As she spoke, the figure smiled, her form slowly dissolving into light. She knew her friend might refuse, so she had already started re-registering when she came here. Seeing this, Ham's face darkened, and now she truly had no choice but to help. "And if it succeeds, there are benefits. At least we can pull the faith back. When that happens, both the sun and the light will be much better."
"With how you used to be, is that really possible?" Ham stared at Dawn with dead eyes, making her break into a cold sweat. Confidence? Maybe if she personally controlled things now, but her past self? "So… high risk, high reward?" she said, smiling helplessly.
The light slowly faded away.
"I just want to confirm one more time because I am not fully sure. You said your name is Luna, you are a Half-Elf, and you just came out of Elven Homeland, right?"
"Yes. Is there any problem, teacher? I prepared all my documents properly. Did something go wrong in the process?"
Fei'er Li read the student file back and forth several times, secretly flipping through the Pure White Book while comparing it with the physical traits of the blonde girl in front of her. Honestly, the triangular new bud mark on the forehead alone should have been enough, but Fei'er Li still could not quite believe it. Something about this felt off, very off.
Weren't the Elves supposed to be gone? Weren't her family all melted down and used as fusion material for the Inverted World Tree? How could she be standing here now. The thought sounded too much like Hell nonsense and made her feel unwell, so Fei'er Li swallowed the words before saying them out loud.
Thinking about it, the appearance of the Inverted World Tree was also fairly recent. Yet over the past few days, the newspapers showed nothing unusual from Paraten Empire besides new Magitech Products and territorial expansion. It felt like she had forgotten something important, and now she realized it was this.
But why would an archer come knocking on her door, and on top of that want to attend a human school? After a moment of confusion, Fei'er Li could not quite understand it. If the girl truly wanted to learn, there were countless experts within Elven Race who would line up to teach her.
This was not even a top academy. It was good, first-rate at best, but there were nearly ten others at the same level. It was not nearly special enough to attract someone so important to Elven Race.
"Don't worry, teacher. Luna just wants to experience life," the girl said softly. "And actually, there are some things here at the school that attract me."
Sensing the subtle emotions, Luna kindly explained to the instructor who gave her a strange impression. As for what exactly attracted her, she decided not to say it yet. After all, what could possibly attract someone like her, something that could draw in a World Tree itself?
Fei'er Li did not understand at all. Still, when she secretly glanced at the book and saw that besides the black dragon-human mark, a second green new bud mark had lit up, she finally nodded and signed the papers. She officially accepted this student.
"Then, Luna, congratulations. As of today, you are officially a student of this academy, and I will be your mentor from now on."
"I don't have many students. Later, I will introduce you to another student and my teaching assistant so you can get familiar with each other."
"Okay, teacher."
By rounding things up, Hero Party had already gathered half of its members. The progress was slow, but everything seemed to be moving in a good direction. Still, it all felt too smooth, leaving Fei'er Li with a strange lack of reality.
So many incomprehensible things had already happened that she barely questioned it anymore. The sun had delayed its set and flashed repeatedly, chaos had swept through the surroundings, and afterward everyone seemed to have no memory of it. People and events had changed, except for herself and Icelis, Nefit, and a few others.
Even the emperor of the neighboring Faris Empire had been replaced by someone she did not recognize. Even stranger was the recent event some people called the descent of the pitch-black dragon god, which caused shocking changes. The Demonkind that plagued The Continent for thousands of years suddenly became an endangered race.
Some groups even formed a kind of fanatic faith around that phenomenon. Demonkind, Evil God, Four Heavenly Kings and other headaches would always show up for a while and then disappear without reason. Now even members of Hero Party were delivering themselves to her doorstep.
It made Fei'er Li feel as if she had transmigrated into an easy-mode Otherworld. She had not even done anything yet. Still, until all those strange incidents were truly over, she felt she could not relax.
"Luna, all these single villas are currently unused. If you like, you can choose any one you want. Of course, if you already have a place off campus, that is fine too."
"That area over there is where I live, and the teaching assistant stays there as well. Hm?"
While explaining, Fei'er Li noticed Luna turn her head and stare straight at something. Or rather, someone.
"Yo, teacher, you're here too. Is that Elves behind you a new student?"
Still wearing her neat single ponytail, Nefit ran over with bags of snacks in her hands, chewing on jerky and smiling brightly. Her smooth black hair contrasted with the strange black lines extending from her neck up along her cheeks.
At the moment Luna saw her, her eyes lit up. You too are the same kind. When their eyes met, Nefit also froze as a strange feeling rose inside her, so strong that she stopped chewing and dropped the snack bags.
The two stared at each other without blinking. Fei'er Li tilted her head in confusion beside them, wondering if Hero Party members had developed some kind of strange resonance. They had never had this before, but now they did.
At first glance, both felt something indescribable. Nefit felt her heart beating faster than normal, while Luna felt her magnetic field expanding uncontrollably. To prevent them from standing there all day, Fei'er Li cleared her throat to interrupt.
"Cough. Let me introduce you properly. Luna, this is Nefit, my first student. You two will be spending quite some time together, so get to know each other."
"Oh, right. Hello, Luna. I'm Nefit.Edward, currently a student under the teacher."
"Hello. My name is Luna. My home is in Elven Homeland. The person closest to me is Vivian. As for food, I usually like to eat…"
The natural affinity of the World Tree was extremely strong, and Luna also had emotional perception. From Fei'er Li's perspective, the two reached a near-friend level of closeness in under twenty minutes. After an hour, they were already sharing fairly personal topics.
By the afternoon, they were standing amicably on the arena, preparing to spar. Wait, why were they about to fight? Fei'er Li stood there blankly, suddenly remembering she was supposed to be the referee.
How did their relationship veer off in this direction so fast? Then again, in the Otherworld, maybe fighting was a good way to build bonds. She turned to Icelis and spoke seriously.
"Icelis, if it looks like either of them might get injured, stop it immediately. Understood?"
"Mmm. Yes."
Mumbling with food still in her mouth, Icelis nodded and stared at the arena. She also felt an uneasy sensation she could not explain. Fei'er Li herself had only recently reached Gold, yet even so she was not confident she could suppress these two students if needed.
Ever since Nefit changed her hair color, everything about her had become increasingly absurd. Her strength was around Silver, yet she once nearly sent her Gold father to the hospital with a hug. Her appetite and recovery were equally terrifying.
At first, Fei'er Li worried about Luna. But seeing the excitement on her face and her equally imposing presence, she relaxed a little. These two were clearly built differently.
"Let me check the skill setup first. From what I remember, Luna is an archer with some Battle Aura techniques and Magic…"
Fei'er Li opened the book. When such marks appeared, it meant she could see a person's skill list and values. She had discovered this earlier, back when strange marks suddenly appeared and even allowed her to view and adjust Nefit's stats.
Now Luna was the same. Combined with the earlier Holy Sword mark, Fei'er Li suspected the book was tied to some god, and that her transmigration might not have been an accident. As she opened the stat page, she frowned.
Something was wrong. For a Elves, this strength was far too high. It was weaker than Nefit, but it still crushed almost everyone at the same stage.
"And why is this skill list so abstract? Why is lightning Magic so high? Why are there so many Battle Aura techniques? And the actual archery skills are the lowest. What is going on?"
Her brows knitted as she suddenly realized something else. Luna had not brought a shortbow onto the arena. She was standing there empty-handed.