Li Fei had already come to a clear-eyed conclusion: the current her was no match for Alex and Kova.
Both of them had undoubtedly crossed the threshold into Sequence 7. Even with the System's bonuses, a Sequence 9 like Li Fei would still come out on the losing end of a raw stat comparison.
Equipment wasn't going to save her either. One of the exchange tournament's rules stated that any Transcendent item of "Full Moon" grade or above required prior approval from the Academy before use.
After all, what the Academy wanted to see was students being pushed to their limits and unlocking their potential — not well-heeled students putting on a "gods-at-war" spectacle courtesy of gear handed down by their elders.
On top of that, consumables were capped in both quantity and tier, specifically to prevent noble-lineage Transcendents from steamrolling everyone in sight. That also neatly cut off any hope Li Fei had of winning by sheer spending power.
And that wasn't even counting the enormous gap in actual combat experience between the two academies' underclassmen. The Magic Academy didn't schedule live combat drills very often in the early years — mage-class Transcendents needed that time for Meditation and spell research, and the Academy itself prioritized theoretical instruction. Even the so-called "outdoor classes" only trained things like reaction speed, crisis awareness, and distance management, teaching students to dodge danger through footwork. Beyond that, there wasn't much else to teach. With so few spells in their repertoire, the smart move was to focus on learning more and stronger spells — not on squeezing every last drop out of a handful of low-tier ones.
The War Academy, on the other hand, didn't bother with any of that.
Aside from the occasional pointer on battle-qi cultivation and basic courses like "Identifying Common Transcendent Items and Creatures," they preferred action over lectures at every turn. "Activity-based learning" was the name of the game.
Sitting in class with a coffee and crossed legs, calmly walking students through spell model theory, discussing casting nuances, exchanging insights on Transcendent knowledge — none of that existed at the War Academy. The instructors were universally hot-headed brutes, male and female alike. If there was a combat technique to master, they'd drag students out to an open field, beat the lesson into them while explaining it, and beat it in harder if anyone forgot.
It was genuinely brutal — but the War Academy produced combat-ready fighters at a pace that left the Magic Academy in the dust.
If she wanted to stand out when the exchange tournament arrived, Li Fei would have to make the most of the remaining half-month she had left.
Just as Li Fei was revising her short-term plans, the lottery draw began.
An enormous glowing cylinder hovered and bobbed in the center of the arena, bearing the names of all 432 freshmen participating in the exchange activities.
Dean Nicole snapped her fingers lightly. The cylinder began to spin, and the students' names seemed to be flung outward by the centrifugal force, dissolving into scattered motes of light that drifted through the air in a gorgeous, chaotic swirl.
Soon, the dense cloud of light-points began to collide. When two touched, they would stick together — and only once three formed a stable triangle would the cluster slowly float upward and the adhesion vanish.
Dozens of seconds later, 432 points of light had resolved into 144 triangles, arranged in neat rows above the arena floor.
"And now — time to reveal the results."
Nicole swept her fingertips through the air with the elegance of someone plucking harp strings. The orderly triangles instantly transformed into brilliant triads of names, and the names cascaded into a full list — the official team groupings for the exchange activities.
A wave of noise rose from the crowd below.
Students strained their eyes and scoured the list for their own names. Some found familiar classmates on their team and immediately turned to exchange grins, elbow nudges, and whispered excitement.
Li Fei calmly swept her gaze down the list and found her name almost immediately.
As the Dean's daughter, it was only natural that she might have guessed her teammates before the fair and random lottery even began, wasn't it?
Grace
Li Fei
Lilith
Having confirmed her "guess," Li Fei turned her gaze toward Class 2-2 nearby, and smiled at a certain golden-haired stepdaughter whose twin tails were slowly, steadily rising.
In truth, she wasn't the only one searching for Li Fei's name.
Most students followed the same sequence: find their own name first, then find Li Fei's, then — just maybe — look for the name of whoever they had a crush on.
After all, who wouldn't want to be teamed up with the beautiful and supremely talented special-recruit student? If fate put you on the same team as her… that was the kind of setup that belonged at the opening of a popular romance novel.
The male students were no exception. They weren't entirely sure about Li Fei's orientation, but even if they were, some of them couldn't quite extinguish a certain irritating brand of wishful thinking.
A small number of students did it the other way around — finding Li Fei's name first, then their own. They had been destined for disappointment days before this moment ever arrived.
As Li Fei's dedicated fans watched Class 2-2 with sharp, suspicious eyes — particularly the suspiciously flustered and delighted Miss Grace — Class 2-2 itself was growing lively.
"Miss Twin-Tails, you've got this. We believe in you."
Lilith's classmates cheered her on — not, obviously, in reference to the inter-academy exchange activities, but in an entirely different kind of contest.
"Some first-year actually thinks she can poach your kouhai from you. Lilith, it's your sacred duty to defend the honor of the second years."
Another friend threw more fuel on the fire.
"If all else fails… joining them would also count as a win."
A third classmate said something truly audacious. "Better than getting left out entirely."
"All of you, enough."
Lilith's expression went cold. Her twin tails swung back and forth, smacking against her friends to express her displeasure.
Only the brilliant red flush spreading across her face betrayed her true feelings.
...
Alex's gaze lingered on the list.
His good friend Daniel threw an arm around his shoulders with unbridled glee.
"We've got this in the bag. I might as well go buy champagne now."
The two of them had been grouped with another classmate — and the moment Daniel saw the list, he knew this exchange tournament was already won.
Three warrior-class Transcendents, all second-years.
At this level of competition, a pure-melee squad like that was an overwhelming force — essentially unstoppable.
And one of them happened to be the top-ranked underclassman at the War Academy.
An absolute massacre.
"Don't take anyone lightly," Alex said, rubbing his chin — still faintly aching from where the knuckle duster had clipped it — with genuine seriousness.
"Hey, that's not taking anyone lightly, that's called rational assessment."
The third teammate sauntered over, threw his arms around both their shoulders, and launched into a gleeful analysis amid their classmates' envious jeers:
"The isolated-island angel from next door? Not even worth discussing. Those three mage-girls — in a beauty contest, nobody beats them, but in the actual tournament? Making it through two rounds would be a miracle."
"Kova — I don't recognize either of her teammates, which means they're definitely not from our Academy, and they're not famous at the Magic Academy either. No matter how hard she fights, she can't carry two mediocre teammates."
"The Magic Academy's second-year special recruit drew teammates that aren't exactly inspiring either…"
"So honestly, with our raw talent, there's simply no reason we should lose…"
As he smugly wiggled his eyebrows, their classmates erupted in laughter and good-natured jeering:
"Get out of here — I hope you crash out in the first round."
"Listen to yourself."
"If it were just Alex and Daniel, the championship would basically be theirs. Add you in and suddenly it's not so certain."
"I'd win even if I was paired with some random person instead of Alex — what's it got to do with you…"
In the midst of the uproar, Alex's gaze paused briefly on the names Li Fei and Kova. A flicker of something like disappointment crossed his eyes — but in the end, the corner of his mouth curved into a smile.
"Better than I'd imagined."
Klein studied the list, his expression calm.
Kova
Klein
Emma
"Aim for second, fight for first."
An aged voice spoke — one only he could hear.
"Old man, you really don't have much faith in me, do you."
Klein glanced sideways at Li Fei's name.
"At this stage, that War Academy brat combined with two warriors of decent talent would be genuinely difficult to overcome by force alone."
Josson's voice resonated in the depths of his mind: "They don't even need much coordination. As long as they charge in and fight their own battles, maintain a fast enough tempo and keep the pressure relentless, they can break through almost any clever strategy with sheer force. They'll steamroll nearly every team they face."
"As for Li Fei… heh. A Sequence 9, a Sequence 8, and a Sequence 7, all mage-class Transcendents — and the highest-Sequence one is a cleric, no less. This is actually fine. For a genius of her caliber, appropriate failure is a necessary experience. It'll push her, keep her grounded, give her reason to work hard and build herself up steadily — rather than being destroyed by arrogance."
Josson's measured analysis came to an unhurried close.
"But I remember… Li Fei is also capable in close combat," Klein recalled the scene of Li Fei beating a dwarven warrior to a pulp back in Viranean.
"A Sequence 9 warrior at best. Genuinely remarkable talent, but she clearly hasn't had the time to properly refine it and translate it into real fighting power."
Josson commented on Li Fei with the unhurried confidence of someone who had already seen the whole board.
"But I don't know why — my gut tells me I'd rather face Alex than Li Fei…" Klein muttered, then finally smoothed out the slight furrow in his brow. "Either way, whoever my opponent is, I'll give everything I have."
"As it should be."
After Dean Nicole announced upcoming adjustments to the course schedule and offered a few words of encouragement to the students, the lottery ceremony drew to a close.
Until the exchange activities concluded, freshmen courses at the Magic Academy would be scaled back, freeing up more time for the 144 newly-formed groups to communicate and train. At least two practical combat sessions would be held each week, with instructors guiding each squad on the principles of coordinated battle.
This arrangement wasn't made purely for the exchange tournament's sake — both academies had designed it with a clear intent: to teach students how to work together.
Because in the Transcendent world, lone wolves were always the exception. In most situations, Transcendents had to join hands with others to accomplish anything. That meant knowing how to cooperate with allies — familiar or otherwise — was a critical skill. Fall short of it, and the path of Transcendence would be an uphill struggle at every step.
Cultivate healthy competition to push students harder; assess students more comprehensively and accurately for tailored instruction; sharpen practical combat ability; foster the spirit of cooperation — these were the founding purposes of the exchange activities.
While no one was watching, Miss Top-Courtesan stole a glance at Nicole, Chloe, and Melodia, who stood a short distance away in conversation. She tilted her head forward slightly, her soft pink lips pressing together and then parting.
Mwah.
A tiny sound — but given the abilities of those three, they would certainly have noticed.
So — would they end up fighting each other over who that blown kiss belonged to? Heheh.
Thoroughly pleased with her own mischief, Li Fei executed a hit-and-run, first flicking a glance over at Grace, then trotting over to Class 2-2, where she pressed her palms together in front of the second-year girls and smiled sweetly:
"Mind if I borrow Senior Lilith for a bit?"
Lilith hadn't even had time to react before Li Fei grabbed her hand and dragged her away.
Twenty minutes later, the three of them were settled in a private booth at a nearby café.
"Two liters of coffee, no sugar, extra milk."
Li Fei placed the order with the energy of someone at a high-end French restaurant asking for a well-done steak with a pair of chopsticks. But because Miss Top-Courtesan was simply too beautiful, it somehow came across as lively and endearing — as thoroughly proven by the café staff member's flushed cheeks and the furtive glances she kept sneaking over.
In truth, the order was also meant to liven up the atmosphere. Sitting between a taciturn poker-face and a Lilith who was deliberately avoiding her gaze, the mood was a touch awkward — not exactly ideal for building team chemistry.
"What would you like? My treat."
Li Fei tilted her chin up and pretended not to notice Lilith's odd mood.
Please. If she got flustered over a little thing like this, her future mansion would still be half-empty when someone came at her with a cleaver.
"Anything."
"Anything."
The two answered in perfect unison.
The moment the words left their mouths, Grace and Lilith glanced at each other. Both seemed to want to say something, then thought better of it — the air went a little awkward.
"Oh my, you two are so in sync — now I'm the odd one out."
Li Fei threw up her hands in mock distress, then turned a bright smile on the café employee: "Then make theirs the same as mine, please."
Before long, the employee staggered over with three bucket-sized coffees.
"Thank you."
Li Fei lifted her coffee with effortless ease, poured a cup for each of them, and in the same motion discreetly palmed the small folded note the blushing employee had pressed shyly into her hand — then raised her cup and took a ladylike, elegant sip.
It had to be said: this café was remarkably honest about honoring their customers' requests. Out of the twelve-jin worth of coffee on the table, at least six jin was pure milk.
Miss Top-Courtesan had three great passions in life: milky coffee, mint-heavy tobacco, and onee-san types with maximum "married woman" energy.
Heheh.
Li Fei drained her cup in one go and poured herself another, savoring the taste with a mixture of satisfaction and wistful longing.
If only they could swap in unicorn milk — that would be the absolute pinnacle. A shame that wasn't an option.
"So — does anyone have suggestions for how we want to train and coordinate before the exchange activities?"
Li Fei rose from her seat at the table and settled herself onto the booth's sofa, coffee cup in hand, speaking in a casual, unhurried tone.
"I'm fine with anything."
Grace paused briefly in consideration, then stood and moved to sit right beside Li Fei on the sofa.
Coffee splashed.
Lilith's mage robes were soaked through. The feeling in her chest was indescribable.
This — this shameless hussy!
Making moves on my… stepmother.
Stewing in sour thoughts, Lilith puffed up her cheeks and fixed Grace with a distinctly suspicious look.
Grace: ?
Who are you, exactly?
Are we even close?
Why are you glaring at me?
"Oh, right — I forgot you two haven't actually met yet."
Li Fei's smile didn't waver. "Why don't we… start with introductions?"
"Li Fei, Sequence 9, Magic Aca— ahem — class designation is Druid… proficient in Introductory Natural Magic, Introductory Chaos Magic, and Introductory Combat."
With both of them staring in shock and disbelief, Li Fei glanced at her remaining potential points and smiled with an air of supreme calm:
"Before the exchange activities begin, I'm confident I can advance to Sequence 8 — the [Raptor Druid] — and master at least one intermediate-tier Transcendent discipline."
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