thereby achieving the goal of "completely disappearing from the enemy's field of vision"!
Although it didn't look complicated, this was actually a very profound technique.
The requirements for both the magister and the Magic Guide Spirit were very high.
For example, Dark and Little Eevee completely failed to meet the requirements.
With Eevee's body size, it simply couldn't block Dark, let alone shield him within its own shadow.
However, if it was just for auxiliary teaching, it was barely passable.
...
Toward the latter half of the class, Professor Jones summoned a giant brown bear and conducted a simulated drill with Dark, leaving an extremely deep impression on him!
Therefore, from the start of the simulated drill, Professor Jones's figure completely vanished from Dark's field of vision!
It was as if she had turned invisible and disappeared, leaving no trace to be found.
The students observing from a third-person perspective couldn't understand the shock brought by his perspective at all.
"If I could master this technique, it would have been difficult for Vlad to target me during the battle back then."
Dark's mind was eager, absorbing knowledge related to it like a sponge.
...
Ding-ling-ling!
When the bell rang for the end of the first class, only Dark was left wanting more.
Most students celebrated that this Dueling Class was finally over, each one unable to wait to sit down, or simply lie down, and rest hard!
Therefore, when the second class—Arithmetic Class—began, Professor Lily suddenly discovered that the students in the entire classroom were like wilted radishes, listless and dispirited.
With a trace of doubt, she looked up at Dark in the last row, but found that Dark's mental outlook was fairly good, so she didn't pay too much attention.
Professor Lily's teaching method was actually the same as always, still "reading from the book."
It was just that after having teaching materials, her lecturing gained a sense of layering, achieving a progression from simple to difficult, from nothing to something. Combined with the example problems that matched the teaching content, it made it easier for students to understand.
That being said.
Those who understood still understood.
Those who didn't understand, a portion still didn't understand!
After a whole class, the little magisters' physical strength recovered slightly, but what replaced it was a blow on the mental level!
The double blow to body and spirit made this morning appear particularly difficult to endure.
And the homework left by the Arithmetic Class was the lingering poison after the battle ended...
...
Two o'clock in the afternoon.
The first-year students, who actually hadn't managed to have a good nap, arrived at the Magic History classroom with decadent faces.
"Magic History is still better! No need to run laps, no need to do problems, just need to prick up our ears and listen."
For some reason, the students had an undue expectation for the Magic History class.
After the bell rang.
Professor Ryan Hacks strode in from the front door.
He walked with the gait of a dragon and the step of a tiger, high-spirited. As soon as he got on the podium, he said proudly, "Students, have you noticed that your Professor Hacks is different from before?"
The students then mustered their spirits to look over.
Involuntarily, someone cried out in surprise.
The Professor Ryan Hacks at this moment was vastly different from when he first arrived at the academy.
If not for the fact that the students already had a psychological expectation for his slight changes every time, they would have found it even harder to accept that it was actually the same person!
Dark, sitting by the window, also couldn't help but feel surprised.
As the Hero of the Spear who retired due to injury, Ryan Hacks had lost a foot, a hand, and an eye in the war.
The difficult life after the war had further ground down his sharpness and deprived him of his health.
Cruel time had stolen his hair, leaving him with a face full of wrinkles.
Dark had not forgotten the slovenly appearance he had when he first appeared, like a dying old man.
But the current Professor Ryan Hacks, having lived in the castle for less than a month and a half, had found back some of his past sharpness.
His hair had grown back fully under the effect of "Experimental Hair Growth Tonic," his beard was carefully shaved, and the wrinkles on his face had smoothed out due to the gradual plumping of muscles.
The black single-sided eyepatch worn over his right eye had been taken off, replaced by a realistic prosthetic eye meticulously crafted by Professor Kazel and attached by Sister Carian.
That prosthetic eye looked almost no different from the left eye.
According to Professor Kazel's consistent habit, perhaps some unusual functions had been added to it.
And his left hand and right foot had also been fitted with well-fitting prosthetics.
Professor Kazel's exquisite skill made those two prosthetics almost completely merge with his body; one couldn't even see a noticeable limp when he walked.
Although this cost Professor Hacks a whole month's salary—it was actually still a price akin to a giveaway.
In the kingdom, it would probably be hard to find a Master Magic Guide Device Maker more excellent than Professor Kazel.
Even Ryan Hacks himself felt abnormally shocked by the degree of fit of the prosthetics.
After putting on the prosthetics, facing the full-length mirror and touching the realistic skin on the prosthetics that was like the real thing, he almost mistakenly thought he wasn't disabled!
At this moment, he finally looked a bit like what the "Hero of the Spear" should look like!
...
The excited Ryan Hacks actually began to talk about his private romantic history, which he had previously avoided mentioning, in the Magic History class.
"History!"
"History itself is formed by the collision of emotions and emotions."
"If deduced according to my private emotional experiences, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to compile it into a book of modern history."
"Whether it was the Princess Violet of the Green Plain Dwarf tribe, the Chief's daughter of the Mountain Boar Beastman tribe, the Pearl of the Black Goblin Ore tribe..."
"If one were to connect those excellent women who were attracted by my handsomeness and strength when I was young, it would be a natural historical scroll."
...
"Professor! Since you were admired by so many excellent women, why did you become so destitute before coming to St. Marian?"
...
Professor Ryan Hacks selectively ignored the discordant voices interspersed within and continued to narrate with full concentration the meeting, understanding, and final parting between himself and those "fair ladies."
As the saying goes, lovers will eventually separate; the soul breaks at the Blue Bridge, paths diverge at both ends...
Since Ryan Hacks was still alone even now, it was enough to explain a lot.
Thus, the more the students listened, the more something felt off.
At a certain moment later, they suddenly realized: How was he telling some romantic history?
He was clearly telling a set of "history of breakup with blood and tears" with a magnificent background!
During the war, he met and then separated from excellent women one after another.
The reason for each separation was different.
Apart from the estrangement between races, the unacceptability of skin color and appearance, the difference and opposition in positions at the time... there were also all kinds of deep or bizarre reasons!
The woman with whom Professor Ryan Hacks had the deepest feelings and the fastest progress was the daughter of a human Lord.
They even developed to the stage of exchanging first kisses (?)!
Professor Hacks still remembered that she was a gentle beauty with snow-white hair.
The scent between her lips was like the fragrance of lavender.
They pledged themselves to each other for life in a flower garden where fresh flowers were in full bloom, facing the moonlight and fantasizing about a future with a house full of children and grandchildren.
But the feelings between them did not blossom and bear fruit.
That beauty's father was a Lord who had only her as a sole daughter and would only accept a live-in son-in-law.
And he, the Hero of the Spear—Ryan Hacks, how could he stoop to be a live-in son-in-law?
Therefore, on the second day after pledging themselves to each other, the incredibly tough Ryan Hacks got into a dispute with the Lord and was then driven out of the territory.
He and the Lord's daughter naturally were forced to break up.
"I vaguely remember, that should have been on the night of Valentine's Day. It should have originally been a perfect night..."
...
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