Glan Natural Science Academy

  600-plus freshmen were distributed to twenty classes. Each class had about 30 people. 

Other than Kubo who acted as the head-of-year for the first-year students, there were the second and third year head-of-years. 

The academy regulations write that students are not to be restrained in the time they spend in the Academy and even promotes long-term journeys outside. For scholars, a hundred years of studying is far less fruitful than taking a journey full of the unknown. Only the first-year students stay in the Academy for a longer period of time because of their lack of strength. 

“Class 11.” 

Looking towards the sign at the door, Ryger took a deep breath and knocked on the door, interrupting the young female mentor in the classroom. 

The twenty or so students looked over, their gaze converging on Ryger.   

Ryger took out the letter of introduction and looked at the puzzled female mentor. 

“Hello, this is my letter of introduction.” 

The young female tutor read the letter with surprise. 

“Ryger? Oh, come in.”

  The young female tutor looked to be less than thirty years old, but Ryger knew that her actual age was much higher than that. After all, only advanced scholars who’ve obtained their arcane certificates are eligible to be a class teacher. 

With a cheerful smile, the female mentor welcomed him. 

“You can call me Mentor Jenny. I hope you can work hard in the future and learn something in this class. Feel free to take a seat.” 

Then, Mentor Jenny looked at the students and said, “Everyone, please welcome the new student!” 

“Thank you, Mentor Jenny!” 

Ryger looked at those below the stage. 

The classroom was very spacious, with seventy to eighty seats and a pitched floor. At present, only twenty or so seats were occupied.   

Many scholars looked at Ryger and whispered among themselves. 

Ryger paused for a moment. He looked at a grinning, short-haired fatty, walked over and quietly sat beside him.  

The others stopped paying attention to Ryger and looked at Mentor Jenny at the podium, continuing to listen to the lecture. 

“Hey, hey, did you choose to sit next to me because I’m the handsomest person in this class?” 

The fatty next to Ryger raised his eyebrows and joked. His thick eyebrows were very cute, and his plump face was like an apple when he smiled. He held out his chubby hand.  

  “I’m Sokal.”

  Ryger did not expect the other party to be so enthusiastic and shook hands with him. The meaty hand was quite soft and warm. 

“I’m Ryger.” 

Sokal saw Ryger take out a notebook and quill with a studious look, and said “Give it up. Mentor Jenny doesn’t hold any lectures. If it isn’t because she’s too beautiful, more people wouldn’t even come to class.”  

On the stage, the passionately orating Mentor Jenny was indeed beautiful. Her red wavy hair was very alluring, and her fiery red lips made her smiles passionate and cheerful. If they didn’t know she was a genuine arcane scholar, many of the boys’ hearts would be stolen by her.   

Hearing that, Ryger was taken aback. “If there’s no lectures, then what does she do in class?” 

Sokal pouted and said, “Stories of her travels when she was young. All of it. To encourage us to be like her and travel.”   

“In the deserted ice abyss of the far north, my friends and I had exhausted all our strength along the way, looking for the legendary Flower of Ice Marrow. We were surrounded by eternal snow and silence enveloped every corner. Just when we despaired, about to give up, the light of the sky suddenly changed. A rainbow-colored aurora shone and a beautiful scene that we had never seen before appeared…” 

    Mentor Jenny’s words caused the students’ hearts to be in their mouths. They looked at her with expectant eyes.

 

“We heard a loud and long cry and a rainbow falcon opened its wings and flew over our heads at an incredible speed! Its wingspan was more than a full ten meters, and even the most powerful scholars I have ever visited were as slow as a snail compared to it. It even caused a substantive sonic boom that disturbed the cover of snow and ice on the ground. We then finally found the Flower of Ice Marrow.” 

Indeed, as Sokal said, this mentor’s class was all about experiences of explorations when she was young, told in a funny or humorous way, or insights that she had gained when she visited certain well-known scholars and so on. 

Most probably to inspire students to travel and explore! 

“Mentor, are there really still rainbow falcons? My initiate mentor said that those powerful ancient beings have long since become extinct and are now fossils deep in the earth’s crust.” 

A black-haired girl inquired with a face full of expectation. 

In face of her questioning, Mentor Jenny didn’t get angry and instead answered seriously, “I am very sure that what I saw was a rainbow falcon!” 

After a pause, Mentor Jenny continued, “As for whether those legendary ancient creatures have power comparable to that of the gods, I do not know. But I know they are not completely extinct. In barren lands outside the human territories, in the unknown Land of Night, deep in the boundless sea or perhaps in distant, unknown continents, there must still be some remaining ancient creatures!”  

  Ryger now understood. The things that this mentor talked about in class was to stimulate the students’ ambition of exploration. 

In that case, it wasn’t hard to understand why the first and second in the Academy’s honour roll were in the class, but its average results weren’t the best.   

“Sokal, where is the number one on the honour roll, Psyker Hel?” 

Ryger quietly asked Sokal.

Psyker was the nickname of Hel. It was an epithet given to him by the Academy’s advanced scholars, an epithet that can be included in the elite list. It was the Academy’s recognition and blessing towards him, a supreme glory that could be obtained by only a select few students! 

As far as Ryger knew, what was represented by this student was the academic discipline created by Ryger’s mentor’s nemesis in the Academy. 

Generally speaking, the main conflict of schools of thoughts in the Academy currently is between his mentor and that person.

Sokal said, “Don’t bother. Hel and Morgana are rarely here. In any case, Mentor Jenny doesn’t hold any lectures and those two won’t come over and waste their time.”   

Morgana, the number two in the honour roll. 

Since it hadn’t been a full season since the new students started class, the official honour roll hadn’t been issued yet. Because of this, only some students who are at the top of the honour roll had been ranked privately by the mentors. Of them, Hel and Morgana occupied the first and second place of the honour roll with 109 and 101 points respectively.

 

Ryger knew of this only because Kubo was the head-of-year of the first-year students, allowing him to have more comprehensive information regarding the first years honour roll and give Ryger suggestions. 

Regrettably, he himself hadn’t yet obtained any honour roll points. But it wouldn’t be bad to take a look at his targets.   

Since the first and second place were not in the class, Ryger had to settle for what was left. He asked in a low voice, “Then… who is Stella?” 

Stella was the student ranked third in class 11’s honour roll. He had just seen the name of this outstanding student from Kubo’s introduction letter. 

This time Sokal pouted his mouth, as if very upset about this girl named Stella. He pointed to the girl in white on the other side of the room and grunted, “That’s her.” 

“Uhh…” 

“Did she offend you?” 

Sokal made a mournful face and helplessly said: “When I was small, our two families arranged our marriage. But last year, she suddenly broke it off and came here. I was forced by my father to come to the Academy. That old man even swore in public that if I don’t get her back, he won’t let me go home and inherit my title. Fuck!”

Surprised that there was such a twisted and bizarre thing, Ryger asked, “What did she say?”

 

“She told me to forget about it unless I can defeat her. She even said that I’m like a toad who lusts over a swan. Fuck her! What did I do? I just want to peacefully inherit my title and be a normal viscount!”   

With a bitter face, he said: “Don’t look. Even if I use my family’s special magic tools, I still can’t beat her. And she progresses that fast. There’s no hope for me.” 

Ryger didn’t know why, but when he looked at Sokal, he felt like smiling.