Chapter 2817 - 1038: Suitability Assessment
Don’t answer!
Don’t answer!
Don’t answer!
This was the only answer that emerged in Zheng Qing’s mind after hearing the question relayed by the black gem cat from the owner of Qingqiu Mansion. He was very certain that Su Shijun’s question had no correct answer; recklessly answering would only end in ’courting death’ or ’suicide’.
Neither of these results were what he wanted.
"Did you hear that?"
The black gem cat waved its paw in front of the warlock, its tone unfriendly: "Next time you need to attend the paper discussion yourself... I’ve always wondered why you would leave something that requires intensive intellectual labor to a brainless stone?"
The warlock glanced at his own embodiment—he’s heard of self-criticism, but never like this—then he realized that this thing was his embodiment. Its insults towards him were essentially self-directed, weren’t they?
Hmm, it seems there isn’t much difference between the two statements originally.
The boy was still pondering the subtle differences between the two ’self-insults,’ and the black gem cat, having relayed the message, had already swished its tail and gracefully headed out of the dormitory.
It was Friday morning, and the first class today was Alchemy. With the experience of the past two days, Zheng Qing did not want to go to class in a stupor with his head filled with convoluted magical papers related to lunar conjectures.
Especially since Alchemy was also a course that consumed a lot of mental energy.
So after the black gem cat returned to the dormitory today, he did not undo the transformation technique for embodiment and simply had the black gem cat relay the ’meeting spirit’ from last night’s encounter with Su Daxu.
The good news was that he did not have to face Su Daxu’s questioning like the black gem cat, feeling weak in the legs.
The bad news was that this action only changed an immediate execution to a postponed one. He could only hope that when he met Su Shijun tonight, she would forget about last night’s question.
Compared to the entangled matters of love and academics, another matter seemed more imminent.
On Friday afternoon, after practice class ended, Zheng Qing was planning to have dinner when he saw the acting head of the assistant group waving at him from not far away.
Most of the time, as a guard, Zhang Yu would stay in the shadows and wouldn’t directly contact Zheng Qing. Only when it concerned school business would he shed his guard identity and appear openly before Zheng Qing.
"You have half an hour to handle other matters. I’ll take you to the suitable candidates assessment afterward."
That was the first thing he said after setting up the shielding barrier.
Zheng Qing didn’t know whether to feel surprised or sad—for the surprise was that he had a legitimate reason not to visit Qingqiu Mansion tonight to experience the black gem cat’s anxiety from yesterday; the sadness was that he had barely a relaxed Friday, undisturbed by the Seven Sins devils, uninjured from practice class, and free from the pesky small tasks, only for this bit of leisure to swiftly dissipate.
Perhaps graduates are not entitled to feel relaxed.
With a resignation-like sense of acceptance, he quickly finished his dinner, hurried back to the dormitory, sent a paper crane to Jiang Yu, Su Shijun, and the black gem cat, then placed three Blood Talisman bullets in his charm gun’s bullet chamber, and finally met Zhang Yu just on the ’half-hour’ mark.
"Your timing is very precise," Zhang Yu commented simply.
Zheng Qing couldn’t quite determine if this was sarcasm, mockery, or praise, so he could only force a laugh and shifted to another topic: "—I thought the assessment wouldn’t happen until Sunday."
"Suitable candidates assessment."
The assistant leader patiently repeated the term for the young wizard: "Suitable candidates, nominees, selectees, matches, and so on, you should start adapting to these superficially different but essentially identical titles... Besides, the assessment time will be adjusted according to project progress."
"So the progress of that Edge Academy project is impressive?" Zheng Qing summarized.
Zhang Yu neither confirmed nor denied, simply handing the young man a yellow talisman.
It was an invisibility talisman.
"For safety’s sake."
The leader was succinct, gesturing for Zheng Qing to pair it with the yellow talisman: "It’s to minimize the risk of leaking project details as much as possible... I can’t become invisible, so just follow behind me later."
Zheng Qing glanced at the sky, fully agreeing.
It was a few minutes before six, and though it was already summer, the sky was still bright at this hour. Combined with the approaching weekend, the campus was bustling with people. So, on their walk, both maintained silence.
It wasn’t until they had followed a corridor that resembled tree roots winding through the First University for a long time, reaching a desolate area, that Zheng Qing gathered the courage to speak again.
"I remember you mentioning there were six other candidates who passed the test?" he said, watching in wide-eyed amazement as a small pavilion they had just passed slowly sank into the ground, the spot it occupied transforming back into an ordinary corridor, causing him to mentally sigh and abandon any attempt to map the route.
"We only know that a total of seven candidates passed the selection; as for the identity of the others, we know nothing." Perhaps because Zheng Qing had the ’assistant group’ title, Zhang Yu was eager for their own to be chosen, so he spoke more plainly: "—But I heard your competitors include not only wizards with special talents, senior registered wizards, quasi-big wizards, but even true big wizards."
Zheng Qing’s face scrunched up in dismay.
"Am I the weakest one in the bunch?" His confidence was instantly dashed.
"You’re the youngest one."
The leader skillfully altered the concept to boost his subordinate’s morale at the right moment: "Actually, in projects like this, strength is the least important factor... If strength alone could secure selection, why bother with resonance testing? In magical experiments, ’opportunity’ and ’luck’ often outweigh other factors."
Zheng Qing wasn’t sure if this encouragement was effective.
But as he followed behind the bald dark-skinned wizard Alex, re-entering that ’resonance room,’ his heart was indeed much calmer than he’d expected.
"Is it the same as last time?" he asked with familiarity, settling onto the stone platform in the center of the room.
Alex gave him a curious look.
"Of course not."
The dark-skinned wizard shook his head, tapping a few times on the notepad in his arms. Several thick, root-like entities, seemingly resembling aerial roots, slowly descended from the ceiling, each ’root’ tip equipped with a flower-like suction cup.
He picked up one ’root,’ pressing the suction cup against the back of Zheng Qing’s head.
Accompanied by a slight prickling sensation, a cool chill spread through the young man’s body, causing him to shiver involuntarily several times.
Zheng Qing sat on the stone platform, feeling a bit uneasy as he twisted his body and reached up to touch the ’tail’ at the back of his head.
Seeing this, Alex promptly admonished: "Don’t struggle, don’t resist... Recall the feeling during your last resonance test, slowly accepting this peculiar magic power, letting your awareness follow it and flow gently... just like a waltz... Are you sure you don’t want to take off that little green snake on your ear?"