Chapter 450: Absence (4)
Spring. The season when sunlight gently caresses the earth and rain-kissed sprouts peek out from the soil.
It was a time of fresh starts, and for Stella Academy, it marked the beginning of another academic year brimming with possibility.
Around this time, most freshmen arrived with starry-eyed dreams of campus life.
Visions of cherry blossoms painting the grounds in shades of pink, carefree afternoons spent reading on sunlit hills, stolen glances with a crush during lectures, and dazzling fireworks illuminating the floating city of Arcanium at night danced in their minds.
... Only to wake up from this dream within three weeks of the semester.
Whether they cared to know or not, the freshmen quickly learned why Stella Academy was hailed as the most prestigious institution of magic.
While other schools might start the semester with orientations or ice-breaking sessions, Stella had no such nonsense.
Instead, students were thrown into the Stella Dome for intensive combat training right away.
Bodies ached, breaths grew ragged, and just when the exhausted students thought they'd earned some reprieve, they were buried under mountains of homework no sane person could possibly complete.
Desperate cries of "Do they think I only have their class?!" echoed through the dormitories.
The professors, however, remained unfazed. Instead, they laughed and declared, "Cursing won't help without spells! Starting today, we'll master practical curse magic—and you can expect twice the assignments!"