CHAPTER 764: AN EXORCIST’S GUIDE TO NOT GETTING EXPELLED

Every teenager lined up behind the teacher, who would guide them to their dorms. Adam saw Matthew take the students of the House of Transmutation away, already talking about basic principles with the most restless ones. An aged lady he didn’t know yet, her face more wrinkled than a gnarled tree, took the proud-faced students of the House of Invocation outside.

He followed Isold with the students of the House of Exorcism, surrounded by their eager whispers. Mathild and Sarah tried to make friends with Quintella by showing her their favorite garden spots as they passed by.

Meanwhile, others drifted toward Adam.

Their smiles were gentle, and their eyes shone with innocent curiosity as they extended warm welcomes. While they questioned him, he felt their mana—most were mages, with the oldest reaching the adept level. In fact, he realised his tier was among the weakest, those who were under eleven years old.

Years ago, he would have felt humiliated, perhaps even angry. Now? He merely shrugged. Proving himself as he had in the Arcane Academy of Enchantment didn’t matter. He knew he could become the best, and it was enough.

As he reached a building, its facade emblazoned with the exorcist’s silver sword piercing a coiled black serpent, Isold suddenly halted. She shook her head, sighing. "He’s at it again..."

A familiar scream pierced the soft rustle of petals, drowning out the students’ disciplined whispers. "YAHOOOO! Welcome back for this new year, comrades."

Adam snapped his gaze up, pinching the bridge of his nose upon recognising the troublesome teenager.

Quintella’s hand tightened around his, and she snarled. "The sleep wrecker!"

Desmond loomed from the highest balcony of the dorm. With his fists planted on his hips and his head thrown back, he continued. "Even if your magic is lacking, don’t worry! I’ll surpass the rector and carry our House to the top!"

"Not this again..." someone groaned. "Hey, bastard! I pummeled you with my spells last semester, so who’s lacking?"

Another hissed through his clenched jaw. "Shut up, Desmond! Even if we rank last every year, our scores have reached an all-time low since you joined us."

Many angry cries followed before Isold facepalmed. "Come down, Desmond." She gestured at the troublemaker, and once he coated himself in a purplish lightning arc and leapt down, she grabbed him by the ear.

"Do you think missing the ceremony just to play a prank would make us forget about your absence?" She ignored his pained yelps. "First day of the semester and already two offences. Do you like to spend your free time working for teachers that much? Very well, then. Teacher Louis just happens to need a pair of extra arms to adapt his lessons."

"Ouch. Let go of me, old Isold. Everything I did was to strengthen our bonds!" Lightning crackled around Desmond as he tried to pry Isold’s hand open, but each finger felt like a pipe of enchanted metal.

The other students sneered, delighted to see him punished for the umpteenth time.

"I believe you," Isolde smirked. "Or rather, I’ll believe that’s the best you came up with after watching the enforcers banish these fallen nobles until you ran late. Two hours per day for two weeks." She let go of his ear, her voice turning icy. "You know what’ll happen if Teacher Louis doesn’t see you."

Desmond lowered his head, trying to hide his blush beneath his purple hair. "I know... I’ll go," he whispered, shoulders slumped.

"I’ll make you sort cursed artifacts at the third offence, so you’d better lie low for a while." Isold’s snort met the approving nods of the other students.

Strengthen bonds? Desmond should have thought about it when he added frozen soul dew to their concoctions during Teacher Maxwell’s class. The cauldron had blown up, raining shrapnel that had not only practically killed them all but also almost levelled the entire building.

"This guy’s sabotaging us, I’m telling you. Teacher Maxwell had deducted a thousand points from our House. Before that, it was five hundred because he woke Teacher Astride up by summoning a swarm of tiger-striped wasps on her day off."

"Don’t forget the time he decided to humiliate us in front of the other Houses. Another two thousand points gone because he thought he could reinvent how we draw mana circles around our hearts." Another pursed his lips. "If Teacher Grimhilde hadn’t noticed the instability in the deceived student’s mana, the poor boy’s organs would have painted the walls of the common hall scarlet. The scarlet of Desmond’s stupidity."

"Enough." Isolde waved her hand, the threat in her voice thickening the air. Runes on the wooden gates brightened as the doors of the dorm rumbled open. "My patience is thinning."

Silence instantly descended on the group, and dozens of students rushed through the gates without a sound. Adam followed leisurely, a smile tugging at his lips when Desmond finally noticed him.

The troublemaker’s eyes widened, and his breath caught in his throat. "We’re in the same House?"

"Don’t start picking on our new student." Isold dragged him inside by the ear, cutting him off.

"Serves you right, sleep wrecker." Quintella chuckled, skipping behind them.

Meanwhile, Adam frowned. Why didn’t the college, or at least the exorcists, expel Desmond after all the trouble he had caused? Some teachers prided themselves on reforming lost causes, but Isold’s grip on Desmond’s ear suggested she’d rather reform his skull. Well, he would have time to uncover the reason, not that it mattered when he had greater secrets to hunt.

He walked inside the building, seeing lounges decorated with comfy sofas, multicolored cushions, and bright carpets. Open doors revealed alchemy labs, research offices, and forges wafting the scent of cold coal and metals.

Rooms flanked the walls of the second floor, each numbered and marked with male signs. The third floor was the same, but with female signs instead.

"Do I have to remind you about basic decency and why you’ve enrolled in the college?" Isold said after showing the third-floor baths. "I’ll teach you what it feels like to have an ethereal limb between your legs if I catch a boy sneaking on the girls’ floor."

"And I’ll teach any girl what it feels like to actually have a limb between their legs if they sneak on the boy’s floor." A manly voice echoed from the stairs that led to the fourth floor.

Adam watched as a brown-haired man stepped toward them, not a centimeter of his face unblemished by a deep scar.

"Or should we change the punishment? Since they feel out of place on their respective floors, why don’t we turn them into the opposite sex for a week?" Sneering, he walked toward Adam and Quintella. "Ah, two new faces. I’m Teacher Magna, co-manager of this dorm with Isold. The rules are simple: anything that feels logically wrong is forbidden, which includes annoying us. For the rest, we’re not lacking free rooms, so pick whichever you like. You’ll find two sets of uniforms on your beds."

He patted Adam and Quintella’s shoulders. "Not wearing your uniform is an offence. Change for now, then take the day to familiarise yourselves with the campus and your comrades."

"Thank you, Teacher Magna." Adam nodded before his gaze trailed to the stairs. "Won’t we see the other floors?"

Magna shook his head. "Off limits until the House wins the yearly competition. Hey, don’t glare at me. It’s the rector’s rules." He rolled his eyes as the students glared at him. "What did he say again? Oh, yeah, they won’t get what they don’t deserve." His lips curled like a knife. "And I agree with him. Now get lost before you start this year with minus fifty points."