When Professor Sarah Sylph mentioned the Wishing Cup, both the composed nobles of House Nobility and the loud freshmen of House Knights burst into chatter.
Robert, who had just embarrassed himself, learned absolutely nothing. His voice rang out louder than anyone's.
"Veit! Veit! Did you hear that? If we win the cup, every one of us gets a wish!"
"Calm down, Red-Neck Rob. The professor said it grants an opportunity to wish. She didn't say the wish would come true."
Veit was just as excited, but far more rational.
On the other side, Diana had clearly become House Nobility's loudspeaker. She excitedly described her dream to Rose, then bounced over to Darc.
"If we get the Wishing Cup, I'm wishing for a super candy house! Chocolate walls, candy lamps, gummy beds, cake roof, syrup-cookie carpets, pudding cushions—and it has to be this big!"
She stretched her arms wide with a beaming smile.
Darc nearly got swept up in her enthusiasm.
Seeing that [Greed +1] did not appear, he quietly exhaled in relief before gently reminding her:
"Diana… the greedy shall gain nothing."
If the Wishing Cup could truly fulfill any desire, it would never be left in a school for students to compete over.
Judging by the inscription, the wishes it granted were likely trivial at best.
Otherwise, Darc would immediately wish for "Remove the Demon God bloodline."
And maybe, while he was at it, "Make that trash system disappear."
…
This time, Professor Sylph didn't use a Silencing Card. She waited until the chatter died down before tapping the desk lightly.
"Besides determining the House Cup winner, credits are St. Marian's true currency. With credits, you can buy anything you want on Traveler's Street. You can also trade with any student or teacher. Every transaction will be recorded by your Sorting Card. Only legitimate credits are recognized by the academy."
She paused, eyes sweeping the classroom.
"Now then. Does anyone know how to earn credits?"
As a half-elf, Professor Sylph possessed the ethereal beauty and long lifespan of elves. There was no sign of age on her face.
She always appeared strict in class, but off the record, she occasionally showed a surprisingly gentle side.
In the game, she was one of the most popular professors.
And yes—romanceable.
If she hadn't opened with such a stern impression, Darc suspected his inner prehistoric force might have stirred again.
At that point, it wouldn't be a question of attending class.
It would be a question of survival.
The classroom stayed awkwardly quiet. Clearly, almost no one had read the rules.
After a long pause, one student finally raised her hand.
"Emma Metis. You may answer," Professor Sylph said.
Emma was a brown-haired girl with a round, youthful face. She looked slightly underdeveloped for her age, though taller than Diana.
She stood up nervously and even bit her tongue, but managed to answer:
"The simplest way to earn credits is attending class. Each lesson gives 10 points. Answering questions correctly or satisfying the professor can give extra points. Final exam results can be converted into credits. And… and magical duels!"
"Very good. Metis, plus five."
Professor Sylph applauded lightly and gestured for her to sit.
"Correct answers earn extra points. Poor behavior can result in deductions. And magical duels are extremely important at St. Marian—they can earn large amounts of credits for your house. Your duel instructors will explain that further. Now, open your Beginner's Guide to Summoning."
…
"Miss Know-It-All, huh…"
Darc glanced at Emma's back and concluded she was likely the final member of the protagonist trio.
But her fluffy brown hair and baby-fat cheeks didn't trigger anything in him.
He had no intention of getting close to them. But he didn't feel the need to avoid them either.
Especially since this supposed heroine didn't match his aesthetic preferences in the slightest.
Professor Sylph began teaching the basics of summoning.
Summoning was a technique built around magic cards, allowing the user to call forth spirits, tools, potions, and other sealed entities.
There were said to be more advanced forms—sacrificial summoning, fusion summoning, ritual summoning, reverse summoning…
Some cards even required unique incantations.
Your proficiency in summoning determined how many cards you could use within the same time frame.
If you needed five seconds to summon, and your opponent needed three, they'd act two seconds faster.
If your summoning cooldown was thirty seconds, you might not even be able to use a third card within a minute.
A famous duel master once said:
"Summoning determines both a duelist's ceiling and their floor."
Today's task: summon the familiar sealed inside the Sorting Card.
Professor Sylph spent thirty minutes on school rules, thirty on theory, and left the final thirty for practice.
After confirming that Greed had not increased, Darc followed the textbook's steps carefully.
Because he had previewed the material earlier, he progressed faster than nearly everyone else.
And because the Sorting Card was a beginner's tool, its activation settings were much simpler than normal magic cards.
So, just past nine o'clock, Darc succeeded.
The Sorting Card was a special composite magic card, incredibly complex in function.
Since students personally completed the final step of its creation, each person's familiar was unique.
"By the name of Darc Dimon—Familiar Summon!"
The Sorting Card used a special simplified incantation.
As Darc spoke the words correctly, magic flowed from his fingertips into the card.
It burst into brilliant daylight-like radiance, drawing countless gazes.
Emma, who had also prepared but failed multiple times, looked over involuntarily.
Under the white glow, Darc's fair skin, handsome features, and calm eyes left a deep impression on her.
Gritting her teeth, she stopped watching and hurriedly flipped through her book, searching for mistakes before trying again.
Her competitive spirit was obvious.
…
But Darc was far from calm.
He suddenly realized the flow of magic was accelerating.
It felt like the Sorting Card was actively draining his magic!
The extra magic granted by the awakening Demon God bloodline was almost exhausted.
Only then did a six-pointed magic circle suddenly appear on the card!
"This is…"
A small, bat-shaped demon.
And not an ordinary one.
Advance Chapters available on Patreon
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