The woman looked to be around twenty-five or twenty-six, wearing a loose, dark red hoodie with drawstrings of uneven lengths hanging from the hood.
Her hair was tied back in a messy ponytail, with several stray strands framing her face.
She was slumped in her chair, legs propped up on the desk with her ankles crossed and her shoelaces undone.
A cup of milk tea sat before her, already half-finished.
When her eyes met Lin Yuan’s, she was busy poking at the pearls in her cup with a straw.
“Yo.” She pulled the straw from her mouth and looked Lin Yuan up and down.
“You look even better up close than you did from a distance yesterday. Have a seat.”
Lin Yuan glanced at the other three teachers. All three were looking at the woman in red with expressions that clearly said, “She’s a lost cause.”
He then took a seat in front of the Magic City Academy table.
“Hello, I’m Lin Yuan.”
“I know.” The woman set down her milk tea and sat up slightly—though it was more of a transition from “completely slumped” to “half-slumped.”
“Shen Man, Magic City Academy Admissions. Lightning system, Tier 5, Level 3.”
Lin Yuan’s eyes flickered. A Tier 5 lightning user!
“Don’t look at me like that,” Shen Man said, waving a hand dismissively.
“I’m lazy. I don’t like fighting and killing, so I went into recruitment. I get a bonus for every student I sign; it’s much more cost-effective than risking my life in a Magic Cave.”
“...”
Qin Ruolan’s cold voice drifted over from the side. “She was the standout of our year’s lightning department. Upon graduation, all four academies fought to keep her as a teacher. She chose Magic City because their cafeteria had the widest variety of milk tea shops.”
Shen Man gave her a thumbs-up, her expression saying, “You’re absolutely right.”
Lin Yuan was silent for a second.
This woman was the real deal.
“Alright, enough small talk.” Shen Man pulled a form from a drawer and slapped it onto the table.
“I’m too lazy to explain the advantages of Magic City Academy. Anyway, for someone like you who spent ten days killing monsters in the wilderness, the cafeteria’s food definitely isn’t your top priority.”
She held up one finger.
“First, Magic City’s lightning department is the strongest in the entire Dragon Nation. Not one of the strongest—the strongest. Kyoto has ice, National Martial Arts has physical techniques, and Shencity has combat, but for lightning—Magic City is the best.”
She gave a thumbs-up.
“Second.” She extended a second finger.
“Magic City is on the coast, right next to the Abyss Sea. The monster density there is ten times that of the wilderness, and the variety is fifty times greater. To others, that’s danger; to someone like you who improves through real combat, it’s the best training ground.”
“Third.”
Shen Man extended a third finger and suddenly smirked.
That smile was entirely different from her lazy demeanor, carrying a hint of sharp intuition.
“I watched your match yesterday. There was something else hidden in your spear techniques.”
Lin Yuan’s pupils constricted slightly.
She didn’t spell it out.
In yesterday’s match, at the final moment, Lin Yuan’s spear had undergone a trajectory change that shouldn’t have been possible.
Ordinary people couldn’t see it, and ability users above Tier 3 might sense something was off without being able to name the cause.
Only someone who had truly experienced countless life-and-death battles could capture that momentary “anomaly.”
Shen Man had captured it.
“Everyone has secrets.” She retracted her finger and slumped back into her chair, taking a sip of her milk tea.
“Magic City Academy doesn’t care about its students’ secrets. We only care about teaching them how to become stronger. Anything else isn’t our business.”
Lin Yuan looked at her.
Shen Man looked back, her cheeks puffing as she sucked up pearls.
“Fine,” Lin Yuan said.
“Fine?” Shen Man blinked.
“I choose Magic City.”
Lei Meng let out a wail from the side.
Qin Ruolan’s brow furrowed, but she eventually just sighed.
Ye Lin nodded expressionlessly, accepting her rival’s choice.
Shen Man grinned.
“You’ve got good taste.” She pushed the form toward Lin Yuan.
“Fill this out. The term starts in two months, but you can come to Magic City early. We’ll have a dorm room ready for you whenever. Oh, and once you get to Magic City, just mention my name and you’ll get twenty percent off at the milk tea shops.”
“...That’s not your name; it’s just your face, isn’t it?”
“Pretty much.”
Lin Yuan finished the form and stood up. Shen Man tucked the form away and suddenly called out to him.
“Lin Yuan.”
He turned back.
Shen Man’s expression was rare in its seriousness. She set her milk tea on the table and took her feet off the desk.
“Donghai City won’t be peaceful these next few days. Be careful.”
Lin Yuan locked eyes with her for two seconds, then nodded and walked out the door.
...
The Su Manor.
This was the second time Lin Yuan had entered this estate.
The first time was ten days ago when Su Zhen had summoned him to stand in the center of the hall.
He had listened to the Su family elders list his “crimes” one by one—F-rank, a waste, unworthy of the eldest miss of the Su family.
This time, no one stopped him.
The gatekeeper recognized him at first glance. His expression shifted several times before he finally bowed respectfully, called out “Young Master Lin,” and ran inside to announce his arrival.
As he walked through the corridor of the front courtyard, Lin Yuan saw Su Qingyue.
She was sitting on a stone bench in the garden, her right hand still wrapped in bandages.
Yesterday’s injury wasn’t severe, but the ligament strain would take a few days to heal.
Hearing footsteps, she looked up.
Their gazes met.
After a silence of about three seconds, Su Qingyue spoke first.
“You’re here to break the engagement.”
It wasn’t a question; it was a statement.
Lin Yuan didn’t deny it.
He sat down across from her, less than an arm’s length away.
The osmanthus flowers in the garden were in bloom. When the wind blew, tiny petals drifted onto the stone table and Su Qingyue’s white clothes.
“The engagement was set by your parents and mine,” Lin Yuan said.
“Now, your mother and my parents are gone, and your father has done these things...
This agreement was meant to be fulfilled by us, but I don’t want to use it to tie you down.”
Su Qingyue lowered her head, her fingers gently brushing the spine of the Icechill Sword.
“My father told you to break it?”
“No. It was my own idea.” Lin Yuan’s voice was very calm.
“Qingyue, you know very well that your father uses this engagement as a bargaining chip. Ten days ago, he wanted to use it to get rid of me; yesterday, he wanted to use it to secure the four academies’ attention on you. From beginning to end, you were the one he pushed to the front.”
Su Qingyue’s eyelashes trembled.
Lin Yuan continued, his tone devoid of blame or sympathy, simply stating a fact.
“S-rank ice ability, Ice Phoenix form, eighteen years old. Your talent isn’t your shackle, but your family turned it into a card to be played.
Your father isn’t a bad man; he just wants to hold onto that card too badly. Once he has it, he’s afraid of anything that might cause you to deviate from the path he’s set.”
“Including me.”
The garden remained silent for a long time.
The osmanthus petals continued to fall.
Su Qingyue suddenly smiled.
“Lin Yuan, do you know what I envy most about you?”
Rate on N.U.
