"Creak—"
Just as Vivian was about to knock again, the dormitory door opened.
"Sorry, Vivian, I overslept today."
Loose pajamas, a plain face, and smooth but not messy black hair. Seeing Jia Na in her rarely seen homey appearance, the words Vivian had on the tip of her tongue were suddenly swallowed back.
"Come in first. Let me get ready, and then we'll go together."
"Mm... okay."
Every Monday morning from eight to eleven, all first-year apprentices have a fixed class—Black Magic Defense Class.
Today's class was arranged by Grace-Eva to be held outdoors. Since the chosen outdoor location was a distance from the dormitory, Vivian had specifically agreed with Jia Na last Friday to meet at the cafeteria entrance at 6:40 AM.
However, after waiting for more than ten minutes and seeing no sign of Jia Na, Vivian had no choice but to go to Jia Na's dormitory herself.
"Clean anew—"
After skillfully casting the Cleaning Spell and quickly washing up, Jia Na changed into a shirt, trousers, and her newly bought wizard robe. In less than five minutes, she stood gracefully before Vivian.
"Huh? You actually have money for a new wizard robe? I thought all your money was used for exchanging apprentice courses."
Looking at the simple and elegant wizard robe on Jia Na, embroidered with a light green thorny pattern, Vivian's eyes couldn't help but light up slightly.
"This style looks like a new arrival from ""Tanuki's New Outfit"", right? Good taste, you actually know to wear the same style as me."
"Let's go quickly, if we don't, the cafeteria breakfast will be sold out."
Looking at Vivian's teasing eyes, Jia Na just helplessly smoothed her long hair behind her back.
"I already bought it for you."
With a gentle flip of her right hand, a blueberry jam bread packed in a brown paper bag, plus two cups of steaming hot black coffee, were taken out by Vivian from the interdimensional space bracelet on her wrist.
"Thank you, I'll bring you breakfast next time."
"No need, as long as you can keep lending me your notes for the Ancient Magic History class and not lend them to others."
Looking at the bread Vivian handed over, Jia Na silently curved her lips and sat next to the lab bench with Vivian.
"Speaking of which, the magic plants in your dorm are growing really well... Did you use alchemical fertilizer?"
"No, maybe there's just more sunlight in my room."
"Is that so?"
...
The Black Magic Defense Class has outdoor lessons periodically, and this class's teaching is mainly weapon operation, so Grace-Eva reminded everyone in the last class to prepare a wand in advance.
And even the most ordinary wand is a considerable expense for a Wizard like Jia Na who has no resources.
Therefore, last week, for Jia Na, who had already used most of her jin sule and credits elsewhere, she had already prepared to audit the class.
"Professor Grace chose a really secluded outdoor location this time."
After finishing breakfast, the two walked for about twenty minutes before finding the outdoor class location described by Grace-Eva—a circular clearing beside the rock garden behind and to the left of the library.
"Good morning, Miss Jia Na."
"Miss Jia Na, over here!"
As soon as the two walked in, several enthusiastic male apprentices began greeting Jia Na, one of whom even saved Jia Na a spot in the shadow behind the rock garden, simply because he was worried she would get sunburnt.
"Thank you, Mr. John."
"Ah... you're welcome, it's just a small favor."
Because Jack-Mai was publicly rejected by Jia Na and stuffed into the washroom where his front teeth were knocked out, and because the senior third-year apprentice Suo Luo-Lie Yan repeatedly came looking for Jia Na, Jia Na's surroundings had become much quieter recently.
Of course, it was also because since Jia Na joined the Bai Wu Xie Club, she had also rejected some ineffective social interactions that no longer generated value, reducing the number of social appearances, which prevented many potential suitors from finding Jia Na.
"If possible, I wonder if Miss Jia Na would do me the honor of attending..."
"Shh, Professor Grace is here, quiet down."
Just as the male apprentice named John was about to muster the courage to invite Jia Na to a family dinner, Vivian, who was already used to such things, interrupted John without hesitation.
"Ah, sorry, sorry..."
Seeing that the person who interrupted him was a female apprentice from the Rose Family, John, who came from a small family in Turin, could only swallow the words on the tip of his tongue and stood aside sheepishly.
Meanwhile, Grace-Eva, gliding rapidly through the air with her huge bat wings spread, landed calmly in front of everyone accompanied by a dense blood-red light.
"This class is a practical weapons class. I hope you all brought your wands today. Otherwise, for the rest of the class, those who didn't bring a wand will just have to stand and observe..."
Hearing this, Vivian, who was standing nearby, gently nudged Jia Na's arm with her elbow, then took out a wand from her wide ice-blue wizard robe. The wand was entirely black with a transparent gem embedded at the top.
"You can borrow this temporarily, it's my old wand that I used before."
Looking at the wand Vivian handed over, Jia Na also took out her green field wand from the inner pocket of her wizard robe.
"I won't take advantage of you this time, I bought a new wand myself."
Looking at the vine-shaped wand in Jia Na's hand, Vivian's expression became unusually serious.
"Where did you get the money? You didn't accept sponsorship from some family behind my back, did you?"
"No, I just recently found a part-time job and saved up some money."
"Is that so? You're not allowed to lie to me."
Seeing Jia Na's serious look, Vivian nodded suspiciously, took back the wand in her hand, and then took out a luxurious wand from her interdimensional space bracelet. The wand's shaft was as clear as crystal, and its top was inlaid with a snowflake-shaped ice-blue gem.
"I spent over three hundred jin sule on this wand a while ago and specifically had Tanuki Master customize it for me. Isn't it great?"
"Mm... it suits you very well."
Hearing about an apprentice wand that cost nearly three times the price of her own wand, Jia Na, who had always known Vivian's lavish spending habits, had long since become numb to it.
"Without the enhancement of magic equipment, suppressing Vivian shouldn't be a problem with my current strength, but..."
Looking at Vivian, who was fully armed from head to toe, with even her boots having enchanted patterns, Jia Na inwardly dismissed the idea that she could easily defeat the other party when she was fully equipped with magical items.
"No wonder Professor Mary-Margaret accepted the Rose Family's recruitment back then. With the Rose Family's financial resources, it's probably hard for anyone not to be tempted..."
Even Jia Na herself, if she didn't have the "Daily Task System" as a cheat, perhaps she would have long chosen to agree to Vivian's recruitment...
