Afterward, they entered into a casual conversation about the Academy that lasted for only two minutes before the Queen's voice resounded in the hovercar, "We have reached the Royal Academy Campus."
"Campus?" Felix's eyelids twitched after he glanced down and saw that the 'Campus' had the size of a small town!
Heck, it appeared like the entire Royal Academy had its own floating rock, separated from other massive cities!
"We are here." Lobna turned off the auto-pilot and hovered downward towards the Campus's entrance that was guarded heavily.
There were multiple vehicles, carriages, and such standing in a long queue to get checked up by the campus's security.
"I forgot to give you this."
Lobna beamed a blue card and passed it to Felix. When he caught it, he realized that it was the Academy ID!
"Scan it to read all of your details registered in the Academy's database." Lobna informed, "It will show you the class you were enrolled in, your classes schedule, your homework, your contribution points, the dorm room number...etc."
Upon hearing so, Felix scanned it immediately and a long hologram had emerged in front of him.
//Full Name: Felix Maxwell.
Age: 19 years
ID number: DM451197881134
Enrollment Time: 2026/11/13
Dorm Assigned: 18th Building (Press on the building to see the map leading to it or just request the Queen AI to guide you)
Dorm Room Number: 314
Parking Lot Number: 477874 (Press on the number to see the map leading to it or just request the Queen AI to guide you)
Contribution Points: -400 (Reason: Absent for a month and three days)
Current Semester: First
Class Name: B-2
Classes schedule: (Click on it to receive the entire weekly schedule)
Mandatory Classes skipped: 32 (Please visit the discipline department to receive the appropriate punishment.)
Homeworks Assigned: Two (Read the first volume of Sage Nonna's biography/Two hours practice of rejuvenation potion in the UVR)//
Felix was left speechless after realizing that he was being held accountable for everything that had happened during his absence.
He even owned 400 contribution points when he didn't even know about them.
"Senior, is this solvable?" Felix turned the hologram visible, showing Lobna his terrific start in the Academy.
The moment she saw the number of his missed mandatory classes, she burst into laughter while jerking the wheel, scaring the shit of Felix after seeing that they had almost collided into another hovercar.
"You are lucky that you have a solid excuse." Lobna held her laughter in and said, "If it was me, I will be punished with rewardless mandatory potion-concoction."
"How about the points debt that I have?"
"I think that the Headmistress will reset everything for you." Lobna mentioned, "Teacher told me to deliver you to her."
"That's good to hear."
Felix felt relieved at the sound of that. He knew that the Headmistress was Lady Sphinx's student and she wouldn't mistreat or discriminate against him.
Sometime later, their turn in the queue had arrived. While their car had slowly gone through the checkpoint, Lobna asked casually, "You don't have any banned items or materials in your spatial card right?"
Understanding what he meant, Felix did a quick inspection of the items he owned. Upon seeing that he wasn't in possession of anything to worry about, he gave her a thumbs up.
Felix had gone through those checkpoints many times and they were controlled by the Queen AI herself.
Everyone going through them would automatically give the Queen permission to scan all of his belongings in the spatial card. Naturally only she knows that private information.
But the moment the person had been found to possess a bomb, a banned material, poison that could cause a plague, smuggled good...etc, the Queen would rat him out to the security guards and they would punish him as they seem fit.
If it wasn't for those checkpoints, anyone could destroy a city or a space station by sneaking inside a Plasmic Bomb that could wipe out everything.
Thankfully, Felix and Lobna passed through the checkpoint without an issue. Though, Felix's student ID card had left the guards a bit bewildered when it crossed their screen.
Too bad, the moment they regained their wits, the hovercar had already wheezed away.
It was traveling close to the ground in a wide straight street that was leading to the main faculty building of the Academy.
Anyone who saw it would guess so since it was placed in the center of the vast Campus while all main streets were leading to it.
However, Lobna didn't drive towards it but turned left, heading to one of the many parking lots at the ends of the campus.
Felix didn't feel surprised by it as he could see that not a single car or large vehicle was on the streets.
Instead, it was packed with witches either walking or riding on hover platforms with different shapes and sizes.
Heck, he even saw a witch that was riding on a broom stick-like hovering platform!
Whatever it was, the Campus appeared clean and tranquil without the cluster of large vehicles that always ruin the atmosphere of cities.
Felix liked having this peaceful atmosphere, especially when the campus was mostly gardens and flower fields under the pink sky, painting a scene straight out of paradise.
Whoosh!
Sometime later, Lobna and Felix had reached the parking lot that was assigned for Lobna's use.
After she parked her car within the hundreds of other vehicles, she got outside and stretched her hands behind her back while taking a deep breath.
"How I missed this." She said with her eyes closed shut, clearing enjoying the frangent breeze caress her freckled cheeks.
"Uhm? Were you away from the Acadamy?" Felix inquired while beaming a normal black square-shaped platform that he purchased online in his journey.
"Yep, I was helping the teacher with some matters. I was gone for two weeks or so." Lobna replied while beaming a brown cookie-shaped hover platform that was bitten from the side.
Felix's eyelids twitched at the design but he still remained in the same subject, "Wouldn't you get punished for missing classes? Or did you receive permission to leave?"
"Even though my teacher is the Queen's Advisor, she still has no right to bypass the Academy's rules." Lobna shook her head and clarified, "There are only three ways to leave the Academy without punishments; on a mission, an emergency, or a holiday."
"So teacher needs to place a mission in the Missions Board and I will accept it." She continued on, "Naturally, I will be paid by contribution points if successful in the mission while my teacher needs to pay for the fees."
'It seems like the Academy's rules are a bit strict.' Felix reasoned, 'Probably because the witches' time is too valuable with the potions market being always needy.'
After they joined the main street, Lobna kept pointing her fingers at buildings while explaining their purpose.Some buildings were self-explanatory like the dorms, cafe shops, bars, while some buildings needed extra attention.
"That's the students' library."
Lobna pointed her finger at an artistic building that gave a sense of solemness to those seeking to climb its long staircase and enter its gateless wide-open entrance.
It had been built with grey stone and decorated with statues of witches holding into either potions or books.
Tall, large windows added to the overall look of the library and had been added in a mostly symmetric way.
There was a well-made grey book sculpture that was placed at the top of the library, making it clear to anyone that this place was built for those seeking knowledge.
"Only students and the library staff are allowed to enter it." Lobna explained, "You can rent any book you want. Even books about rank 5 potions. However, you can rent only up to ten books each time and you need to return them in the allocated time you have paid for."
"Is it different from one to another?" Felix asked.
"Yes, the allocated time increases if you paid more contribution points." She gave him a tip with a smile, "Before you start renting, check on the books in all of the semesters' curriculum since they will be given for free. It is always good to save contribution points since they are the currency in the Academy."
"Thank you for the advice senior." Felix nodded his head in appreciation, feeling glad that Lobna was the one guiding him instead of that ice block Lara.
He didn't doubt for a second that she would just drop him in the headmistress's office and ditch him.
"Senior, is there a way to learn about this stuff on my own?" Felix inquired.
Although he knew that Lobna was warm and kind-hearted to explain all of his questions, Felix didn't want to weigh on her too much. He still had hundred of questions.
"Of course!" Lobna manifested a hologram that was showing a website and said, "This is the Academy's website. It is available to students, teachers, and administration staff. It has everything that need you to know about the Academy. You can even see missions posted here and accept them."
"Neat, let me take a quick look."
Without further ado, Felix typed the website's names and he was sent to another tab that was requesting to have his student ID scanned.
Felix did so and had obtained access to the main page. However, before he could check it, he realized that they were about to reach the main Academy's Faculty.
He closed the hologram and focused on the crowded entrance of the colossal building that was packed with hundreds of breathtaking witches, wearing black robes with long sleeves and a pointy black hat.
"Wanna head to the library or bar?"
"Neither, I am too tired."
"I slept through the last course, please give me your notes."
Pleasant voices kept resounding in Felix's ears as he stood right in front of the entrance, allowing him to hear bits of witches' chatter.
Unsurprisingly, the witches merely gave him a curious look before continuing walking on their way.
Every one of them assumed that he was a staff member and it wasn't rare at all to see humans or other races on the Campus, taking care of those matters.
"I am finally here." Felix smirked faintly while jumping down his hover platform and taking the first step towards the main faculty!Lobna did the same as Felix by beaming her hover platform in her spatial card.
She climbed the stairs first and gestured for Felix to follow her, "Let's go, we don't want to leave the Headmistress waiting for long."
Felix chased after her, completely ignoring the witches who gave him weird looks after hearing the Headmistress getting mentioned.
The moment he entered the building, he was met with a long wide corridor that was split into two paths.
Next to both paths, there were long wooden dark brown stairs that were leading to the upper floors.
Beneath the staircase, there was a long trophy case that was packed with pictures, green cups, medals, degrees, and more, making Felix raise his eyebrow in surprise, 'They sure are dominating most competitions.'
"Felix!" Lobna called from above the stairs after seeing that Felix was admiring the trophy case.
"Coming." Felix climbed the stairs after her, smiling politely every time he passed by a witch.
When he arrived, he noticed that Lobna was accompanied by a witch who appeared like she had just woke up from a coma.
Her face was deathly pale while her eyelids were constantly dropping down, hiding her obsidian-like black eyes.
She was weirdly hugging a bunch of books instead of having them placed in her spatial card.
"Felix, come, come." Lobna dragged Felix next to that witch and introduced him eagerly to her, "Ishtar, this is the human that I told you about an hour ago!"
"Hello?" Felix greeted, smiling wryly at Ishtar.
Ishtar opened up her eyes groggily while leaning closer to his face. After inspecting him thoroughly, the first words that came out of her tiny mouth were, "Why do you have holes in your face?"
Felix got a bit thrown off by her question as he didn't expect that a witch would be able to notice his mutation without relying on her spiritual eye.
He could see that her tail was hidden inside her robe. This made him realize that she could see his mutation which wasn't supposed to be seen by normal eyes.
One needs to zoom in four times to spot those holes. Witches' normal eyes weren't able to do so.
"Holes?" Lobna whipped out her tail from an opening in her back robe and used her giant green eye to zoom in on Felix.
Upon noticing them, she raised her eyebrows in surprise and asked as well, "What's up with your skin?"
Felix would be lying if he said that he enjoyed the feeling of being inspected like this, but he was doing it to others before and it was time for him to be on the side of the coin.
"Nothing serious." Felix waved his hand, "It's just a mutation from my newest bloodline replacement."
"That's interesting." Ishtar commentated with a soft tone, "I believe that this is an evolutionary trait of the Avions?"
"The hell? Is it really that obvious?" Felix was quite shocked by her knowledge.
The Avions species weren't really that known by the public and one needs to look for them specifically to get some information about them.
The information available wasn't a lot. That's why Felix didn't know about the mutation and its appliance.
Lobna tapped her finger on Ishtal's sunken pale cheek and boasted to Felix, "Hehe, how do you find my bestie? She is being referred to as the ultimate bookworm in the Academy due to the amount of knowledge she knows of and her natural-born photographic memory!"
"You know that I dislike being called with that nickname." Ishtar slapped Lobna's finger and walked downstairs while leaving behind a soft remark, "Let's meet later again. You don't want to keep the Headmistress waiting forever."
Lobna's boastful grin stiffened after she was reminded of her mission...Bring Felix to the Headmistress as fast as possible!
"Crap! Teacher Dalilia will punish me if she caught wind of this." Lobna held Felix's hand and tried to dash through the corridor.
"Argh!"
Alas, she ended up groaning in pain after almost dislocating her shoulder from tugging Felix this hard with her pitiful strength.
It was the same as trying to run while holding an affixed metal pole.
"Why are you so heavy?" She complained tearfully while massaging her shoulder under the strange looks of other witches.
"I am a 2nd stage bloodliner." Felix answered while looking at her speechlessly.
"Don't look at me like an idiot, it's not my fault." Lobna whined while walking with a faster pace ahead of him, "It's almost impossible to meet with a human bloodliner on the campus."
"Is it because of security?" Felix asked after he caught up to her.
He was speaking out loud, completely ignoring the murmurs of the witches walking near them.
"Yes." Lobna clarified, "Only non-combat races and commoner humans are allowed to work in the Campus for the safety of the witches."
"Understandable." Felix nodded his head.
He knew that witches might be strong enough to take care of normal humans and other non-combat races due to drinking strengthing potions, but they had absolutely no chance against even a peak 1st stage bloodliner.
Hence, Felix's existence in the Academy was actually like a butcher in a pig farm as he could kill any witch he wanted in a split second.
This made him realize that he was probably going to sign a contract in the Headmistress's office to avoid this from happening.
'Hopefully, it's nothing too demanding.' Felix thought.
...
In a short while, Lobna and Felix reached the Headmistress's office that was on the 4th floor, which was also the highest one in the building.
Although there weren't many floors, the building's size was still massive due to its width, making Felix guess that there were probably hundreds of classes on each floor.
"I am leaving now." Lobna touched Felix's bracelet and waved her hand with a pretty smile, "Call me later to hang out on the campus. I will show you around."
"Will do." Felix nodded his head in appreciation and turned around when he saw that she was leaving.
He quite liked this witch and decided to tour the campus with her instead of Lara. But for now, it was time to deal with the last step of enrollment.
He walked to a desk that was placed near the Headmistress's office and introduced himself to the Headmistress's assistance, "Felix, I am here to see the Headmistress."
"ID." The Headmistress's assistance said bluntly.
Felix gave her his ID, not minding her tone since she was a dark half-elf. He knew that all of them had a bit of a nasty personality.Heck, he was more curious about the Headmistress's reason for hiring her as an assistant with her race's known impolite attitude.
"The Headmistress's is in a meeting." The Headmistress's assistant informed, "Go sit at the waiting lounge, I will call you when she is done."
Felix nodded his head in understanding and walked to the bench that was attached to the wall. There were already two witches sitting on it.
They didn't even notice Felix as their attention was fully placed on their holograms. Just like them, Felix opened up his student's profile and engrossed in reading it fully this time.
When he reached the weekly schedule, he clicked on it, and a square-shaped table appeared before him.
It was split into seven days and each day had multiple brackets, representing the period of time in that said day.
'So there are 8 mandatory classes in each week and 10 more classes that aren't mandatory but advisable to enter them.' Felix rounded off the entire schedule table.
In his eyes, it wasn't that bad since the mandatory classes last for two hours while the rest last for only a single hour.
If he decided to attend only mandatory classes weekly plus a couple of elective courses, he could still have a lot of time to train and deal with other matters.
'I have a mandatory Concoction Class in half an hour or so.' Felix closed the hologram and wished while gazing at the closed door of the Headmistress's office, 'Hopefully, I will catch up to it.'
The moment he thought so, the door opened up, showing a witch exiting with her head bowed slightly.
Unlike students, she was wearing a red robe and a hat, making Felix instantly know that she was a teacher and not the headmaster.
Since every witch appeared like a young maiden in her twenties, the teachers and students were separated by the uniform's color and the logo in their uniforms.
The black color and a potion logo were for students. Meanwhile, red color and a cauldron logo represented teachers. As for the staff, they had a had different uniform.
"Felix, you're up." The half-elf called indifferently.
Without further ado, Felix walked to the half-opened door and knocked it twice politely.
"Come in."
After getting permission from such a reposeful voice, Felix entered the office and closed the door behind him.
When he turned around, his eyes came in direct contact with a penetrative gaze by the Headmistress's giant tail's eye.
It was chocolate brown in color while the pupil was three straight vertical lines, making Felix a bit doubtful if she could even see well with such a weird-shaped pupil.
However, he kept those thoughts to himself and merely bowed his head slightly in respect, not wanting to enter a staring contest with the Royal Academy's Headmistress, an authoritative figure in the empire with thousands of connections, A Sage Potioneer, and lastly Lady Sphinx's student!
She was stacked!
"Take a seat." She offered with a soothing elderly tone, making Felix guess that her age must be close to Dalilia's.
"Thank you."
Felix sat straight in one of the seats that were facing her desk. Then, he went quiet, wanting to see what she had for him.
Surprisingly, The Headmistress didn't speak about Lady Sphinx or even mentioned anything about his eyes.
She simply manifested a holographic contract and said calmly, "If you want to join the Academy and be anywhere near the witches, sign this contract."
Felix didn't show much of a reaction as he had expected this in his way. However, what he didn't expect were the terms proposed.
'Drink Weakening Potion every time I enter the faculty?' Felix raised his eyebrows in surprise at first before chuckling in his mind, 'It seems like Elder hasn't informed her about my poison manipulation and poison immunity.'Felix understood that negative-inducing potion like those wasn't effective at all on him since they were considered as poisonous substances.
Heck, they were actually made from poisonous materials.
Hence, drinking it was the same as drinking free juice, and he wasn't going to let her know about it!
'Cheeky, trying to cheat my student?' Lady Sphinx smiled faintly, 'I allow it, just don't come crying to me when she finds out about it during your UISG games.'
Felix flinched at the sound of that but he still didn't plan on telling the Headmistress about it.
He understood that the moment he signed this contract, the Headmistress wouldn't be able to modify the contract when she realizes that she had been duped.
Though that would happen months from now to even a year, depending on Lady Sphinx's research results.
After all, he couldn't participate in the UISG without Lady Sphinx's enhancements.
This meant, by the time the Headmistress finds out about his poison manipulation and such, she would realize that Felix had spent months in the Academy without harming a single witch.
That should ease her mind a little...At least, that's what he believed would happen.
This was much better than telling her now and ending up forcing her to change the method from potions to something more controlling like a collar or some bullshit.
"If you don't understand a term, feel free to ask." The Headmistress said calmly after seeing that Felix wasn't flipping to the next page.
"I am good." Felix showed her a polite smile and returned to reading the rest of the terms, which were pretty standard.
Obeying the Academy rules, listening to the teachers and respecting them, giving permission to the Queen to supervise any cheating attempts, either in homework or exams...etc.
He wasn't having problems with them since he requested the Queen to compare this contract with the Academy's contract posted on the website, and she had informed him that they were the same one...Naturally, besides the power limiting term.
Hence, Felix signed it without raising a complaint.
'Interesting? He is really willing to weaken his strength?' The Headmistress raised her exquisite thin brown eyebrows in surprise at the sight.
Based on what she read about Felix and Landlord in the network after Lady Sphinx informed her about him, she understood that he was stubborn and uncompromising in such situations.
She expected that he would reject the contract and even pressure her to remove the contract by mentioning Lady Sphinx's name.
She thought like this because she wasn't informed about their relationship.
Nevertheless, she realized that Felix was quite important to Lady Sphinx since she was never given such a request before.
'Was my first impression of him mistaken? It can't be.'
The Headmistress withdrew the signed holographic contract and thought, 'If he is willing to go this far to learn potion-making then his resolve is admirable...Sadly, it wouldn't change the trajectory of the media storm that the Academy would be exposed to when the news spread out. Plus, the troubles he would face dealing with other witches with a superiority complex in the Academy.'
It seemed like the Headmistress started considering Felix as a pain in the ass before he even got to wear the Academy's uniform.
That's to be expected as Felix would be drawing a lot of eyes on him from every race due to being the only non-witch who was in the Academy!
That's a piece of massive news!
"Should I head to the class now?" Felix inquired after seeing that she was merely staring at him with a hint of annoyance.
"Not yet." The Headmistress slowly stood up and gestured with her finger for Felix to do the same. Then, she went to a wooden closet and opened it up.
It was filled with uniforms hanging on a metal pole. The moment she touched one of them, it had turned into liquid and coursed on her arms like snakes before shaping up like a folded black uniform with a pointy hat on her arm.
'Nanosuits!' Felix was quite astonished by the sight. It wasn't because of the process itself but the implication of the uniform being based on nanosuits!
It meant that every witch in the Royal Academy was wearing one! There were tens of thousands of them, making it almost unfathomable how much they would have costed the Academy!
"This is your uniform, a 7th generation nanosuit." The Headmistress handed it to him neatly and said, "I don't care what you wear in your room, or in the campus. But, in this faculty, I expect to see only this uniform. Understood?"
"Yes."
"As you have read in the contract's terms, it is considered as the Academy's property." The Headmistress gave him a warning look, "So, don't have any thoughts about selling it or throwing it because you have a better Nanosuit."
"Cough, the thought never crossed my mind." Felix said with a serious tone, "I will make sure to treasure it and take pride in wearing it."
'Shameless, you definitely were planning on gifting it to your grandpa.' Asna chuckled after hearing his real thoughts.
Felix indeed was going to do so since his obscurum suit was bought by 5 billion+ while this uniform could utmost be sold at 200 million even though both of them were technically from the same generation.
That's due to the futharks engraved in the obscurum suit.
"Good, now do you have any questions or problems?" The Headmistress said after returning to her seat.
"Yes, is it possible to remove the punishments and debt that I currently owned?" Felix inquired while showing her the hologram of his profile.
Instead of responding, the Headmistress requested in her mind, 'Queen, please reset his profile.'After the Queen got a second confirmation, she fulfilled the request and Felix smiled in satisfaction after seeing that his problem had been solved.
"Is that all?" The Headmistress asked.
"Oh, I am wondering if the teachers know about my existence or not?" Felix clarified with an abashed smile, "I don't want to enter my class just to end up getting kicked out or something like that."
"Everyone had been informed a month ago about your situation besides the students."
The Headmistress beamed thirty triangle-shaped bottles on the desk and said, "If that's all, take your monthly batch of weakening bottles and get going. I believe that you have a class right now."
"Thank you for everything, Headmistress." Felix bowed his head deeply, "I will make sure to study hard and make this Academy proud."
The Headmistress smiled faintly for the first time after hearing so, not knowing that Felix was being forced to aim this high by Lady Sphinx.
When the Headmistress saw that Felix was about to leave, she asked, "Do you want a company to take you to the class or you are good on your own?"
"I got the Queen." Felix rejected her offer indirectly and closed the door after him.
"Sigh, so troublesome."
The Headmistress shook her head and sent a message to her assistant, 'Aredhel, please increase the security in the faculty and tell them to be on their tiptoes for incoming chaos. Also, start preparing for a media conference after midnight. We need to make an official announcement before my bracelet starts ringing nonstop.'
'Consider it done.'
Aredhel sent a message while gazing at Felix whose formal suit was morphing to a black robe and a white shirt, making the witches on the corridor either exclaim in disbelief or just stare with widened eyes.
"Why is he wearing our uniform?!"
"Is this senior Lobna's prank? I saw her hanging out with him before."
"A human wearing the Academy's uniform, so funny!" A witch giggled while pointing at mean-looking Orc that was wearing security's outfit, "He will probably get roughed up for daring to pull such a stunt."
The witches next to her also believed the same and they stopped in their places to get some entertainment before heading to their classes.
Felix merely smirked at their reactions and continued walking forward, completely ignoring the security guard who was leaning against a wall like a statue.
Some of the witches' eyes brightened up while others covered them with their palms, too scared to watch blood being spilled.
Alas, Felix passed right beside the security guard and he didn't even growl at him, don't even mention hitting him.
This sight baffled and dumbfounded the witches even more as some of them started to believe that the guard had been bribed by Lobna.
"The hell is going on?"
"Who knows, how about you ask him? He is getting away." A delicate witch murmured softly to her friend while following behind Felix just like the rest of the witches.
All of them wanted to see the conclusion of this baffling scene.
"No, what if I got associated with him?" Her friend witch replied with a worried voice.
Other witches were also pushing their friends to make a move on Felix but none of them wanted to anywhere near him.
A human wearing the student's uniform screams with trouble and none of them wanted to lose their contribution points as punishment. It was better to wait for a teacher to solve this.
Hence, a peculiar scene had emerged in the long corridor as witches' numbers kept increasing behind Felix, creating an army of beautiful maidens.
The sight made Felix's lips twitch in vexation as he had already expected such a level of unwarranted attention.
Meanwhile, Asna was cracking in laughter, 'How does it feel to be the first human to own a harem of witches?'
'F*ck off.'
'Salty that you can't do anything to them?' Asna snickered, 'For a pervert like you, this Academy is the ultimate punishing ground.'
"Filthy Human, remove that scared uniform at once!"
Just as Felix wanted to retort to Asna, an enraged high-pitched voice resounded in the corridor, coming out of the lips of a little witch who was holding into a long wooden staff that was two times her height.
To look at her properly, Felix had to lower his head.
The witch wasn't even 140 cm yet she had that attitude of a wild tiger as the other witches seemed like they were a bit scared of her.
Alas, in the eyes of Felix and Asna, she appeared like a little cute mushroom with her pointy black hat that was covering her fiery long crimson hair.
"The Royal Academy started to even accept racist mushrooms? What next, accepting a student from another race?" Felix sighed with a look of melancholy in his eyes, "I guess its golden days had started to wane...Pity, it had to be in my generation."
"..."
Unbothered by the deathly silence that had fallen after his shameless proclamation, Felix continued walking forward.
When he passed by the dumbfounded racist mushroom, she broke out of her daze and shrieked at him with her cheeks flushed red in fury, "HOLD IT RIGHT THERE YOU FILTHY PIG!"Too bad for her, Felix wasn't planning on wasting time fooling around when his class was already half-finished.
Seeing that he was ignoring her order, the angry mushroom tightened her hand grasp on her staff and insulted, "Lowly lifeform who doesn't know his place! You need to be taught!"
"Is Lilly going to beat him up as she did to that goblin yesterday?" A witch murmured with a worried expression.
"I hope not." Another witch complained softly, not wanting to be heard by Lilly, "Why can't she keep her superiority complex to herself? She is giving us a bad rep in the Campus just like her stupid society."
The witches who heard her nodded their heads slightly in agreement.
Yet still, not one of them made a move to stop Lilly who was clearly planning to strike Felix from behind with that staff.
As the other witch mentioned indirectly, most of the witches have a superiority complex to races below them in the social ladder.
Some show it publicly like Lilly while most of them just keep it to themselves.
There was also degrees to it as some of them who held it in wouldn't bother talking on equal term with races below them while some wouldn't mind doing any of that.
Still, they might treat other races gently, kindly, and politely, it didn't mean that they don't consider themselves as above them.
It was the same as humans feeling inherently superior to animals no matter how they treat them. Felix already anticipated that he would meet with a couple of racist witches who would be on his ass in the Academy.
But he had already created a mechanism to defend himself...That was to ignore them until they get tired and leave him alone.
Too bad, his strategy failed against his first target as Lilly didn't leave him alone but smashed him right in his head with that staff!
CRASH!! Awooo!!
The aftermath of the strike left everyone in disbelief.
They had anticipated that Felix would end up with a bloody head or even fall unconscious to the ground, but looking at Lilly who was crying while holding into her hand made them doubt their eyes.
Meanwhile, the staff had been broken into two halves and fell to the ground.
"MY HAND!! YOU BROKE MY HAND, YOU OBNOXIOUS BASTARD!!" Lilly cried with an ear-piercing high-pitched voice, irritating Felix's ears, making him want to kick her in the face to shut her up.
When the witches looked at her hand, they were astounded to see that Lilly's hand was truly a little bit wobbly!
Before they could enter another round of chatter, Felix finally turned around after clearing his hair from the splinters of the wooden staff.
He wasn't even scratched from such a pitiful ambush.
The first thing he did was smile warmly at the crowd before focusing on Lilly, gazing at her with a murderous gaze that sent shivers down Lilly's spine, making her forget her pain at once.
She felt like she was being gazed at by a predator who wouldn't hesitate to snap her neck at any moment!
However, Felix did nothing of such sorts. Heck, he didn't even speak to Lilly. He simply voiced his complaint calmly, "Queen, I have been assaulted physically by another student."
Before the witches could comprehend what he said, The Queen's monotonous voice resounded in the area, "Lilly, 2nd-year Apprentice Potioneer, you have broken rule-14 of the Academy's rules book...Based on the terms, 1000 contribution points will be deducted from your account. In addition, please willingly head to the Disciplinary Department to receive your correspondent punishment."
"...."
By the time the Queen finished speaking, the atmosphere had gone stale and heavy like weights had been placed on the witches' minds, making it tough for them to analyze the content of the conversation.
Assaulted physically by another student? Queen listening to him and lying down one of the worst punishments in the Academy? Doesn't that mean he is truly a student?... Questions like those coursed on their minds, making them have a single unison thought at the end.
'Impossible!'
Alas, they knew deep down that everything was happening for real since the Queen AI never made jokes.
"You, You, you are a real student??" Lilly stuttered in disbelief while looking at Felix's composed expression.
The witches have grown even more silent after hearing her question, wanting to listen carefully to his response.
Even the Orc guards who were planning to escort Lilly away decided to give Felix the chance to explain himself since they wanted to avoid any further confrontations like those in the future...
"What's going on here?!"
Upon hearing this devilish familiar voice, the witches all yelped in fear while lowering their heads, not wanting to attract the attention of teacher Djamila.
She was brown-skinned and had short curly black hair that goes well with her black eyes and the red robe she was wearing.
Her expression was stony and cold, making the witches tremble in their places.
'Who is she?' Felix knitted his eyebrows at the sight. He didn't know why the witches were terrified of her and he truly didn't want to know why right now.
"I won't repeat it again." Teacher Djamila said, narrowing her eyes at Felix and the rest.
This time, a security guard approached her and whispered some things in her ears.
A few seconds later, the security guard went back to his position, leaving teacher Djamila to focus on Felix and Lilly.
'Sigh, here we go ag...'
Just as Felix thought that he would be targeted by the teacher as well, he was surprised to see her glaring at Lilly.
"What are you still doing here Lilly?"
"But, but, he, human..."
"You better shut up and head to the Disciplinary Department in under ten minutes if you don't want to run 30 laps in the field!" Teacher Djamila said.
Upon seeing that she meant business, Lilly swallowed her disgruntlement and stood back up while holding tightly onto her broken wrist.
Then, she glared at Felix hatefully and said with a suppressed tone, "This is not over, you filthy human. You will pay for this!"
"Bye-bye racist mushroom." Felix waved his hand at her with a faint grin, making her nostrils flare up in fury at his insulting nickname.
Alas, one simple glare by teacher Djamila made her withdrew any thought of continue bickering with him and just sprint away, heading to get her punishment.
After she was gone, Felix nodded his head respectfully at teacher Djamila and turned around, wanting to leave as well.
"Hold it right there." Teacher Djamila said while approaching him.
'Hopefully, she won't lecture me or something.' Felix sighed but he still stopped.
"Your name is Felix right?" Teacher Djamila asked sternly after reaching his side.
"Yes, teacher."
"You appear different than the picture they had given me." She said while glancing at his hair and eyes.
"New bloodline." Felix replied straight to the point.
Teacher Djamila sized him up for a few seconds before turning around, looking at the crowd of witches that was gathering in the area.
All of them lowered their heads at once. If it wasn't for their curiosity to know the situation revolving around Felix being a student, they would have already bolted away from teacher Djamila.
"This is Felix Maxwell, a human bloodliner who has been accepted into the Academy to learn potion-making. He was born with special eyes that allow him to enter the microscopic world and utilize his mental energy at a fine level just like any other witch. So, you better make him feel welcomed in the Academy instead of shaming our race in front of him." Teacher Djamila introduced bluntly.By the time she was done, only loud gasps resounded in the area as the news was still too much to stomach for those witches.
"I will be under your care." Felix nodded his head slightly to everyone with a polite charming smile. Then, he looked at Teacher Djamila and requested, "May I head to my class? I am already late."
"Let's go." Teacher Djamila said, "I will guide you to your class."
Felix's eyelids twitched at the sound of that but he didn't want to reject her offer publicly.
Hence, he walked with her through the dazed witches who were gazing at Felix's eyes with a hint of intrigue and wonder.
Most of them had only one question coursing in their minds...How?
...
Sometime later, Felix and teacher Djamila had reached Felix's class that was held on the 2nd floor of the faculty.
Since Felix was accompanied by teacher Djamila, every witch who wanted to follow after them had decided to give up on that thought after getting glared at.
Hence, they reached it swiftly and without other problems rising up.
Knock Knock!
Teacher Djamila knocked twice on the lecture hall's door and opened it up slightly.
Felix managed to glance within the class and found that it was packed with tens of witches, who were sitting on long benches chairs that were connected together.
The classroom appeared somewhat like the earthling's universities lecture halls.
"Sorry to interrupt your class teacher Sonna." Teacher Djamila said politely while dragging Felix with her inside the lecture hall, attracting everyone's attention due to his uniform.
Even the sleepy witches were forced to snap out of it by their friends.
"You got to be kidding me..." Lara murmured with her widened eyes affixed on Felix.
She was seating in the 1st first line, making her instantly find out about Felix's identity even though his hair and eyes had changed since the last time she saw him.
When Felix and teacher Djamila reached the podium that was placed in front of a humongous holographic screen, noisy chatter broke out in the lecture room as young pretty witches started pointing at Felix while conversing with their seatmates.
"What's going on?"
"Don't tell me a human is going to join our class!"
Teacher Sonna fixed her large circular glasses clumsily while requesting with a soft tone, "Please be quiet."
Alas, no one listened to her request as her voice barely echoed in the noisy hall. Upon seeing so, she gave teacher Djamila a wronged expression that would melt anyone's heart.
Bang!
"SILENCE!" Teacher Djamila shouted as she pounded the podium with her fist, scaring even teacher Sonna.
That did the trick as not a single peep was heard anymore in the hall. Every witch acted as docile as a kitty.
'Seriously, why everyone is afraid of her?' Felix wondered with a curious look.
Teacher Sonna, this is Felix, the human student we were informed about by the Headmistress last month.' Teacher Djamila sent a telepathic message.
'Darn it, why am I always so unlucky.' Teacher Sonna complained tearfully, 'Couldn't he wait until tomorrow to join Teacher Hala's class? I can't deal with the chaos that will raise after we break the news to the class.'
'That's why I am here.' Teacher Djamila comforted her, 'I will handle it for you.'
Teacher Sonna's eyes brightened up after hearing so. Without being told what to do, she quickly got down from the podium and stood beside Felix with a shy expression, making him at lost for words at her antics.
He could clearly see that she had the opposite personality of teacher Djamila, as she was too nice and...well, bulliable?
'Hehe, I have a feeling that she will be my favorite teacher.' Felix grinned wickedly, scaring teacher Sonna's off when she saw the way he was looking at her.
"Human, come introduce yourself to your future classmates." Teacher Djamila gestured for Felix to stand on the podium with her.
"Certainly." Felix switched to his go-to fake warm smile and walked to the podium.
When he stood on it, he was able to see the entire classroom clearly and the witches who were giving him dumbfounded looks.
'Lara in my class?' In a split second, he spotted Lara staring at him with a deep frown, making him give her a wink just to tease her a bit.
Then, he coughed and spoke calmly near the microphone, "My name is Felix Maxwell and I am almost 20 years old. I am a human, an earthling, a bloodliner, a professional SG player, and hopefully, a future Potioneer."
Felix paused for a second and smiled charmingly, "The Headmistress had enrolled me personally in the Academy last month but I was still on my journey to the capital. Hence, my one-month long absence."
'Smart.' Teacher Djamila praised in her mind.
She understood that Felix had mentioned this so he could let everyone know that the Headmistress was the one backing him up in the Academy.
After all, it was impossible for witches to just enroll and get accepted straightaway into the Royal Academy that was the best of the best in the empire.
Only witches with excellent grades in elementary school get an opportunity to participate in the entrance examination. Still, many witches fail to pass it and need to wait another year to try again.
Yet, Felix had just popped out of nowhere, making it obvious that the Headmistress had opened up the backdoor for him.
If she was willing to do so, it only meant that he was close to her. Smart witches would reach this conclusion instantly from that sentence.
'So he has a connection to teacher Dalilia and now even the Headmistress Aicha?' Lara narrowed her eyes at Felix and thought, 'He must have an even higher background to force both of them to treat him this nicely instead of experimenting on him in their lab immediately after he enters the capital.'
While she was brainstorming on potential candidates, Felix was still hogging the mic by explaining his ability to concoct potions.
He wanted to make the answer loud and clear so he wouldn't get harassed every day due to their curiosity.
In a minute or two, Felix bowed his head slightly to the witches and asked, "I will be under your care for the next three years."
Then, he stepped down from the podium as he wasn't going to receive applause from his classmates who were still trying to digest that a human was going to be their classmate.
"Go pick a seat." Teacher Djamila said.
Felix nodded his head and walked to the witches.
Some of them broke out of their daze quickly and invited him with an excited expression while some glared at him, making it clear that he wasn't welcomed at all.
Felix ignored both types and went to seat on his own in the back row, where there were only a few witches.
The visibility was not the best here but it wasn't a problem for Felix.
"Teacher Sonna, I will sit through the remaining period, so just carry on your class normally." Teacher Djamila said telepathically while heading to teacher Sonna's desk.
She didn't want to leave her on her own since it was clear that the witches wouldn't bother to listen to her in this situation.
'Thank you.' Teacher Sonna gave a grateful look to teacher Djamila and walked back to the podium.
Seeing that the witches weren't paying her any attention but glancing behind them, she coughed twice and said near the mic, "Student Felix, since you have missed eight of my theoretical classes, I need to ask if you know what was taught in those classes."
Felix replied instantly, "Based on the 1st-semester syllabus, you must have taught an introduction to potion-making, the base theory of potion-making, the concoction equipment part I, potioneer ranks part I, How to remain in the microscopic world for a prolonged period of time, how to utilize mental energy efficiently in the microscopic world, knowing when a potion is doomed to fail, and lastly, equipment part II."
Teacher Sonna smiled in happiness while clapping her hands, "Good, good since you know what was taught, it only meant that you have read about them in your free time correct?"
"Yes." Felix nodded his head.
"Did you find any difficulty understanding a topic?" Teacher Sonna glanced at her bracelet and offered, "There is one hour left in the class and I believe it wouldn't hurt to clear some of your doubts before we move into the next class."
Some witches immediately frowned their eyebrows, not liking the sound of that. If it wasn't for teacher Djamila staring at them with an indifferent gaze, they would have already complained about her suggestion.
After all, the 1st semester had three class groups in it and all of them shared the final exam and mark.
This meant, being behind by even one hour was too much for those witches who were aiming at getting at the top ranks.
Unlike normal universities, this was the Royal Academy, where only the elite of the elite gets accepted.
Not one of them was going to laze around and get a bad mark.
This signified that was going to be a hellish competition between thousands of smart witches to emerge in those ranks...Plus one Witcher.
"Thank you for the offer teacher Sonna, but I don't want to delay the class just so I can catch up." Felix rejected the proposal with a polite tone, earning some smiles from those witches.
Upon seeing so, Felix smiled back at them while thinking, 'Getting close to the class would help me in the long run instead of isolating myself.'
This was indeed the best move to make currently since Felix wasn't in the milky way galaxy anymore. He was in a foreign land with a foreign race.
To survive those next three years, Felix needed to be a friend of the witches instead of their enemy.
To do achieve so, he needed to give in at the right moments like those.
"I guess you are right, but..." Teacher Sonna said with a saddened tone, "I still don't like having a student that is behind."
A couple of witches glanced at Felix with playful smiles and instantly raised their hands in the air, asking for permission to speak.
"Go ahead Naima." Teacher Sonna pointed at a witch who had her golden hair braided into pigtails hairstyle, blazing orange eyes, and a small mole next to her delicate nose.
Naima turned around to look at Felix and offered with a pretty smile, "How about I teach you about those classes in private? I have good notes on the subjects."
The other witches, who raised their hands with Kaina, all dropped them with a dejected expression. It was clear that they had the same idea.
However, Felix didn't immediately accept since he had no idea if she was truly offering her assistance or she simply wanted to get close to him to sate her curiosity about the whole matter.
'Whatever, if she doesn't want to stick to her word, I can simply leave.' After making his decision, Felix smiled politely at Naima and said, "Much appreciation."
Seeing that he had accepted, the witches immediately sent telepathic messages to Naima, 'Sister Naima, can I join please?'
'I will buy you drinks if you let me join your study group.'
'Sister Naima, I will wave those 200 contribution points that you own me, if you let me in.'
Tens of messages like those rained on Naina's mind until she had enough and blocked all of them from contacting her.
She was already going to invite her friends over. Any more and it would turn into a party instead of a study group.
'A male human...You are all ours!' Naima licked her lips while peeking at Felix with her tail's eye from a hole in her robe.
Felix didn't notice it since his attention was placed on Teacher Sonna who had returned to continuing her lecture after they dealt with his matters.
Everyone stopped chatting at once and focused as well on the lecture in complete silence. But under this facade of peacefulness, a storm was brewing in the network.
A storm that was going to be caused by Felix's news, which was being spread like fire on the witches' social media pages!
Everyone who shared the news used one hashtag...AHumanPotioneer?