Sitting in the classroom, I let my gaze rest on a striking twenty-year-old woman with chestnut hair and eyes to match. Her mature makeup and refined dress added a couple of years to her appearance, giving her a polished, adult aura.
This woman, who had every boy in the room staring unashamedly, was Tang Yue. A mage of well-above-average talent, she was the niece of the presiding judge of the Magic Court, guardian of the Totem Venomous Serpent, and an intern judge. She was kind-hearted and a little trusting-most importantly, someone I knew I could rely on. Though I had no intention of laying all my cards on the table, showing her my totem pendant and dropping a casual hint about the obviously man-made tunnels in the sewers would work wonders.
It would build trust and paint me as a sharp, capable hunter. That, in turn, would score me an invitation to join her on a mission to hunt down a fugitive after the Bo City calamity-a minor affair, truth be told. The real prize was the subsequent mission to protect the Totem Serpent, which offered a chance to secure votes for a spot on the national team for the World College Tournament.
Five months of grueling cultivation, punctuated by occasional sewer runs and rare resource-grabbing trips courtesy of friendly Mu Yuans from parallel realities, had pushed me to the second tier in Light, Spirit, and Time. Space was still in progress.
I wasn't worried about exposing my vast array of elements. Mages could only perceive the overall power level of a person's strongest element-the overall realm, not the specific tier within it. So long as I didn't break through to the Intermediate level in any other element before Light, my secret was entirely safe.
While the rest of the class remained mesmerized by the new teacher, I funneled magic into the pendant and sent a focused mental thought. The charm released a faint wave of magic toward her, triggering a subtle reaction in Tang Yue's earrings. Connection established.
Her eyes widened slightly in shock, but she composed herself in an instant. Altering her lesson plan on the fly, she turned to the class.
— Class, we are all heading to the training grounds now, — Tang Yue announced. — I will show you what real magic looks like. Everyone, follow me.
She led us out like a mother duck guiding her ducklings. At the training grounds, she demonstrated the second tier of the Primary Fire Element – Bone Burning, reducing a heavy practice dummy to nothing but ash in a heartbeat.
— How many stars can each of you control? — Tang Yue asked.
Her question lit a fire under the students, and everyone began bragging about their progress. Zhou Min held the top spot, controlling five stars. Mo Fan stood out as usual, proudly claiming he controlled zero-even though he must have already finished connecting all seven stars of the Lightning element by now.
— And why are you staying quiet, um… — She paused, faltering as she looked at me, realizing she didn't know my name.
— Mu Bai. I control seven stars, — I replied with a faint smile. Drawing her attention like this was the entire point; otherwise, I would have been ignored like the rest.
Her eyes widened in shock for a fraction of a second, mirroring the reaction of the entire class. Quickly masking her surprise, she looked at me with a knowing glint.
— In that case, perhaps you can demonstrate your spell? — She tossed me a loaded look. — Don't worry if it doesn't work on the first try, it happens.
With a quiet chuckle, I cast the first-tier Primary Ice spell – Freezing, encasing the target next to her destroyed dummy in a layer of solid ice. The spell took two seconds to cast-a decent speed for a Primary mage, though far from peak performance. Experienced Primary mages could churn out a spell in under a second.
The classroom exploded in hushed exclamations. Tang Yue, suppressing her surprise once more, uttered the exact words I had set up this entire show to hear:
— As you can see, class, I am a Fire mage. Therefore, I will only be conducting practical training for Fire mages. — The collective ocean of despair radiating from the boys of other elements was thick enough to summon a dark beast.
— Mu Bai, as the top student in this class, stay behind for a few pointers. The rest of you may go.
Once the training field cleared and we were left alone, Tang Yue stepped closer, her sharp eyes studying me intently.
We stood in silence. Seconds ticked by, and her eyelid began to twitch. Me? I just stood there, completely unbothered. Seven months had passed since my transmigrational drop into this world, and having mostly made peace with my losses, I felt free to indulge in an old habit – driving people up the wall.
— So, — she finally broke, unable to endure the silence any longer. — Which totem are you a guardian of?
— The White Tiger. Though I'm still far too weak to venture into the territory where it resides. — I countered with a question of my own. — But what is the guardian of Hangzhou's Totem Venomous Serpent doing in a backwater place like Bo City?
— I'm looking for something, — she answered evasively.
— I have a pretty good idea of what that might be, — I said, flashing a smile that practically begged for a punch to the face. But this was the moment I had been steering the conversation toward.
— And what am I looking for? — Miss Intern Judge asked, clearly trying to coax out valuable, and more importantly, free information.
— Two million.
— Two million what? — She blinked, caught off guard.
— Pay two million, or I won't say a word. Getting this information wasn't easy, you know. — And it really wasn't; the sewers smelled atrocious.
After a brief round of haggling, I produced my Hunter badge-the one I'd registered to turn in rat carcasses for spare cash. I had chosen the hunter alias Su Yutao, a ghost from my previous life. Seeing the official badge finally convinced her that my intel might actually be worth the price, and she initiated the transfer.
Once the funds cleared, I laid out the details about the abnormally vast network of tunnels dug by subterranean rodents, framing it as a potential organized raid by a rat tribe on the city. I could hardly go around pointing fingers at the Black Vatican-a high school kid throwing around accusations like that would raise far too many questions. With the deal done, we went our separate ways.