Chapter 150: Lecturer Midsummer (3/3)

In his previous life as a sheriff, Zhao Xu had experience training his subordinates and had even demonstrated combat stances on a small stage. Yet, standing before an audience of two to three hundred people was something he had never encountered—not even on Earth.

So, before the evening lecture began, Zhao Xu diligently reviewed all the materials prepared by the organizers.

To an outsider, the lecture notes might have seemed adequate. But Zhao Xu, who had mastered every first-level spell, knew better. Even the mages in the Floating City, despite having access to all first-level arcane spells for transcription, could not cover the divine magic portions—especially the unique ones. Therefore, he could tell many of the conjectures about first-level spells in the notes were mistaken.

Particularly, some non-core spells not taught in the Floating City were speculated upon with vague assumptions.

Zhao Xu endured reading through the material once, acknowledging the effort behind it. It was akin to asking someone who had never seen the ocean to describe the sound of its waves—a difficult task indeed.

This lecture was marked as experimental, indicating that much of the content had yet to be empirically validated. It was common for cutting-edge spell research to hold such talks to attract senior mages and secure funding. Yet applying this format to first-level spells, a subject already thoroughly studied, seemed irresponsible to the students.

After correcting more than ten errors on every page of the notes, Zhao Xu finally set off toward Lecture Hall 91, as indicated in the official correspondence.

The ninety-first academic lecture hall seated roughly two hundred, arranged compactly to emphasize the lecturer’s ability to engage the audience emotionally.

Upon arrival, Zhao Xu found the seats nearly full with apprentice mages and novices—the intended audience for this lecture.

Pushing open the heavy beechwood double doors, he immediately spotted acquaintances: Wang Ningwei and Eisvich were seated in a corner near the entrance, a spot convenient for a discreet exit.

Originally intending to proceed directly to the podium to coordinate with his assistant, Zhao Xu instead approached the two women.

“New cloak? It looks rather plain—doesn't suit your style,” Eisvich remarked, noticing him instantly.

“Long time no see, Mr. Midsummer,” Wang Ningwei greeted Zhao Xu softly.

Zhao Xu thought to himself that, although they had discussed spell structures in a QQ group chat just yesterday, meeting again here in Ather was still a reunion of sorts—several days had passed after all.

Seeing Wang Ningwei, Zhao Xu couldn’t help but wonder if the cloak he wore now was the very one she had picked out for him in his previous life.

He also mused about what Wang Ningwei called Antinoya when they entered the heritage of the Ethel dynasty—if she had called her ‘mother,’ he would have laughed himself silly.

“You know, during Professor Morris’s lecture earlier, a genius solved the evolution formula for the secret sigil in seven or eight seconds,” Wang Ningwei said with a hint of admiration. “Morris was reportedly quite pleased to hear that someone had cracked it, but when he learned it took under ten seconds, his expression changed instantly.”

“I don’t know what the secret sigil is, but that sounds exaggerated. Our Floating City lecturers are pretty experienced—do you think one could shake Morris’s face that much?” Eisvich doubted.

“That’s where you’re wrong. Morris wants to recruit this person into his team—as a subsidized assistant, no less. At the time, no one knew who they were, only that they wore a simple, pure black cloak. If I’d known Morris had these connections, I would’ve tried harder,” Wang Ningwei said wistfully.

The people behind them were chatting animatedly about the plain black cloak. Both Eisvich and Wang Ningwei glanced at Zhao Xu but dismissed the idea when recalling the rapid decoding of the secret sigil formula—they both felt he wasn’t that brilliant.

Not because they underestimated him, but because Zhao Xu genuinely lacked that level of genius.

Still, in their private conversations, both women agreed Zhao Xu was a reliable comrade they could trust with their lives.

Unaware of the speculation and high regard in their minds, Zhao Xu chatted casually with them while intermittently glancing at the massive mechanical clock suspended from the lecture hall’s ceiling.

“Wait, why are you two here?” Zhao Xu noticed they were both reviewing the lecture notes intently.

“We wanted to hear this lecture for real, not just to get the attendance stamp,” Wang Ningwei explained mildly.

“Eisvich is quite interested in the spells you cast last time. But she couldn’t find much trace afterward, so she brought me along to see if this talk gives any clues,” Wang Ningwei added with a slight reproach.

Eisvich turned her head away, clearly avoiding eye contact with Zhao Xu, unaware that he was, in fact, the lecturer tonight.

Realizing this amused Zhao Xu. Sometimes, having a straightforward teammate like Wang Ningwei was a burden.

Previously, Wang Ningwei had offered to pay for Eisvich to borrow some spells that enhanced skill bonuses but never mentioned it in the QQ group, unwilling to pressure him and preferring to support Eisvich quietly.

As the lecture approached, Zhao Xu refrained from teasing further and began, “There are quite a few corrections to this lecture material—”

“Who’s this arrogant fool?” a deep voice interrupted from behind.

Zhao Xu turned to see a burly mage accompanied by two apprentice mages.

“Sometimes, some presumptuous people try to challenge the lecturer’s notes, picking at minor flaws to overturn the whole theory without considering their own limitations,” the man sneered at Zhao Xu.

Then, he found an empty seat and, with a sycophantic smile towards Wang Ningwei, asked, “Ningwei, what do you think about the mana recovery pearl I offered to buy with real money?”

Wang Ningwei, already annoyed by his derision toward Zhao Xu, shook her head firmly. “Thank you, but those mana pearls belong to someone else; I have no right to sell them.”

“Besides, some things you treasure are priceless,” Eisvich added sincerely.

“Hmph, nonsense. NPC items belong to players, and player items? There’s nothing you can’t buy,” the man said, pointing at Zhao Xu. “For example, I could just buy that ragged cloak off him. If I pay enough, he’d take it off right now. Believe it, Ningwei.”

“Then try it,” Zhao Xu chuckled.

He hadn’t expected such brash players even in the Floating City.

“I suggest you keep your mouth shut when you don’t know the facts. Or I’ll personally see to it that you get tossed out of here. You believe me?” the man threatened arrogantly. “Do you know how powerful our faction is in the Floating City?”

Wang Ningwei frowned and was about to intervene when the lecture hall’s starting bell rang.

“Dong, dong, dong—”

Before the chimes, a female assistant had already noticed the lecturer was absent and gone out to inquire.

Zhao Xu stood and strode to the front of the hall.

Even proud Eisvich couldn’t help but show a flicker of surprise.

Wang Ningwei’s gaze softened, her expression calm, as if Zhao Xu’s presence here was perfectly natural.

The arrogant man’s heart pounded nervously; a bad premonition took hold.

The previously noisy hall fell into a hush.

Upon reaching the podium, Zhao Xu noticed that, unlike Mage Norci, these lower-tier lecturers had no invisible servants.

The assistants had already left to find help when Zhao Xu and the man had their earlier confrontation, and he had failed to stop them.

Thinking this, Zhao Xu took it upon himself to grab a duster and wipe the whiteboard—a ritual of sorts before beginning his teaching.

He didn’t bother summoning invisible servants or using magical tricks to clean; the board was already quite clean, so he made a few casual strokes.

This simple act eased the tension in the hall, and murmurs of conversation resumed.

The status of assistants versus lecturers was worlds apart.

Some mages who had served as assistants before found it odd that no players were assigned to assist in tonight’s training.

“Lecturer Bloan had an accident during an experiment, so I will be conducting tonight’s lecture on ‘The Diversity of First-Level Spells,’” Zhao Xu announced after cleaning the board, addressing over two hundred apprentice and novice mages.

“Oh!” a chorus of surprise rose from the audience; none expected such a young-looking mage to lead the lecture.

Zhao Xu signaled with a wave, and silence fell over the hall.

“Before we begin, may the person in the corner who wanted me thrown out kindly leave first. I don’t believe this lecture is for you,” Zhao Xu said, directing his words to the threatening man.

In academic lecture halls, the lecturer holds absolute authority.

This was why Norci dared to offend anyone, even if it meant having only a tenth of the audience remain.

All eyes now fixed on the man and his followers; his face instantly paled.

“Maybe we should go,” one follower suggested.

The man gritted his teeth, muttering angrily, “We’ll report this to the hall’s administration. I want this imposter to pay. Let’s see if he can survive in the Floating City after this.”

With that, the trio stormed out, determined to ruin Zhao Xu.

He shook his head, amused by how some people thought they could imitate internet drama so easily.

Once they left, Zhao Xu picked up the freshly printed lecture notes.

“Please turn to page one. There are eight points I must correct, though three are not errors but rather imprecise descriptions...” he began.

The entire hall of over two hundred eagerly flipped through their notes, listening intently as Zhao Xu meticulously clarified the material.

Eisvich listened with her mouth slightly open—this was truly professional, wasn’t it?