My health recovery is incredibly fast.

They are Grinfin, Greyfin, Lucas, and Finn.

All four of them passed the exam.

In the subject with the most students—alchemy—only Anjou passed the exam.

She is Xia Zuo's companion.

Is there any reason to suspect that students in subjects with small numbers of students receive special treatment?

Does this preferential treatment involve leaking exam questions?

Otherwise, how do you explain that Anru passed the exam? She was the only person in the entire field of alchemy to pass the first exam.

Xia Zuo raised his eyebrows as he listened, never expecting the matter to have come back to them.

He silently cast a detection spell on the leaders, comparing their template data with that of when they first enrolled.

His mental attribute hasn't increased much, only 11 points. He hasn't been studying hard and hasn't focused on his studies.

Often, rumors and gossip go unpunished, yet can cause considerable harm; it's essential to devise a countermeasure first.

Just as Xia Zuo was pondering with his forehead supported, a tall and imposing figure appeared in the restaurant.

The castle steward, Dim, stepped through the stone gate with a gloomy face, taking steady strides and walking quickly to the large square table.

The noisy students shrank back like chicks, not daring to meet the eyes beneath the other person's thick hair.

Dim named a few people in a deep voice and told them to come with him.

Those who were jumping the most enthusiastically seemed to be controlled by some force, their bodies stiff as they swung their arms and took steps, following the castle manager out of the restaurant.

Xia Zuo withdrew his gaze and mentally reviewed the "Castle Rules".

[Article 1: The authority of the head of the academy is unquestionable.]

[Rule #2: Do not spread rumors.]

It turns out that the Castle Rules include a rule against spreading rumors. I haven't touched this booklet in ages, and I'd completely forgotten about these details.

I need to go through it carefully to reinforce my memory, lest I get taken away by Dim and locked in a dark room.

With no more noise coming from behind, the group of students scattered like birds.

After reviewing the Castle Rules in his mind, Xia Zuo opened the book at hand and began to read.

...

Noon three days later.

The Poison Alchemy Zone.

There are 4 days left until the new students arrive at the university.

Xia Zuo carried the glass bottle out of the advanced alchemy room and saw his mentor standing in front of a stone wall. The shelves there had been cleared out and moved to another place.

A faint rumbling sound came from behind the wall, as if something was dragging a heavy object deeper into the wall.

A letter drifted in from the doorway and landed in Kulov's hand.

He glanced at the contents of the letter and reached out to pull the lever beside him.

The stone wall slid, and three brand-new basic alchemy tables appeared before us.

"The three new students will arrive in a few days."

Kulov looked at his students:

"At that time, you will teach at the basic alchemy table next to my desk. These three new basic alchemy tables will each be given one, and you will be responsible for distributing them."

“Yes, Professor.” Xia Zuo stood to the side with his hands at his sides.

Kulov pulled a booklet from his desk. "This is their timetable."

Xia Zuo picked it up and examined it; it was similar to what he had seen in the previous semester.

The morning session is a general alchemy course, while the afternoon and evening sessions are specialized alchemy courses.

The only change is that the number of Alchemy Linguistics courses has been reduced to two per week, with those hours being allocated to other general education courses.

Xia Zuo chatted briefly with his mentor about future schedules before leaving.

...

Four days later.

2 pm.

The new students will arrive at the university in half an hour.

Xia Zuo and Anruer returned to their dormitory early to change into clean robes, and then went to the castle hall.

The castle manager, Dim, stood in front of a row of nine lower-grade students.

He scrutinized each student with his brown eyes, arms crossed, muscles bulging beneath his black sleeves.

"You all did very well last semester. I am very satisfied. The senior students in the academy are about to become mage apprentices, and the junior students are at a crucial stage in their study of alchemy."

Kulov held up his finger and traced it in front of the nine students:

"You will be the senior students this year, the ones they'll interact with most often. Do your best, set a good example, and if necessary, you can discipline them in my name."

Xia Zuo and the others nodded in unison.

His classmates from the lower grades were Anjou, Claire, Finn, Lucas, the Finn brothers, and a pair of twin sisters.

The nine of them were those who passed the final exams or make-up exams last semester.

Xia Zuo released his detection spells one by one, and while waiting for the newborns, he compared them with their templates in his mind.

Apart from himself, the other eight people all had a mental attribute of 15 points. As far as I remember, Anruer reached this value a few months ago and has remained at the same level ever since.

Achieving 15 points of mental strength seems to be a threshold that is not easily crossed.

There is one person worth noting.

Fein, a subject of figurative science of elements.

His final exam score was 24888, just 112 points short of a perfect score. He's definitely an academic powerhouse.

When Finn first enrolled, his mental attribute was 13 points, the highest among his fellow freshmen. It can be inferred that his initial mental attribute at birth was at least 8 points.

Perhaps, Fein will come to understand the elemental properties on his own.

Xia Zuo secretly glanced at the other person's chocolate-colored short hair and round-framed glasses, noting down the unremarkable face.

He chatted with Anru as they looked toward the main entrance to the castle hall.

A group of elemental servants floated to the foot of the five-meter-high gate, pressed themselves against the door panels, and slowly pulled the gate open. Sunlight streamed through the massive doorway, and a dozen three-section carriages came into view, driving to a stop in the square outside the castle.

The group responsible for picking up the new students was composed of members of the Warriors' Guild, who had already disembarked outside the university's walls.

The freshmen, filled with immense curiosity about the academy, disembarked from the carriage and scrambled into the castle hall, their eyes darting around as they shouted and yelled at the giant orb of light floating in mid-air.

Dim, with a stern face, waved to them, signaling the group of freshmen to stand in front of him. When there weren't enough people, he had no choice but to personally maintain order.

Fortunately, his physique and appearance are very imposing.

Standing over two meters tall, with arms thicker than his thighs and a large, hairy, dark face, he successfully quelled the restless crowd.

“I am Tim Carr, the orderkeeper of Starry Night Castle.”

Tim stared blankly at the new students, his booming voice like the striking of a gong:

“My elemental servants are scattered throughout the castle. Anyone who breaks the rules will be met with my presence.”

He took out a handbook, held it high above his head, and slowly paced back and forth in front of the new students, solemnly admonishing them in a heavy tone:

"This is the 'Castle Rules' I wrote."

"It's right on your bedside table."

Before I became a mage, I was just a rough man who wielded swords.

"Therefore, the Castle Handbook does not contain fancy embellishments, but only the simplest and most common rules."

"Every freshman must memorize this before leaving the dormitory tomorrow morning!"

Dim opened the conversation in exactly the same way he did last semester.

Xia Zuo stared at the other person's back, feeling a sense of déjà vu for a moment, and realized how quickly time had passed.

Dim stood back in front of the crowd, with quiet freshmen in front of him and nine lower-grade students behind him.

"Now you will be assigned tutors who will arrange your courses."

Dim resumed the posture of crossing his arms.

Although the number of new students had doubled, he still managed to read out everyone's names from memory:

“Eileen, your mentor is Professor Bethel, who teaches the subject of Elemental Concreteness. Go with Finn to find him.”

Another student of the representational study of elements.

This subject has an extremely high entry barrier.

The only members of the department that Xia Zuo knew were senior student Mars, classmate Finn, and the freshman Eileen in front of him.

He cast a detection spell on Eileen.

[Mental Strength] 14 points

流批

This serene girl with long, light blonde hair was only 1 point away from meeting the minimum requirement for practicing meditation.

Xia Zuo had already sensed the rise of a top student.

“Olivia, Kyle, your mentor is Professor Barry, who teaches the Department of Kitty Objects. Lucas, who is next to me, is your teaching assistant. Follow him to find your mentor.”

Dim called out a dozen or so names. The freshmen who were called followed Grinfin and Grayfin into the stone door by the wall.

In the final exams and make-up exams last semester, all students in the Department of Giant Creation failed; not a single student passed.

Dim skipped the freshmen in this subject and planned to take them to find their tutors later.

He turned and gave Xia Zuo a look, then faced the new students and said:

“Hodge, Bisang, Yolanda, your mentor is Professor Kulov, the professor of poison alchemy. Shazo, who is with me, is your teaching assistant. Follow him to find your mentor.”