IRM Chapter 26

“Who are you? What right do you have to meddle in our affairs!” Before Ji Chi could speak, the young mages from Class S beside him became angry first.

 

Anyone who could become a mage in Magic Academy’s Class S was a one-in-ten-thousand genius. Being cursed with death out of nowhere wouldn’t make anyone happy. Of course, part of their anger also stemmed from his slander against Professor Joseph.

 

Although the old man was unsympathetic, strict, irritable, and nagging, he was indeed a very dedicated and responsible teacher. The young mages in the class could complain together, but it was absolutely not others’ place to criticize him!

 

The man sneered and ignored them, only staring straight at Ji Chi. “Don’t say I didn’t warn you. Joseph is a cursed person. By his side, the more talented you are, the worse your fate will be… especially someone like you who fantasizes about changing destiny!”

 

After saying this, he walked out of the tent without looking back, completely ignoring the furious young mages behind him.

 

“What kind of person is that! Who does he think he is? Even the headmaster doesn’t meddle that much!”

 

“No… the headmaster still meddles quite a lot. I saw a few days ago that his newly grown hair fell out again.”

 

“…You make a good point.”

 

Ji Chi quietly watched his departing figure, his heart unmoved. Only after the tent flap blocked the outside light did he turn his head and ask Madam Emma, “Do you know who he is?”

 

A faint worry covered Madam Emma’s face. “Sigh, this matter isn’t really a secret… His name is Antoine. Years ago, he was also Joseph’s student, also a very talented child. However, after that accident, his right eye could never see again, and his magic training fell into neglect. He blamed all of this on Joseph.”

 

“Why? What was that accident?”

 

Emma sighed. “Joseph used to have a child named Vincent. He was the same age as Antoine, and they studied together under Joseph’s guidance. They were very good friends. Vincent was extremely intelligent – he became a Junior Mage at twelve years old. But like you… he didn’t like magic and was instead obsessed with potions.”

 

Ji Chi frowned.

 

Emma looked deeply at Ji Chi as she continued, “At that time, Joseph was a very open-minded father. He encouraged Vincent and let him do what he loved. But soon, an accident happened. An explosion occurred while Vincent was developing potions, and the entire house burst into flames in an instant. Vincent could have escaped, but Antoine, who was also in the house, was injured in the eyes by the explosion. In severe pain, he couldn’t see the way and couldn’t cast magic… In the end, Vincent saved him from the fire but was buried inside himself.”

 

“So all these years, Antoine has been hating Joseph, hating why he allowed Vincent to study potions. At first, he only complained, but later, somehow, many talented children that Joseph had taught met with accidents. This gave Antoine a reason for his hatred – he believed Joseph was cursed by a demon, and he’s been hating him ever since.”

 

After hearing this, Ji Chi finally understood why Joseph so detested him learning skills from other professions.

 

Perhaps it wasn’t detestation, but fear.

 

But this didn’t prove anything. Ji Chi could see everyone’s status, and Joseph’s head was completely clean without a trace of debuff. So the demon’s curse was complete nonsense.

 

As for those talented individuals who met with accidents, if one really wanted to investigate, it should be examined from Joseph’s luck or the degree to which the geniuses courted death.

 

Just like Reize, who would risk his life when going crazy – this type of genius was particularly prone to dying.

 

The young mages nearby listened to the past events with tearful eyes, their tender, watery little faces turning toward Ji Chi. “Classmate Ji Chi, you should just study magic properly from now on. How sad Professor Joseph must be with you acting like this!”

 

Ji Chi glanced down at them. “Then why can’t it be that I achieve great accomplishments in other professions to prove that Professor Joseph did nothing wrong and isn’t cursed?”

 

The young mages were stunned. “Ah, that’s true too… wait, no, don’t change the subject!”

 

Madam Emma had been quite sentimental talking about the past, but now she was amused by them. “Alright, alright. I think if you can’t complete your missions, Professor Joseph will be even more heartbroken.”

 

The young mages suddenly came to their senses, their faces panicked as they grabbed mission slips and ran outside with loud shouts.

 

After accepting his mission, Ji Chi didn’t delay either. He bid farewell to Madam Emma and left the mission board area thoughtfully.

 

When the mission board area was empty and the noisy voices had gradually faded away, Madam Emma sighed softly again and said, “Why not try believing in him once? You should free yourself from this too.”

 

The air behind her rippled, and wisps of breeze scattered, revealing Joseph’s silent, upright figure.

 

Joseph stared expressionlessly in the direction Ji Chi had left, shallow tears glimmering in his eyes. He snorted heavily and cursed, “What’s the use of fine words! Let him prove it first!”

 

Madam Emma’s gentle smile froze.

 

Damn it, with that terrible temper of yours, you deserve to be scolded every day!

 

Ji Chi had spent quite a bit of time accepting missions. When he came to gather with his teammates outside the camp, the bears had already transformed back into orc form, flicking their ears as they chatted with the young mages.

 

But looking at the three young mages’ somewhat collapsed expressions and the bears’ completely innocent faces, this conversation must have been filled with difficulties beyond ordinary people’s imagination…

 

Evan noticed Ji Chi from the corner of his eye and quickly turned to wave. “Why did it take so long? Did you encounter any difficulties?”

 

Brandon finally escaped from the bear language conversation, his dazed little eyes immediately sparkling. “Was it because all the missions were too difficult to choose from? No problem! Just pick the most difficult one! With me, Brandon, here, everything’s a small matter!”

 

Saintess Coralie glanced at Ji Chi but said nothing, only lowering her head again, staring blankly as she twirled the Glowing Flower in her hand, not knowing what she was thinking. Ever since she arrived here, her mood had been consistently low. She was quiet, but definitely not the kind of quiet she had pretended to be before – this difference was apparent to both Ji Chi and Evan.

 

Ji Chi secretly refreshed his transparent mission panel, but the hidden mission still hadn’t appeared. Somewhat disappointed, he closed it and handed out the mission slip in his hand. “I chose the same mission as Bill’s – subjugating Night Demons.”

 

Bill was delighted to hear this. “Perfect! I can teach you how to hunt them!”

 

Ji Chi nodded in thanks. “Then we’ll be counting on you.”

 

After saying this, he turned to Evan and the others. “I looked at the mission board and memorized all the E-rank and above missions. We can complete the higher-level missions first, then directly exchange for S-rank ones at the end. This saves us from running back and forth.”

 

Evan looked at him with surprise. “That would certainly be best, but with so many missions, you memorized them all?”

 

Ji Chi nodded.

 

What a joke! What’s the difference between a holographic online game without screenshot function and 4399? Look at this screenshot I took – it’s even 3D!

 

Ji Chi projected the photos onto his panel and began reciting emotionlessly. His gaze passed through the panel that others couldn’t see, looking emptily and profoundly into the distance, appearing particularly scholarly.

 

Bill and his three brothers were shocked.

 

The bears couldn’t understand how any creature could recite so many words without missing a single one!

 

The other young mages weren’t particularly surprised. They needed to memorize far more incantations than missions, which were also more difficult and obscure. Good memory had almost become an entry requirement for mages.

 

After hearing all the missions, the four young mages discussed and tried to overlap their missions with those of the orc warriors.

 

By the time everything was settled, the sunset’s glow had enveloped the camp, making the already ominous Dark Night Forest appear even more profound and dangerous.

 

And the coming deep night was the hunting time for dark creatures, as well as the battlefield for trainees to subjugate them.

 

At this time, compared to other training teams’ caution and walking on thin ice, Ji Chi’s small team’s style was obviously wrong.

 

Bill roared. “Roaaaaar, charge! Kill them!”

 

Second brother bellowed. “Chop off their heads!”

 

Third brother yelled. “Watch me flatten them with one hammer!”

 

Fourth brother… Fourth brother panicked. “Ah ah ah, he’s throwing up again, what do we do?!”

 

Before coming to Dark Night Forest, the most bloody thing young master Brandon had ever seen was his pinky being scratched by a gem embedded in a chair. Now unfolding before him was flying flesh and broken bones, blood and internal organs sharing the same color.

 

The young master was nearly exhausted.

 

Before this training began, he had lived in a verdant, flower-blooming manor, often fantasizing about one day becoming a respected battle mage!

 

He would carry the glory of the Elliott family, raise his eyes for a baptism of fire, wave his hand for a domain of fire, and all enemies before him would burn with fear in the flames!

 

However, in the young master’s fantasies, there was only his own heroic figure, not the cruelty of blood and flesh.

 

Now he couldn’t care about embarrassment or impropriety, crouching behind a tree with his little eyes fixed on Saintess Coralie, wanting to use her holy and serene face to wash away the filth before his eyes.

 

Saintess Coralie secretly rolled her eyes. “Tsk.”

 

How could these mages be more useless than the last?

 

She stepped forward a few paces, her slender, pale fingers resting on the wand at her waist. After all these years, she had finally returned here. Originally, she didn’t want to cause more trouble, but the familiar environment constantly stimulated her to reveal her true nature.

 

She couldn’t hold back anymore.

 

Saintess Coralie suddenly grinned, and in her face illuminated half-bright and half-dark by light elements, a trace of malicious madness flashed.

 

Ji Chi and Evan sensed something wrong and both turned back, looking at the young master with pity.

 

The young master noticed their gazes and, misunderstanding something, shakily supported himself up and said stubbornly, “With me watching over Saintess Coralie, you can rest assured. I won’t let her get hurt! Saintess Coralie, don’t be afraid either, I’m here~”

 

Saintess Coralie raised her lips upon hearing this, turned to look at him, and said gently and softly, “Thank you. I’m not afraid. I was just thinking… we can’t push all the missions onto our warrior friends. After all, our purpose in coming here is to train and improve ourselves, isn’t it?”

 

Brandon basked in the saintess’s gentle and merciful gaze, his eyes slightly rippling. “Yes, yes, that’s exactly right…”

 

Saint Coralie smiled at him, then suddenly said in a ghostly tone, “But do you know how humans survive in the Dark Night Forest?”

 

“I can tell you – it’s to kill all creatures before they hunt you!”

 

As Saintess Coralie spoke, she raised her wand high, and a large amount of light magic power flowed from within her body along her slender arm to gather at her fingertips, finally condensing at the tip of her staff.

 

Brandon felt something was wrong with Saintess Coralie before him. He gave a nervous fake laugh and weakly reminded, “I, I think Evan has already made the surroundings bright enough…”

 

Saintess Coralie laughed heartily. “Far from enough!”

 

As soon as her words fell, an extremely dazzling beam of light shot up from her wand, piercing through layers of darkness and erecting a very conspicuous light beacon in this eternal night forest!

 

Seeing this, Ji Chi handed several recovery potions to Evan, who was still maintaining magic output. “Get ready. Don’t save on potions, and don’t think about protecting us. Everyone will be fine.”

 

Ji Chi squinted his eyes with pleasure, like the first time he had started running in a holographic game. “Then, enjoy the battle!”

 

The light pillar lasted only about ten seconds. The forest, which had become pitch black again, fell silent for a moment, then various roars from unknown creatures rang out, converging on them from all directions.

 

The trainees scattered around the forest’s perimeter looked in horror at the light pillar that had flashed and disappeared, unable to believe their eyes.

 

“Who was that! Are they crazy? How dare they emit such strong light at night!”

 

“Which light mage wants to die should just say so directly! Quick, let’s get away from that place!”

 

Brandon was stunned, looking at Saintess Coralie as if he didn’t recognize her. “Why, why…”

 

Saintess Coralie turned around to face him, her light blue eyes flashing with amazing brilliance. “Have you ever experienced the pleasure of activating all your potential in that instant before death?”

 

She smiled at the dazed Brandon. “Believe me, it’s much more interesting than enjoying afternoon tea in the garden.”

 

The young master was bewitched by such madness. He swallowed and tightened his grip on his wand, looking back at the bloody battlefield, suddenly showing a trace of longing in his eyes.

 

He had been protected too well, even forgetting his childhood dream of slaying dragons.

 

Brandon looked at the delighted and expectant Saintess Coralie, actually feeling that this expression suited her better. “Alright, I want to fight together!”

 

“Haha, good!” Bill laughed heartily and wildly. They hadn’t had such an exhilarating battle in a long time. “You just focus on singing! We’ll block for you!”

 

Brandon took time to turn back, angrily correcting, “It’s called incanting! Incanting!”

 

Ji Chi smiled and glanced at them, then took out a pitch-black longsword from his backpack. This sword was polished from hard obsidian, its lustrous glow low-key and restrained. Although its quality was only epic, this sword had accompanied him the longest because he liked its name – [Struggle].

 

Evan glanced at the sword in his hand but said nothing, only softly reminding, “Be very careful.”

 

Ji Chi nodded, raised his sword, and walked to stand beside the four orc warriors, protecting the three fragile mages behind them together.

 

Fourth brother inadvertently looked down and saw him, exclaiming, “How did you run to the front? Quick, hide in the back… eh? You use a sword? You’re such a strange mage, haha!”

 

His booming voice attracted Brandon’s attention. He looked at the slender back of the young man in front in shock, anxiously reminding, “Ji Chi, are you crazy! This isn’t the academy! With your small frame blocking the front is very dangerous!”

 

Saintess Coralie was listening to the sounds of magical beasts approaching at this time. Disturbed by him, she said impatiently, “Why the hell do you care so much? Stand steady yourself first!”

 

The young master angrily turned back. “I’m just showing concern…” He looked behind Saintess Coralie and suddenly weakened, asking in a trembling voice. “Who was just cursing at me…”

 

Behind Saintess Coralie was the pitch-black forest. If it wasn’t her cursing, this would be very scary, but if it really was her cursing… it might be even scarier.

 

Unfortunately, the result was what the young master feared most.

 

Saintess Coralie made no attempt to hide it. “Why so much nonsense? If nonsense could kill people, even the God of Light wouldn’t be your match!”

 

Young master: ???

 

Saintess Coralie: “Why are you still standing there like an idiot? Being a fragrant piece of useless pastry?”

 

Young master: TvT

 

Seeing this, Evan sympathetically patted Brandon’s shoulder. “You’ll get used to it…”

 

“Be careful, they’re coming.” The roars of magical beasts gradually drew near. Ji Chi gripped his sword tightly and warned aloud.