CH 3

“What?” Feng Ping Lan was startled, unclear on the situation, “What wards?”

“We can’t get past the gates.”

“I see!” Feng Ping Lan was astonished, tilting his head to think for a bit, “Then what about the back door?”

“The same.”

“The side door?”

“It’s all the same!” Conglong said impatiently, “The ones who set the wards want to keep us in. Do you think they’d be stupid enough to forget locking all the exits!”

“I see…” Feng Ping Lan’s expression turned solemn as he thought deeply, “Then, do we climb over the walls? I’ve always wanted to try climbing over the walls to get out of school! Hehehe…”

Conglong glared at Feng Ping Lan murderously.

“The entire school is set under the wards.” Dongya spoke, “There’s an invisible protective screen surrounding the school that can trap people within it.”

“Who set the wards? Enemies?” Feng Ping Lan finally started to feel a little anxious, “Where’s Quetzal?”

“It’s not the Third Prince. If he wanted to harm us, he wouldn’t use this method to trap us, he’d just do it directly in secret.” Byriel said, “As for Quetzal, we haven’t heard from him. He could possibly be outside the barrier and not trapped in here.”

But there was a greater possibility that he had been trapped inside too, and had met with trouble just like them…

Byriel didn’t say that out loud. At this moment and time, the thing they didn’t need the most was panic.

“If Quetzal isn’t in school, he could be at home.” Feng Ping Lan sat on his bike, “I’ll go find him, I’ll come back soon! Wait for me, everyone! Don’t worry!” With that, he peddled with all his might and rushed speedily towards the entrance.

Slam!

The moment the bicycle sped towards the entrance gates, the entire bike overturned violently to the back, as if it had crashed into a wall.

Feng Ping Lan’s entire body flew backwards, but luckily Dongya caught him in time, or else he would definitely get injured.

“Eh, did I run over something? Is it an animal’s dead body? Or did I cause it to turn into a dead body?!” Feng Ping Lan looked at the ground where he had run over earlier, and seeing that the road was smooth he released a sigh of relief, turning to smile at Dongya, “Oh, thanks.”

“You’re welcome.” Dongya placed Feng Ping Lan down gently, “It looks like you’re trapped in too.”

“What?” Feng Ping Lan was startled, running towards the gates and reaching out a hand to feel out. He really felt an invisible wall, as if the air had congealed.

Feng Ping Lan tapped the invisible wall excitedly, plastering himself against the wall and moved to the left, then moving right, and then pressing his face on the wall.

“Wow this is amazing!” Feng Ping Lan laughed joyfully, then putting his forehead on the invisible wall, his body slanting straight, “Ahahaha! Look look, I’m Michael Jackson! I can do a 45 degrees!”

“Enough! You’re annoying!” Morris bellowed, “Do you really need to show off!”

“Doesn’t it hurt?” Conglong was confused. There was an expelling spell on the boundary, and a scorching electricity would surge up if they touched it.

“Hurt? No— aiyo!” Feng Ping Lan slipped and fell to the floor then sitting up haggardly, “It hurts now, hahahaha!”

“This barrier’s more lenient towards humans. It just separates and doesn’t expel.” Byriel speculated.

“Is this a Summoner’s spell?” Conglong was astonished, “There are Summoners here? Why are they keeping us in?”

“Who knows…”

“Um…” Simo said quietly, and everybody’s gazes turned towards her, “…The other students haven’t been noticing us for a while now…”

With Simo pointing it out, the group of people only realized that they had been making a fuss for a long while now, but even Feng Ping Lan’s stupidity hadn’t attracted anybody’s attention.

As if the six of them did not exist.

The students traveled in groups, walking out the gates while talking and jesting. They stood not too far from the school gates, staring at them as the crowds gradually left.

At last, it was only their six figures left standing loftily at the entrance.

“Damn it!” Morris was the first to lose his patience, raising a red flaming beastly claw to give the barrier an explosive attack.

The clash between the wards and the attack caused a shockwave, letting out a thunderous sound.

Feng Ping Lan couldn’t help but cover his ears.

“Fuck it! What are you hiding for!” Morris flung another attack at it, “I’ll rip you to pieces!”

However, even after making such a huge sound, nobody showed up.

“Maybe they got the wrong person?” Feng Ping Lan spoke quietly, “Maybe it’s just a misunderstanding? For example, there’s really a Summoner here, but their target is not us, they’re just practicing on how to create wards, so they accidentally trapped us in.”

“Someone who can create wards to such an extent couldn’t possibly be a newbie.”

“Then maybe it’s an old Summoner that found an uncommon rhinoceros beetle, and was afraid of it flying away and so put the entire school under the wards—”

“Can you be any more naive!”

A piece of paper suddenly appeared out of thin air, floating slowly towards where the six of them were.

However, there wasn’t any wind in the vicinity.

The six of them stared at the piece of paper that had been dyed an amorous orange by the illumination of the evening sunset.

Feng Ping Lan reached out to accept the piece of paper, looking at it, “It’s a notice letter.”

The other five came close to take a look.

High school division, general studies Year 1 Class 2 Feng Ping Lan, Conglong, Simo, Morris, Dongya, Byriel, please come to the Third Conference Room, School Affairs department.

They fell into deep silence.

“…Is it just a coincidence?” Dongya spoke, “Was this all done by the people of the school?”

“How can it be! This is a human school, what is the use of Summoners staying in a school?” Morris scoffed, objecting.

As if replying to Morris’ words, blue flames appeared with a bang on the piece of paper in Feng Ping Lan’s hands.

“Ah!” Feng Ping Lan dropped the paper in shock.

The flames retreated quickly, with an addition of eleven big red words: Hurry up and get your asses to the third conference room!

“Looks like it’s a do or die, we’ll know the answer once we go there.” Byriel picked up the piece of paper, smelling it lightly. The slight scent of Chinese medicine entered his nose. He knitted his eyebrows, “Hehehe… Interesting.”

*

The demons summoned their weapons, moving to the third conference room on the third floor of the administrative building, keeping their guard up the entire way there.

The conference room was just like any other office, a plaque indicating the ‘Third Conference Room’ hung on a white door, as normal as it could be.

The six people glared at the door with rapt attention as they held their breath. They exchanged glances.

“I’ll do it!” Feng Ping Lan raised his hand excitedly, “The school’s wards are more lenient towards humans, so it’s shouldn’t affect me too much even if there’s a spell on the door!”

Dongya stopped him, “Wait, we can’t lump different matters together. If that spell is really harmful, a human couldn’t possibly stand it.”

“Let him open it if he wants to, just heal him if he becomes disabled.” Conglong snapped.

“Hey! You’re so mean! How can you be like this, Xiao Cong-Cong!”

“Don’t call me that!”

“How about… from the window…” Simo suggested quietly.

Bang! A large noise.

They turned to see Morris’ leg lifted in mid-air, the shut door collapsing onto the ground.

Morris put his leg down, “It’s confirmed, there aren’t any spells on that door.”

“Luckily there weren’t any, or you would be missing a leg by now.” Byriel sighed lightly, “To be honest, I kinda wanted to see it…”

“Shut up if you have nothing to back it up, you smelly worm!”

The six of them stepped into the room.

There was a long wooden table placed in a rectangular formation in the conference room. Standing at the furthermost end of it, was an arrogant figure.

“Quetzal!” Feng Ping Lan immediately rushed forward, inspecting him from head to toe, “Are you alright? You’re alright aren’t you? That’s great!”

Quetzal frowned while stepping back, avoiding Feng Ping Lan’s inspection.

“Why are you here?” Dongya asked.

“The same as you.” Quetzal glanced towards the gates, “Seeking answers.”

“Damn it! Why is the door broken? Cough cough…”

A familiar hoarse voice rang out, and the crowd turned to see Yin Su Shuang with a thermos that never seemed to leave his side, cursing while looking at the door that had collapsed to the floor.

“Class Advisor?”

“All here? All of you really weren’t on time, you’ll get your points deducted the next time you do this, you know.” Following behind Yin Su Shuang was the beautiful Gemi.

Not just Gemi, there was a male who wore shabby attire with a whole head of disheveled hair, as well as a refined man who had neatly-combed hair, wearing a full Western-style suit and a pair of golden-rimmed glasses. The four of them entered the room in succession.

Although Feng Ping Lan did not know who the two of them were, he had seen all of them in the teachers’ lounge before.

The four latecomers walked towards the seats at the front of the conference room, sitting down.

“Uh, um, what is this about? Did you ask us to come here, Class Advisor?” Feng Ping Lan was confused.

“Let’s not waste time.” Yin Su Shuang twisted off the cap of his thermos, drinking a mouthful of that warm medicinal tea, “Sit down.”

Gemi hummed a little something, holding a remote control and pressing a button, then turning on a computer.

The decadent man opened the window to smoke.

“I don’t know what you guys want.” Morris snapped his fingers, and a spell of an attack whirled in the palm of his hand, “I dislike complicated things, and I also dislike people ordering me around.”

“Don’t act recklessly.” Quetzal warned, “Attacks are useless towards them in here.”

“The wards will oppress any spells that overstep the danger levels.” Gemi said while looking at the screen, “And you gave me your signatures in the morning, so I can seal off your powers for ten hours.”

“What? Signatures?”

They recalled this morning, where Gemi had wanted every student to sign their name before leaving the art room, and that all five demons as well as Feng Ping Lan had signed it.

“Too despicable!” Morris bellowed.

“Thy speech is lacking. Infiltrating not with p’rmission, gratuitously using the school resources, thou art eke of a despicable class.” The refined male pushed his glasses up, “Eke, wh’re is the logic behind bestowing teachest’rs upon students if ‘t be true thee payeth not the tuition fees?”

“What’s this guy talking about?” Morris frowned.

“He’s saying that you’re not paying the school fees.” Yin Su Shuang coughed, “Yerde, please restrain your horrendous mixed-up jargon.”

“I cannot doth as thee wisheth.”

“Ah? School fees?” The demons froze.

“How much do we owe them?” Dongya asked in a low voice.

Feng Ping Lan leaned in and whispered the amount quietly.

Dongya knitted his eyebrows, “Oh, that’s about the same amount of money for seven six-hundred-liter six-door refrigerators…”

“So… You came to ask us for the tuition fees, Class Advisor?” Feng Ping Lan asked carefully.

The Western-clothed man knitted his eyebrows, “Yin-lǎoshī1, I didst not knoweth thee did teach the handicapp’d.”

Yin Su Shuang forced a smile, “He’s more troublesome than you would think, Yerde…”

“Alright!” Gemi clapped her hands, “Let’s start!”

The projector behind her shot out an image of Zephaniah Academy’s insignia, the words ‘A Brief Summary of Zephaniah International Academy’ appearing at the center.

“Zephaniah Academy has a complete education system, with the high school division, primary division and elementary division included. Our graduation certificates are acknowledged all around the world, and it is incredibly advantageous to pursue one’s studies no matter it is in the country or overseas.” Gemi smiled, then her tone changed, “That’s what it’s said on the surface.”

The image suddenly darkened. The color of the insignia dimmed, turning into a dark red square-shaped emblem.

The six demons’ expressions turned cold.

“What is that?” Feng Ping Lan was curious.

“The Summoners’ mark.”

“Oh really… what?!”

“Can you be any slower, idiot…”

“It’s a normal school at daytime, but when night comes, this is one of the Association ‘Pascal’’s Summoner grooming centers, the second branch of schools in Eastern Asia. Generally called East Two Shadow Academy.” Gemi pressed the button for the next slide, “These are the correlated legislations and regulations. Skip. Any questions?”

The demons were speechless, unable to swallow the information in.

“Um, are all the students here Summoners?” Feng Ping Lan asked.

“No, Summoners only make up a third, normal students make up another third, and the rest are in the know or demons. The staff too.” Gemi smiled, “Can you guess which are demons, which are human?”

“A dram remindeth’r, besides thee sirs, the oth’r students payeth their fees most carefully upon the hour.” Yerde reminded.

“Thinking carefully about it, you should have been able to notice the signs.” Gemi continued, “This area is unstable, and space cracks would constantly appear around here. The Association would definitely find a way to do something about it. They chose to build a school here, so they could suppress it.”

“Why did you only appear now?” Quetzal asked chillingly.

“What do you mean, School Doctor?”

“The residence getting sealed, the seal getting broken, us making a contract, me kidnapping a student, battling with Ci Mu, and infiltrating the school.” Byriel said in succession, “When did you notice us? Why didn’t you guys interfere when you found out about us? Why are you only willing to appear now, what are your intentions?”

“This wast the directeth’r’s decree, and th’re is a purpose f’r deciding this. ‘Tis unsuitable to bewray ‘t to thee sirs.” Yerde replied coldly.

“You probably don’t know either, hehehe…”

Yerde pushed his glasses up, his expression slightly annoyed, but did not refute it.

“Anyways, the school has observed you guys for quite some time now. Based on our evaluation, you are harmless to the human world and have made a contract with a human. So theoretically you shouldn’t worry about the Association sending Demon Slayers after you guys.” Gemi smiled.

“Did you call us here just to tell us this?” Morris knitted his eyebrows.

“Of course it’s not just that.” Yin Su Shuang glanced at Feng Ping Lan, “The problem’s on you.”

“Me?” Feng Ping Lan was astonished.

“You are a human, yet you have contracted with six S-class demons. This is an occurrence that is almost unheard of. A normal Summoner usually has one demon, and S-class demons can only be controlled by more than two Summoners. Although Summoners that are not of age do not need to join the Association, your existence is already enough to threaten the Association. If this is reported to the higher-ups, some members within the Association might include you into the ‘Opposer’ list, and send someone to eliminate you.”

Opposers, were free Summoners that did not belong to the Association.

All Summoners had to join the Association, and be regulated by them. To the Association, any Summoner that did not comply with their rules would the root of the chaos in the world.

“Uh, so do I need to join the Association?” Feng Ping Lan foolishly asked.

“I will not swear loyalty towards others,” Quetzal said in a low voice.

“There’s no way I’m letting humans order me around!” Morris roared.

Seno who was staring into blank space beside the window held the cigarette in his mouth as he asked, “Are we going to start fighting now?”

“Not yet.” Yerde pushed his glasses, “Diplomacy bef’re violence, we needeth not maketh haste to wield our weapons.”

“Calm down everyone.” Gemi soothed smilingly, “If you become impetuous, we’ll be troubled too.”

“Also, they’re just lackeys who only listen to orders. There’s no meaning in taking out our anger on them, hehehe…”

Yin Su Shuang glared at Byriel, then continued to speak, “The Director has decided to give you guys a chance. If you can fit into the Shadow Academy’s classes and pass the test, he will clear you to become just like the other upcoming Summoners, and receive the training given by the school.”

“What do we gain from this?” Byriel asked.

“You will be considered one of the school’s students and can be accepted to have the officials’ stamp of approval. The school has the right of supervising the students, so…” Yin Su Shuang stared at Feng Ping Lan, “Before he is of age, we don’t need to report his existence to the Association.”

“If you don’t report, it doesn’t mean anyone else will. With these many people within the school, how will you keep their mouths shut?” Byriel pointed out the loophole in this.

“Summoners treasure secrecy, because after they graduate, everyone will serve different masters, different organizations. These agencies are competing against each other, so out of courtesy, Summoners will not ask of others’ past and where they came from. Only the Association cadre will have the profiles of the Summoners’ families, give their consent, and report the name list to the central branch. The school has a completely neutral stance, and to make sure that young Summoners fully abide by the rules, they are restricted by spells and forbidden to inform outsiders of everything that happens in this school.”

“If ‘t be true allegiance beest given to the school, the school shall protecteth the students to the fullest. Thus, the enemies of thee sirs art eke this school’s enemies, and thee shall taketh the protection from this supreme asylum.” Yerde paused for a while, “Of course, thee shall still needeth to payeth the tuition fees.”

“So just paying money is fine? We’ll have nothing to do with each other after that?” Conglong said.

“Of course not.” Gemi smiled, “All of you will have to be just like the other Summoners and their Contracts and follow the school’s rules, including attending the Shadow Academy’s classes and training, sometimes accepting missions. These are the terms.”

The demons sunk into silence and deep thought.

The Third Prince’s soldiers could realize their existence in a matter of time. If they provoked the Summoners too, they would be attacked on both sides. It would be extremely disadvantageous for them. If they could avoid Demon Slayers, as well as receive the Summoners’ assistance, they could actually defeat the Third Prince’s people instead…

But, was this okay?

It sounded like… an idea that wasn’t too bad, but there was something just wrong about it.

Relying on the school built by the Association – was this counted as betraying the Prince? Was it counted as… betraying their identity as demons?

The five demons glanced at Quetzal without realizing it.

Quetzal was the same as usual, haughty, impressive, and unafraid. He was silent for a moment, then spoke.

“The only one I swear fealty to, is my prince. Our reason for appearing in the human world is to find our master, we will leave once we achieve our objective.” He looked at Feng Ping Lan, “He is our temporary host.”

Feng Ping Lan laughed foolishly twice, but his heart withdrew a little.

“However, although he is a temporary host, we cannot inconvenience him.” Quetzal breathed in deeply, “We are willing to cooperate.”

“Quetzal—” Feng Ping Lan was so happy his eyes turned downwards, standing up to try jumping at Quetzal for a hug.

“This is just temporary.” Quetzal saw through Feng Ping Lan’s intentions, moving to the side, at the same time warning, “The moment we find him, we will leave.”

“Doesn’t matter. The Association will only care about demons in the human world. If you want to return to the demon world, the Association will raise both hands and legs to send you off willingly.” Yin Su Shuang said impatiently.

Yerde stood up, placing a prepared pile of documents in front of Feng Ping Lan and the others. “These art the particulars to enroll in the school, and the school rules. Th’re art privacy spells yond only the school’s students can read.”

“But I can’t understand the words on them?” Feng Ping Lan flipped through the pages. There were only disordered and meaningless words on them.

“That is because you have not yet ‘logged in’.” Yin Su Shuang stood up, taking out six copper bangles.

“What are you trying to do?”

“This is the Shadow Academy’s imprint, a tool to identify yourselves.”

“Do we have to wear it?” Conglong said disgustedly, “It looks really ugly.”

“Doesn’t matter whether it’s ugly or not.” Yin Su Shuang spoke impatiently, “There are seals on them. They’ll enter the flesh once it’s worn, and it can’t be seen from the outer appearance, but the effects of the spell will still exist.”

Feng Ping Lan and the demons accepted the bangles one by one.

“To be honest, I’m not sure whether to trust you guys, hehehe…” Byriel glanced at the seal bangles, saying smilingly.

“The feeling’s mutual.” Gemi smiled in reply, “We don’t trust you guys. But the circumstances are that – you guys have no choice.”

Byriel shrugged his shoulders, “Indeed.” He gripped the bangle, about to put it on, paused for a moment, then spoke carelessly, “For four Summoners to put up such a huge boundary, you guys aren’t easy at all.”

“It’s not just us, of course. You don’t need to beat around the bush, our numbers are larger than you think.” Gemi smiled to reply, “So, don’t try anything.”

“Man, I thought it’d be over by just beating the four of you. Humans really like to crowd into groups, how hateful…” Byriel sighed, putting the bangle on.

The moment the bangle was worn, a golden light flashed, then contracted to the inside to fade into the wrist. After the light disappeared, a number 3 appeared on the back of the hand, then vanished.

“Wow! Just too mystical! I wonder if this’ll get discovered if we go through the customs, hahahaha!” Feng Ping Lan inspected his wrist carefully, clicking his tongue in wonder. If he scrutinized it even closer, he could see a thin brown circle finer than a hair on his wrist. “Oh right, what did that number 3 mean?”

“Your IQ level, most likely,” Conglong spoke.

Gemi lifted the corners of her mouth, “You’ll know later.”

“Classes start at six. Two classes from day school will combine into one class. You will be combined with the students from Class 1 into Shadow 1A, in the same seating arrangements.” Yin Su Shuang spoke, “The basic class rules are similar to the ones in the day, do not be late, do not skip class.”

“Troublesome…”

“Congrats on joining the Shadow Academy,” Gemi clapped her hands, “Welcome.”

*

After Feng Ping Lan’s group left the conference room and left for the school building, they were as silent as a funeral procession. The abrupt information had caught them off guard, and many of their questions were still left unanswered, momentarily lost on what to do, what to say.

“Who knew the school had night classes.” Feng Ping Lan spoke first, “Attending two courses at the same time, I wonder if we’ll have to pay two separate fees for it, hahaha.”

“Didn’t you already know about the situation here?” Conglong said.

“Of course I didn’t know! Ah, since this is a Summoner’s school, aren’t we going to see other demons? I wonder which of them are Summoners, could Li Rui be one of them?”

“I’m very sure that Bai Li Rui is just a normal student. Or he wouldn’t be so easily caught by my spell and captured to become a hostage, hehehe.” Byriel casually mentioned his wrongdoings, as if he was narrating an entertaining anecdote.

“I guess so.” Feng Ping Lan was a bit regretful, “What a shame, I was hoping to take care of each other.”

“You should thank the fact that he isn’t, or that guy will use spells and his demon to cause an incident of terrifying girls on their way home.”

“Demons belonging to humans are usually some third-rate ones. For demons of our caliber to make a contract with a human is an exception.” Morris said full of zest, “We might make those small fry wet their pants in fright when we get there.”

“Aiyaya, they’ll probably wet their pants for mistaking you for a urination dumpster.” Byriel smiled lightly.

“I’ll shove you into a urination dumpster if you don’t shut up! Smelly worm!”

Conglong looked at Feng Ping Lan, questioning on his own, “You’re not a local here, so why did you come here to study? You accidentally broke the seal, and now you’ve brought us to a Summoner’s school. Don’t you think that’s a bit too coincidental?”

It was too coincidental, that he couldn’t help but suspect that this was a meticulously planned trap, in order to trick them into walking down the same plight as before.

Come to think about it, Feng Ping Lan’s reaction to their identity had been incredibly unnatural. There was no way a normal human would act like this…

Dread faintly gave rise to his heart, and he worried that his guess had been correct.

Dongya and Simo looked at Conglong, detecting something odd about his behavior. However, Feng Ping Lan had not yet heard the suspicion and threat present in Conglong’s words.

“Do you know how hard it is to enter Zephaniah? The enrollment rate here is seriously low! I just wanted to leave my hometown to try out a new life at first, but since I got in, I came here.” Feng Ping Lan gave a deep dimpled smile, “I’m so lucky that I came! It’s because I came, that I could meet you guys, and have a chance to find out an unknown part of the world, as well as experience all these challenges with you guys! It’s just— too great! Hahahahaha!”

That whole sequence of ear-grating laughs dissolved Conglong’s suspicions and uneasiness, without a trace to be left behind.

Conglong humphed, “Don’t get too arrogant! You bastard, don’t hold us back when the time comes!”

The group of people reached the classroom that they usually sat in.

The school building was a pitch black, and only the emergency exit and emergency light in the hallway shone dimly. Every classroom was empty.

“Class Advisor said that it was in our usual classroom.”

“I don’t think this looks like class in session.”

Feng Ping Lan pulled the windows open, stretching his head in to look around for a moment, “Has class ended? The Shadow Academy’s classes are quite relaxed! They can go home so quickly! Hahahahaha!”

“Um…” Simo raised her hand, pointing at the other end of the hallway, “There’s a sound coming from there, like people talking. It sounds very near yet very far…”

They all exchanged glances, walking guardedly towards that end.

In the corner near the staircase, a huge mirror leaned against the wall, reflecting their seven figures.

Simo bent her ear to listen, “The voices are coming from the mirror…”

Quetzal reached out a hand to touch the surface.

“…There are spells on the surface, very complicated space-time wards.”

“Is it?” Feng Ping Lan looked the mirror over carefully for a while, “I wonder if the people in it can see me?”

He put both hands on his face, pulling his cheeks down, then pressing his entire face on the mirror’s surface. “I am the Kraken! Look at my twisted face! Hahahaha!”

“Enough…”

Feng Ping Lan’s body inclined forwards, planning on leaning on the surface. But as his body touched the surface, the brown circle on his wrist flashed a golden light at that exact moment. His entire person fell into thin air, dropping into the mirror.

“Ahh!” A screech was heard from the other end of the mirror.

The demons saw this, reaching out a hand to touch the surface. They realized that they could go through it, jumping through it in succession.

The seven figures vanished near the staircase, leaving the school building to return to tranquility.

*

The moment they stepped over through the mirror, bright and noisy human noises welcomed them.

“So this is the Shadow Academy.” Byriel knitted his eyebrows, tsking in wonderment, “To be able to create such spacious wards on a mirror, the Summoners here aren’t good to provoke…”

“Where’s Feng Ping Lan?” Conglong glanced left and right.

“Under you!”

Conglong lowered his head, realizing that he was stepping on Feng Ping Lan and immediately lifted his foot.

Feng Ping Lan crawled up from the floor. The fall earlier had been so painful that he was unable to stand up immediately, which was the reason why he had become someone’s footstool. He patted the dust off his body, gazing at the sight he had never seen before in this school.

“Wow! So cool!”

The lights by the walkway were brightly lit, students walking past, and the classrooms also shone brightly with students chatting in them. Excluding the fact that the background was the black night, everything else was similar to the scenery of the school at daytime.

The only thing different, was that other than the students who wore the school uniforms, there was an addition of differently-dressed people walking around. Looking from their appearances, some of them were already of age, and although some of them looked like students, most of them had inhuman features on them.

Pointy ears, colorful scales, wings… The excessively distinct features exposed their actual identities.

—Demons, semi-transformed demons.

The group of people moved towards their classroom, and Feng Ping Lan stared at the passing demons as he walked, sighs of praise coming out of his mouth in succession.

“Shocked to see these many gorgeous demons?” Byriel smiled, ridiculing, “Want to exchange us for a more beautiful and obedient demon?”

“You’re not even mine, how could I exchange you guys.” Feng Ping Lan replied as if it was obvious, then lowered his voice to say secretively, “And I feel that you guys are the most handsome, you’ll easily beat them all. Hehehe…”

Byriel knitted his eyebrows, just smiling faintly. He did not say anything.

There weren’t many differences between the size of the school buildings inside or outside the mirror, as if it was a reflection of the school itself. Just some of the classrooms had been opened up to create a larger space, and some had been turned into smaller rooms.

Arriving at their classroom, the plaque on it said ‘Shadow 1A’.

Feng Ping Lan pulled the door open, and everyone in the classroom quieted. Everyone turned their gazes onto Feng Ping Lan and the others.

There were about twenty or so people in the classroom, and Feng Ping Lan could recognize some people who were from the class next door. Of course, there were also some familiar faces from daytime, including Su Li Wan, the twins, Zong Yu, the class rep. Other than the students, there were also demons in the classroom. He wondered whose demons they were.

“Hi! Good evening, I’m Feng Ping Lan.” Feng Ping Lan smiled, introducing himself, “I’ll be starting at the Shadow Academy from now on, so please take care of me, hahaha!”

Nobody answered, and only Su Li Wan waved with a smile to greet them.

Feng Ping Lan and the others walked to the empty seats in the classroom.

“That’s the Summoner who possesses six demons…”

“I heard he was originally a normal human, but suddenly awakened and used a large amount of power to make the demons obey…”

Whispers rang out.

“They all seem to have some kind of misunderstanding about me…” Feng Ping Lan grabbed his head.

“Don’t mind it, you don’t need to clear it up.” Byriel smiled at said with a low voice, “The more they don’t know about you, the more they will treat you with reverence.”

“But I don’t need to be revered?”

Byriel smiled faintly, “If we weren’t standing on the same side, I would happily appreciate the way your naivety will be crushed by reality, bit by bit. Hehehe…”

Feng Ping Lan’s group sat in their places, which was close to where Su Li Wan sat.

The mirror that Su Li Wan was always looking at was currently shut close.

“Good evening.” Su Li Wan smiled.

“Good morning. So you were a Summoner.” Feng Ping Lan smiled at Su Li Wan and looked around her, “Where is your… contracted partner?”

“You mean my Contract? Very few people call Contracts that.”

“You should probably keep quiet,” Conglong spoke in a low voice to remind him.

Su Li Wan smiled lightly, turning around to call out to a man with a black Chinese robe at another corner of the room, “Zhong Xian.”

The male with a long braid turned, his slender eyes casting an apathetic gaze at Su Li Wan, “What is it?”

“Just a greeting.” Su Li Wan smiled faintly, “This is the new student, Feng Ping Lan and his Contracts.”

Zhong Xian’s gaze swept across Feng Ping Lan and the six demons for a moment, “Stray dogs will always crowd together for warmth.” With that, he turned his head haughtily.

Morris glared at Zhong Xian’s back, clenching his teeth and muttering, “My fist is urging me to smash that smug face in…”

“Me too.” Conglong agreed, “I want to light his braid on fire….”

“Is that your Contract? He looks really cool hahaha!” Feng Ping Lan hurriedly cut in. “Why doesn’t he come over and sit with us?”

Su Li Wan forced a smile, “Zhong Xian was passed down by my father. He doesn’t acknowledge me as his master, so he doesn’t want to get near me.”

“I see…”

Feng Ping Lan wasn’t really clear on the relationships between Summoners and demons. He had thought that gaining a contract with a demon meant that they had obtained their approval and had a consensus, but it seemed like it wasn’t like that at all.

So demons could be passed down. It felt like they were treating them as possessions…

“Do you guys have anyone you know here?” Feng Ping Lan changed the subject.

“The time that passes between the human world and the underworld is different. Sometimes a year passes when ten years pass in the underworld; sometimes there is more than a ten-year difference between both worlds. As a whole, the time that passes in the human is quicker than in the underworld. All these people should be the demons of the newbies in these past few years, so it’s very possible that they had already arrived to the human world for a long while now. They could have missed the time period that we were born in.” Dongya explained.

“I see!” Feng Ping Lan turned towards Su Li Wan, “Oh right, how are classes conducted here? Is there appointed homework? Are there exams? Do we need to retake the year if we get held back?”

“The classes that Shadow Academy has a theoretical and practical part, with martial arts, spell-casting, magic ability, and knowledge as the four main subjects. If you cannot make it to the school’s requirements, you don’t need to retake, you’ll be—”

“Immediately expelled.”

Su Li Wan was cut off, and a bossy figure appeared before Feng Ping Lan in an instant.

Feng Ping Lan raised his head, recognizing him as the person he had met this morning in Bai Li Rui’s room.

“Hi. Hello!” He waved his hand happily, “I didn’t know you were a Summoner too, what a coincidence.”

“Who’s this guy?” Morris looked at Kaido, immediately disliking him.

“Li Rui’s new roommate.”

“I heard that you were a Summoner who possesses six demons?” Kaido humphed in contempt, “You don’t look like it.”

“Kaido, don’t be like this…” Su Li Wan urged gently.

“Weaklings that can’t even control their Contract keep quiet.” Kaido glared at Su Li Wan in disdain, then scrutinized the six demons beside Feng Ping Lan, pondering as if he was a customer who was weighing the price of a good, “Not bad, but their demonic aura is pretty mediocre.”

“It is possibly because they are limited by the enchanted bangle.” The Tan Hua standing beside Kaido said respectfully.

Her gaze swept across the six demons with Feng Ping Lan indifferently, stopping on Dongya for a second, then lowered her eyes to listen to her master’s orders.

“You are not fit to own such good tools.” Kaido smiled at Quetzal and the others.

“Huh? Sorry, are you talking to me right now?” Feng Ping Lan blinked. “You misunderstand. Firstly, I do not ‘own’ anybody, they belong to themselves; secondly, they are not tools, they are my companions.”

Feng Ping Lan stared at Kaido’s face, unblinkingly.

“…Has anybody told you before that your eyebrows are really beautiful? This is my first time seeing such fine and perfect eyebrows! Do you pluck them? Hahahahaha!”

Kaido’s expression chilled, and he grasped violently at Feng Ping Lan’s throat.

A sword shot out by Feng Ping Lan’s neck, pressing up against the collar, stabbing towards Kaido’s hand.

Kaido hurriedly put his hand away, but the tip of the sword grazed his finger, and a drop of blood dripped onto Feng Ping Lan’s table. He didn’t make a sound, glaring at Quetzal standing behind Feng Ping Lan.

Quetzal stuck his sword back into his shadows, gazing apathetically out the window, not even looking at Kaido and the others.

Kaido glared at Feng Ping Lan, speaking fiercely, “I will remember th—”

His threatening words were cut off by a joyful cry.

“Goodness! Quetzal are you protecting me? Uuu! I’m so touched! I’m going to circle this date on the calendar and make this our anniversary!” Feng Ping Lan was emotionally stirred up, glomping at Quetzal.

Quetzal avoided Feng Ping Lan’s sudden attack nimbly, warning in disgust, “Get away from me…”

Kaido stood in his place, looking at Feng Ping Lan who was running around harassing Quetzal, embarrassed and angry.

“You’re being ignored.” Byriel propped up his head, smiling at Kaido, “Acting fierce but getting ignored, must be pretty embarrassing for you, hehehe…”

Kaido glared at Byriel, lifting up a violent smile, “He won’t be getting arrogant soon.”

“Tell that to yourself.” Byriel smiled, and the bell rang, “Time for class, see ya.”

Feng Ping Lan only returned to his seat after Quetzal had entered his shadows, “Mm? Where’s Kaido? Where did he go?”

All five demons rolled their eyes.

“Are you alright?” Su Li Wan asked Feng Ping Lan concernedly, “Kaido is a troublesome guy, and he’s set his sights on you. You’d better distance yourself from him.”

“Really? Although he speaks weirdly, Li Rui speaks weirdly too, it’s probably nothing!”

“If Bai Li Rui is hated by all females, that guy is probably hated by all of humanity.” Morris humphed coldly in disdain.

Su Li Wan sighed lightly, “It’s going to be combat class next, he’s probably going to take advantage of that to cause trouble. You better be careful.”

“He’s hasn’t actually become a Summoner yet, he probably doesn’t have much ability either.”

“I don’t think so.” Dongya looked at Tan Hua’s back, lowering his voice to say, “That is ‘Iron-Blooded Flower’ Tan Hua, she used to be the Second Prince’s trusted general. That child is not a normal person to be able to make Tan Hua obey.”

“Why have I never heard of such a person?”

“Because she vanished not long after the fight for the throne between the princes commenced. I didn’t think it was because she was summoned to the human world…”

“How does Dongya know her?” Feng Ping Lan laughed stupidly, “Is she your ex-girlfriend?”

“We just met once, we’re not counted as acquainted.”

Not long after the bell rang, a smell of medicine wafted in followed by a pale figure, stepping into the room.

Ying Su Shuang stepped onto the teacher’s podium, gaze sweeping around the room irritably.

“I’ve already talked about the rules. When the time comes for the combat session, I don’t want anybody breaking the rules.” With that said, he glared at Kaido. “Time for class.”

“Teacher!” Ivan raised his hand, saying innocently, “Doesn’t the new student need to introduce himself?” His rounded gray eyes swirled with an intent to watch something amusing play out.

“You’re classmates, no need to introduce yourselves, don’t be meddlesome!” Yin Su Shuang rejected him.

“Ah? But I want to introduce myself!” Feng Ping Lan said with anticipation, “Because I don’t know half the people here, it’s hard to become friends with them!”

Yin Su Shuang breathed in deeply, and the students below were worried that he’d explode.

“I give you thirty seconds.”

“Thanks, Class Advisor!” Feng Ping Lan smiled, standing up, “I’m Feng Ping Lan, a student in Year 1 Class 2 in the day, counted as a newbie Summoner and I have a lot of things I don’t know about, so please take care of me! My FB username is my own name, the one with a crab profile picture! My LINE username is SLFPL, I don’t know if anyone’s realized it yet, but it means ‘So Love Feng Ping Lan’, not ‘So Long Feng Ping Lan’! Hahahahaha! Also my interest is picnicking, I love the group AKB48 the most, my favorite food is cra—”

“Enough, sit down.”

“Time isn’t up yet, is it? There should be ten seconds left.”

“It’s up now. Shut up, sit down, right now!”

Feng Ping Lan obediently sat down, at the same time waving at the people on both sides of him.

“Are you scared people won’t know you’re an idiot?” Conglong tsked disapprovingly.

“Aiya, we’re the newcomers, so I want to introduce myself as amiably and enthusiastic as possible. Earning good karma will help us all.”

“I think that self-introduction of yours will garner you more enemies instead.”

Yin Su Shuang wrote something down on the blackboard, then turning around to speak.

“Magical prowess, is demonic power that we gain from our Contracts, and what we put to use. The demonic power that we extract can be used on powerful spells, and, how we can use to attack demons. The amount of demonic power that we extract will decide a Summoner’s strength…”

Feng Ping Lan propped his head up, listening eagerly. Yin Su Shuang’s lesson was talking about the basics, and besides some terms that he didn’t understand, the other stuff was like listening to a story, and he could understand the most of the story’s worldview.

“Why do we need to learn this?” Feng Ping Lan questioned Su Li Wan quietly, “I thought Summoners just summoned demons and that was it.”

“Not all Summoners can summon demons, a lot of them had their demons passed down to them. Just like how Zhong Xian has been in my family for hundreds of years.” Su Li Wan answered quietly, “Some inheritors are not mature enough yet, their powers insufficient, and can only co-exist with their Contracts due to their contracts and the seals that are put on the demons by their clansmen, so the Shadow Academy is teaching us how to increase our abilities and control demonic power to handle demons.”

“Why not directly ask your own demon?”

“Because when we are in battle, Summoners also need to fight. It will be disadvantageous to just rely on your demon.” Su Li Wan paused for a moment, lowering her voice even more, “And most of the time, demons do not obey Summoners. If they weren’t restricted by the contract, they wouldn’t be willing to listen to commands and resist if they get the chance. They can even find loopholes in the contract to escape by causing trouble for the Summoner. So rather than commanding demons to do something, we’d rather extract demonic energy from them to use for ourselves, this would save us trouble.”

“Is that so.” Feng Ping Lan frowned, “Feels like digging an oil well and exploiting the oil for yourself.”

“I don’t like this kind of practice either.” Su Li Wan whispered, “Using spells to force the demons to obey, is just too boring…”

“Mm? What?”

“The way you and your demons interact is quite special. Very few people would let their Contracts move on their own will and live together, and six at once.” Her hand moved to caress her closed mirror on the table, “Zhong Xian usually stays in the boundary in this mirror. The mirror is connected to the Shadow Academy, and he always stays there to rest during the day.”

“So convenient! If we knew about this we wouldn’t have to waste five tuition fees!” But if it was like this, they wouldn’t be able to attend class together, he wanted this to maintain. “Speaking of that mirror, do you keep on combing your hair to look at Zhong Xian?”

Su Li Wan laughed in embarrassment, “Mm…”

“That’s good, if he knew that you cared so much about him, maybe he would treat you better.”

Su Li Wan stared at Feng Ping Lan, and after a while, she lifted up a smile, “You’re really optimistic and naive.”

“Hehe…”

At this while, Yin Su Shuang spoke from the teacher’s podium, “Commence fighting.” And a magic circle spread out in the air.

In the next second, the center of the classroom started to enlarge on all sides, the desks and chairs moving to the sides and the space turning into as large as two basketball courts. About two meters away from the walls, four red lines connected into a large block, where it encircled all the Summoners.

“It’s time to practice our magical prowess. We spar in pairs, use your demons’ powers to fight.” Su Li Wan whispered, “Don’t worry, I will go easy on you.”

She grabbed the red string fastened on her hair, pulling it down slowly. The string seemed to get longer as it was pulled, as if it didn’t have an end to it. “Actually, this is the first time I’m sparring with someone. I’m a bit nervous too.”

“Oh oh, then what should I do?”

“Do you need help?” Morris walked towards Feng Ping Lan’s side, turning his hand into a fist eagerly, “Can I punch that long-braids guy now?”

Zhong Xian stood outside the red lines, leaning on the wall. He humphed in disdain. “When it’s time to practice their magical prowess, all demons are to stay out of the compound, we cannot help. You’re as stupid as your master.”

“Very good! I’ll come out right now to beat you up!”

“Do not disturb!” Yin Su Shuang reprimanded.

Then, Morris’ wrist shone with a red circle, and a shockwave-like cry rang into his brain, as if his mind had been tightened by a steel wire.

Morris halted, looking at his wrist in shock. “There’s a spell on this thing!” He frantically gripped his wrist, “Fuck, take it off!”

“If there isn’t a restriction effect, why would they ask us to put them on?” Byriel said sarcastically, “We don’t trust the Summoners, the Summoners don’t trust us. The only way is to wear this bangle and let them feel at ease, and lets us reduce one enemy. To gain peace, we can only compromise.”

“But—” Morris wanted to rebuke, but seeing that there was a room full of Summoner apprentices, he became speechless. He could only retreat out of the compound in dismay.

Feng Ping Lan stood in the compound, looking at the demons walking out the compound. He asked curiously, “What do we do now?”

“We spar. If you cannot take out your demons’ power, then use the common spells to attack!”

“Spells… That’s a bit hard to do…” Feng Ping Lan raised his hands, “Can I use my hands?” He grabbed the air.

Su Li Wan frowned, “You don’t have weapons?”

“Bladed weapons are prohibited, so I can’t bring them to school.”

Su Li Wan stared at Feng Ping Lan for a moment, somehow realizing that something was not, “Are you— uh!”

A white ray shot violently through and pushed Su Li Wan barbarously onto the ground.

“Are you alright?” Feng Ping Lan helped her up, but another ray of light rushed towards him. He hurriedly avoided it.

“You can hide quite well.” Kaido held a curved blade, smiling cruelly as he neared them. “You don’t have a weapon? A pure spell-caster?”

“You’re really rough.” Feng Ping Lan saw Su Li Wan slowly climbing up from the ground, and couldn’t help but frown, “Li Rui should have brought you to one of his fellowship meetings. Compared to you, he must be more popular with the girls.”

“Let’s not talk rubbish.” Kaido pointed the tip of his blade at Feng Ping Lan, “We’ll do a transaction. Every time we fight, you’ll give up one demon for every loss to me.”

“Quetzal and the others are things, they can’t be used in a transaction.” Feng Ping Lan rejected him firmly, “If you like them that much, I can send you photos of them, and maybe let you guys shake hands, why do you need to involve weapons in this…”

“You have no choice!” With that, he twirled his blade and cut down on Feng Ping Lan.

Feng Ping Lan crouched hurriedly to avoid it, but in the next wave of attacks, the white light shot directly at him. He rolled to the side by the breadth of his hair, barely avoiding the succession of light waves.

Conglong, Simo and Morris who stood outside wanted to help him, but they were blocked the moment they tried to step into the red lines.

“Right now is the Summoner’s individual sparring session, demons cannot interfere.” Yin Su Shuang warned.

The demons could only helplessly back off, looking at the situation in the compound anxiously.

“Why is he only running? Can’t he attack?”

“Those six demons must have been passed down, they probably hadn’t been summoned by his own strength.”

“Looking at his movements, he’s probably at Level 0…”

Questioning whispers rang out from the corners of the compound, and unwittingly, everyone in it had stopped what they were doing to watch Kaido chasing after Feng Ping Lan.

“That guy is an exemplary Summoner.” Byriel looked at Kaido who kept on launching attack after attack, “Insatiable greed towards power and privilege, treating demons as tools. Even if Feng Ping Lan was an actual Summoner, he wouldn’t be a match for this kind of guy.”

Quetzal did not say anything, watching the Feng Ping Lan being chased into a battered state coldly.

“Admit defeat! Useless trash!”

“No way! Poooooh! You admit defeat! Your mother is a belly button! Boohoo!” Feng Ping Lan ran while throwing insults at him.

“Shut up! Stupid mutt!” Kaido raised his blade high angrily, cracking it down hard.

Because his movements had a large scope, the attacks could be predicted easily. His speed wasn’t that high either, so Feng Ping Lan could have time to avoid them.

Quetzal frowned.

…Did he do it because he had realized this? Or was it purely a coincidence?

Kaido attacked in succession, and although Feng Ping Lan’s movements were clumsy as a monkey, he evaded them one by one.

“Do you only know how to run?” Kaido raged, “What level are you? It’s probably Level 0, isn’t it? Aren’t you embarrassed, with the six demons that you own?”

“I can play the harmonica, how about that, do you want to compare? Hahahahaha— cough cough!” Feng Ping Lan ran while laughing, and suddenly choked on his own spit. He temporarily stopped running due to it, bending his waist to cough and pant.

Taking this chance, Kaido raised his blade to stab at Feng Ping Lan.

At this moment, the bent Feng Ping Lan facing the ground realized that the shadows before him were flashing with a ray of light. He subconsciously reached his hand out to grab, and his hand touched something physical.

The object he was holding rose up violently.

A longsword was drawn out from the shadows.

“Turn around.” A low voice rang out from the shadows.

Feng Ping Lan obeyed and turned around, and looking closely at it, it was one of Quetzal’s double swords.

“Wow, so cool!” He sighed in praised as he watched the sword glinting coldly, his hand gripping the hilt tightly, “Mm! There’s Quetzal’s hand warmth! Hahahahaha!”

Quetzal standing outside the compound cast his head to the side in indignance.

“I thought you were just going to sit by the side.” Byriel smiled, ridiculing, “Looks like you’re not exactly unconcerned about that guy, huh.”

Quetzal humphed coldly.

“Why can you send your sword over?” Morris questioned curiously.

“The boundary only prohibits demons and threatening spells, non-threatening spells and weapons not included,” Quetzal replied indifferently.

“Really?!” Conglong heard this, and immediately shouted into the compound, “Take out the scale I gave you! It can spread out a protective shield!”

Feng Ping Lan heard it, frantically taking out the scale that he’d turned into a keychain from his pocket.

“How do I use it?! Do I need to chant something or do some kind of shape-shifting dance?”

“No need!”

Conglong clapped his hands, and the scale in the compound received the command. As it shot out a blue ray of light, a translucent spherical about a meter track opened up by Feng Ping Lan’s side.

“Why didn’t tell me that I had such a useful thing earlier!” Feng Ping Lan looked the protective shield, unable to keep from grumbling, “I ran until I almost wet my pants!”

“How did I know!”

“It’s no use.” Kaido smiled coldly as he looked at the blue shield by Feng Ping Lan’s side, “If you’re currently at Level 0, your Contract’s power must be at zero too. This level of a barrier can’t block my—”

He raised his blade, exerting all his strength to hit the protective shield.

However, the instant his blade touched the thin blue wall, it let out a long and echoing sound. The two of them froze for countless seconds before the blade plucked away with all his might.

Kaido backed away a few steps before he could stabilize himself.

“How can this be!” He glared disbelievingly at Feng Ping Lan, “How can you, with a Level 0, possibly block my attack!”

“I’ve been wondering for a while. The level that you mentioned, could you possibly mean this?” Feng Ping Lan jabbed at his wrist, and a red number 3 appeared on it.

As he said this, the blue protective shield dimmed, gradually vanishing.

“Three?” Kaido clenched his teeth, roaring, “He can’t even unleash his magic ability or cast any spells, how can an inferior trash who doesn’t even have a weapon be at Level 3? He’s a fraud!”

“Not a fraud. The levels are distributed according to these four: martial arts, spell-casting, magic ability, and knowledge.” A flat female voice sounded out from the back.

Feng Ping Lan turned his head, only to see Liu Yi Chen standing not too far away from them, arms crossed, looking like she had been observing for a while now.

“Hi, Class Rep, how’re you.”

“The levels for freshmen are decided by the rankings of the entrance exam. He didn’t participate in the newcomer’s strength test, so martial arts, spell-casting and magic ability are all zero for him.” Liu Yi Chen frowned as she cast a gaze at Feng Ping Lan, continuing, “But as for the knowledge part, he added a hundred points, so his level’s a three.”

“Knowledge?” Kaido stared blankly.

“He’s a Spec Ad student.” Liu Yi Chen gritted her teeth, unclenching it as if she didn’t want to admit it, “The one who placed first with full marks in the entrance exam.”

“First place?” Kaido glared at Feng Ping Lan, “You?”

“Hehe, sorry.” Feng Ping Lan grabbed his head, “That Spec Ad student that got switched out on the first day was me, hahaha.”

“How can this be, that guy with such a stupid face—” Conglong outside the compound couldn’t believe it.

“Did you get the wrong guy?” Morris questioned.

“Ping Lan is very kind…” Simo mumbled, “So God gave him His blessing…”

“Hey! I didn’t get full marks by guessing! Aren’t we teammates, how can you fire arrows at my back!” Feng Ping Lan objected, unable to accept it.

“So what if his knowledge is high! That doesn’t mean anything!”

Liu Yi Chen breathed in, saying lightly at Kaido, “I heard that your martial arts, magical ability and spell-casting were the best of our class.” She pushed her glasses up, “But your level is still at an average three, what could this possibly mean?”

“None of your business!” Kaido raised his blade, thrusting at Liu Yi Chen.

Ring! The bell to signify the end of the period rang out.

The blade, at the sound of the bell, halted.

“Session ended. Stop all attacks.” Yin Su Shuang said in a hoarse voice. “Class is over!“

Translator’s Notes

-lǎoshī is the suffix to call teacher.