Chemical balance

Fang Yasi stood at the school gate, pulling her suitcase, feeling anxious.

There are many people like her who carry lots of bags but look and dress differently from students. Instead, they look more like people in society or teachers. Some of them have been away from campus for a long time and act like a dean of studies.

There is only one reason why they are gathered at the gate of this school at this moment - they were tested to have innate "magic circuits", received admission letters, and came here to study.

If someone had told her half a month ago that he would give up a great job, drag his luggage to a strange city on the seventh day of the Lunar New Year when he hadn't even finished his annual leave, and learn magic from scratch, Fang Yasi would have thought that this person was crazy - it was already this old age, and there were still people who believed in such feudal and superstitious things.

I can only say that the world is truly amazing.

Fang Yasi couldn't help but let out a sigh of emotion and looked down at the electronic admission letter on the phone screen.

Dear Fang Yasi,

Approved by the competent department of the Education Department of Province S, you are now admitted to our school to study in the Alchemy and Philosophy major of the School of Magic. Please report to the school with this notice. For specific time and place, please refer to the "New Student Admission Guide".

——Penglai College, February 10, 2024

Compared to the paper admission letter I received in college, the electronic admission letter nowadays seems a bit perfunctory. But I can accept this. After all, it has only been less than eight days since the national test, which is really ridiculously fast.

There are currently 127 magic schools in the country, and S Province has five of them. This is due to the fact that S Province has a much higher number of innate "magic circuit" owners than other provinces. Fang Yasi is studying at Penglai College, one of the five magic colleges in S Province, located in Y City.

The last time I went back to school was five years ago, not to mention that the next thing I would study was a field of magic that I had never been exposed to before.

Fang Ya Si took a deep breath, gripped the suitcase handle tightly, and stepped into the campus with a nervous heart.

What comes into view is the small bridges and flowing water full of Jiangnan charm. The red and white teaching buildings are scattered among the green. There is no trace of winter. It is full of vitality and beautiful.

Putting aside the out-of-season plants, every detail, whether it is the buildings or the floor tiles, looks brand new, and it is obvious that they were built not long ago.

It is said that the predecessor of the academy was originally a branch of a provincial university. It was built for two years but had not yet been put into use. It happened to coincide with the revival of magic power, so it was naturally converted into a magic academy by the government.

The air was filled with the faint scent of wintersweet. For some reason, the air inside the school seemed to be much fresher than outside. With every breath, the dirt in the body seemed to leave the body with the exhalation, and the whole person suddenly felt a lot more relaxed.

Fang Yasi didn't know that this was because there was a spirit gathering array inside the school and a barrier outside the school, which made the concentration of magic power inside the school several times higher than outside. For people like Fang Yasi who already had the conditions to use magic, they were more sensitive to magic power than ordinary people, and it was easier for them to absorb magic power into their bodies without knowing it and complete the initial accumulation of magic power.

The lightness of her body and the comfortable environment gradually eased Fang Yasi's tension. She walked leisurely on the main road of the school, bypassing the library and the auditorium, and on the open square near the basketball court, dozens of tables were arranged in two rows, with huge banners with the names of various majors hanging above them. Young people dressed like counselors stood under the banners, looking into the distance or talking to the students who were lined up in front of the tables one by one.

The school opening scene that was almost identical to her memory made Fang Yasi's last bit of unfamiliarity disappear. She couldn't help but smile, searched among the banners for a moment, and quickly found her major.

"Hello, I'm a freshman majoring in Alchemy and Philosophy." Fang Yasi said as she handed her ID card and electronic admission letter to the person sitting behind the desk - he looked to be no more than eighteen or nineteen years old, gentle and handsome, wearing black-framed glasses, and looked like an ordinary freshman.

"I'm your tutor Jiang Bowen, you can call me Teacher Jiang." Jiang Bowen took the ID handed over by Fang Yasi and said as he checked it.

She is really a tutor! She looks too young!

Fang Ya Si muttered to herself, but she didn't dare to underestimate Jiang Bowen.

Those who can be selected to become tutors at the magic academy are either official staff or people who have been exposed to magic in advance. Jiang Bowen is more like the latter. Being able to become a tutor at such a young age is obviously not an easy role.

Fang Yasi immediately called out respectfully, "Teacher Jiang."

Jiang Bowen's mouth curled up slightly, revealing a barely perceptible smug smile. He quickly processed Fang Yasi's admissions procedures, while saying, "Wait here for a while. When your roommate arrives, I'll take you to the dormitory."

"Okay." Fang Ya Si nodded.

Soon, three young people arrived with large and small bags. Since the dormitory was assigned according to the order of arrival, the three of them automatically became Fang Yasi's roommates.

"I'll take you to the dormitory now." Jiang Bowen said as he stood up and motioned the four to follow him.

As soon as Jiang Bowen left his seat, a staff member immediately took over. Like Jiang Bowen, the other person did not look very old, and was even younger than Jiang Bowen.

Could it be that our teacher is also a minor?

Fang Ya Si said in her heart.

The five of them walked towards the dormitory deep in the campus, one after the other, with Jiang Bowen's voice explaining constantly ringing in their ears.

"The building complex on the left is the teaching building, and the independent small building on the right is the laboratory. All your alchemy experiments will be conducted here." Jiang Bowen said, "Let me make it clear in advance that you are not allowed to take anything out of the laboratory. If you violate school rules, you will be expelled immediately. There will be no room for maneuver."

"So strict?" One of Fang Yasi's roommates stuck out his tongue in surprise.

"The materials used in alchemy experiments are all dangerous. Once taken out, it is very likely to cause irreversible consequences." Jiang Bowen said in a serious tone: "What you are learning is magic, which is a completely new field that humans have never touched before. You must be extremely careful with every step."

"But Mr. Jiang, you are so clear about these procedures." Another roommate exclaimed: "It's like I used to go to school here."

Jiang Bowen smiled and said, "I know this because I am also the teacher of this course."

"Eh?" The four were surprised: "Aren't you the instructor?"

"The school was short of staff in the early days, there was nothing we could do." Jiang Bowen shrugged, a little helpless.

All of the more than 700 students in the South Island training class were recruited as temporary teachers, and even the work of "Babel Tower" had to be suspended. But for the 127 colleges and universities that were eager to recruit talents, these 750 students were really a drop in the bucket.

Jiang Bowen was too embarrassed to tell the four students in front of him that he was not only a teacher of alchemy and philosophy courses, but also the vice president of the branch school. In fact, most teachers in the school also served as counselors. The reason was simple: in the future, students would definitely have good combat effectiveness after learning magic. The counselors who were responsible for handling the daily affairs of the students must have high combat effectiveness.

However, currently those who know magic have basically already served as teachers of various subjects. After repeated discussions, we finally decided that we would have to ask them to take on multiple roles temporarily.

It's simply exploitation!

Jiang Bowen couldn't help but sigh in his heart, pointing to the playground on the left and said, "There will be a freshman meeting at 1 pm. I will notify you to gather in advance. Remember to check the class group for messages."

"Got it." The four heads nodded obediently.

...

The girls' dormitory is a pink six-story building. Judging from its appearance, it is not much different from the university dormitories that Fang Yasi has in mind, except that it is a little newer.

But when she stepped into the dormitory, Fang Yasi finally understood what "a different world" meant.

The public areas full of design, such as the hotel lobby, should be enough to surprise every student. But the moment the dormitory door is opened, no matter how gorgeous the decoration is, it seems insignificant.

——Before opening the door, Fang Yasi was still worried about the dormitory door that was too close. Considering the area of ​​the dormitory and the number of rooms in a row in the corridor, the space allocated to each dormitory was barely enough for a bathroom. But as the door opened, Fang Yasi realized how narrow-minded she was.

The interior is actually an extremely spacious "apartment". Each person has a separate room, a shared living room and bathroom, and even a fully equipped kitchen!

Fang Ya Si rubbed her eyes in disbelief, took a step back and walked out of the room, opened her arms, gestured the distance between the dormitory doors, then stepped back into the dormitory and opened her arms again.

Her freely stretched arms told her that this was not a dream.

“This, this…”

"Don't doubt it, what you see is real. The dormitory uses space overlapping technology to expand your dormitory rooms to the greatest extent without affecting the overall floor area of ​​the dormitory. You will learn about space overlapping technology in the second semester." Jiang Bowen said, "I have something else to do. After you have sorted out the dormitory, you can make your own arrangements. I will notify you before the meeting in the afternoon."

After saying that, he hurriedly left the dormitory, leaving behind four faces looking at each other in shock and confusion.

"...Am I dreaming?" After a long time, someone murmured.

Fang Ya Si raised her hand and pinched her face hard.

"Hiss!" She frowned suddenly: "It hurts so much!"

It was only then that Fang Yasi finally had a clear understanding of the changes in the world - this world is no longer based on science, and everything that once appeared only in movies has now become a reality. At this moment, she has entered this mysterious world with magic as its core, and will start a year of study here.

The four of them stared at each other for a long time before someone chuckled first. Then the laughter spread to everyone's face like magic.

The original unfamiliarity and awkwardness seemed insignificant under the impact of magic, and the surprise of seeing the new world made the four of them feel close to each other unknowingly.

"My name is Fang Yasi." Fang Yasi took the initiative to introduce herself. "I'm 28 years old this year. If nothing unexpected happens, I should be the oldest person in our dormitory."

The girl next to Fang Yasi smiled shyly: "My name is Qian Nan, I'm nineteen this year."

"At your age... you should be a freshman, right?"

Qian Nan nodded and reported the name of a well-known top university.

Everyone was shocked: "What about your student status?"

"I have discussed with the school and they can keep my student status. I can go back to school after I graduate. But..." Qian Nan pursed her lips: "If possible, I want to continue studying here."

"But you got into B University?" Another roommate didn't understand: "That's B University. It would be a shame to give up like this, right?"

"My parents insisted that I study literature, but I don't like it." Qian Nan tidied her hair and said, "I had already made up my mind that if I couldn't change my major, I would drop out and take the college entrance examination again."

Speaking of this, Qian Nan's eyes sparkled with bright light: "I have loved magic and alchemy since I was a child. I never thought that one day I would actually be able to learn these."

"Isn't this great?" Fang Yasi, who has experienced this, smiled and said, "It is a very happy thing to be able to study the major you like."

Qian Nan nodded vigorously.

The other two roommates also introduced themselves. One was called Chen Mengxuan and the other was called Ran Jiao, and they were about the same age as Qian Nan.

Chen Mengxuan was a very lively girl. She blinked at the three of them and said mysteriously, "Do you know who the principal of our school is?"

"What?" The three of them showed curious expressions.

Chen Mengxuan snorted complacently: "According to gossip, our principal is only seventeen years old this year!"

"This..." Fang Ya Si couldn't help but laugh bitterly: "I was thinking before that our counselor is so young, it can't be that even the teacher is a young man, I didn't expect that even the principal is like this."

If Fang Yasi didn't know that this school was a public school with extremely strict examinations and that not everyone with a "magic circuit" was eligible to attend, she would probably have had deep doubts about the legitimacy of the school.

"Don't underestimate our school's principal. I heard from my aunt's neighbor's niece's husband's sister that although our principal is young, many of our school's teachers came from his staff!"

"Is this true?" everyone asked in shock.

"What kind of people are our teachers?" Ran Jiao held up her chin with a dreamy look on her face. "I can't imagine that there are people who can actually use magic. Do you think they are as powerful as Voldemort?"

"Harry Potter is a work of literature. No matter how powerful they are, they can't be as exaggerated as described in the novel, right?" Fang Ya Si said without hesitation.

——But Fang Yasi soon realized that her understanding of the world was still too superficial.

...

At one o'clock in the afternoon, ten thousand freshmen gathered on the playground, looking at the empty rostrum, eagerly awaiting the appearance of school leaders.

On both sides of the rostrum, the teachers stood together, observing the freshmen and whispering to each other.

"It's almost one o'clock now, why hasn't the principal come yet?"

"The two deans are also missing."

"Have you contacted them?"

"Not yet. They don't answer the phone."

Don’t be fooled by the stern faces of the teachers who seem to be very serious, but in fact, they are the most panicked group of everyone - these people are either from the South Island training camp or from "time travelers". Not to mention the age issue, they have basically no experience as teachers in the past. They have not even received a few days of training, but they are forced to take on the task, and they are all afraid of making mistakes.

Fang Yasi, who was standing in the classroom, was sensitive to the change in the atmosphere in the teacher's camp. She couldn't help but approach her roommate and whispered, "Why do I feel a little weird?"

"What's strange?"

"That's it..." Fang Yasi wanted to tell her three roommates the clues she observed, but before she could finish her words, a cold snowflake fell from the sky and interrupted Fang Yasi's words.

"It's snowing!" Qian Nan said in surprise.

"The weather forecast didn't say it would snow today?" Fang Ya Si was a little surprised.

But soon, she had no time to care about the sudden change in weather.

"Look!" Someone in the crowd shouted, "Why is the snow suspended in mid-air?"

Everyone was stunned and looked up - the snowflakes scattered all over the sky seemed to be suspended in the air as if the pause button was pressed, just like the amazing magic trick of stopping the rain in "Now You See Me". However, the raindrops turned into snowflakes, so as not to wet the students' clothes.

Fang Yasi tried to raise her hand and lightly touched one of the snowflakes with her fingertips. A cold touch came from her fingertips, and she watched the snowflake melt into water droplets with her body temperature, but it still hung in the air, motionless.

At this moment, two strong winds appeared without warning, like a prelude, sweeping the snowflakes to both sides, making the rostrum in the center clearly visible to every student.

The next moment, the space above the podium suddenly tore apart. With the sound of leather shoes stepping on the ground, a man wrapped in a black robe walked out of the torn space in full view of everyone, and walked towards the podium step by step.

The strong wind lifted the corners of his robe, like black flames burning in the wind.

"I'm the dean of the Magic Academy." The man in black robe said in a rough voice that was hard to hear clearly: "You can call me--"

"Isn't this Black Robe, the villain from 'Super Power Commando'?" The students finally recovered from their shock and exclaimed, "He is actually our dean?!"

——"Super Power Commando" is a superhero movie starring Lin Shen. Once it was released, it became a global hit. Although the villain "Black Robe" had a few scenes, he received as much attention as the protagonists because of his unique aura and strong strength, as well as his unknown identity as a behind-the-scenes actor.

"It's Dean Hei!"

"Long live Dean Hei!"

"Dean Hei is so handsome!"

Xiao Shichuan, who had been showing off and preparing to give himself a domineering nickname, said: "......"

Before Xiao Shichuan could correct the students' address, the sound of a long sword being unsheathed pierced through the air. The high school student who came on the sword immediately appeared in everyone's sight - he was seen wearing fluttering white clothes, with his clothes flying, and the sound of stringed instruments drifting in the wind, as if he was a god who had traveled through time from an ancient idol fairy drama.

"The dean of Xiuxian Academy, Gao Shu." Gao Shu stood with his hands behind his back, looking indifferent. Against the backdrop of the flying snow, he looked like an immortal.

Below the stage, screams rang out one after another.

Xiao Shichuan: "...Have some shame! We agreed to show up normally, why did you go get your hair extended?!"

Gao Shu calmly said: "Who asked Yu Zhi for help and asked her to arrange the snowfall?"

Xiao Shichuan: "......"

Gao Shu said: "We are both deans. If you are the only one who gets the limelight, and I am just an ordinary one, what if our college is looked down upon?"

Xiao Shichuan: "...Come to think of it, did we both forget to inform Old Ye?"

"Yeah, I was almost walking to the playground in my down jacket, and you guys did this to me." Ye Ziyou's voice sounded faintly: "You agreed to show off, but you didn't inform me, the principal. You are really mean."

Gao Shu, Xiao Shichuan: "......"

A long roar was heard at this moment, and a giant black dragon flapped its wings and descended from the sky, crushing the rostrum with one foot.

Under everyone's dull gaze, the huge black dragon lay prone on the ground and obediently allowed the young man on its back to jump off - he was wearing a thin black and silver armor, and he looked imposing, like a sharp sword.

Ye Ziyou looked around the whole room and stood proudly: "Hello, students. I am your principal - Ye Ziyou."

Gao Shu, Xiao Shichuan: "......"

How dare you say you're not prepared! The Night's Watch have all their armor on!