High School of Demon Hunting

"You should have all this memorized."

The overly helpful, nameless wizard gave the examinee a reproachful look and slightly emphasized his tone: "—The examiners may not necessarily ask about these things, but if they do, you must quickly and accurately describe how you originally practiced the Transformation Technique. Only then will they not mistake you for having mastered it through a Black Magic Ritual or some other external trick."

Zheng Qing understood the reasoning.

The problem was, why did he feel that this enthusiastic man’s description of learning Transformation Technique sounded even more like some kind of Black Magic Ritual?

His hand unconsciously rested on his belt, his fingers nervously tapping his Grey Cloth Bag.

"But," Zheng Qing decided he should be more cautious, so he argued in a very small voice, "back when I practiced the Transformation Technique, I never used Mandrake leaf?"

The black-robed wizard’s expression immediately grew serious.

"Then what did you use?" He took a tiny step back, the smile on his face fading away: "Oak leaf? Animal fur? Or some other method?"

"None of those, it was a transformation potion..."

"Transformation potion?" The slightly chubby wizard’s originally flushed nose tip seemed to turn a shade purple for an instant. First his face showed utter shock, then silence, and finally his lips moved as if he wanted to say something, yet in the end he said nothing.

He merely patted the boy’s shoulder and, after a long moment, let out a bitter little laugh: "Ah, a transformation potion... no wonder you managed it in just a few months... I mean, it seems your elders at home really value you."

"It’s just okay."

Zheng Qing muttered, and the empty display window of San You Bookstore flashed through his mind—if wanting to see someone but never managing to count as "valuing," then his teacher truly valued him quite a bit.

Full of complaints, he didn’t catch what else the black robe mumbled beside him; his ears only picked up the last sentence.

"—I heard from a friend that the quality of products from private potion workshops is very unstable, yet the prices are quite high; the transformation potions from Fiesel Magic Medicine Company are the most reliable in quality, and yet comparatively cheaper."

Zheng Qing honestly shook his head.

"I’ve got no idea."

He tried hard to recall the transformation potions he had used, and vaguely, roughly, sort of remembered that they hadn’t cost many copper coins: "My transformation potion expenses were covered by the school medical insurance... I just had to submit an application form each time I used one."

The black-robed wizard’s mouth slowly fell open and seemed to forget to close, making Zheng Qing worry a little that his jaw might have dislocated. He couldn’t help lifting a hand to wave it in front of the man’s eyes.

The slightly chubby, slightly balding, and slightly broke wizard’s gaze went unfocused for a moment. When he came back to his senses, he gave someone a complicated look: "I never knew the school even had medical insurance... no wonder, no wonder..."

No wonder what?

Zheng Qing hated people who only said half of what they meant, like Xiao Xiao when doing Divination—except, those two words this black fatty said sounded suspiciously like the pronunciation of "sad."

After being hit with repeated psychological blows,

the black-robed wizard seemed to completely lose any interest in chatting.

That finally let Zheng Qing’s ears enjoy a bit of peace and quiet.

Half an hour slipped by in the blink of an eye.

Soon, a large group of wizards wearing all sorts of badges came swarming into the examination room. Before each one entered, they would covertly and quickly size up the red-robed boy waiting at the door.

Zheng Qing was the last one to enter.

When he sat down behind his exam desk and looked up, even though he was mentally prepared, he still couldn’t help drawing in a small, cold breath. On the invigilator’s platform in front of him, three whole rows of wizards sat neatly lined up. Looking around, there were Warlocks, Witches, Elder Wizards, Young Wizards, black-robed, white-robed, grey-robed, and so on—enough to make one’s eyes swim and one’s heart pound.

Was the registered shape-shifting wizard exam really this strict?

No wonder the guy at the door just now said this was a Magic that tested a wizard’s luck.

Thinking of this, Zheng Qing couldn’t help glancing at the slightly chubby black robe still standing at the doorway, only to see that he also wore a stunned expression, his slightly bald forehead practically covered in question marks.

"Student Zheng Qing?"

The thin black robe sitting in the center of the invigilator’s platform pretentiously glanced down at the sheet in his hand—Zheng Qing didn’t understand why, in an exam room with only one examinee, they still had to go through this unnecessary question.

But in an exam room, a man has no choice but to bow his head.

"Pr—present!"

The boy obediently stood up and answered.

"Sit, sit down and answer, don’t be nervous."

The thin black robe waved his hand, looked around, and spoke in a tone carrying a bit of probing: "Then, let’s begin today’s exam, shall we? The registered shape-shifting wizard exam is divided into two parts: written test and Practice. We’ll start with the written test..."

Compared to the exams for registered Fu Masters or registered talisman bullet makers, the preliminary introduction for the registered shape-shifting wizard exam was a bit longer and more complicated.

First, Alliance staff had to "verify identity," to ensure that the wizard sitting the exam was indeed the candidate himself. This requirement was perfectly reasonable, especially since this was an exam about the "Transformation Technique."

Next, a notary from Danghag distributed Silence Contracts to all wizards participating in the assessment—forbidding them not only from revealing the exam questions, but more importantly requiring each examiner to strictly keep the candidate’s transformed form secret.

Then the Trident Sword Supervisor read out the prohibitions on using the Transformation Technique, such as forbidding mating after transformation (he specifically reminded them that offspring produced after transformation were not protected by "The Code"), forbidding the hunting of other small animals after transformation (even instinctive killing would be treated as second-degree murder), forbidding the use of one’s transformed form for theft or other criminal activities, and so on. Before finishing the reading, he also especially emphasized that a wizard and his transformed form were regarded as a single entity under "The Code." In other words, any crime committed by the black cat would be considered a crime committed by Zheng Qing himself.

Immediately after, a white-robed wizard from the school hospital demonstrated to the candidates the emergency procedures for loss of control during transformation, what they should do to call for help if they realized their transformation had failed, and the standard process for requesting help, and so forth.

In addition, an Elder Wizard from the academic committee read the exam regulations in a sing-song voice; a grey robe from the School Works Committee read out the list of places that transformed creatures were forbidden to enter; even the Professor Joint Meeting stuck its nose in, waving a "risk disclosure form" and asking Zheng Qing to sign, indicating he was fully aware of the risks involved in taking this exam, and so on and so forth.

This long-winded, perfunctory preliminary preparation made Zheng Qing drowsy.

Especially since the Sun was quite nice today: sunlight streamed through the tall floor-to-ceiling windows into the spacious room, warm and cozy, making it feel as if he were soaking naked in a hot spring, his eyes almost too heavy to keep open.

Smack!

The feather-light test paper landed heavily in front of the boy, and the small gust it stirred up made his half-closed eyes squint.

"—The written exam officially begins!"

The thin Warlock drew out the last syllable as he loudly announced this, and then the eyes of the three full rows of wizards on the invigilator’s platform all swung toward Zheng Qing in perfect unison, snapping him completely awake.