Chapter 108 : Chapter 108
Chapter : 108
The dormitory I chose was in a good location, in the middle of the dormitory complex, not too far to walk, and not too noisy.
I took out the dormitory key I had just received and fumbled to open the dormitory door.
The entrance hallway was very tidy, and the floor was spotless. Upon entering the main door was the common area, where the standard furniture provided by the academy was placed, a sofa set, and a row of bookshelves in the corner, arranged to look like a small book bar.
However, there wasn't a single book on it, and the sofa was even still in its plastic wrapping, never having been opened. It was completely brand new.
Me: ?
I backed out and took a look, confirming that this was indeed the dormitory I had chosen.
That's not right. Don't I have a roommate? More than half a semester has passed, and my roommate hasn't even unwrapped the sofa?
Did the school teacher make a mistake? Was this dormitory actually never occupied?
I scratched my hair, walked into the hallway, and circled the living room. On the first floor, besides the small book bar, there was also a kitchen and a water bar.
On the bar counter were a few basic drink-making tools and a small jar of coffee beans.
The kitchen was also fully equipped with basic kitchenware. Unlike the unopened sofa outside, the kitchenware in this kitchen showed signs of use, and the seasonings were neatly arranged. On a shelf on the side were also some fruits and vegetables.
From these traces, I could tell at a glance that the other person was someone who loved to cook.
Next to the water bar was a wooden staircase leading to the second and third floors, as well as the underground training room.
This was a special privilege of the dark gold badge. The dormitory had its own training room. Whether it was a mage or a swordsman, they could train on their own in the training room.
I heard that they even used a new training tool recently developed by Teacher Mavis, and the training effect was very significant.
If it were in the academy's public training room, one would have to rely on hand speed to grab a spot every day.
This wasn't the first time I had heard the name Mavis. This teacher was simply the Edison of the other world. All the strange but useful inventions in the academy were her creations.
I opened the minimap and took a look, confirming that there was no second person in the dormitory.
So, I didn't wait on the first floor for my roommate to appear and say hello, but went straight up to the third floor, which was the area assigned to me.
The layout of each floor was the same, with one bedroom, one washroom, and one empty room for the student to arrange and use.
However, because no one had lived there for a long time, there was a thin layer of dust on all visible surfaces.
I took out a magic staff from my backpack and used the Cleaning Spell on the entire third floor. After a few spells, it looked brand new.
I looked around and silently noted down the daily necessities I needed to buy.
"Di di"
The Te-xin in my pocket beeped. I took it out and found that Lin Nuo had sent me a message.
[Lin Nuo]: Are you at the dormitory already? I remembered that you just came to the academy, so you must be lacking a lot of things, right?
I have a spare set here that I haven't used before. If you don't mind, you can take it and use it.
[Lin Nuo]: If you need to buy anything else, you can go to the commercial street in Buma City. The things there are quite complete.
I skillfully changed my ID and then replied to Lin Nuo.
[Ri'an]: Thank you, I was just about to go buy some daily necessities. This is a big help.
After a casual chat with Lin Nuo, he said he would have someone deliver the things later, and I put down the Te-xin.
I yawned lightly, pressed my temples, sat down on the still-wrapped sofa, closed my eyes, and prepared to rest for a while.
Although I wasn't in a hurry to get back on this trip and had plenty of time, in order to complete the quests I had accepted at the Bounty Hunter's Association, I was really not idle.
My spirit had been tense all the way. Finally, I managed to enroll before the assessment time was over. Now that everything was settled, I felt a wave of sleepiness wash over me.
...
I don't know how long I slept. When I groggily struggled to wake up from my sleep, the sky outside was already completely dark.
I rubbed my eyes, managed to open them, turned my head, and met a pair of glowing green eyes.
Me: ?!
I subconsciously pulled a longsword from my backpack and held it across my chest, breaking out in a cold sweat from the shock.
What was that?!
By the time my rationality returned, my good night vision also allowed me to see clearly that it was a person standing in front of me, not some terrifying wild beast.
Thinking of the roommate I had yet to meet, I asked tentatively: "Demetrius?"
The person with green eyes that reflected in the dark paused for a moment, nodded silently, then lowered his head slightly, letting the fringe of his hair fall and cover most of his face, along with that pair of green eyes.
I awkwardly put away my longsword, "You... sorry, the lights weren't on, and I just woke up. I was a bit scared when I saw you here."
That person nodded silently again, not caring whether I could see it or not, and hadn't said a word so far.
I touched my nose, stood up, and went to turn on the magic lamp in the living room.
The first-floor living room instantly became bright, illuminating Demetrius who was previously hidden in the darkness.
He lowered his head again, letting his entire face sink into the shadow of his bangs.
A black long robe tightly wrapped around him, not revealing a single bit of skin.
His whole person exuded a gloomy and damp feeling, like a moldy mushroom in a corner on a rainy day.
Me: ...
What kind of damp and gloomy character is this? Such a typical appearance!
My gaze flickered for a moment. No wonder Lin Nuo had such an indescribable expression when he mentioned Demetrius.
This Demetrius really looked too much like the legendary necromancer.
Necromancer, the name alone didn't sound like a good person's faction.
They usually commanded the dead undead for their use, and the nature of their magic was biased towards evil.
In the eyes of ordinary people, these necromancers were basically associated with ruthless villains who killed without batting an eye.
Two thousand years ago, when the War of the Gods was still ongoing, there was a legendary necromancer who used the lives lost in the war and transformed them into his army of the undead, causing quite a stir on this continent.
In the final battle between the Demon King and the God of Light, when the Demon King defeated the God of Light and was severely injured with no energy to pay attention to him, that necromancer led his army of the undead to slaughter the entire Light Imperial Capital, transforming all the living people and other races into members of his undead army, completely turning the Light Imperial Capital, which was already devastated by the final battle, into a Sea of Death.
At that time, the Demon King's faction also suffered heavy losses due to the god war and was completely unable to stop the necromancer's slaughter.
The army of the undead spread out from the former Light Empire's imperial capital. The army pressed on, and the entire Ailman Continent was plunged into a sea of blood.
The Demon King and his retainers gathered again and launched an all-out campaign to exterminate the undead army.
After a bloody battle that lasted for twenty years, the Demon King finally killed the necromancer and forcibly contracted the undead army, trapping them in the Sea of Death.
From then on, necromancer became a byword for a feared bad person.
Demetrius's gloomy appearance was completely in line with people's impression of necromancers.
Those who dealt with the undead all day were like this, gloomy and exuding a strong smell of decay.
Of course, Demetrius didn't have that rotten smell. He was just purely gloomy.
Although I lamented in my heart that Demetrius was very much like the necromancers I had seen before, I knew that Demetrius was definitely not a necromancer, because the name above his head was green.
From the Demon King's perspective, a necromancer could never be a friendly faction. At the very least, they would be neutral, and most likely a red name.
"Um... hello, I'm Xavier, your new roommate." I felt that the current living room was embarrassingly quiet, "You're Demetrius, right? Nice to meet you."
"...Mm."
An almost inaudible "mm" sounded softly and quickly disappeared into this quiet space.
If I wasn't sure that Demetrius had nodded along with that "mm", I would have really suspected I was hearing things.
Hiss... so hard to communicate with.
No wonder Lin Nuo said his roommate's personality was strange. If this wasn't strange, who else could be?
I sighed. I wanted to find a topic, but I felt that if I started a conversation, it would probably just be me talking and Demetrius being awkward.
For a moment, I was also in a dilemma.
Demetrius suddenly pointed silently to a corner of the living room.
I looked in the direction he was pointing and found a pile of packed daily necessities in the corner.
I was stunned for a moment, then quickly remembered that Lin Nuo had said he would have someone send that spare set of things over to me, but I fell asleep while waiting.
These were probably the things Lin Nuo gave me.
"Ah, these things are mine. Did you help me bring them back?"
"..." Demetrius nodded with difficulty, then shook his head. Realizing that his actions couldn't express the full meaning, he finally deigned to speak, "Left outside door, I brought in."
Eight words, very much in line with Demetrius's appearance, minimalist and gloomy.
His voice was also low, not unpleasant, but there was an indescribable hoarseness in it, probably due to not speaking much.
"I see, then thank you very much." I said my thanks.
Demetrius nodded again and fell silent once more.
I sighed in my heart. I walked over and picked up the things, "Then I'll go up first? It's getting late, I still have to pack up. You should rest early?"
Demetrius didn't reply, but stood up obediently, turned around without a word and walked towards the stairs. His back actually revealed a hint of relief.
I was stunned for a moment before I realized that he was relieved because I had finally ended this awkward first meeting and was rushing back to his room.
I felt helpless. If he felt that it was awkward to be around me, he could have left earlier. It wasn't like I was stopping him from leaving, right?
Not to mention, this gloomy little mushroom was both polite and not so polite.
He knew that he couldn't leave directly when someone hadn't finished talking, but he didn't do any of the necessary superficial things.
If it were someone with a more delicate mind, they would definitely be angry, but I was still okay.
If you think of this gloomy little mushroom as a socially anxious person, it's easy to understand, isn't it?
I moved all the things up to the third floor, simply tidied up my room, and made do with sleeping in my clothes for one night.
***
The next morning, I woke up on time.
I subconsciously glanced at the minimap. The little dot of the other person in the dormitory was still not there. He must have left while I was sleeping.
I got out of bed, yawned, and opened the curtains. The sky outside was still gray. The sun had not fully risen yet. It was very early.
Leaving so early? Could it be to avoid me?
I thought hesitantly: It can't be, right? That's too early.
I washed up briefly, went downstairs, and made a simple breakfast for myself in the kitchen. I learned this recipe from Yuli in Sunset Village.
I opened my class schedule in the way Lin Nuo had taught me yesterday.
According to Penelope, since I had just enrolled, I could take a few days to adapt before attending classes.
However, I came here to sponge up skills, so I would definitely attend classes if there were any.
There weren't many arrangements for today, only two classes in total. One was Magic History, and the other was Practical Magic Spells.
I joined Sigret Academy as a mage, so I was naturally assigned to the magic academy, and the courses were basically all about magic.
I wasn't in a hurry with the swordsman courses. I could attend the swordsman academy's classes after I became familiar with Sigret.
After memorizing the classrooms for the two courses, I found the Magic History textbook from the pile of textbooks I received yesterday.
I flipped through it casually. It recorded the history of the evolution of magic on the Ailman Continent and some important major events.
Among them, I had an impression of the few events that the Demon King had experienced. When I looked through it, I had a feeling of time being dislocated.
Seeing Theodore's name again, I sighed and closed the book.
Looking at the time, it was almost time for class. I changed into the academy's short robe I had received and went out.
This time, I looked at the number in front of Xiao Bai's head before getting on. Sure enough, the Xiao Bais with gentler or more stable personalities had many students on them, unlike the previous number 44, where there was no one on the car and I was almost thrown up.
As soon as I got on the car, many eyes fell on me, with a hint of confusion and doubt. From time to time, a few small whispers entered my ears.
"Who is this? Why did he come out of Area A? Top student? Honor student? Why do I feel like I've never seen this person before?"
"I've never seen him either. Anyway, he can't be a top student. I've seen the top students of all six grades, and none of them look like this."
"Hiss... I think I saw this guy yesterday, and Senior Lin Nuo was with him. I asked around later, and it seems he just arrived at the academy."
"What? He just arrived at the academy? Then what was he doing for the first half of the semester? Does our academy allow being late for so long?"
"It's impossible, right? Last time, a noble wanted to delay his enrollment and was directly disqualified by the academy."
"Then this person can still be so late? What kind of identity does he have? Could he be another prince of some empire? Royalty?"
"I don't know..."
As the discussion grew more intense, the other students on the Xiao Bai looked at him with a hint of scrutiny.
Sigret Academy was famously tough. Even the princesses and princes of the empire couldn't get any special treatment here. Everything was based on grades and strength.
But now, a person who seemed to have special privileges appeared in front of them.
This not only made people's imaginations run wild, but the way they looked at me also became strange.
Me: .
Why do I feel like I'm going to cause a lot of talk on my first day of school?
...
Today was another sunny morning.
However, all the students in Class A of the first year had long faces, each holding a textbook and burying their heads in study.
Those who could be assigned to Class A were all students whose strength and grades ranked in the top 10% of the entire first year.
Among them were a few 'repeaters' who had studied for several years but still failed to advance to the second year.
Usually, these people were full of vigor, but today they were downcast, entirely because their teacher had informed them a few days ago that there would be two tests today, for the two courses today.
The tests were not a big deal. Every student in Class A was a genius, and at worst, they were 'geniuses' who had studied it once before. They were not afraid of a small test.
However, the problem lay here. The teacher of the teacher who taught them these two courses had returned and was said to have taken over the task of setting the exam questions.
The magic history teacher regretfully told them that the exam content had been expanded from the scope they had already taught to the entire book, and even included a lot of extracurricular knowledge.
Hearing this bad news, the students of Class A were already wailing. However, their teacher had to drop an even more terrible piece of news: the results of this test would affect their final grades for this semester.
If they failed, they might have to retake these two courses next semester, and the retake teacher would be directly replaced by their teacher's teacher.
That terrifying Professor Theresa!!!
For the sake of a bright future, the students of Class A could only bite the bullet and cram the entire textbook, trying to guess the scope of the questions set by Professor Theresa.
When I walked into Class A as indicated on the Te-xin, what I saw was a classroom covered in dark clouds.
I slowly raised a question mark. I paused at the door hesitantly, repeatedly confirming that the location on the Te-xin was correct before walking into this classroom.
What was going on? Why did the entire classroom look so dejected?
I looked around and my gaze fell on the figure sitting in the corner.
Demetrius, so my roommate was also a student in Class A?
As if sensing my gaze, Demetrius raised his head slightly, and his fluorescent green eyes hidden under his hair met mine.
Demetrius seemed stunned for a moment, then quickly lowered his head again, his aura contracting even more.
If one didn't look carefully in his direction, I would have really thought there was a small mushroom squatting there.
Hmm, my roommate doesn't seem to welcome me sitting over there.
I shrugged my shoulders, not minding the resistance Demetrius showed, and directly found an empty seat and sat down.
The person next to him was still burying his head in review, trying to cram at the last minute.
Feeling a weight beside him, he subconsciously turned his head to look. The moment he saw me, he blurted out a curse.
Me: ?
What's the meaning of this? Cursing as soon as he sees me?
Quinn's mind went blank for a moment. He呆呆admired the stunning beauty of the person next to him for a few seconds.
Seeing me look at him, he suddenly reacted, and Quinn covered his mouth and said sheepishly, "Sorry, sorry, I was just startled by someone appearing next to me. It's not directed at you!"
That's not it at all. He just felt that the person who sat down next to him was excessively good-looking.
The combination of those delicate features and smooth black hair was like that of a noble prince.
Although they were both wearing the same style of academy robe, when he compared himself to this person, he felt that he was inexplicably outshined.
Quinn was a little embarrassed. He turned his gaze back to the textbook in front of him and repeatedly hypnotized himself in his heart:
Concentrate on studying, concentrate on studying. If I don't pass this test, I'll have to retake it next semester. Even if a super beautiful stranger is sitting next to me...
Eh? A super beautiful stranger is sitting next to me?
Quinn turned his head in surprise again and looked at me, repeatedly confirming that this person was definitely not a student of their Class A, at least he had never seen him before.
It had been more than half a semester since school started. Even if they weren't familiar, he had at least memorized all his classmates.
How could someone he didn't know suddenly appear and sit next to him?
Quinn looked around. Everyone around him was concentrating on reviewing, afraid of not passing this test.
No one noticed that there was an extra beautiful stranger here.
He quietly raised his magic history book, covering the lower half of his face, and leaned closer to me, asking in a whisper:
"Beau—no, bro, you didn't walk into the wrong classroom, did you? This is Class A."
I raised an eyebrow and also replied in a whisper: "No, I'm in Class A."
Quinn's eyes widened: "Huh? You're in Class A?"
This sound was a little louder than the whisper just now, so much so that the people around who heard Quinn's voice all turned their heads to look at their position with dissatisfaction, only to be stunned when their eyes fell on me.
Who's this?
Quinn also realized that his voice was a bit loud. He quickly put his hands together and shook them repeatedly at the people around him.
After expressing his apology, he looked at me again and continued in the same volume as before.
"Bro, don't joke around. It's been more than half a semester, how could I not recognize my classmates in Class A? You don't look like you're from our Class A at all!"
Quinn seemed to have figured something out and had a look of sudden realization, "Bro, you didn't come to audit the class, did you?"
Me: Hmm... how can it not be considered that?
Quinn mistook my silence as a tacit admission. He looked left and right and tugged at my sleeve. I subconsciously wanted to dodge, but I held back.
"Bro, you can audit the class any other time, but not today. We have a test in this class today. If you, a non-Class A student, get involved and fail the test, it will lower your final grade!"
Sigret encouraged students to audit classes, but the exams for audited classes were also included in the final grade.
A grade that was too low would affect the class assignment for the next year. If it was below the passing line, one would even be disqualified from entering the second year, and would have to repeat the first year even if their strength met the standard.
If it were an ordinary test, Quinn wouldn't have cared if the beautiful person took it or not. He wouldn't meddle in other people's business.
But this test's questions were personally set by Professor Theresa.
Not only would it be included in the final grade, but it was said that if the class average was too low, the entire class would be punished by that terrifying Professor Theresa!
For the sake of that pitiful average score, Quinn resisted the urge to continue looking at the beautiful person and 'kindly' reminded him.
I was stunned for a moment, "Test?"
Wait, there's a test? On my first class after enrolling? Isn't this progress a bit too fast?
Quinn nodded desperately: "Yeah, yeah, this test is really difficult. You should leave quickly. The test hasn't started yet, so if you leave now, you won't have to take it."
I hesitated for a moment. What he said seemed to be right.
Anyway, this was only my second day of enrollment. It was unreasonable to take an exam without even attending a single class.
Just as I was about to leave, a new quest popped up on the system panel.
[Sigret: Make a Stunning Debut (1)]
Description: You have successfully passed Sigret's strict entrance examination and entered the academy. However, many people question your ability to enter the academy. Now, you need a chance to make a stunning debut and show your strength to all those who question you: successfully pass two tests and achieve a stunning effect. 『Condition: More than 50 people are amazed by your results.』
Me: ?
I looked around and roughly counted. The entire Class A had about fifty people. More than fifty people would be amazed by my results?
Does that mean I have to get first place?