The four young men continued discussing the topic for a long time, each sharing their thoughts and the beautiful women they had encountered that day.
When Ashura brought up the stunning Instructor Ella, Angelo immediately chimed in, saying he had heard of her. Rumor had it that the line of young, talented suitors who had pursued her once stretched all the way from the academy to the Magical Beast Forest!
However, Instructor Ella's standards were sky-high, and her grandfather, the great mage Avery, was notoriously strict—so no one had ever succeeded in winning her over.
Ashura casually asked, "Little Lo, where do you even get all this information?"
Angelo smirked proudly. "I gathered all of this with my friends from the artifact-forging department this morning. It's first-hand, exclusive intel!"
Ashura chuckled. "Damn, that's some talent you've got there. You could totally sell this info for money… no, even better—sell it for academy points!"
"Think about it—those pervs drooling over the beauties would pay a fortune for this kind of information. You wouldn't even have to complete missions to make a killing!"
However, as soon as he finished speaking, he noticed that their leader, Jinze, had a strange expression on his face.
After a moment of deep thought, Jinze's eyes lit up with excitement.
With a loud smack, he slapped Ashura's shoulder and declared, "Third Brother, this idea is brilliant! Fourth Brother, you keep gathering intel, and I'll handle the sales."
"We'll trade for academy points! Then we'll split them among us!"
Jinze's mind was brimming with ideas as he leaped onto a chair, striking a grand pose like a commander planning his conquest.
Ashura rubbed his shoulder, completely dumbfounded at how their boss had suddenly transformed into a businessman.
Angelo, being the simple-minded one of the group, immediately agreed and promised to gather the most detailed intel on the Top Ten Beauties as soon as possible.
At this point, Arthur panicked.
"Wait! You're collecting intel, you're selling it, and he came up with the idea—what about me?!"
"I want some academy points too! What can I do?!"
After thinking for a moment, Angelo suddenly snapped his fingers.
"Second Brother, I've got the perfect job for you!"
"This business of ours is a bit risky, right? And you're the strongest one here!"
"So if we ever get beaten up by those beauties' admirers… you'll be the one protecting us!"
Arthur, usually cool and composed, broke into a cold sweat.
"Uh… I'm not sure I can handle that…"
Jinze clapped him on the shoulder with a firm nod. "We believe in you, Second Brother! We know you can do it!"
And just like that, a secret underground gossip trade was born.
After their discussion, they grabbed some food and went back to their rooms for training. Jinze spent over three hours patiently teaching Ashura the basics of magic in the lounge.
He explained everything exactly as the elders of his own family had once taught him.
As a bonus, he even passed down his personal meditation technique, which was far superior to the one Ashura had been using.
Ashura didn't need any further words—this act alone deepened the bond between the four of them.
That night, as darkness fell, Ashura returned to his room and reviewed everything Jinze had taught him.
Suddenly, the basic magical concepts from that morning's lecture clicked into place.
He knew that the knowledge gap between him and the others wouldn't be closed overnight, but he refused to slack off.
He sat on his bed, closed his eyes, and began meditating using his newly learned technique.
Almost immediately, he felt the magic elements in the air rushing into his body at an unprecedented speed.
What he didn't realize was that the meditation technique he had just learned was one of the most powerful on the entire Continent of Kings!
Late at night…
Normally, a magician's meditation would stop once they reached their mana limit—but Ashura was different.
Even after four hours, he still hadn't stopped.
It was as if his body was a bottomless pit, endlessly absorbing magic power.
The night passed in silence.
Only when the first light of dawn painted the sky did Ashura finally emerge from his meditation.
His body was exhausted, and he felt a deep mental fatigue.
But when he checked his mana level, he was shocked—he had advanced to Magic Apprentice Level Three in just one night!
However, he didn't let this success get to his head.
He knew that early-stage progress was always fast—but as one advanced further, the difficulty increased exponentially.
Still, he couldn't shake the feeling that something was off about his body.
He shouldn't have been able to meditate all night long without reaching his limit.
But he couldn't figure out why.
After a moment of thought, he decided not to tell anyone about it.
The last thing I need is to be thrown into some alchemy lab and dissected like a test subject…
Shaking off the lingering exhaustion, he got out of bed and went to wash up.
Since he had woken up early, he went to the cafeteria to grab four breakfasts and brought them back to eat with his roommates.
The academy's first-floor meals were free, but if they wanted magical beast meat or special energy-replenishing dishes, they had to spend academy points.
After a quick meal, they all headed off to their respective classes.
The Classroom Showdown
When Ashura arrived at Class 13's lecture hall, he immediately noticed that it was much livelier than yesterday.
There were even students from other classes who had come to listen.
Not thinking much of it, he walked to his usual seat—but before he could sit down, an arm blocked his way.
Looking up, he saw Kyle, the class academic monitor, staring at him with an expressionless face.
In a flat tone, Kyle said, "Find another seat. I'm taking this one."
Ashura blinked in confusion before glancing at the silver-haired girl sitting nearby, her face void of expression.
Ah. So that's what this is about.
A smirk crossed his lips as he teased, "Why should I? I sat here yesterday, and my notes are still on the desk."
"Shouldn't the academic monitor be sitting in the front and focusing on learning? What are you doing back here?"
Kyle's face twitched with anger.
"Black-haired brat, I did some research on you. If you know what's good for you, you'll move. Otherwise… don't blame me for what happens next."
He reached for his ornate family-issued magic staff, ready to make a move.
Ashura simply laughed.
"Oh? So now that you can't take my seat by force, you're going to beat me up instead?"
"Go ahead! I'll stand right here. Try hitting me! Let's see if the academy expels you for violence on campus!"
With that, he puffed out his chest and leaned forward provocatively.
Kyle froze, momentarily stunned by Ashura's sheer shamelessness.
He knew full well that he couldn't actually attack him.
Standing to the side, Clara—who had been listening the whole time—suddenly smirked ever so slightly.
For some reason, she found Ashura's shameless antics… rather amusing.
Just when everyone thought the matter was settled, Ashura suddenly spoke up.
"This seat is mine. However…" he paused, smirking. "Since we're classmates, I suppose I could let you sit here…"
Kyle was stunned for a moment before his face lit up with joy.
"You're willing to give up your seat? That's great! You're—"
Before Kyle could finish celebrating, Ashura cut him off.
"Hold on. I never said I'd just give it to you for free. This is a prime seat, you know. Shouldn't you at least pay a little price for it?"
"Tell you what—I'll sell it to you for 200 academy points. How about that?"
Kyle froze on the spot.
Every freshman started with 100 points in their student badge, and yesterday, as the class monitor, Instructor Ella had rewarded him another 100 points.
And now… this shameless brat wanted to take all 200 points just for a seat?!
Seeing Kyle's silence, Ashura sighed dramatically.
"I guess this seat doesn't mean much to you after all. Looks like 200 points are more important than sitting here!"
"Oh well, in that case, forget it. I'll just see if someone else wants to trade seats—"
Just as he was about to sit down, Kyle grabbed his arm.
With gritted teeth, Kyle growled, "Fine! 200 it is! But no changing the deal!"
Ashura jumped up in delight and quickly pulled out his student badge, finalizing the points transaction with Kyle.
Looking at the 300 points now displayed on his badge, Ashura grinned like an idiot, unable to hide his excitement.
However, what he didn't notice… was that behind him, the silver-haired girl's hair began to spark faintly with tiny electric arcs.
Kyle hurriedly sat down in Ashura's former seat, casually flipping his hair aside.
With a charming side glance, he stole a look at his goddess, and in that instant, he felt like those 200 points were totally worth it!
Ashura, snapping back to reality, glanced around the classroom.
By now, all the desks were practically full.
He wasn't sure whether the extra students were here for Instructor Ella… or for Clara.
After scanning the room, he noticed that only one desk still had some space.
Without hesitation, he grabbed a stool from the back of the classroom and, under the confused gazes of everyone, plopped himself down beside the silver-haired girl—sharing her desk.
Flashing a cocky grin, he leaned in and teased, "Hey, beautiful, mind if we squeeze in a little?"
Clara glanced at him, saying nothing.
Instead, she simply shifted slightly to the side, making just enough room for him—before letting out a soft, haughty "hmph."
But at that very moment, the loudest sound in the classroom wasn't Clara's hmph—
It was the collective sound of a dozen boys' hearts… shattering into pieces.