On the arena, the outcome was decided.
The instructor who should have made the ruling first stood there like a fool, silent. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to rule—he didn’t know how to rule!
On the surface, without a doubt, Lily had won. But how had she won? Did it involve dark magic? He wasn’t sure, so he couldn’t rush to a conclusion.
“Tend to the injured first!” An instructor from the stands shouted.
The referee instructor snapped out of it—right, first tend to Chris!
The freshman assessment could be considered the safest of all exams, and Chris’s status was no ordinary matter. If someone died, the trouble would be enormous!
Moreover, from Chris’s condition, they could work backward to deduce Lily’s methods, which would also help with the final ruling.
The referee instructor cast a Light Magic spell without a second thought.
Yes, as an instructor, he wasn’t about to spout nonsense at random, but he did secretly suspect Lily of using some kind of dark magic—otherwise, how could such a bizarre situation have occurred?
Holy white light enveloped Chris, with no reaction at all.
Could it be that it wasn’t dark magic? Yet Chris still showed no signs of waking.
The instructors with closer ties to the Leyne royal family could no longer sit still—they rushed forward and crowded around Chris. “Let me try.”
One after another, higher-tier Light Magic spells were cast on Chris. The effect was minimal—at best, it made Chris look more peacefully unconscious.
Seeing this, Lily grew anxious too!
She wanted to win, but she hadn’t meant to kill Chris. More importantly, at this rate, Chris might very well die at the hands of his own people—and she would be the one taking the blame!
Could Light Magic cure carbon dioxide poisoning? She wasn’t sure. Compared to the veteran instructors, she was basically a magical novice.
But based on her experience in the modern world, ensuring proper air circulation was crucial at times like this!
Lily quickly said, “Professors, could you please not crowd around him? Let him breathe some fresh air—he’ll recover faster.”
The instructors suddenly turned to look at her, their eyes carrying… a rather intimidating meaning.
They didn’t move aside immediately, afraid that if they did, Chris’s condition might worsen—and would that suit someone’s purposes?
Under such a deterrent glare, an ordinary student might have confessed their grandfather’s flowery underwear by now. But Lily wasn’t a complete newbie—the stare-down didn’t work on her.
What did frighten her a little, though, was that: this world was different from the modern one—what if someone decided to silence her permanently?
Lily silently reassured herself: No, this is an academy. Everyone has to follow the rules.
So she took a deep breath and continued, “Professors, you’ve already tried your methods, and they didn’t work. Since they didn’t, there’s no harm in trying mine.”
The instructors gave her a long, deep look.
To still speak to them with such confidence at a time like this—was she just incredibly bold?
But what Lily said made sense. They hesitated no longer and cleared enough open space around Chris. Still, their attention remained locked on both Chris and Lily—at the slightest sign of anything unusual, they would intervene.
Soon enough, the instructors noticed Chris’s breathing and complexion gradually returning to normal—not that “peaceful” look artificially induced by Light Magic.
It seemed Chris was genuinely improving!
Everyone let out a sigh of relief—the worst-case scenario had been avoided.
Before long, Chris slowly came to and blurted out, “Is the match over?”
His consciousness was still a bit fuzzy, but his obsession with 【not losing to Lily】 ran deep.
“It’s over.”
Chris’s eyes began to focus. “I lost?”
“Barring any unforeseen circumstances, yes.”
Chris’s inexplicable collapse had made people suspect Lily of using dark magic. If that were the case, Lily’s results would be voided, and she would face further punishment.
But now, with the two key observations—【Light Magic had no effect on him】 and 【Chris woke up on his own after lying there for a while】—the possibility of dark magic dropped significantly.
To be thorough, the instructors scanned Chris with holy light once more and confirmed that his self-awareness was in a 【normal】 state.
An instructor familiar with Chris asked with concern, “Chris, how do you feel now?”
“I’m fine…”
“Good. Win or lose a match or two doesn’t matter—just keep a good mindset.”
The instructors’ care brought Chris some comfort. “I will…”
Chris was about to respond, but found that the space in front of him was now completely empty.
Chris: ??
Where did everyone go?
In the blink of an eye, the instructors had all crowded around Lily. The earlier flurry of concern had apparently just been a formality. A gust of wind blew past, carrying fallen leaves from the tree-lined path in front of Chris—a picture of utter desolation.
For the first time in his life, Chris felt the raw truth of the world.
Not that he could blame them. Taking a moment to check on him was already a courtesy to the Leyne royal family. The Prince of Leyne might be important, but this was the Magic Holy City, where magic reigned supreme!
At this moment, the instructors still weren’t sure what Lily had done. Was it a groundbreaking new spell, or had she achieved such mastery over a particular magic that she’d fooled them all?
Either way, it spoke to her talent. As long as Lily hadn’t used forbidden magic, she was worth recruiting!
“Student Lily, I’m Intermediate Instructor Thorne. Would you be willing to become my student? Although my rank isn’t as high as a senior instructor’s, I personally guide my students—many senior instructors leave the mentoring to your upperclassmen.”
The first to speak was the instructor who’d earlier shown some appreciation for Lily but hadn’t wanted to argue with Aaron over her. Now that Lily had demonstrated talent beyond his expectations, he promptly tossed Aaron—and his own reservations—out the window.
First come, first served!
A promising student like this couldn’t be left to be ruined by that unreliable Aaron!
Instructor Thorne felt a heavy sense of responsibility.
How could the other instructors let him have all the glory? They all chimed in one after another: “Student Lily, I’m a Senior Instructor. Rest assured, if you’re willing to study under me, I’ll teach you personally.”
“…”
Among those trying to recruit Lily, there were even supporters of the 【magical elitism】 camp. But that wasn’t contradictory at all—according to that faction’s philosophy, if you had talent, you were an elite worth cultivating.
The arena nearly turned into a marketplace.
Just then, an exaggerated cough rang out, splashing cold water on the lively scene.
Aaron squeezed his way to the front at a leisurely pace—the cough was deliberate.
The other instructors had actually tried to coordinate and “shut him out,” not letting him push through. But Aaron’s strength wasn’t negligible either—after a few silent magical exchanges, he made it to the front anyway. (These subtleties, of course, couldn’t be revealed to the students.)
“Everyone, not long ago you all spoke so confidently about not competing with me for students. Going back on your word so soon—hardly appropriate, is it? Bad for your teaching integrity, don’t you think?”
The instructors ignored him.
Did we say that? We said that? You’re just one person—none of us here remember anything like that.
But Aaron actually had proof. “I recorded it.”
The instructors’ faces instantly turned green.
Now they were certain—Aaron had come prepared from the very start! He’d sensed Lily’s talent all along and deliberately put on that “I don’t mind taking the last-place student” act to eliminate the competition!
What a shameless bastard!
If it weren’t for the students watching, quite a few instructors would have cursed him out on the spot.
Thorne said with a smile, “It’s fine that you recorded it. But as I recall, I never said I wouldn’t compete with you.”
Those who had explicitly agreed not to “compete” were mostly the ones who weren’t on good terms with Aaron anyway.
Some had simply ignored him at the time and hadn’t wanted to join that “eating shit” topic. Now, that turned out to be their advantage.
Upon hearing this, several other instructors chimed in, “That’s right—I never said that either.”
Aaron had actually done them a favor by eliminating some of their competitors.
Aaron’s expression soured a little: I’ve laid it all out this clearly, and you still won’t give up?
Fine, fine, fine. I was planning to win Lily over with sincerity, but you’re forcing me to use my strength!
He looked directly at Lily and said:
“I’m Senior Instructor Aaron. Currently, I’ll only take you on as my student—all my resources will be tilted toward you.”
“I’m not involved in any factional disputes, nor am I afraid of any.”
“Your unconventional ideas—others can’t understand them. That’s why before you defeated Chris, no one except me was trying to recruit you. I can’t claim that your ideas are absolutely correct—but they’re interesting, aren’t they? They’re worth studying.”
As he spoke, several sheets of scratch paper floated over to Lily.
These were calculations he had made based on the content of Lily’s answers.
While everyone else had dismissed her theoretical exam as nonsense, he had gone ahead and verified it!
Thorne and the others opened their mouths as if to say something, but in the end, nothing came out.
The first two points Aaron made were fairly debatable. But his last point was impossible to refute.
When had Lily shown her talent? How did Aaron know when others didn’t?
Thinking it over carefully, there was only the theoretical exam—before that, Aaron hadn’t left his lab at all, nor had he taught any foundational courses for freshmen. How could he have known who the new students were? How could he have known who Lily was?
Only the theoretical exam had given him the chance to “get to know” Lily.
Everyone had graded the same papers—others had dismissed her, but Aaron had recognized the gem. That alone should tell Lily who was the most suitable mentor for her. No one else could compete.
But Thorne, after some thought, still offered a fair point: “Several senior instructors didn’t participate in the grading. If they had, they might not have missed her talent.”
Aaron might not be the optimal choice.
Aaron casually threw Thorne’s own earlier recruitment pitch back at him: “Didn’t you just say it yourself? Some senior instructors are too busy to personally mentor new students. They can’t even find time for grading—that says plenty.”
Thorne almost wanted to spit blood:
So my own words are now being used as your advantage, are they?
But are you really any better than those instructors who didn’t participate in grading? Don’t forget—someone was only forced by the headmaster to grade papers because he’d neglected his teaching duties for too long!
Lily stood there looking well-behaved as the instructors squabbled.
Well-behaved on the surface, of course.
Behind that innocent face, her mental abacus was clicking away at full speed! Faced with multiple offers, she had to choose carefully—this would greatly affect her future career—er, magical career.
In the modern world, you could always change jobs, but in this world, the mentor-student bond was binding—switching allegiances wouldn’t be so easy.
Judging by the current situation, the most generous offer seemed to come from this instructor named Aaron.
Lily actually wanted to ask what exactly “all resources tilted toward you” entailed.
But this place was fundamentally different from the corporate world. Being too obviously picky would easily offend people. On second thought, a senior instructor’s resources couldn’t be that bad, right?
With that in mind, Lily made her decision.
She bowed to Aaron. “Instructor Aaron, I look forward to your guidance from now on.”
Aaron waved his hand with a bright smile. “Easy, easy. Once the practical assessment is over, we’ll go submit the mentor-student certification and get it entered into the academic records.”
The two had confirmed their intentions with each other—there was no room left for others to snatch the student.
The other instructors felt some regret but wouldn’t press further. They were about to leave when someone came rushing over, shouting, “Professors, please wait—she hasn’t yet cleared the suspicion of using dark magic.”