"Alright, my bad."
Luo Wei pushed down her suspicions and crouched down to apologize to the kitten. "Sorry, I shouldn't have mistaken you for another cat. The kitchen prepared a delicious chicken leg for you. Can you forgive me?"
The kitten swished its tail and decided to let it go. "Meow~"
"Good kitty," Luo Wei patted its head and stood up. "Come on, let's go eat."
The kitten proudly strutted ahead of her, its paws pattering as it ran into the house.
...
After dinner, Luo Wei went upstairs to her study.
She'd been too busy the past couple days to study the magic array diagram Professor Mike gave her. Now that she had time, she could try breaking it down.
This diagram was much easier to deconstruct than the academy magic array. Luo Wei, who had plenty of experience breaking down magic runes by now, identified nine runes at a glance.
But Professor Mike said there were ten runes on this diagram. She was still missing one.
Luo Wei moved the oil lamp closer. The firelight illuminated the complex patterns on the parchment. The dense black lines seemed to expand and contract. Staring at them too long made her dizzy.
The last rune was hidden too deep. She couldn't find it even after looking for a while. Her eyes felt dry and swollen.
Looks like there were no shortcuts. She'd have to use the old method.
Luo Wei set the diagram aside, pulled out a stack of hemp cloth from the cabinet, picked up her quill, dipped it in ink, and started working backward to figure out the runes.
Excluding the nine existing runes, if there were any remaining lines on the paper, they should be part of the tenth rune.
This magic array wasn't as complex as the academy magic array. The academy array used every line to its fullest—each line segment served at least three runes, meaning one line was shared by multiple runes.
On this diagram, only a small portion of lines served two runes, used to connect other runes, form integrated magic flow, and create energy feedback loops. Most other lines had single functions, belonging to individual runes.
Luo Wei picked out the extra lines from those non-shared patterns, copied them onto hemp cloth, then selected the lines on the diagram most likely to be part of the tenth rune and filled them in one by one.
After completing it, she tested it with magic power. If the rune could run smoothly, it was correct. If it didn't work, she'd change the line combinations and redraw.
This was kind of like a mix of a jigsaw puzzle and a circuit wiring game. It was easy to get absorbed in it.
Before Luo Wei knew it, it was eight-thirty. Only thirty minutes until the academy closed its gates.
She'd already worked out the main framework of the tenth rune. Only a few small areas had some blockage when the rune ran. Tomorrow she could spend another hour fixing it and should be done.
She put away the diagram and hemp cloth, twisted her stiff neck, and carried the oil lamp downstairs.
If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
The pegasus and raven hadn't returned yet. She wondered what the situation in Golu City was now. Had Prince Alfried convinced the false Sun and Moon Gods? Would the Sebanli Duchy withdraw its troops tomorrow?
All the answers would be revealed tomorrow.
Before leaving, Luo Wei took the time to pet the kitten.
"Don't run around, okay? There are lots of bad people outside!" she warned.
"Meow~"
The kitten looked at her with innocent eyes and obediently nodded.
Oh, it even learned human body language. Pretty good comprehension!
Luo Wei scratched under its chin, thinking the raven's human language teaching program should be arranged for the kitten too, so they wouldn't keep fighting because they couldn't understand each other.
"Alright, I need to go back to the academy. See you tomorrow, Big Orange."
She withdrew her hand, picked up the oil lamp, and left.
The kitten jumped from the chair to the windowsill, watching her walk out the Star Luo Residence gate. It immediately jumped down, dove into the bushes, and sprinted to the garden wall, where its paw dug out a stone carved with magic runes.
Chris heard the noise and hurriedly chased out with a lamp. What she saw was a flash of white light in the bushes by the wall, and a faint orange figure vanishing into thin air.
"Oh my god, Big Orange!"
She ran over, holding up the lamp to search through the bushes. She couldn't find the kitten anywhere, only kicked a few stones buried in the grass.
"Chris, what's wrong?" Bella heard the noise and came out with an oil lamp to check.
"Head maid Bella, Big Orange disappeared again!" Chris said frantically. "I saw it run here, then it flashed and vanished. I searched everywhere and couldn't find it."
"Flashed and vanished?" Bella quickly walked to her side, lowered the oil lamp, and searched along the base of the wall, finding a few orange cat hairs.
"It's definitely Big Orange, but there's no hole at the bottom of the wall. How could it disappear?"
Bella thought hard, then her eyes suddenly lit up. "I know! I know what Big Orange's gift ability is—it can phase through walls!"
She must be the smartest, most dedicated head maid in the world. She'd completed the task her master assigned so quickly. Tomorrow she'd tell her master that the magic cat could phase through walls!
Bella wrapped the cat hairs in a handkerchief, proudly lifted her chin, and put them in her waist pouch.
Chris looked dejected. Why hadn't she thought of that?
No wonder Bella was the head maid—her brain was sharper!
The night passed quickly, and in a blink it was the next day.
Luo Wei dragged herself out of bed. Like all the students, she drifted out of the dormitory castle like a ghost, then drifted into the academy chapel, enduring the difficult early morning hours.
Today was alchemy class. They'd learned most of the theory, and starting from this lesson, they'd enter the practical phase.
There was one month until the year-end assessment. According to Professor Temple, the alchemy exam was simple—they just needed to forge a sharp iron sword.
The class immediately cheered up. "I thought the year-end assessment would be so hard, but we just need to forge an iron sword!"
"Hahaha, who can't forge an iron sword? I could make one without magic."
Everyone ignored the adjective before "iron sword"—"sharp."
So when Professor Temple announced the assessment criteria, saying the iron sword had to be sharp enough to cut a hair blown against it to pass, everyone fell silent.
—Then Professor Temple cheerfully taught everyone to forge iron all morning.
Real forging. Everyone held a hammer, pounding away at red-hot iron blocks.
Never mind the delicate noble ladies in class—even the male students who'd only hammered a dozen times wanted to quit. Forging made their arms numb, their backs ache, and sweat pour. This was brutal work!
What's more, Professor Temple wanted them to hammer a full thousand times. A thousand times!
After a thousand hammers, would they still have hands?
Even Luo Wei could barely keep going. She'd imagined alchemy as chemistry or magic, not requiring much physical effort. Who knew alchemy involved swinging hammers!
No wonder alchemists all had broad shoulders and thick waists. You really needed strength to do this physical labor.
After four hours of forging, they finally made it to the end of class. Everyone's hands were shaking, their whole bodies weak as they walked out.
Luo Wei put down the hammer, using her slightly trembling left hand to hold down her right hand that was shaking badly. She waited until most people had left before heading out.
At the front of the classroom, Professor Temple was still tallying students' class scores.
Seeing this, Luo Wei paused, then turned and walked toward him.
Professor Temple noticed someone approaching and looked up at her. "Oh, Luo Wei. What can I do for you?"
Luo Wei nodded. "Sorry to bother you, Professor. Have you ever heard of someone named Rudolf Minos?"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
patreon.com/BZDXG - Unlock a HUGE stash of advance chapters now!
Dive deeper into the story ahead of everyone else!
