The Soul-Sucker's explosion was clearly unexpected by Professor Nini.
Doron, who was on the stage at the time, nearly wet himself in fright.
Fortunately, the force of the Soul-Sucker's explosion wasn't very strong.
It was more like a balloon than a gas canister.
Doron was only knocked onto his rear by the blast of air.
But Professor Nini panicked and quickly reached out to help him up, "Are you alright?"
This scared Doron even more.
Professor Nini's expression froze, and her outstretched hand stopped in mid-air.
She slowly retracted her hand and cautiously looked down at the students, only to find them all looking relieved. No one was blaming her for her lack of caution.
"Phew, that was close."
Professor Nini patted her chest and let out a huge sigh of relief.
...
Seeing it was a false alarm, Dark, who had instinctively stood up, sat back down.
He then heard Robert shout from the other side, "Hey, why did it explode? I wanted to try it out!"
Several boys in front of him chimed in nonchalantly, "Exactly! You didn't even give us a chance, making it seem like we're cowards!"
Once this topic started, similar comments erupted uncontrollably.
All the students who hadn't dared to go on stage to experience it now found their voices.
Professor Nini blinked and said cheerfully, "Really? In that case, I'll catch another one for next class!"
The classroom fell silent in an instant.
But immediately after, the students who had already experienced it burst out laughing.
The tense and uncertain atmosphere from the explosion vanished without a trace.
Only Professor Nini wore a puzzled expression, unable to understand what they were laughing about.
Before long, however, the bell for the end of class rang.
She immediately panicked and hurriedly assigned this week's homework: "Anyway, that's it. After class, everyone must write a short essay about the Soul-Sucker. Turn it in before noon next Wednesday. Just hand it in to..."
Emma raised her hand with a resigned look on her face, "Professor, I can help collect them."
Professor Nini quickly said, "Then give them to student Emma, and she will deliver them to my office... it's right next to Auntie Silf's office!"
And that was that.
Professor Nini's first lecture had finally come to an end.
She packed her small school bag and squeezed out the front door of the classroom with light, quick steps.
Only after she was some distance away did the students in the classroom gradually begin to talk amongst themselves.
Before this class, probably no one had expected the Professor of Magical Beast Studies to be a Behemoth half-blood.
"But you have to admit, it was pretty interesting."
"And not scary at all!"
"I was super brave!"
"I'm really looking forward to next week's Magical Beast Studies class. I wonder what kind of magical beast Professor Nini will bring next?"
"It would be nice if it were a little cuter."
...
Professor Nini, unexpectedly, had received rave reviews!
Dark lingered in the classroom for a moment and couldn't help but smile when he saw that his classmates had a good impression of the new professor.
Perhaps because he had raised so many small creatures, he now felt an urge to take care of clumsy yet hardworking kids like her.
He wasn't originally like this.
"Dark, let's go!"
Diana patted her small belly, indicating that she was starving.
Only then did Dark pick up his school bag and turn to leave.
After Magical Beast Studies, it was Friday afternoon.
The opening of Traveler's Street was one thing, but the main event was the Dueling Club's recruitment drive.
Friday afternoon at the beginning of each semester was the time for the Dueling Club to recruit new members.
It wasn't just open to first-years, but to the entire academy!
Of course, most upperclassmen who wanted to join the Dueling Club had already done so, so the main targets were still the first and second-years.
Dark's group of three found a spot in the cafeteria and discussed matters related to the Dueling Club while eating lunch.
Diana seemed very excited, "I've asked around! As long as you join the Dueling Club, you can sign up for the rookie tournament every Friday to compete on Saturday morning. You get 200 school points for every win! Once I have points, I can buy whatever I want..."
Dark had to remind her, "You need to pay school points to register for the tournament. The rookie tournament has a 50% discount, but it still costs 50 points to enter. Of course, higher-level dueling competitions offer greater rewards."
Diana muttered, "Pay 50 points, win 200 points, for a net profit of 150. One win can cover three losses, is that right?"
Dark said, "That's right. And you get 10 rating points for each win, but you also lose 10 for a loss. Once your rating exceeds one hundred, you can apply for promotion. If you win three consecutive promotion matches, you can advance to a higher-level tournament."
Diana asked, "So, as long as I have a net of 10 wins and pass the promotion matches, I can participate in other tournaments even if I'm not a third-year?"
Dark nodded, "That's the logic, but getting a net of 10 wins isn't as easy as you think."
Diana replied, "I know..."
After all, second-year students made up the majority of competitors in the rookie tournament.
After signing up, you were most likely to be matched against a second-year.
And among the second-years, there were plenty of strong duelists like Senior Mali.
Furthermore, if you lost just one of the three promotion matches, you had to start all over again.
Every year, countless students were tragically defeated in their promotion trials and fell back down!
Unless you truly possessed strength that surpassed your current tier, it was very difficult to advance.
But generally speaking, the school point reward system for dueling competitions was relatively generous for students. As long as you could maintain a 50% win rate, you could earn a significant amount of points.
Of course, there were also those with terrible luck who suffered consecutive losses and lost everything they had, down to their last pair of shorts.
...
Today seemed to be a special occasion, as most students in the cafeteria were enthusiastically discussing the Dueling Club's recruitment.
Although it wasn't as grand as a holiday festival, it was still considered a major event at St. Marian.
The Dueling Club was the only club at St. Marian Academy directly managed by the school. It was independent of student organizations like the Student Council, the Literature Club, the Astronomy Club, and the Magic Guide Chess Club, and was the only club one could join concurrently with another.
Every club at St. Marian could register a team with the Dueling Club.
The strength of a club's team was the main criterion for evaluating that club.
This was linked to competition for research resources, applications for club funding...
And if disputes arose between clubs, they also had to be resolved through duels.
Therefore, for a club to grow bigger and stronger, it was necessary to build a powerful team.
For this reason, every time the Dueling Club held a recruitment drive, many clubs would send people to scout for promising talents to recruit.
The beginning of the second semester each year was the best opportunity for clubs to assess the potential of new students.
What's more, this year's lineup of new students was exceptionally strong!
Whether it was the son of the Hero and the son of the Valkyrie, or the Ancient Sage, the Kingdom's Bear, and the heir of the Doron family, expectations were high.
...
After a few bites of her noodles, Diana turned to look at Rose, "Are you really not going to give it a try?"
Rose quickly shook her head, "No, I can't. Dueling is too difficult for me. I'll just be your cheerleader!"
Diana said, "Oh," and took a few more bites of noodles.
She definitely wanted Rose to join her, but since Rose didn't like it, she couldn't force her.
She had heard that even among sixth-years at the academy, there were students who had never joined the Dueling Club and still had good grades.
It was perfectly understandable that some people naturally disliked or weren't good at dueling.
Still, she felt a little disappointed.
Rose said with a gentle smile, "Don't be like that. When the time comes, you can just fight hard enough for the both of us!"
Diana exclaimed, "Charge, charge, charge!"
...
Not far away.
Doron was sitting with the chubby Pistan.
They both had the same steak in front of them. Doron cut his steak with the posture of a standard nobleman, while Pistan wolfed his down without a care, his mouth full of juices.
After wiping the meat juice from the corner of his mouth with a napkin, Pistan mumbled, "How are your preparations going, Doron?"
Doron shook his head, "Not too well."
Pistan said, "Stop comparing yourself to Dark all the time. You're already very skilled!"
Doron replied, "One shouldn't always look down."
Pistan: "Hey, are you specifically referring to me when you say 'down'?"
Doron: "You figured it out."
Pistan: "Hehe, I think it's more realistic for you to see Virt as your rival. Look, he's the son of the Hero!"
Doron: "The son of the Hero isn't the Hero himself."
Pistan: "But the prophets all say that the day the Demon King is resurrected is the day the Hero will reappear, and there are rumors everywhere that the Demon King is about to be revived."
Doron: "Are you talking about that bunch of frauds?"
Pistan: "Don't say that. Some prophets are quite reliable."
Doron: "Yes, 'some' of them are."
...
A little further away.
Emma was sitting with two other girls.
They were Susan and Lucy, who always sat on either side of Emma in class.
Susan had eyes and brows that seemed to smile naturally, and she loved to laugh, revealing two deep dimples each time.
Lucy was more reserved, with short hair. She usually didn't talk much, but once she started, she couldn't stop, and her speech was very fragmented.
After a semester together, the three of them had formed a small circle.
Susan, eating a strawberry she had stolen from Lucy's plate, said happily, "Emma, you can't forget about us after you join the Dueling Club."
Emma shook her head slightly, "Not yet. Professor Jones said that just having twenty Magic Guide Cards isn't enough. I need to prove myself in a duel."
Susan said, "It's a duel between rookies, right? For our Emma, that should be a piece of cake!"
Lucy looked up and deliberately imitated Emma's voice, "Watch me perform this afternoon."
Emma: "..."
She was very fond of her two new friends, but their occasional silliness was a bit much for her to handle.
...
Elsewhere.
Virt and Robert hadn't gone to the cafeteria for lunch.
They went straight to the lab as soon as class was over.
Because Virt was still one Magic Guide Card short of the required twenty!
As for Robert.
Although he had a sudden urge to join the Dueling Club, he simply didn't have enough Magic Guide Cards, so he had to give up the idea.
...
Besides them.
Sara Swati and Heidi from Magic House, Justin Wayne from Knight House, and the top students from Fool's House.
Many students who had collected twenty Magic Guide Cards were secretly gearing up.
Joining the Dueling Club as a first-year was definitely a very glorious achievement.
If they missed this opportunity, they would have to spend the rest of the semester cheering for their ticket-holding classmates from the stands—something that students with high aspirations absolutely could not accept.
Therefore, this ticket was a must-have!
...
After lunch.
Dark, Diana, and Rose returned to the Noble House tower together.
The three of them agreed on a time to head out together and then returned to their respective dorms.
When Dark opened the door, he saw his Magic Guide Spirits busy with their own activities.
Hawlucha, as usual, had been banished to the balcony, where it tirelessly battled a wooden training dummy.
Gatomon had occupied the highest level of the cat tree and was painstakingly working its way through a children's reader with the help of a dictionary.
Among all the Magic Guide Spirits, Gatomon's learning progress was the fastest, and it was also the most diligent.
Every time Dark came back, he couldn't help but praise it, which only made it more diligent!
So far, Gatomon had received the most little red flowers, second only to DemiDevimon.
As for the other Magic Guide Spirits.
Ditto liked to hang out with Trash Slime.
Shuckle was studying the art of tea.
Popplio spent all day in its inflatable pool, practicing blowing bubbles out of boredom.
Dark sometimes hoped it would teach itself [Bubble], but it was just a fleeting thought.
And Miltank was taking care of the three Catnip Grass sprouts, like a kindergarten class monitor.
Dark had taught it how to care for the insect tree, hoping it would grow to the point where it could take over the task of tending to his plants for him.
Then there were Eevee and Sylveon.
Ever since Sylveon had dangled Eevee by its ribbon-like feelers, Eevee had been on bad terms with it.
Now, it kept its distance.
Eevee was diligently studying its textbook, trying to stage a comeback through the power of knowledge.
Sylveon, on the other hand, was flipping through Dark's copy of 'Dressing-Up Master,' showing an unusual interest in various strange outfits.
Dark didn't mind them expressing their individuality, but the prerequisite was that they had to keep up with their basic education.
As long as they could complete their basic education, Dark would teach them according to their aptitude, continuing their education based on their preferences.
For example, getting Sylveon a little dress or something!
"Swoosh!"
Upon hearing the door open, Sylveon's ears perked up instantly. It dropped 'Dressing-Up Master' without a second thought and pounced towards its master.
"Shameless."
Gatomon muttered under its breath and continued reading.
It really liked the story it was reading, 'The Little Kitty's Sleepwalking Adventure'.
...
After catching Sylveon, Dark managed to avoid its tongue and said with a hint of indulgence, "Alright, alright, you don't have to do this every time..."
But these half-hearted words were, of course, not going to stop Sylveon.
He could only sit down on the edge of the bed with it in his arms, skillfully using the 'Eagle's Hand' to make it relax in a state of [Lust].
Then he clapped his hands, gathered all the Magic Guide Spirits, and said, "I'll be counting on you all again for this afternoon's Dueling Club recruitment!"
________________________________________
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