“Ha?” Shasta’s eyes widened. “Didn’t we agree, Principal? The academy provides my lab space, and I just hang a nominal teacher title. I’ve never taken an Assistant Student in all these years!”
The white-haired, benevolent-looking Principal turned with a helpless smile. “Instructor Shasta, I know you hate trouble, but the teaching system has been reforming these past two years—you know that. Now it’s a hard rule: every teacher must take at least one Assistant Student.”
“Just help me out here. If you’re the only one going rogue, it puts me in a tough spot, right?”
Shasta fell silent, her young-looking face scrunching up. After a moment, she sighed in resignation.
“Fine, fine. I can just pick any student as my Assistant Student, right? I’ll go grab one now.”
As she spoke, Shasta stood, her gaze shifting to the new students taking the test.
“Well… no need to be that casual. Wait until after the exams in a couple days, and you can check the scores before deciding.”
The Principal knew Shasta’s carefree nature, but picking an Assistant Student shouldn’t be too random.
Just then, a small commotion stirred at the test site, drawing both their gazes.
“Hm? Looks like there might be an unexpected gem this year?”
Shasta followed the Principal’s line of sight. The building was some distance from the test area, so she could only vaguely make out that the student being tested wore a maid outfit.
“Wait, that kid looks a bit familiar?”
Shasta narrowed her eyes slightly. To see better, she finally removed her sunglasses.
…
At the test site, as the Magic Crystal’s vibrations grew stronger, Ximo’s excitement built.
Could it be? Is the power fantasy protagonist’s fate finally here, meow?
But after holding her breath and waiting, the intensely trembling Magic Crystal showed no further reaction—it just gradually calmed down.
Ximo: “?”
“Teacher, this thing isn’t… broken by me, is it?”
The commotion had drawn some students’ attention. The teacher frowned, inspecting the Magitool thoroughly.
“It’s not broken… Oh, I get it now.” The teacher’s gaze toward Ximo was full of disbelief. “Student, you haven’t studied any magic before, have you?”
“Uh, yeah, that’s right.”
“That explains it.”
The intense earlier vibration came from a powerful resonance between the Magic Crystal and Ximo, proving her extremely high affinity for magic elements—in plain terms, top-tier magic talent.
Normally, stronger resonance meant higher talent, brighter glow meant stronger power.
But since Ximo had never learned any magic, the crystal could only resonate without drawing out any elements—no follow-up.
A hint of regret flashed in the teacher’s eyes. Without exaggeration, Ximo’s talent was the best she’d seen today. Such a promising seedling wasted without any prior magic training—magic demanded early starts like child prodigies.
The onlookers whispered in disbelief. Ximo pursed her lips helplessly. Meow meow meow, I thought I’d get to show off big time, but I just embarrassed myself big time.
It was like having Einstein’s brain but never learning anything—like being an illiterate in the eyes of the other students.
After the test, Ximo checked her Student Terminal. Her magic rank was “None”—not even Junior Mage.
Two lines of instructions followed, directing tested students to another site to submit course preferences for magic or physical arts. No rush if undecided—just before official classes.
But Ximo had no doubts. The results hadn’t changed her mind. Reborn in a magic world, what was the point without studying magic?
And not to brag, but if she studied physical arts, with her current strength, she’d be at least two years ahead—no need.
Meanwhile, in the teaching building, the Principal, seeing no follow-up, shook his head and looked away—only to find Shasta grabbing her parasol by the door to head out.
“Hey, Instructor Shasta, about the Assistant Student—”
“I agreed, didn’t I?” Shasta said while slipping her sunglasses back on. “It’s just one Assistant Student. I’m going now.”
—
The course preference site was elsewhere. Without Xiliya’s guidance, Ximo used her Student Terminal’s map and took some time to find it.
Student Council members handled submissions. Ximo spotted the eye-catching red-haired spiral ponytail single tail right away but deliberately avoided Melrose, not greeting her.
Honestly, though Xiliya told her to stay away, and Melrose’s friendliness might be fake, Ximo hadn’t found her scary in their first two encounters.
Ximo wanted details, but Xiliya didn’t want to talk more, so it dropped.
What Ximo didn’t expect was that submitting the form wasn’t straightforward. The senior sister in charge didn’t take her completed sheet.
“Little sister, why don’t you… think it over more carefully? Course selection isn’t child’s play.”
The senior sister stared at Ximo’s form: magic rank “None,” preference “Magic Department.”
The senior sister’s tone was very sincere, and Ximo knew she meant well. It felt just like a teacher seeing a student who could only score single digits in math, physics, chemistry, and biology but still insisted on pursuing sciences… There was a kind of stubborn beauty to it, the sort that wouldn’t give up until the coffin was nailed shut.
The application form naturally wouldn’t ask her to declare how exceptional her magic talent was. Ximo also felt that proclaiming in front of so many people that her magic aptitude was top-tier and thus she had to study magic would come off as too pretentious… So she simply smiled and stuck to her decision.
“No worries, senior sister. I’ve already made up my mind. I’ll join the Magic Department. There’s no rule saying you can’t enter if you haven’t studied magic before, right?”
“But…” The senior sister’s expression turned troubled. “Junior sister, please listen to my advice. Our academy’s Physical Arts Department is excellent too. There’s no need to fixate on magic like this, is there? Starting from zero foundation, you won’t even pass the final exam.”
“It’s really fine, Senior Sister Weila. I’ve already decided.”
Ximo held firm to her choice. She spotted the other woman’s name on the Student Council badge hanging from the senior sister’s chest. It seemed Senior Sister Weila was actually pretty nice.
