“I am telling you...” Li Yue’s expression was one of utter helplessness. Even though the school bell had already rung, she remained rooted at the door, hesitating to push open the entrance to the classroom.
“What is it, A Yue? If we do not go in now, we really will be late,” Clo said, waving her hand with a playful smile on her face.
“How about you go in first?” Li Yue tried to shake off Clo’s grip on her hand.
“No. If I do that, you really will be late.” Clo giggled.
“Then I will go in first.”
“Then it would look like I was the last one to arrive.”
“No... if I walk into the classroom holding your hand, people will definitely get the wrong idea.” Li Yue shook her hand in protest, but it seemed to have no effect at all.
“We are already four minutes late~” Clo laughed, refusing to let go. Her grip was currently stronger than Li Yue’s, though Li Yue was not using her full strength to pull away.
“You jerk...” Li Yue pouted.
“Alright, alright.” Clo smiled and pulled Li Yue as she pushed open the classroom door. Li Yue did not keep pace, but their joined hands remained tightly clasped.
“It is just holding hands. This kind of thing is perfectly appropriate; we can do it as much as we like.” Clo chuckled, pointing toward an empty seat to signal Li Yue to go over.
The classroom was a bit rowdy. Had they not caught a glimpse of her during the opening ceremony, the students might have mistaken Li Yue for a professor’s assistant or something similar.
“Alright, students, let us begin our potions class.” Clo snapped her fingers. The textbooks stored in an oak crate behind her floated up, their pages fluttering like butterflies as they flew toward the students.
The students were quite open minded. In their culture, kissing a cheek was a standard courtesy, but Li Yue’s face still turned slightly red due to her conservative nature.
Compared to Li Yue, everyone seemed more focused on Clo herself. During this brief interlude of distributing books, those who knew each other began to gossip about Clo’s background.
“Is she really a professor? She looks so young.”
“I heard she is a senior of the academy. She reached the rank of Great Mage by graduation, so she stayed on as an assistant professor.”
“That is incredible!”
“I am afraid I will never reach the rank of Mage in my life. I just hope I can graduate smoothly and find a quiet job at the Association.”
“If you work hard, you might at least reach the Magician stage.”
“...”
Is being a Great Mage... that difficult?
Li Yue rubbed her slightly red cheeks, recalling how she had reached the Magician stage the moment she was chosen by magic. After adapting to her first God’s remains, she had reached the level of a junior Great Mage. After absorbing the Blood Moon, she could hold her own against an average Great Mage.
She did not understand.
Lost in thought, Li Yue did not notice Clo staring at her. Clo’s silence caused the noisy classroom to gradually fall quiet.
A Yue is blushing. How cute. I only dragged her in because I wanted to see this. She looks cold on the outside, but she is actually super shy and adorable... Hehe... Why did the students stop talking? Did I fail to control my expression?
Clo cleared her throat, her voice turning cheerful once again.
“I am Professor Stephenson’s assistant. My name is Clo, and you may call me Teacher.” Clo seemed to be in a very good mood. As she looked at Li Yue’s complicated expression, she could not help but show a playful smirk.
Clo introduced the academy’s grading standards and course schedule in detail. She snapped her fingers, and small, pale green flames flickered to life under the cauldrons in the classroom.
“You should have already passed the exam on laboratory equipment usage standards in the primary academy. Now, open your books to page three. Let us skip the boring principal’s message and get straight to it.” Clo clapped her hands, and the medicinal ingredients required for the experiment flew out one by one, landing on the students’ desks.
“We are making the basic healing potions you drink most often.” Clo smiled, her joy increasing as she saw the dark lines of frustration on Li Yue’s face. “I am sure none of you have ever looked into the ingredients. Why is it green? Does any student know?”
“It is caused by the sap of the Glimmer Tree,” one student answered calmly, standing up.
“Wrong. That is for high level healing potions. The correct answer is that it comes from the crushed skin of wood-arrow frogs. Later, Lingxi berries were added for flavor, which are also green.” Clo chuckled, and the expressions of the students in their seats immediately turned strange. “You must accept that those powerful potions are all made from the tissues of strange creatures.”
Li Yue thought back. She had likely drunk quite a bit of this in Yakutsk, both topically and orally. Now, it did not matter much to her. If it were in the past, in those moments of crisis, she probably would have swallowed it without hesitation.
However, I do not know how to use any of this magical equipment... What should I do? I have not studied that far yet... This is beyond the syllabus...
Li Yue hesitated for a moment. She suddenly felt two presences behind her, one of which was exceptionally powerful.
“Alright, everyone, begin. You should have been tested on the production method for this magic. Now, let us have some practical application. The results will affect your academy grade.”
Clo glanced over and saw two elderly men sitting in the corner. She sighed softly and waved her wand. The curtains hanging around the room slowly drew back, illuminating the massive marble classroom that could hold dozens of people.
The relief-style architectural design was unique to the East Academy. As for why it was like this, it was simply Professor Stephenson’s personal preference.
“Principal Albert, have you come to listen to my lecture as well?” Clo walked to the back with a smile.
“I was just curious if you would teach the students in the style of the Time Casket. But looking at you now, you have become much more lively.” Albert thought for a moment and stroked his long, greyish-white beard. They conversed in the corner of the back row while the students suppressed their disgust and began crushing the well-preserved wood-arrow frog skins into a paste.
“I skipped the part with your foreword. You do not mind, do you?” Clo stuck out her tongue.
“It is fine. I wrote this textbook anyway. By the way, I know you fell asleep sitting next to me during my last speech.”
“It is alright. I almost fell asleep back then too, hahaha.” Stephenson patted Albert’s shoulder and laughed along.
The air was filled with a merry atmosphere. Despite being separated by a soundproofing barrier, the mood of the class was very relaxed—except for Li Yue, who was still studying the equipment.
I am doomed... I have no idea how to use this...
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