“The academy’s entrance banquet, huh…”
Ye Xu walked toward the school’s grand hall where the freshman welcome banquet was being held, as indicated in the notice. His gaze swept over the calm-faced upperclassmen and the barely concealed excitement of the new students around him.
Unlike them, if he had to describe his current mood, it would probably be… tinged with a bit of sentimentality.
Recalling the past—whether as the rebel army’s “Great Young Master” or as the empire’s “Emperor’s Daughter”—the banquets Ye Xu had attended were always of a different sort.
In the rebel army, whenever a phased victory was achieved, he would host celebration banquets to boost morale.
Those were very down-to-earth occasions: plenty of wine and meat, warriors eating and drinking to their hearts’ content, lamenting the hardships of war and remembering fallen comrades.
In the empire, however, he was kept at the emperor’s side, surrounded either by nobles or by his current siblings—in both identity and bloodline—as Ye Lalar.
Those banquets were overly oppressive; every gesture had to be perfectly precise, like clockwork gears.
He had even, more than once, smiled and exchanged pleasantries with some great noble, only to then follow the emperor’s orders and send the Eternal Night Knights charging into the hall, staining the originally splendid feast with blood.
In contrast, this straightforward entrance banquet—neither overburdened with excessive formalities nor too casual—felt somewhat fresh to Ye Xu.
“Look over there…”
“That’s him, right? The guy who drove that Radiant Sun Type-14 Magitech Knight into school this afternoon.”
Though Ye Xu only wanted to quietly go his own way, there were always people unwilling to let him.
As he approached the grand hall and the crowd grew thicker, he was quickly recognized.
“Eh~ He’s pretty good-looking.”
“Really, that hair—black with a hint of purple—and those eyes…”
“He even resembles Her Majesty the Night Princess a bit~”
The discussions around him mixed goodwill and malice. There was surprise, admiration, envy, jealousy, and even… a hint of inexplicable hostility?
Ye Xu slightly furrowed his delicate brows, puzzled as to when he had offended anyone in this borderland of human territory.
But for now, since no one was actively provoking him, he simply…
“Bang.”
“…”
“Hm?”
Just as he thought to ignore the others, Ye Xu felt his shoulder violently bumped.
The sensation was quite peculiar.
Their directions and paths had been completely different; by all reason, a collision should have been impossible. Yet it happened.
This couldn’t be called an accident—it was entirely deliberate.
“Tch.”
The red-haired young man, nearly 190 cm tall with a burly build, had probably intended to make Ye Xu stumble embarrassingly.
Unexpectedly, the current 178 cm Ye Xu—who appeared slender—did not budge an inch under the impact.
Instead, the youth himself was jolted back two steps by the recoil, nearly falling over.
Feeling his pride damaged, he was about to glare at Ye Xu, only to meet a pair of ice-cold eyes.
In that single instant, cold sweat soaked his back. The fierce glare he had prepared for retaliation now held only fear and panic.
(Who is this guy? What’s his background? Why are those eyes so terrifying?)
(Does he want to kill me?)
Countless thoughts flashed through his mind.
Unlike his alarm, Ye Xu’s thoughts were far simpler:
(Who is this guy? When did I offend him?)
From his clothing and demeanor alone, Ye Xu could tell he was definitely a noble’s son—arrogant, flamboyant, eyes filled with jealousy and disdain.
Based even on these superficial emotions, Ye Xu could boldly conclude that he was likely not favored in his family.
If he were still the rebel army’s Great Young Master or the Emperor’s Daughter, dealing with such a character would be effortless.
But now…
“You…”
He was about to speak and ask when a hand grasped his own, gently pulling him back.
The next moment, a familiar figure had already stepped in front of him, glaring angrily at the red-haired youth and sternly rebuking:
“Tela · Malye!”
“What’s wrong with you again, bullying a junior?!”
A flicker of doubt passed through Ye Xu’s eyes, quickly turning to realization—exactly as he had guessed in the hangar this afternoon.
(So there really is a “suitor.”)
“Whew—”
After scolding the youth named Tela · Malye, Elena took a deep breath. When she turned to Ye Xu, her expression had already shifted to one of concerned warmth:
“Are you okay, Junior Nal?”
“This guy is the second son of a marquis family—not very favored at home, and his mind… isn’t quite right.”
“If he causes you trouble again in the future, just come to—”
“No need.”
Elena was about to offer to handle it for him, saying he had her as a senior looking out for him, but Ye Xu simply smiled and shook his head.
He had already pieced together the situation fairly accurately.
He had to admit, his experiences in the empire had indeed sharpened his ability to read people. Even without Elena’s explanation, his judgment was already eighty to ninety percent correct.
An unfavored second son of a marquis family, likely enrolled due to national policy.
Still mediocre during his school years, perhaps even having tried to pursue Elena and been rejected.
Now seeing him—this “bastard” acknowledged back into an earl family—not only outstanding in appearance but arriving at school in an expensive new-model Magitech Knight, and acting intimately with his pursued senior in full view of everyone?
A noble’s arrogance was no empty reputation.
Such people often considered themselves extraordinary, resented the heavens and blamed others, attributing their own mediocrity to fate.
Even though Ye Xu had never met him before, it didn’t stop the youth from actively provoking out of jealousy.
(He’s just a “bastard” acknowledged back into an earl family—he wouldn’t dare do anything to me.)
Under normal circumstances, his calculation might have been correct. But…
“Tch.”
Publicly reprimanded by Elena, the red-haired youth named Tela · Malye clicked his tongue in dissatisfaction but didn’t dare lash out at her.
As the pressure from Ye Xu dissipated, he finally managed a vicious glare back, eyes filled with a “just you wait” threat, before turning to leave.
“Did I say you could go?”
He had just taken a step when Ye Xu’s icy voice stopped him. Having just lost face, the youth angrily spun back around.
But in the next instant, his pupils contracted sharply.
Almost the moment Ye Xu spoke, Elena realized what he was about to do and hurriedly tried to stop him:
“Wait, junior…”
But her words were drowned out by a sudden surge of terrifying magical fluctuations.
“Whoosh~ Whoosh whoosh~~”
Without warning, fierce winds howled across the plaza in front of the grand hall.
Under the shocked gazes of the crowd, a small magic array lit up in Ye Xu’s palm.
As he slowly raised his hand overhead, a massive wind bullet rapidly formed from condensed violent air pressure.
[Level 1 Magic Release-Type Spell · Wind Pressure Bullet]
The most basic magic—even commoners could learn it. Anyone with a soul could cast it, as it required truly minimal magic.
However, precisely because its structure was extremely simple, spells like Wind Pressure Bullet—
For example, Fireball or Light Brilliance—often shared one characteristic:
“The more magic the caster pours in, the greater its power and scale.”
In other words, it could test an individual’s total magic reserves in the most direct, brute-force way.
To put it plainly…
If magical reserves were defined by soul strength, someone with 100 units of total magic should theoretically have corresponding output efficiency.
But in reality, limited by the frailty of the human body, that person’s actual output might only equate to 5 units compared to other races.
This made it hard for even gifted humans to fully realize their potential through their own bodies alone.
Conversely, if one poured full magic into a basic spell like [Wind Pressure Bullet], observing the expansion rate of the spell’s scale and multiplying by twenty could roughly gauge that person’s talent ceiling.
Before enrollment, Simar and Lady Nara had specially warned Ye Xu that the Magic Academy was not entirely peaceful.
In recent years, as Simar expanded the family, he had inevitably made enemies. Those people wouldn’t dare openly target House Nal, but tripping him up or causing annoyance was still possible.
Moreover, even if Ye Xu focused solely on studies and avoided conflict, some would still provoke him.
Thus, finding an opportunity to appropriately reveal part of his talent would bring far more benefits than drawbacks.
After discussing with Simar and Nara, Ye Xu decided to display a talent level of: expanding the Wind Pressure Bullet’s radius to three meters in three seconds—namely…
“Continent-level top genius.”
“N-no… wait…”
Watching the terrifying wind bullet grow to the size of a Magitech Knight, true fear finally appeared in Tela · Malye’s eyes.
He understood now why the earl known for his methods had acknowledged this “bastard” back into the family—who could affect inheritance rights—not merely out of affection.
Any family discovering a bloodline member with such astonishing talent would no longer let whether he wished to return be his own decision.
Tela could even wager that if the talent were just a bit greater, even the imperial family—upon learning of such a descendant in the common populace, even with only the slightest blood connection—would disregard public opinion and eagerly acknowledge him publicly the very next day.
If he were unwilling, they would set traps to bring him back by force without harming him personally.
To make an enemy of such a person?
In Tela’s view, even if the other killed him on the spot, his family would not utter a single complaint—and might even applaud, thinking he deserved it.
However, Ye Xu had no intention of hearing excuses or subsequent pleas.
In transmigrator terms, this was called: “Killing a chicken to scare the monkeys.”
“Boom!”
“Buga!!!”
The wind pressure bullet exploded with a roar. The next moment, the burly red-haired figure shot backward like a cannonball, crashing heavily into the distant outer wall of the hall and fainting on the spot.
Ye Xu simply stood with one hand on his hip, indifferently watching the limp figure, his eyes calm as still water.
After all, aside from support-type magic, Wind Pressure Bullet was one of the spells capable of inflicting the least direct damage in the world.
No matter how frail otherworld human bodies were, it was relative to other races and magical beasts—they were superhuman compared to Earth humans.
Being blasted back a dozen meters and slamming into a wall would cause no substantial injury.
“Gulp…”
“U-um… Junior…”
Witnessing the scene firsthand, Elena felt her mouth go dry.
This afternoon, excitedly inspecting and researching “Nightfall” had already made her realize it was no ordinary Radiant Sun Type-14.
Every joint’s magic output power, every armament— all underwent extremely precise deep customization.
The magitech employed was exquisite beyond anything she had seen in her life.
Compared to it, standard Radiant Sun Type-14s were like the difference between elite soldiers and fodder.
And now, facing Ye Xu’s displayed prowess, Elena understood even more deeply that the eccentric earl was willing to equip this nominal “younger brother” with such a top-tier Magitech Knight perhaps not merely out of affection.
“Anything else?”
Hearing Elena’s voice, Ye Xu turned his head, his face already calm again, even carrying a faint smile.
“Heh, hehe… N-no, nothing.”
“Junior… you’re really amazing~~~”
She instinctively tried to grab Ye Xu’s fair, slender hand, only for him to subtly dodge. She could only cough awkwardly.
“Come on, junior!”
“Let your senior show you the Magic Academy’s cuisine and local customs properly!”
“You’ve only just returned to the family, so you probably haven’t attended many formal banquets, right? Tonight, your senior will broaden your horizons!”
With that, Elena regained her enthusiastic senior persona, leading Ye Xu toward the hall interior, leaving behind a crowd of students dumbfounded by what had just happened.
Oh, not everyone stood frozen.
Someone stepped forward and poked the limp Tela · Malye—sprawled against the wall like a dead dog—with their toe.
Confirming he had only fainted, they breathed a sigh of relief, ignored him, and chatting and laughing, entered the grand hall to continue enjoying the evening’s entrance banquet.