Chapter 27: The Perfect Aristocrat and the Promise to a King (Revised)
Ning Rongrong stared at the garbled, rapidly chanted sausage in her hand as if it were a live grenade. The pressure of Headmaster Flender's piercing gaze, combined with the utterly unbothered, mocking smirk on Young Master Bai's face, left her with no avenue of retreat.
Gritting her teeth, the spoiled princess of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Clan closed her eyes and took a furious bite.
She expected it to taste like grease and peasant mud. Instead, her cyan eyes snapped open in sheer, unadulterated shock.
The flavor was remarkably savory, but it was the immediate physical reaction that truly stunned her. A warm, incredibly pure stream of spirit power flowed down her throat, instantly branching out into her meridians. The lingering fatigue of her long journey to the academy vanished. Her innate spirit power, which usually recovered at a snail's pace without meditation, surged back to its peak.
Rongrong looked at the bearded, goofy fourteen-year-old in absolute awe. She had grown up surrounded by the greatest support-type Spirit Masters on the Douluo Continent. Her own father was the undisputed king of auxiliary support. But even she had to admit, the raw, immediate restorative properties of this food-system ability were terrifyingly efficient.
"It's... it's actually incredible," Rongrong whispered, her aristocratic pride utterly defeated by the undeniable quality of the ability.
Flender let out a sharp, satisfied bark of laughter. "Of course it is! He is a genius Food-System Spirit Master. Now that you've all choked down your pride and your breakfast, listen up!"
The Headmaster paced in front of the five standing students, pushing his square glasses up his nose.
"As I mentioned, Tang San and Dai Mubai will require a few days of bed rest to heal their fractured ribs and poisoned meridians," Flender announced, his tone shifting into a strict, commanding bark. "Once they are recovered, your true, unified hell training will begin. But until then, I am not letting you sit around getting soft."
Flender pointed at the group, rapidly organizing them. "We are going to focus on your specific roles. Support types, together! Oscar, you will run laps with Ning Rongrong to build her physical stamina while practicing your incantation overlapping. Agility and Close-Combat, together! Xiao Wu, Zhu Zhuqing, you two will spar in the eastern woods to refine your reaction times."
Flender's eyes finally landed on the last two students.
"Power and Attack, together," Flender concluded. "Ma Hongjun, you will partner with our newest noble arrival. Try not to burn the village down."
The group naturally separated into their designated pairs. The plump, red-haired Ma Hongjun waddled over to where Mame was standing. The Evil Fire Phoenix looked the immaculate, silver-robed aristocrat up and down, clearly feeling incredibly underdressed in his presence.
True to his crass, straightforward nature, Fatty didn't bother with pleasantries.
"Alright, listen," Ma Hongjun grunted, crossing his thick arms. "If we're going to be on the same assault team, I need to know what to actually call you. I can't be yelling 'Young Master Bai' across a battlefield. It takes too long, and frankly, it sounds ridiculous coming out of my mouth. What's your actual full name?"
The plaza went quiet. Ning Rongrong and Zhu Zhuqing both paused, glancing over. They had only ever known him by his title. To ask a high-ranking noble to drop their honorifics so bluntly was usually a recipe for a violent duel.
Mame stood perfectly still. His pitch-black eyes locked onto the red-haired boy. For a fraction of a second, the suffocating aura of the King Beast seemed to ripple the air, but it vanished so quickly no one could be sure they actually felt it.
Instead, a warm, highly refined smile spread across Mame's face.
"You make an excellent point, Ma Hongjun," Mame replied smoothly, his metallic voice entirely devoid of anger. He took a half-step back, creating a polite distance between them. "I must sincerely apologize. With the chaos of the entrance exams, the hotel brawl, and the rather... unsavory behavior of our bedridden peers, I have completely forgotten my basic manners."
Mame swept his right arm across his chest, resting his hand lightly over his heart, and stepped his left foot back.
He bowed.
It was not a deep, groveling bow, nor was it a stiff, dismissive nod. It was an absolutely flawless, textbook exhibition of royal etiquette. The angle of his spine was precisely calculated—it radiated a profound, respectful humility that acknowledged his peers, yet simultaneously projected an untouchable, innate dignity that proved he was absolutely not beneath anyone in the room.
It was the kind of bow that emperors demanded and grand dukes spent their entire lives trying to master.
Ning Rongrong gasped softly, her hands flying to cover her mouth. As the heir to a major clan, she had been trained in etiquette since she could walk. She had seen kings bow. She had seen the Crown Prince of Heaven Dou bow. But this? This was perfection. It was an artistic masterpiece of body language.
Even Zhu Zhuqing, usually completely indifferent to such things, felt her breath catch. The sheer, overwhelming elegance of the gesture commanded absolute respect.
"I never intended to force my familial title upon you," Mame said softly, rising from the bow with liquid grace, his silver silk settling without a single wrinkle. "It is simply what the common merchants and innkeepers resort to calling me. You are my classmates. You may address me by my true name."
Mame smiled, his dark eyes briefly flicking toward Xiao Wu as he spoke.
"My name is Bai Ming," Mame announced, his voice ringing clearly across the dirt plaza. "I have three siblings—two brothers and an older sister. We share no blood, but they are my family, and they mean the world to me."
Xiao Wu's long rabbit ears twitched slightly. She looked at the silver-robed boy, a sudden, sharp pang of homesickness striking her chest. The name Ming combined with "two brothers" brought a vivid, painful memory of the Star Dou Great Forest to the forefront of her mind. Da Ming... Er Ming... I wonder how they are doing? she thought softly, her crimson eyes dimming with nostalgia.
But she didn't connect this wealthy, flawless human aristocrat to her forest home. How could she? She had left the core of the Star Dou Forest and journeyed to Nuoding Academy years ago. She had never met him.
Mame watched the fleeting sadness in her eyes, his aristocratic smile hiding the weight of a multiversal promise.
She had no idea who he was. She had already left to play human before his Saiyan pod had truly integrated into the hierarchy of the apex predators. But Mame remembered the day he left the forest. He remembered the towering, mountain-sized form of the Titan Giant Ape shaking the earth, and the heaven-piercing Azure Bull Python rising from the core lake.
"Find her," Da Ming's echoing, draconic voice resonated in Mame's memory, heavy with a brother's anxiety. "Our older sister is foolish, and the human world is treacherous. We cannot leave the core without inciting a war with the Title Douluos. Find her, Ming. Protect her for us."
Mame pulled his gaze away from his oblivious, adopted older sister and turned back to Ma Hongjun, the golden Sun-Ape Ki beginning to warm his blood in anticipation of a fight.
"Bai Ming, huh?" Ma Hongjun grinned, completely unbothered by the heavy, unspoken history hanging in the air. The fat boy slung an arm around Mame's pristine silver shoulder, earning a microscopic twitch of annoyance from the Saiyan. "Alright, Ming! Let's go blow some stuff up in the training rings!"
"Lead the way, Hongjun," Mame replied flawlessly, brushing a speck of imaginary dust from his collar. "But if you singe my robes, I will bury you under the cafeteria."
The evening sun was dipping below the horizon by the time the Shrek Academy students finally dragged themselves back to the drafty wooden cafeteria.
Flender's "role-specific training" had been nothing short of brutal. Ning Rongrong looked as though she might simply collapse face-first into her bowl of rice; Oscar had run her ragged around the village perimeter while simultaneously forcing her to listen to his rapid-fire sausage incantations. Across the table, Xiao Wu and Zhu Zhuqing were covered in dirt, sweat, and minor scrapes from their relentless, high-speed sparring in the eastern woods.
"I can't feel my legs," Rongrong whimpered, poking weakly at her vegetables. "Where are the other two? Did Headmaster Flender kill them?"
"I don't know," Oscar panted, wiping sweat from his thick beard. "Fatty has crazy stamina, but Bai... Bai is built different. I honestly don't know who is torturing who."
Right on cue, the heavy cafeteria doors creaked open.
Bai Ming stepped through the threshold. The silver-robed aristocrat looked absolutely immaculate. His dark hair was perfectly tied back, his breathing was slow and even, and he didn't have a single speck of dust on his clothes. He strolled into the dining hall with the relaxed, unhurried grace of a noble arriving for a high-society gala.
A few seconds later, a second figure dragged himself through the doors.
Ning Rongrong dropped her chopsticks. Oscar burst out laughing.
Ma Hongjun looked like he had been thrown into a meat grinder, chewed up, and violently spat out. His usually plump face was covered in dark purple bruises. His red hair was sticking up in erratic tufts, his uniform was scorched, and he was limping so heavily he had to lean against the doorframe just to stay upright.
"By the heavens, Fatty!" Oscar cackled, pointing at the bruised Phoenix. "What happened to you?! Did a spirit beast jump the perimeter?"
Ma Hongjun glared at Oscar through a swollen right eye, groaning as he dragged his aching body toward the table.
"No," Fatty wheezed, pointing a trembling, accusing finger at the completely unbothered silver-robed boy sitting down at the head of the table. "I accidentally sneezed and blew a tiny, microscopic spark onto his sleeve during our assault drills. He got mad. So he said we were going to have a 'little spar' to test my close-combat durability."
Zhu Zhuqing's lips twitched upward into a rare, genuine smile. Xiao Wu covered her mouth, her shoulders shaking as she tried to muffle her laughter. They both knew exactly how terrifying Bai's physical strength was. Poking the King Beast with fire was a profoundly stupid idea.
"It was a highly educational session," Bai Ming noted smoothly, taking a delicate sip of his evening tea. "You should be thanking me, Hongjun. Your pain tolerance has exponentially increased."
Fatty just whimpered, collapsing onto a wooden bench.
Bai set his teacup down, his pitch-black eyes shifting to a more clinical, analytical gaze as he looked at the bruised red-haired boy.
"In all seriousness, your Martial Soul is fascinating, Hongjun," Bai stated, his tone shifting from mocking to purely academic. "The academy calls you the 'Evil Fire Phoenix.' But your fire isn't evil at all. That is simply a label applied by the hypocrites of this continent who don't understand energy dynamics."
The table went quiet. Even the exhausted girls leaned in to listen.
"It isn't evil?" Ma Hongjun asked, wincing as he touched his swollen cheek. "But the backlash... the lust..."
"Is a biological symptom, not a curse," Bai interrupted smoothly. "Your flame possesses an extreme, overwhelming concentration of pure Yang energy. It is incredibly potent. The problem is that your physical meridians and your current spirit ring configuration are too weak to properly regulate it. The Yang energy overflows, supercharging your biological drives as your body desperately tries to vent the excess heat. You aren't cursed, Fatty. You just have a high-performance engine shoved into a cheap, wooden cart."
Fatty stared at him, his mouth hanging open. For years, he had been called a freak, a pervert, and a monster because of his Evil Fire. In thirty seconds, this new, terrifying noble had completely deconstructed his lifelong trauma into a simple, solvable issue of energy regulation.
Before Ma Hongjun could thank him, Bai turned his attention to the girls.
He took in their haggard appearances—the sweat plastering their hair to their foreheads, the dirt on Zhu Zhuqing's leather clothes, the minor scrapes on Xiao Wu's arms from the branches in the woods.
"You all look terrible," Bai stated bluntly.
Ning Rongrong glared at him. "We were training, Bai. We can't all look like we just stepped out of a silk boutique."
"True," Bai smiled, an aristocratic smirk touching his lips. "But it offends my eyes to share a dining table with people covered in mud. If you wish, I can clean the dirt from your clothes and heal those minor scrapes with my ki. It takes only a second."
Xiao Wu blinked, looking at her scuffed arms. "You can heal and clean at the same time? With a spirit ability?"
"Something like that," Bai replied casually. He noticed the slight hesitation in their eyes. Trusting a newly met, terrifyingly powerful boy to project energy at them was a big ask.
"Do not worry. To prove it is completely harmless, I will demonstrate on our resident test subjects first," Bai offered.
Without giving them a single second of warning, Bai raised his right hand and snapped his fingers.
The Cosmic Origin Core in his Dantian spun. A blinding, roaring wave of radiant golden fire—his Sun-Ape Ki—erupted from his palm and washed directly over Oscar and Ma Hongjun.
"AIIIIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEE!" Oscar screamed bloody murder, throwing his hands over his face. He scrambled backward so violently he flipped entirely over the wooden bench, crashing onto the floor. He knows what that fire does! Oscar's mind screamed in absolute terror. It vaporized my lucky socks! It doesn't leave ash! I'm going to be erased from existence!
Ma Hongjun also screamed, his eyes rolling back in his head. As a fire-attribute Spirit Master, he could feel the absolute, multiversal heat of that golden flame. It was a holy fire so pure it made his phoenix flames feel like a damp matchstick.
The girls shrieked, jumping up from the table in shock.
But three seconds later, the golden fire snapped out of existence.
There were no ashes. There was no smell of burnt flesh.
Ma Hongjun was sitting perfectly still on his bench. His scorched uniform was suddenly completely immaculate. The dark purple bruises on his face were entirely gone, his skin flushed with healthy, energetic warmth.
Oscar slowly peaked his head over the top of the table. His oversized silk shirt was pristine, his overgrown beard was free of sweat, and the exhaustion from running laps all afternoon had completely vanished.
"I'm... I'm alive?" Oscar whispered, patting his own chest in disbelief.
"Of course you are alive, old man," Bai sighed, rolling his eyes as he lowered his hand. He looked at the three stunned girls. "The Sun-Ape Ki only incinerates impurities, bacteria, and biological hazards. When applied gently, it acts as a perfect cellular restorative and a rather aggressive dry-cleaning service."
Bai offered the girls a charming, utterly flawless smile.
"Now," Bai asked smoothly, "who is next?"
Chapter 27: The Perfect Aristocrat and the Promise to a King (Continued)
"Now," Bai asked smoothly, lowering his hand, "who is next?"
The three girls exchanged highly skeptical looks. Ning Rongrong crossed her arms, her cyan eyes darting between the immaculate Ma Hongjun and the golden aura still faintly shimmering around Bai's fingers.
"I admit the results are impressive," Rongrong said slowly, her aristocratic pride warring with her desire to be clean. "But having a wall of fire thrown at my face in the middle of a dining hall is hardly proper. What if it burns our clothes?"
"Yeah," Xiao Wu chimed in, nervously touching her scorpion braid. "My hair is highly flammable, Bai."
Bai sighed softly, the sound perfectly conveying the burden of dealing with people who didn't understand multiversal energy control. However, the 'Untouchable Aristocrat' persona completely understood their hesitation regarding modesty.
"Very well. I can appreciate a desire for privacy," Bai conceded smoothly. He tapped his void-black spatial ring.
With a soft hum of spatial distortion, four large, opaque folding screens made of carved ironwood and heavy silk materialized. Bai casually arranged them with a wave of his hand, completely enclosing one of the nearby empty tables to create a massive, private changing room in the corner of the cafeteria.
"You may stand behind the screens," Bai instructed politely. "The Sun-Ape Ki is an ambient energy wave. It will pass harmlessly through the silk and target your biological fatigue. Or, if you prefer, you can remain covered in dirt until tomorrow. It makes no difference to me."
Oscar, who was still admiring his pristine, un-sweaty shirt, eagerly chimed in.
"You should definitely do it!" Oscar urged, pointing a thumb at the silver-robed boy. "Seriously, his fire is amazing. He used it to clean our dorm room last night and it is literally the cleanest place on the entire continent now. It didn't burn the building at all... though it did vaporize my lucky socks. But that's because they were gross!"
Zhu Zhuqing, who despised the feeling of grime on her leather clothes, didn't hesitate. She walked smoothly behind the silk screens. After a moment, Xiao Wu and Rongrong shrugged and followed her.
"We are ready," Zhu Zhuqing's calm voice echoed from behind the partition.
Bai stood a polite distance away. He raised his hand, his pitch-black eyes glowing with a faint, golden light. He snapped his fingers.
A radiant, warming pulse of golden holy fire erupted from his palm. Unlike the aggressive wave he had used on the boys, this was a gentle, rolling tide of light. It passed straight through the silk screens without leaving a single scorch mark, bathing the girls in the sterilizing, restorative Sun-Ape Ki.
From behind the screens, there were three simultaneous, sharp gasps of surprise.
"Oh, heavens..." Rongrong's voice drifted out, laced with sheer disbelief.
"It's so warm..." Xiao Wu murmured.
The golden light snapped out of existence. A few seconds later, the silk screens were pushed aside.
The transformation was absolute. Zhu Zhuqing's tight leather clothes gleamed as if they had just been tailored. Xiao Wu's scuffed arms were completely flawless, her long braided hair silky and pristine. Ning Rongrong looked as though she had just stepped out of a five-star luxury spa—her skin was glowing, the dark circles of exhaustion under her eyes were gone, and her cyan dress flowed perfectly without a single wrinkle.
"This is a miracle," Rongrong whispered, examining her own hands.
"It is merely applied cellular stimulation and thermal sterilization," Bai corrected dryly, dismissing the screens back into his spatial ring. He looked at the girls with a clinical eye. "However, do not mistake this for true medical invulnerability. It cleans impurities and heals minor lacerations, but it does not replace actual physical rest. Your spirit power is still depleted. You need to sleep, as this is not as powerful as a dedicated Healing Spirit Master's ability for major trauma."
"I don't care about trauma, I've never felt this clean in my life," Rongrong beamed, her spoiled attitude completely won over. She turned to Oscar, her eyes gleaming with sudden curiosity. "Wait. You said he used this to clean your room? How clean is it? Flender put me in a cabin that smells like wet dog and old wood."
Oscar puffed out his chest, looking incredibly smug. "Oh, you have no idea, Princess. Our room isn't just clean. It's a palace."
"A palace?" Zhu Zhuqing raised an eyebrow, highly doubtful given the dilapidated state of the entire village.
"Show us," Rongrong demanded, looking at Bai.
Bai offered a slight, elegant shrug. "If you wish to see how civilized people sleep, follow me."
The group left the cafeteria, walking across the dark, dirt paths of the academy grounds. Ma Hongjun tagged along, munching on a leftover bun, entirely curious about what all the fuss was about.
They reached the boys' dormitory block—a row of weather-beaten, creaky wooden cabins that looked like they would collapse in a strong breeze.
"It looks exactly like ours," Xiao Wu pointed out, frowning at the splintering exterior.
"The exterior is a necessary camouflage to avoid offending the Headmaster's fragile, poverty-stricken ego," Bai noted smoothly. He reached out and pushed the creaky wooden door open. "The interior, however, is a different matter."
Bai stepped aside, gesturing for the girls to look inside.
Ning Rongrong peered through the doorway. Her jaw instantly dropped.
The drafty, dingy shack had been completely transformed into a high-end luxury suite. The floorboards were sterilized and covered by a thick, expensive woven rug. In the center of the room sat a polished ironwood writing desk. But what truly commanded attention were the beds. Two massive, plush mahogany bed frames dominated the space, topped with imported memory-foam mattresses, thick, breathable silk sheets, and heavy goose-down comforters.
A glowing, spirit-powered crystal lamp on the desk bathed the entire room in a warm, steady, incredibly expensive-looking light.
Zhu Zhuqing's cold eyes widened in sheer shock. Ma Hongjun dropped his steamed bun in the dirt.
"What... what is this?!" Rongrong shrieked, whirling around to glare at Bai. "This is a five-star hotel suite! My bed is made of straw and splinters!"
"A tragic reality of your own making, Princess," Bai smirked, leaning casually against the doorframe. "I refused to sleep in a biohazard. So, I incinerated the existing furniture and simply brought my own."
"You carry luxury beds in your spatial ring?!" Xiao Wu gasped, staring at the sheer volume of high-end furniture.
"A gentleman is always prepared for inadequate accommodations," Bai replied, flawlessly adjusting his silver cuffs. He looked at the stunned, envious faces of his classmates and let out a soft, mocking chuckle.
"Now, if you will excuse me," Bai said, stepping into his immaculate room and grabbing the door handle. "I have had a long day of watching you all roll around in the mud. Goodnight."
Click. He shut the door, leaving the rest of the Shrek Academy students standing in the dark dirt, staring at the closed door of the most luxurious room in the village with profound, soul-crushing jealousy.
Bai Ming had barely taken two steps into his luxurious, immaculate room when a frantic, rapid-fire knocking erupted on his door.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bai paused, a knowing, highly amused smirk tugging at the corner of his lips. He turned around, his pristine silver robes swishing silently over the expensive rug, and pulled the wooden door back open.
Ning Rongrong, Xiao Wu, and Zhu Zhuqing were standing on the dirt path, staring at him with varying expressions of intense, aristocratic demand and wide-eyed pleading.
"Let me guess," Bai drawled smoothly, leaning against the doorframe. "You want me to perform the 'golden purge' on your cabins as well, and subsequently furnish them so you don't have to sleep on splinters."
The three girls nodded in absolute unison, entirely abandoning their pride in the face of imported memory-foam mattresses and goose-down comforters.
Bai let out a soft, cultured laugh that echoed in the quiet night air. "Very well. A gentleman cannot, in good conscience, allow his classmates to sleep in a barn. Lead the way, ladies."
The girls' faces lit up with triumph. They immediately turned and marched across the dusty academy grounds toward the female dormitories. Bai stepped out, closing his door behind him, and followed at a leisurely pace.
Oscar and Ma Hongjun, seeing an opportunity, eagerly fell into step right behind them.
"Oh, man, I've never seen the inside of the girls' dorms!" Ma Hongjun muttered, rubbing his hands together with a totally unhidden, perverted grin.
"I just want to see if their roof leaks as bad as ours used to," Oscar justified, though his eyes were equally eager.
They reached the slightly larger, though equally rundown, wooden cabin designated for the female students. Zhu Zhuqing pushed the door open, allowing Xiao Wu and Ning Rongrong to step inside. Bai glided in effortlessly after them.
However, the moment Oscar and Ma Hongjun tried to cross the threshold, three girls whirled around, completely blocking the doorway.
"Halt," Zhu Zhuqing commanded, her voice dropping twenty degrees into absolute ice.
"Hey, wait a minute!" Ma Hongjun protested, pointing a chubby finger at the silver-robed boy currently inspecting the dusty floorboards inside. "Why is he allowed in there, but we have to stay outside?!"
"Because," Ning Rongrong sneered, crossing her arms and looking down her nose at the two boys, "Bai Ming is an aristocrat, a savior of hygiene, and a true gentleman. You two are a walking grease fire and a sausage vendor. Know your place."
Slam! Xiao Wu pulled the door shut right in their faces, leaving Oscar and the Evil Fire Phoenix standing in the dirt, absolutely devastated by the sheer, unfiltered rejection.
Inside the cabin, Bai chuckled, shaking his head. He looked around the room. It was marginally cleaner than the boys' dorm had been, but the beds were still cheap wood and thin straw, and the air smelled faintly of damp earth.
"Alright," Bai announced, casually rolling up his silver silk sleeves. "The Sun-Ape Ki does not differentiate between dirt and personal belongings. If you have any clothes, keepsakes, or items you do not wish to be flash-incinerated into nothingness, I suggest you take them outside immediately."
Panic instantly set in. Xiao Wu scrambled to grab her small bundle of spare clothes, while Ning Rongrong rushed to secure her expensive jewelry box. Zhu Zhuqing moved with feline speed, neatly packing her leather spares into a satchel.
Within a minute, they were standing by the door, clutching their belongings.
"We're clear!" Rongrong announced excitedly. "Burn the beds!"
Bai stepped into the center of the room. The Cosmic Origin Core in his Dantian spun to life, and the terrifying, radiant golden aura began to flare around his right hand. The air in the cabin instantly grew warm.
But just as he was about to snap his fingers and unleash the holy fire, Bai froze.
His Void Instinct—the multiversal sensory network powered by his Saiyan ki and Sloth spirit—violently pulsed. He didn't just feel a presence; he felt a massive, condensed sphere of kinetic energy rapidly descending from the night sky, heading straight for the dormitories.
Rank 78 Spirit Sage, Bai deduced instantly, his eyes narrowing slightly. Avian Martial Soul. High velocity.
Bai slowly lowered his hand. The golden fire vanished from his fingertips, leaving the room dark once more.
"Wait, why did you stop?" Xiao Wu asked, blinking in confusion.
"It seems we will have to delay your renovations, ladies," Bai sighed smoothly, rolling his sleeves back down and adjusting his cuffs. "I am wealthy, but I have no desire to listen to a lecture on property damage tonight."
"Property damage?" Zhu Zhuqing frowned. "Who is going to lecture you?"
"The Headmaster," Bai replied, turning toward the door. "One of the village staff must have finally noticed that all the furniture in my room was vaporized and replaced. The stingy owl is approaching at a rather alarming speed. We should step outside before he tears the roof off."
The girls looked at each other in alarm and quickly followed him out the door.
They stepped into the cool night air just as a massive, dark shadow blotted out the moon. A fierce gust of wind kicked up the dirt in the plaza, making the girls shield their eyes.
With a heavy, solid thud, Headmaster Flender landed directly in front of the dormitories, his massive owl wings folding seamlessly into his back. The sharp-featured, four-eyed dean adjusted his square glasses, his expression a mix of profound confusion, lingering anger, and deep suspicion.
Flender looked at Oscar and Ma Hongjun loitering outside, then glared at Bai Ming and the girls stepping out of the female dorms.
"Would someone care to explain to me," Flender began, his voice dangerously quiet but carrying the heavy, suffocating pressure of a Spirit Sage, "why the village groundskeeper just ran to my office, screaming that the new noble student blew up the boys' dormitory?"