"Ugh... Hello?"
Isaac repeated awkwardly, his eyes filled with confusion as he carefully observed Yun Wei's expression, afraid that the other party would be displeased by his mistake.
This is what softened Yun Wei's heart.
He felt valued and respected from the other person's cautious and almost childlike behavior.
“It’s Yun, Wei.” Yun Wei met Isaac’s eyes and corrected him. Fearing that the other party still wouldn’t give up, he forced his lips together again and said it clearly, “Yun, Wei.”
“Yun…Wei…”
The tall and imposing knight stood ramrod straight, gazing at his master who was leaning against the edge of the terrace, looking at him directly. For the first time, he called out his name completely and accurately.
Although his tone was comical, his expression was more serious than ever before.
Yun Wei was most afraid of this kind of look. He turned his head and looked at the other man's straight trouser legs. He said in a deep voice, "Actually, you can just call me Claude. Anyway, we can basically communicate in the Common Language."
The false name is also one of the layers of protective coloring applied to Yun Wei.
Why is Isaac so fixated on his original name?
A name is just a label.
“But I want to know the real you even more.” Isaac reached out and placed his hands on Yun Wei’s shoulders, half-squatting in front of his master, looking into the other’s eyes with utmost sincerity. “Yun Wei, I hope you can trust me. I will never hurt you or betray you, never.”
"Names are very important. There was a proverb among magicians during the Second Dynasty—"
"A name is the simplest form of magic."
"This world is vast, and there may be many Claudes, but there is only one Yunwei, and only one you."
His smoky gray pupils were like fragile glass or a tranquil lake on a plateau, and in those clear eyes, Yun Wei saw himself.
He heard his followers say to him that there is only one Yunwei in the world.
A strange, tingling sensation returned to his nasal cavity. Yun Wei straightened up, breaking free from Isaac's grasp. He chuckled and slapped away the other's hand from his shoulder, looking down at him with a smile, "What are you doing, suddenly getting all mushy?"
"And you're talking about me? You didn't even tell me your full name."
Seeing that the other party was stunned, Yun Wei quickly made his escape. He put his hands in his pockets and casually walked past the knight who gave him a strong sense of pressure.
"Alright, Isaac, I see Ms. Susan is coming from the front door. We should go downstairs."
...
The iris flowers were in full bloom under the sunlight, transforming the flowerbed in front of the clock tower into a sea of fire and light.
The purple-haired lady gracefully made her way through the bustling crowd, ascended the steps, and stood atop the highest rung of the clock tower. Even with a massive clock hanging from the spire behind her, she first slowly and deliberately adjusted her pale yellow boat hat before taking out her pocket watch.
It's already midnight.
She smiled and glanced at the freshmen chatting happily in the courtyard below, and couldn't help but recall her own past student days. Many students had already noticed her arrival and were slowly gathering around her.
Susan then clapped her hands to signal everyone to be quiet.
She looked around again and smiled, "Very good, all the new students for this academic year have arrived, that is, you twenty-three of you. Have you greeted each other yet?"
"First of all, on behalf of Lunagal Magic and Martial Arts Academy, I welcome you! But I'm sorry, Dean Victor has recently been invited to attend a very important meeting in the south, so the opening address will have to wait until he returns."
Before he could finish speaking, students below booed. Others muttered that there was really no need to make it up.
Yun Wei and Isaac exchanged a glance.
The reason for heading south at this time, barring any unforeseen circumstances, is to discuss the aftermath of the events in Red Moon City.
"Quiet!" Susan raised her hands and pressed them in the air. Although her voice was not loud, the students still gave her the respect she deserved. "It's almost lunchtime, so I'll get straight to the point. You can't interrupt me anymore, otherwise no one will be able to eat on time."
"Unlike all other academies on the continent of Zhuyuan, Lunagal Magic and Martial Arts Academy grants its students ample freedom, which has been the academy's mission for thousands of years."
"I hope you will fall in love with this place, enjoy your studies and life here, and also enjoy the joy that knowledge brings you."
After reciting a long string of proverbs about knowledge and learning, Susan's kind expression turned serious. She cleared her throat and emphasized with utmost solemnity:
"But you must also abide by the college's rules, otherwise you will have to bear the consequences yourself. Every student, you must listen to me now! The student in the back, please look up!"
At the very back of the crowd, a chubby boy was dozing off with his head down; Yun Wei could practically hear him snoring.
Seeing this, Susan's smile deepened, and she raised her fingertip, a small cluster of electric light gathering on her nail.
"Buzz—Buzz!" The lightning bolt slithered through the tightly packed crowd like a snake, striking the chubby little boy who was fast asleep.
The lightning circled around him twice before disappearing. The chubby boy twitched, sucked up the drool that was about to drip down his face, and opened his sleepy eyes with a blank expression.
"Uh... ah... sorry, I fell asleep." He scratched the back of his head, glanced shyly at the crowd staring at him, and stood up straight again.
"Baller, I'm going to talk about the three taboos of the Deer-Nagal Academy. You have to pay attention and listen carefully." Although she had given him a jolt, Susan still smiled gently. Baller came from the Golden Cloud Kingdom, but he had an excellent affinity for earth elements.
His duke grandfather wanted to train him to be the most invincible warrior on the entire continent.
"First, students must be friendly to each other and must not attack their classmates, otherwise they will be expelled from school."
"Secondly, you must participate in the final exam. Although you have most of your time to yourself, the college will still assess you at the end of the semester. If you fail, you will have to repeat the year." Susan looked around at the freshmen who were starting to get nervous and said with satisfaction, "Don't be nervous. All the students from the previous year passed the exam smoothly, and no one stayed to join you."
When she got to the last point, Susan's expression became particularly serious. She looked closely at each student to make sure they remembered her instructions.
"Third, after 11 p.m., you must return to your dormitories and stay there until dawn. You are not allowed to be anywhere in the academy, especially not near this place. Like everywhere else on the continent, Lunagal Academy is fraught with countless dangers, but I can assure you that if you stay obediently in your dormitories, you will sleep very soundly."
A murmur of commotion arose from the crowd. Yun Wei frowned slightly, leaned back on Isaac's shoulder, and whispered, "Have you noticed that, unlike the first two rules, she didn't mention at all what the consequences of violating the third rule would be?"
“That’s right.” Isaac lowered his head and whispered in his ear, “So maybe this is a form of encouragement. I bet tonight will be quite lively.”
Yun Wei remained noncommittal.
The composition of their freshman class is far too complex.
Putting aside him and Isaac, the necromancer and half-dead knight who managed to sneak in, there's the sweet girl who managed to evade three adult men and escape all the way to Red Moon to successfully enroll; the alluring silver-haired man who can detect contracts on others just by sniffing the air; the elusive and unpredictable Bili person who is skilled in both magic and martial arts; and the chubby little boy who was hit by the level five lightning spell "Lightning Like a Snake" but was completely unharmed...
It seems that everyone here carries a secret that could shake the entire continent, yet everyone looks so elegant, calm, innocent, and harmless at this moment.
He should hurry up and become stronger. Yun Wei thought to himself.
"Oh, by the way, before leading everyone to the cafeteria, I should mention a tradition of the academy: in two weeks, there will be a magic and martial arts competition among you freshmen, and the winner will receive a reward from the academy." Susan glanced at the pocket watch in her hand and said:
"Alright, children, you must be starving! Let's head to the cafeteria for lunch. This afternoon, I'll take you around the academy to help you adapt to life there as quickly as possible."
Upon hearing that they could finally have lunch, the students were overjoyed and excitedly followed behind a proud Susan, marching in a large group towards Lunagal's cafeteria.
...
The dining hall is located in the center of the college. Its exquisite and magnificent architectural style is consistent with that of the clock tower. Both were built after the Glorious Battle eight hundred years ago.
Yun Wei looked around and didn't see any teachers or older students, which gave him a vague sense of foreboding.
He looked at Isaac, and after the other noticed his gaze, he whispered, "Honorable knight, could you prepare another surprise for me this evening?"
"What's wrong?" Isaac paused for a moment, then realized what Yun Wei meant. He nodded, somewhat hesitantly, "How do you know the food here isn't very good?"
The two whispered to each other, not wanting to hurt their classmates who were still looking on with anticipation.
“Cough,” Yun Wei shook his head, he was just thinking about his experience in his previous life. He said, “The senior students are always very shrewd.”
As expected.
After witnessing the "exquisite" culinary skills of the Lunagal Magic and Martial Arts Academy's cafeteria, everyone fell silent.
Only Susan was still excitedly calling on her classmates to get their cutlery; she was about to have an in-depth discussion with a few girls around her about the secrets to sticking to a diet.
Standing in front of bowl after bowl of food that had been stirred into a paste and whose original ingredients were no longer recognizable, Yun Wei instantly lost his appetite.
He calmly picked up the spoon, scooped up a ladle of thick, grayish-green soup without any emotion, and put it into his bowl.
...
As dusk fell, the two exhausted students returned to their dormitory after touring the entire college.
After closing the door, Yun Wei went straight to the window and pushed the half-drawn curtain aside. Their dormitory was on the third floor, and from the window, they could see the towering clock tower and the ruins of the Tower of Ten Thousand Laws in the distance.
Inside the house, on the stone table, were two sprigs of eagle-tail flowers that they had casually picked. They were delicate and beautiful, with their long, narrow petals embracing each other as if they were whispering sweet nothings to each other.
Isaac strolled leisurely to Yun Wei's side, then lowered his head and asked:
"Yun Wei, what kind of surprise do you want?"
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