The atmosphere of the Moon of Darkness Hall made Bemore a bit nostalgic for the Hero Party. She really wanted to leave the Continental Magic Academy.
Even though the members of the Hero Party weren’t exactly of one mind, at least everyone was still a teammate. But here in the Flame School, she had no friends at all.
Bemore returned to her bed and sat down. She couldn’t get into the right state for meditation, so she just lay in bed trying to sleep normally, but couldn’t fall asleep. The whole night, her mind wandered aimlessly.
“Bang~ bang~ bang~”
The next morning, a gentle knocking woke Bemore up.
Bemore opened her eyes, a look of exasperation on her face. She hadn’t slept well last night, only managing to fall asleep in the middle of the night, and now, after just a few hours, it was already time for school.
She wriggled out of bed like a worm, then shuffled over to the door like a zombie to open it.
“Good morning, Senior Bemore.” Standing outside was the ever-smiling Samimi, and behind her, that orc nun who looked like a bodyguard.
“Good morning, Mi—” Bemore almost blurted out “Miworm.”
“Miss Bemore, you don’t look well rested. Come on, wash your face with some hot water.” Samimi said with a gentle smile.
“Can’t you let me go back to sleep?” Bemore asked.
“No way, how could we skip class? We agreed to attend together, you can’t go back on your word.” Samimi replied.
“Wait, let me change.” This nagging from Miworm made Bemore clench her fists. She rudely closed the door and went to change.
“We’ll be waiting for you outside.” Samimi’s gentle, overly sweet voice drifted in from outside, obviously intentional, truly annoying.
Bemore had been hit with a whole set of Samimi’s “warmth combo punches” first thing in the morning, leaving her speechless and at a loss for words.
But for some reason?
Her anxiety really did ease a little, not as unbearable as the night before.
Even though she knew it was all fake, with everyone just looking out for themselves, a fake smile was still better than open hostility.
Not long after, Bemore changed and opened the door.
For a young girl, her speed at getting ready was lightning fast, mainly because she didn’t bother at all. Just plop a pointed hat on her head and that was it.
Even Samimi, who had crossed over as a boy, would get up and tidy her hair, look in the mirror, and adjust her disguise.
Bemore, on the other hand, was the type of slovenly girl who didn’t care about her appearance at all, looking disheveled most of the time. But she was pretty, so no one could say anything, and this even became her unique style—call it the “slacker look.”
“Weren’t you waiting outside?” Bemore opened the door to find Samimi and the orc nun still standing right at the door, and couldn’t help but pause and ask.
“Isn’t this the outside?” Samimi shot back.
“…” Bemore didn’t say much, just nodded and left.
She’d thought “outside” meant the dorm entrance, who waits outside someone’s room? Are we that close? Are we that intimate? Couldn’t you just wait on the couch in the lounge?
As they passed through the lounge, the Heretical Magicians had finished their Spirit Domain training and gone back to their rooms to sleep.
When they reached the dorm entrance, the Pastoralist lady was indeed waiting there.
Rebecca’s face lit up when she saw Samimi, but turned stern again when she saw Bemore—she really couldn’t hide her feelings at all.
“Good morning, Miss Mimi, Niubao.” Rebecca greeted only the other two, ignoring Bemore.
“…” Bemore stayed silent.
She was well aware of Rebecca’s dissatisfaction with her, but as a socially anxious girl, she would never take the initiative to solve the problem. She’d rather bottle it up for a lifetime.
The four of them walked together along the path through the grassland, heading toward the Central Teaching Castle Cluster.
Yesterday, walking this path nearly cost Bemore her life, and she cursed the whole way. But walking it again today felt completely different.
How to describe this feeling?
Perhaps it was just like this emerald green grassland caressed by the gentle breeze—refreshing beyond words. The morning wind hit her face, clearing her mind, and the fog in her heart seemed to blow away.
She’d never once taken a walk on this grassland, always holed up in that prison-like Flame Apprentice Grand Castle.
Beautiful scenery so close at hand, yet it felt as distant as the horizon. No magician ever idled away time by going for a walk.
No magician appreciated the scenery; magicians only destroyed everything.
“Senior Bemore, I apologize for offending you before.” As they walked, Samimi suddenly smiled sweetly.
“?!” Hearing “Senior Bemore” still made her uncomfortable—she nearly tripped on the spot.
And that apology, spoken in such a tea-flavored tone, made her feel like ants were crawling all over her.
“Senior Bemore, the two of us are new here and clueless about so many things at the Magic Academy. Please, you must guide us.” Samimi said with a gentle smile.
Warning! Miworm is still Miworm!
She’d held it in all night, but finally revealed her real goal when everyone was most relaxed.
Miworm was cozying up to the White-haired Witch, just like she’d forgiven the Pastoralist lady—in the end, she just wanted to steal skills.
Steal, just straight up steal!
From the perspective of someone who’s read the book, Samimi didn’t really bear much ill will toward these pretty girls who’d once looked down on her, everything was just for benefit.
“What kind of magic do you want to learn?” Bemore asked in return.
She looked calm on the outside, but was actually shocked. She’d been thinking about how to get Samimi to spill the secrets of her spells.
Now Samimi was asking for her guidance, perfect, she could use this topic to probe for information.
The two of them were truly on equal footing now, neither losing out.
“When did you awaken your second Talent?” Bemore asked.
“Sigh, only after I left you guys did I awaken it. If I’d awakened sooner, maybe I wouldn’t have left.” Samimi’s answer was still as tea-flavored as ever.
“Your kind of magic power is different from the five main elements, and hasn’t formed a systematic spell education. So no one can teach you, you have to figure it out yourself, just like those Heretical Magicians.” Bemore explained, poker-faced.
“But aren’t there some Universal Magic spells? I want to learn Universal Magic.” Samimi said.
“Once you’ve learned Magic Shield, there’s nothing much left in Universal Magic.” Bemore commented bluntly.
Actually, Bemore was being pretty honest it was all true, and she wasn’t trying to trip Samimi up. Otherwise, a few misleading words could easily cause a beginner to go astray and ruin their entire career as a magician.
“But if it’s not Universal Magic, I have nothing else to learn. I can’t use Elemental Magic.” Samimi insisted.
“Fine, I’ll take a look for you.” Bemore couldn’t refuse and agreed.
Anyway, as long as she could get Miworm’s spell secrets, who cared what she learned?
And honestly, if Universal Magic were actually powerful, it wouldn’t be called Universal Magic in the first place. Letting Miworm learn it would just waste her time and distract her from developing her own unique magic.