At that moment, Medeili brought over her third dish: Jelly.
Wang Yue nodded slightly. It seemed Medeili realized she couldn’t push the intensity of the flavor any higher. The Spicy Cold Beef had already reached a peak. Therefore, she had gone the opposite route, preparing a palate-cleansing dessert to finish. It felt very much like a Michelin-starred progression.
Ice cream would have been better, but the dormitory lacked the equipment.
The fruit used for the jelly consisted of specialties from the Evernight Realm—Silver Star Starfruit and Crimson Prickly Pear. One was tart, the other sweet; they balanced each other perfectly.
After finishing the jelly, Wang Yue tasted the brownie. With just one bite and a slight press of her tongue, the rich chocolate exploded in her mouth. Her head felt fuzzy, filled with the fragrance of cocoa as if she had just taken a massive puff of chocolate-flavored vapor.
Wang Yue had a premonition: Dina had won.
As the daughter of a master pastry chef, Dina had the skill and the strategy. She had earned her victory; she was truly excellent.
However, if Wang Yue had to choose a set to eat again, she would pick the combination of Crystal Meat, Spicy Cold Beef, and Jelly over the cheesecake, rolls, and brownies.
When Medeili and Winnie returned to their room, their roommates crowded around to ask for the result.
“I lost,” Medeili said with a smile.
“Don’t take it to heart. As long as we like your cooking, that’s all that matters. Who cares about their cakes?” Cynthia consoled her.
“No way, Winnie! You only gave the Spicy Cold Beef a 6? Are you a mole for the room across the hall?” Eileen teased.
Winnie lowered her head, murmuring, “But… if I don’t seek truth from facts… what’s the point of winning?”
“It’s fine. I don’t care about winning or losing. Wang Yue liked it, and that’s enough for me. Besides, she gave me a very high score. I’m very happy today,” Medeili said, smiling brightly.
The expressions of her roommates suddenly turned very strange.
“Hey, Plum… did you intentionally bicker with the girls across the hall just so you could…”
“You can’t do that, Plum! You’re both girls…”
“I won’t accept this! Plum belongs to me!”
Inside Room 202.
Dorothy collapsed onto her bed, eyes staring blankly at the ceiling as she rubbed her bulging belly. She muttered, “I’m pregnant.”
While the other judges had only sampled the dishes, she had not only cleared her plates but finished the leftovers as well. She had essentially eaten six full courses.
“It would be a violation of the laws of nature if you didn’t turn into a fat pig,” Wang Yue remarked.
“I’m still growing…”
***
A week and a half had passed, and Wang Yue was now basicially familiar with life at the academy.
She woke up early for the Black Mass, attended three classes, had lunch and a nap, attended three more classes, had dinner, enjoyed the evening leisure time, and finally went to sleep.
Lower-year witches didn’t have weekly breaks, off-campus practicals, or the freedom to leave the school like the upper-year witches. Being stuck in the school all day was inevitably stifling for most.
But for Wang Yue, this world was becoming increasingly interesting.
When she had first crossed over, her knowledge was shallow and her status was low; she had no contact with transcendent powers. Now, she was not only in contact with them but actively using them.
Of the two paths for a witch—Combat Witch or Learned Witch—she preferred the latter.
Mysterious powers, singular races, forgotten histories, ancient legends, the Audara Ias submerged in the Dead Sea, the Origin City lost in the Far North, why the people of the Evernight Realm were obsessed with the darkness and refused to leave, and what secrets Balor Academy held… every one of these hooked her desire to investigate.
But the path of investigation was full of hardship and danger. To become a legendary Investigator, power and erudition were the foundations.
To exhaust the mysteries and pursue the truth, one had to first become strong.
Wang Yue was extremely interested in mental cultivation. When facing various eldritch phenomena, she didn’t want Mental Pollution to interfere with her investigations.
She believed that all “impossible” and “mysterious” things must have a principle, a rational explanation, and an internal self-consistent logic.
All “indescribable” monsters should be capable of being dissected and deconstructed—just like the Blood Demon she had personally autopsied in her Magical Creatures class.
To fully satisfy her curiosity, she needed to perform a meticulous deconstruction of the mysterious based on profound knowledge.
The two mental cultivation realms, Purity and Absolute Severance, were like the Level 4 and Level 6 English Proficiency Exams of her old world.
One of the requirements for passing the promotion exam from third to fourth year was reaching the Purity realm. To pass the graduation exam, one’s mind had to reach the Absolute Severance realm.
Wang Yue certainly wouldn’t wait until the last semester to start cramming. She intended to pass this world’s “Level 4 and 6” exams well ahead of schedule.
