IRM Chapter 85

The results of the final exam came out very quickly. Professor Joseph received the wager of 40 gold coins the next day and, without hesitation, used it to buy a hardcover copy of [Encyclopedia of Magic Common Knowledge], requiring Ji Chi to copy it in its entirety during his second year at the Magic Academy.

At the opening ceremony of the following year, Evan received the reward belonging to the top student. He calmly pinned a magic crystal badge exclusive to the top student on the outside of his robe and continued to wear it for two years.

Evan’s achievement of top student honors was both unexpected and expected. As for the other three excellent mages, although their performance in the final evaluations wasn’t particularly eye-catching, at the start of the second school year, all four profession divisions of the Combat Academy experienced unprecedented turmoil.

First, Ji Chi appeared wearing the student robes of the Magic Academy, with a golden-yellow Engineer Academy badge gleaming beside the Magic Academy badge on his left chest. Under the disbelieving gazes of a group of young engineers, he stepped into the Engineer Academy located in the southeast corner of the Combat Academy.

He passed through the academy with a composed expression, two thick tomes tucked in the crook of his arm, clearly having just attended Magic Academy classes before rushing over to the Engineer Academy.

The structure of each profession academy was roughly the same. Without hesitation, Ji Chi went straight to the second-year teaching building—relying on his astounding achievement of being the only perfect score in the engineer entrance exam in fifty years, along with his persistent pestering of the Magic Headmaster, he had exceptionally been granted qualification to skip a grade while still auditing classes that year, and was even assigned to Engineer Class S.

If Ji Chi were the only special case, he could only be considered an outlier or a topic of conversation. People might enthusiastically discuss his unique experience for a long time, but then it would disappear like ripples in time, not affecting others who proceeded step by step at all.

But unfortunately, this was just the beginning.

Before the commotion at the Engineer Academy had subsided, the Summoner Academy also began to stir with waves of excitement.

Saintess Coralie, a human-demon hybrid, also gracefully walked over from the Magic Academy. Under the rejection and disgust of some summoners, she waved her slender hand, and several dark sorcerers stepped out from summoning arrays. Combined with Saintess Coralie’s original light magic, the powers of light and darkness spread and intertwined throughout the entire Summoner Academy, washing away all voices of jealousy and suspicion until they were completely clean.

At the same time, the Warrior Academy also welcomed an unprecedentedly petite warrior. The fair and tender young master mixed among a group of massive black tower-like mountains of muscle, looking like a bright red little chick.

On the day of warrior training class, the mountains of muscle formed a circle, bending down to curiously look down at the little chick, occasionally reaching out to poke at him.

The young master bristled, anger bursting forth in his eyes. His bright red hair was like raging flames, and the scorching temperature rose under others’ shocked gazes. The little chick transformed into a small fire dragon. Although his physique was slender, the perfect combination of magic and sword was unstoppable.

More than half of the profession divisions fell into chaos. Shock and rumors engulfed the remaining academies as well, like surging torrents, thunderously rolling over the consciousness of everyone who heard about it.

At this time, a rock-solid belief was shaken—

Could I really only study one profession?

Sometimes, thought was both the most solid and most fragile thing. What seemed like a solid colossus could be destroyed in just an instant.

Many people began to try setting aside their wands, bows and arrows, and potion bottles, picking up dreams they once regretted, and studying texts of other professions.

Many people began to properly examine their own talents, gradually discovering more possibilities originating from the depths of their souls.

At the entrance exam the following year, magic carrier pigeons traveled between the various academies, dropping off spotless white envelopes. On the top of the envelopes, badges of the various profession divisions were colorful and eye-catching.

According to incomplete statistics from the Combat Academy research office, within the Saint Trilley Empire, the number of test-takers surged threefold. The various profession academies expanded their enrollment, and the number of students admitted that year reached an unprecedented peak.

The fate of the Demon Sword Continent had finally completely derailed, vigorously charging toward an unknown direction.

In this year that would be written into the history books, Ji Chi simultaneously advanced to the third year of both the Magic Academy and the Engineer Academy. This was also his last year staying at the profession divisions.

On the second day after the third year began, as soon as Ji Chi finished his Magic Academy classes, he prepared another engineering text and walked out of the classroom together with Brandon.

Brandon stuffed his magic grimoire into his magic bag while taking out a gleaming sword to fasten at his waist, quickly keeping pace with Ji Chi’s steps.

A year of diligent training at the Warrior Academy had caused the young master’s height to shoot up significantly, breaking through the curse-like average height of one meter seventy for mages, heading straight toward one meter eighty.

During this time, Ji Chi had also gradually grown into a handsome and slender young man. Although his bearing still carried a trace of the lingering scholarly frailty of mages, it only added a tranquil and refined air.

At this moment, he was like a verdant bamboo beside a small mountain stream—slender yet resilient.

Brandon’s warrior training class today coincided with Ji Chi’s engineering class, and the two academies weren’t far apart, so the two of them walked side by side toward the academy gates.

The young master’s speed had improved considerably now. Without Ji Chi needing to accommodate him, he could easily keep pace, and even had energy to spare to turn around and walk backwards for a bit.

“What has Evan been up to lately? Why do I feel like he’s rushing around every day, even busier than us people taking two types of classes…” The young master, relying on Ji Chi to watch the road, walked backwards while admiring the increasingly distant teaching building.

Ji Chi reached out and pulled him, preventing him from stepping over a dwarf mage in front of them. “He’s probably busy with matters related to being top student. Headmaster Harvey really likes him. After only mentoring him for a year, now he pushes all troublesome matters onto him. It’s only because Evan has such a good temper that he can tolerate it.”

The young master showed a sympathetic expression. “Then he’s got his work cut out for him, especially this year. I see quite a few students from other professions have also come to the Magic Academy. They definitely need to be managed.”

Ji Chi nodded in agreement.

As the young master walked, he suddenly saw the Church of Light in the distance, which revealed a desolate air. He abruptly turned around, his sword at his waist nearly sweeping into Ji Chi. “Hey, do you still remember that Gladiolus Guild from over a year ago?”

“Mm, they didn’t come looking for you afterward, did they?” Ji Chi remembered very clearly the scene of the suicide bombing in the royal palace.

Brandon shook his head. “No, it seems I became the first person they actively spared.”

“However, they were quiet for a long time after assassinating me, only recently becoming active again. And now, besides kingdom nobles, they have another target.” Brandon raised his chin toward the direction of the church. “The Church has also been added to the list of those to be purged.”

This was the first time Ji Chi had heard this news, and he was somewhat surprised. “Aren’t most of the Church’s believers also commoners? Isn’t the Gladiolus Guild afraid of internal conflict?”

The young master pursed his lips. “The premise of faith is that it brings benefits or hope. The Church suffered too heavy losses at the Demon King’s Castle, and with the royal family taking advantage to suppress them, now they’re doing well just to maintain normal operations. Naturally, they won’t give commoners extra ‘divine gifts.’ Over time, commoners would rather do some work to earn an extra piece of black bread than listen to lengthy sermons.”

The young master sighed as he spoke, looking like he had seen through the world with a weathered appearance. “So you see, this is reality…”

“Yes, reality inevitably involves worldly desires.” Ji Chi also put his hands behind his back and sighed. “For example, before a certain someone discovered Saintess Coralie’s true identity, he was also a devout believer of the Church of Light.”

“Ahhh! Stop talking!” The young master remembered his youthfully ignorant past, his face flushing red. He bared his teeth and waved his claws, trying to pounce forward and strangle Ji Chi’s neck, but suddenly stopped halfway through his lunge.

He was very close to Ji Chi at this moment. His hands dropped powerlessly as he said softly, “For over a year now, my father has never given up investigating the Gladiolus Guild, but he’s only caught a few insignificant ordinary people. He can’t find any trace of Princess Catherine at all… Or rather, all traces associated with her have been erased by someone.”

“But a few days ago, my father happened to be near a murdered bishop. He rushed to the scene immediately and sensed…” The young master’s long eyelashes trembled, and his throat caught for a moment. “The aura of a magic array.”

“He said he had never seen that kind of array before. If he had arrived just a few minutes later, the magic array would have erased all information. The mage who drew the array must be a very talented person.”

Ji Chi’s spine stiffened, and he turned to look at Brandon, waves surging in his eyes.

Brandon walked several steps to the side and turned his face away. “After that, I told them not to investigate further. After all, the Gladiolus Guild’s target won’t be me anymore, right?”

Ji Chi opened his mouth, not knowing what to say. He simply pressed his lips together and silently accompanied him as they walked.

Before long, the two had arrived near the Engineer Academy. Brandon still had his face turned to the side, silently gazing in another direction.

Ji Chi stopped at the academy entrance and, after thinking for a moment, said to him, “Don’t overthink things for now. Perhaps there’s some hidden reason we don’t know about.”

The young master made a dazed sound, still staring in that direction, and said involuntarily, “I don’t think I’m overthinking. I’m just saying that person really looks like you…”

For a moment, Ji Chi couldn’t follow his train of thought. Utterly confused, he followed his gaze and looked over. His face immediately darkened. “Oh, so that’s the girl you said looked very much like me?”

The young master nodded heavily, then realized what he’d said and explained with an awkward laugh, “Well, it’s just that the figure is somewhat similar, so I couldn’t help comparing. Once I see her face clearly, I’ll realize… Whoa! That IS you!”

The moment the young woman’s face came into view, Brandon’s eyes widened, and he suddenly turned to look at Ji Chi!

Not far away, the young woman’s features were serene and delicate. Her snow-white skin was smooth and tender, and her jet-black short curly hair was docilely framed on both sides of her cheeks, drawing quite a few astonished compliments from passersby.

Brandon would never forget that face for the rest of his life. He grabbed Ji Chi’s sleeve tightly and murmured as if sleepwalking, “So that day I was dreaming, and you never went to Fren Desert at all…”

Ji Chi coldly interrupted him. “Wake up. You’re the one dreaming now. That day, you were facing me, your whole face flushed beyond belief, comparable to when you faced Saintess Coralie. Mm-hmm, that’s right, just like how you look now.”

The young woman spotted the two of them standing at the academy entrance. Her steps turned, and she walked toward them with an unhurried gait. The young master’s face rapidly flushed red again, and his hands and feet flailed about uncontrollably, as if searching for an appropriate position to settle them.

However, the young woman directly ignored and passed him, stopping in front of Ji Chi and raising a faint smile. “Ji Chi.”

Surprise flashed through Ji Chi’s eyes, and he also smiled at her. “Long time no see, Chloe.”

For the first time, the young master was ignored by someone, and by someone with the face he’d been longing for day and night at that. Dissatisfied, he hummed and whined, asking Ji Chi, “You two… know each other?”

Ji Chi couldn’t explain Chloe’s identity well, so he just nodded in response. “Mm, she’s a friend I know.”

The young master puffed out his cheeks. “So in the desert, you were disguised to look like her? How could you do something so discourteous! What if you accidentally got wanted? Wouldn’t she be in danger then!”

Ji Chi couldn’t help but click his tongue. “I don’t mind you worrying about her, but won’t you worry even a little about why I would be wanted?”

The young master looked back at him innocently, his face saying, Is it surprising that you’d be wanted?

“Is it surprising that you’d be wanted?” Chloe said in a flat tone. Just as the young master’s face lit up, thinking he’d found a kindred spirit, she continued, “This is information Chloe scanned from his facial expression.”

After thinking for a moment, Chloe added, “This is the most easily recognizable expression Chloe has seen among humans.”

For a moment, Ji Chi didn’t know whether Chloe was stating a fact or joking. He laughed dryly a couple of times. “You’re not wrong…”

Chloe also seriously looked at Ji Chi for two seconds. Her rose-petal-pink tender lips parted slightly. “Ha ha, Chloe is joking.”

Ji Chi: “…” What exactly have you been learning this past year?

“Chloe~~~ let’s go to the classroom together! You definitely don’t know where the third-year classroom is, right? No worries, I’ll take you there~” An affected voice came from the distance, making both Ji Chi and Brandon frown involuntarily.

The two simultaneously raised their eyes to look. Under the sunlight, a section of silvery-gray braid bounced and swayed. Linton ran forward with a face full of delight. When he saw the two male figures, his tone suddenly dropped. “Ah, what are you looking for Chloe for? You are…”

He saw Ji Chi and raised his eyebrows. “Oh, it’s you! I didn’t expect to run into you here. I was planning to give you a surprise in the classroom!” 

Before Ji Chi could guess what the surprise was, Linton blurted it out first. “That’s right! I also skipped a grade, hahahaha!” As he spoke, he dissatisfiedly tapped Ji Chi’s shoulder with his fist. “You didn’t tell me about it back then either. When I came to the academy, I was shocked—one person can actually study so many professions! And it’s someone I know! Too bad I didn’t know how to contact your communication device…”

Ji Chi watched his regretful expression and narrowed his eyes.

“Otherwise you could sell communication information for gold coins, right?” Ji Chi and Chloe said simultaneously.

“Haha, Chloe, you still understand me so well~” Linton laughed twice, then turned to proudly pat Ji Chi while saying to Chloe, “Let me introduce you. This is that Ji Chi from the Magic Academy. Don’t be fooled by how he looks—he’s actually—”

“Chloe knows.” Chloe nodded and interrupted him. After pondering for a moment, she also imitated him and showed off a proud, comparing expression. “He’s actually—”

Ji Chi sensed something was wrong and hurriedly stopped her. “Don’t say any more!”

Chloe: “—Chloe’s master.”

Linton & Brandon: “???”