Unlock the Story Before Anyone Else!
Now I have uploaded 60 chapters for this work on Patreon!
Can't wait to see what happens next? You don't have to!
Join us on Patreon.com/Eden_Translation and gain exclusive early access to unreleased chapters — up to 60 chapters ahead of the public release!
Here's what each tier offers:
$3 Tier – The Early Reader
Get a taste of the future with 10 chapters in advance. Perfect for casual readers who want a head start!
$5 Tier – The Story Seeker
Step deeper into the world with 30 chapters in advance. Ideal for serious readers who crave more immersion and momentum.
$9 Tier – The Narrative Patron
Claim the ultimate experience with a massive 60 chapters in advance! This tier is for the true fans who live and breathe the story — never fall behind again.
Your support not only gives you early content, but it also helps me continue writing and expanding the world you love.
Every tier unlocks more adventure — choose the one that suits your journey best.
Join now and stay far ahead of the curve:
patreon.com/Eden_Translation
Ok guys, now this work is also available on Patreon with 60 chapters ahead of the current work. If you like this work, you can join there, and from now on, there will be two chapters a day as I have caught up with my advance work.
Another important point to note is that from now on, there will be two chapters a day for this work as I have already catch up to my advanced work on Patreon. You now have the ability to read up to 60 chapters ahead of the current chapter, featuring image of transformations and female leads.
Thanks for Reading
See you on Patreon...
*****
{Chapter: 88: The Ones Who Got Chosen}
At last, the great selection had begun.
Inside the Hall of Trials, as whispers echoed from the shadows and hovering magical sigils scanned students like glowing eyes of judgment, an air of silent tension took hold. It was subtle, but everyone felt it. A collective breath held tight, as if even the air waited to see who would be chosen.
Then came the moment.
A faint chime rang through the grand hall—a sound like crystal striking crystal—and a flare of golden light hovered over one student's head.
Saya.
He had been chosen.
Charles watched from the sidelines, his chest tight with complicated emotions. He wasn't surprised. Saya had always been better than him—more composed, more elegant, more talented. From magical aptitude to aura control, from etiquette to academic theory, Saya excelled. He carried himself like he had been born to be chosen.
But that didn't make it sting any less.
As the magical glow descended, a figure appeared behind Saya—a robed mentor whose face was obscured by a veil of light. But the more striking presence was the creature at the mentor's side.
A massive bat.
Its wings, leathery and veined with glowing strange symbols, folded neatly along its sides as it hovered in place. Its red eyes locked onto Saya with a stare too intense to be friendly. A thread of saliva dripped from its fangs, catching the light like a strand of silver.
Charles saw it clearly: the bat was drooling. Not figuratively—literally.
Saya's posture stiffened. The confident smile on his lips twitched.
Yet even with his discomfort rising, he turned toward Charles with a strained grin and raised his hand in a proud wave. His eyes sparkled with forced composure. To anyone else, he appeared triumphant. The chosen one.
But inside, Saya's mind was in turmoil.
Why is that thing looking at me like that? Is it really a pet? Or is it deciding how I'd taste with salt and pepper?
Please let me be a student… not a snack.
Despite the churning fear, he played the part of the victor. Face mattered, after all.
Charles watched from the edge, forcing a small smile of his own. "He must've been picked by a great instructor," he muttered under his breath. "He looks… happy."
But inside, Charles felt like he was shrinking.
Not a single mentor had looked at him—not even in passing. It was like he didn't exist. As the hall emptied and apprentices were escorted away by their new masters, Charles was left standing alone in the quiet.
And then, a flicker of light landed in his hand.
A token.
Wooden, circular, etched with a spiral vine. It vibrated slightly, as if humming with life.
His destination was a little house far from the grand towers, nestled deep within the academy's outskirts. He followed a winding trail that twisted between ancient trees, each as thick as a castle column. The air smelled of moss and magic.
Finally, he arrived.
The house was… unlike anything he'd ever seen.
Though it had windows and doors, the entire structure appeared to be grown rather than built. The walls were not hammered wood, but living bark, twisted and shaped like natural sculptures. The roof shimmered with leafy tiles that glowed faintly in the moonlight. Roots ran down into the earth and up into the sky, merging seamlessly with the massive, unknown plant on which the entire home had grown.
It was a house alive.
Charles clutched his token and swallowed hard. He tried to steady his nerves, but anxiety surged. This was it. His new mentor lived here. The person who would shape his future… if they even cared to.
Would they like me?
Would they even remember choosing me?
Do I have anything worth teaching?
He didn't think so. He was average—if even that. There was nothing remarkable about his spellcasting, and he had no noble lineage, no dark secret bloodline, no glowing magical mark. He was just Charles.
Still, he stepped forward and pressed the rune-crusted bell beside the door.
He didn't have to wait long.
A rustling sound above startled him. From the leafy canopy above the house, a thick vine slithered down like a serpent, coiling in mid-air. It danced around him in slow, circling loops—observing. Then, without warning, it whipped forward and twined around his shoulders and waist like a binding serpent.
Charles froze. His heart raced.
Is this normal? Am I about to be eaten? Was that bell actually a trap?
The vine gave a few experimental squeezes—tight, then loose, as though testing him. Then, a voice emerged, scratchy and oddly gentle, like wind through dried leaves.
"New apprentice?"
The voice was old. Ancient. Possibly half-asleep. It came not from a person, but from the vine itself.
"Yes," Charles said quickly, trying not to tremble. "My name is Charles. I just arrived today."
The vine swayed thoughtfully, the coils shifting in gentle pulses. Then it bobbed once.
Was that a nod? Charles wondered. Please be a nod.
Then the vine began to mumble to itself.
"Didn't they say a year passes between batches? What month is it? What day is it today…? Hrm. Hmmm. Time again. Always so sneaky, slipping past like mist… Must be the aftereffects from that head explosion… Or maybe I drank the Dreamvine tea too early…"
Charles blinked.
Explosion? Dreamvine tea? Did I just hear that right?
The voice continued to mutter, unaware—or uncaring—of the awkward silence. "Yes, yes. Back when I was a sprout of a man… First time in a brothel, I was just as thin and malnourished as this boy…"
Charles froze.
Wait, what!?
A hundred red flags exploded in his mind like fireworks. He stared at the house, then at the vine, then back at the house. This mentor… was not normal. Not at all. He suddenly imagined himself thirty years later, still wearing his apprentice robe, sweeping leaves from this very doorstep.
Will I ever graduate?
Will I even survive this?
He forced himself to breathe.
No turning back now.
---
Elsewhere in the academy, trouble brewed in another form.
Saya stood before a tall mirror of polished crystal, surrounded by incense smoke and floating spheres of light. His new mentor's residence was beautiful, refined, and immaculately clean.
But the mentor himself…
Well.
The figure before him wore a robe split clean down the middle. The right half was masculine, lined with gold and trimmed in black. The left half was a laced pink gown with frills that could have come from a noblewoman's closet. One eye was painted with heavy eyeliner. The other was bare. In one hand, he held a scroll. In the other, a lipstick wand.
Saya stood still as a statue while the man—his new master—applied the lipstick with utmost seriousness, completely ignoring his new disciple.
*****
Unlock the Story Before Anyone Else!
Now I have uploaded 60 chapters for this work on Patreon!
Can't wait to see what happens next? You don't have to!
Join us on Patreon.com/Eden_Translation and gain exclusive early access to unreleased chapters — up to 60 chapters ahead of the public release!
Here's what each tier offers:
$3 Tier – The Early Reader
Get a taste of the future with 10 chapters in advance. Perfect for casual readers who want a head start!
$5 Tier – The Story Seeker
Step deeper into the world with 30 chapters in advance. Ideal for serious readers who crave more immersion and momentum.
$9 Tier – The Narrative Patron
Claim the ultimate experience with a massive 60 chapters in advance! This tier is for the true fans who live and breathe the story — never fall behind again.
Your support not only gives you early content, but it also helps me continue writing and expanding the world you love.
Every tier unlocks more adventure — choose the one that suits your journey best.
Join now and stay far ahead of the curve:
patreon.com/Eden_Translation
Ok guys, now this work is also available on Patreon with 60 chapters ahead of the current work. If you like this work, you can join there, and from now on, there will be two chapters a day as I have caught up with my advance work.
Another important point to note is that from now on, there will be two chapters a day for this work as I have already catch up to my advanced work on Patreon. You now have the ability to read up to 60 chapters ahead of the current chapter, featuring image of transformations and female leads.
Thanks for Reading
See you on Patreon...