After resting for two days, I returned to the academy to continue attending classes. Teacher Zhen had seriously meant his words when all of the negative points that I had previously accumulated were already revoked. The few of us who participated in the competition had freely gotten our magic scholar status approved. Teacher Zhen also gave me a new magic robe with six beautiful stars on it. Initially, I thought that it was too eye catching and thought that just five stars was sufficient, but Teacher Zhen said that I wouldn’t be wearing this magic robe frequently and forcefully made me accept the six stars. We also obtained free meal vouchers to eat at the Ascending Jade Tide.
(In the first volume, it was already explained that the number of stars represented the strength of the mage. Mage that are learning magic don’t have a star, an elementary mage will have a single star, and so on. It was extremely difficult to increase the number of stars.)
I carefully held on to the magic robe Teacher Zhen had given me as this old man had bought it with his own money. The magic robe was light blue in colour and was exceptionally soft. The texture was extremely nice to touch. The entire surface of the robe was embedded with countless magic crystals. According to Teacher Zhen, he had designed and made this robe himself. It was made from the skin of a rare animal called Xi. Other than being durable and tough, it had the effect to make the usage of magic power become smoother. This robe also had 108 blue crystals, 36 red crystals, and three purple crystals. He had used all 147 crystals to form a defensive array. I just needed to insert some magic power into the purple crystal residing at the center of my chest to activate the array which would form a defensive barrier. Teacher Zhen had also told me that its defensive power was equal to an advanced defensive spell, but only needed magic power matching those of elementary level spells.
I had really obtained a treasure. This was awesome. But the magic robe had a flaw. It was too glamorous, especially in the daytime. When wearing it on the street, it would constantly shine out light rays in all directions.
When I told Teacher Zhen about this problem, he chuckled. “Why? You don’t want it? If you don’t want it, you can give it back! I am really reluctant to part with it!”
I definitely wouldn’t give up on such a good treasure. A seventh star had been embedded into the robe to represent my Magister status, as it slept peacefully in my spatial space.
When I entered the classroom, I greeted everyone amiably. It was a pity that only a few students responded to me. I sat in my seat and asked Mu Zi, “How are you? Did you rest up well?”
Mu Zi nodded. “I had rested up quite sometime already. How about you?”
I smiled. “I am fine. It has been two days since we parted. Did you miss me?”
Mu Zi pouted. “Who will miss you? I don’t even know how Ma Ke is already.”
I replied, “That’s right! I hope he will successfully cross this hurdle. Oh right! Teacher Zhen has given me the free meal coupons. How about at noon, we…”
Mu Zi’s eyes lit up. “That’s perfect! I want to comfort my stomach in the afternoon.”
I chuckled. “I heard the Ascending Jade Tide restaurant really gave some face to Teacher Zhen as they gave him a fifty percent discount. We don’t need to conserve for that old man.”
Mu Zi nodded and we simultaneously said, “Let’s make him poor!” After that, we both broke into laughter.
An angry voice called out, “Zhang Gong Wei, Mu Zi Mo! You two had just ended your confinement period and have already started to disturb the class again!”
Wah! It was already time for class, and coincidentally, it was the same class teacher who had caused me to be placed in confinement. I bitterly smiled and hastily stood up. “I’m sorry, teacher!”
The teacher was stunned as he was unused to me being polite. He frowned and said, “Forget about that! Just listen properly in class!”
I stuck my tongue out at Mu Zi, but didn’t dare to speak any more. I didn’t want to give any more chances for Teacher Zhen to make use of me. ‘What shall I do? I will write a letter to Mu Zi.’ Hehe! I wanted to use my incomparable tender sentiment to tightly bind Mu Zi’s heart to me.
Just like that, a week had peacefully passed.
I had just entered the classroom today and Mu Zi excitedly ran up to me. She made me jump a little in shock. “What has made you so happy?”
Mu Zi excitedly replied, “Zhang Gong! Let’s go and have a look! I heard that Ma Ke has returned to the academy.”
I jubilantly asked, “Really? That’s great! He’s finally okay. Let’s quickly check it out!”
I pulled Mu Zi along as I dashed to Ma Ke’s classroom. Since class hadn’t started yet, the classroom was tumultuous. Ma Ke’s seat was surrounded by a lot of people.
I excitedly exclaimed, “Ma Ke! Ma Ke!!!”
The surrounding people moved aside and Ma Ke’s familiar figure appeared in the middle of the crowd. I used a short distance teleport to warp to him and I tightly embraced him. I was so stirred up that tears flowed out of my eyes.
Ma Ke also embraced me back and muttered, “Boss! Boss! I’m back!”
I let him go and looked at him in detailed. Although Ma Ke had lost some weight, his vigor was very good. It was obvious he was still recovering. I beat him with my fist and said, “Are you really fine?”
Ma Ke nodded. He was choked with emotions as he replied, “Boss! Thank you! Thank you very much! I was already much better three days ago. I was really too bored to continue staying at home, so I came to the academy. Boss, did you know? Hai Yue has finally accepted me.”
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Volume 5: Chapter 23 - Bitterness Ends, Sweetness Begins
“Really? That’s great!” I exclaimed excitedly, “Let’s go out and chat. There are too many people here.” We had become everyone’s focal point after this outburst of emotion.
Mu Zi and I, accompanied by Ma Ke, found a quiet place and sat down.
“Ma Ke, you have finally fully recovered. You have no idea how worried we were.” Mu Zi said.
Ma Ke nodded and replied, “I know! Hai Yue has told me about everything that had happened. Boss, thank you. Hai Yue told me that we were able to grasp victory in the end.”
I chuckled and said, “Why are you still talking about that lousy competition? I’m more interested about how you got Hai Yue to accept you. Tell me!”
Ma Ke’s face reddened. “After I got injured, I was only partially conscious and in a lot of pain. It was as though I was continuously being torn apart. I knew that you had treated me because I sobered up a little, but I fell unconscious again shortly after. I don’t know how much time had passed after that, but then a wave of cool energy suddenly surged through my body and all the pain slowly faded. I felt like I was flying in the sky, it was so comfortable. I thought I had already kicked the bucket. But when I returned to reality and opened my eyes, I found myself in my own room.”
“Why were you in your room?”
Ma Ke continued his explanation, “Hai Yue and her grandfather had sent me back to the prince’s mansion after they treated my injuries.”
“How did you get with Hai Yue then?” Mu Zi asked.
Ma Ke’s face reddened. “Mu Zi, can you move away for a bit? Some things are better left unknown.”
“What things am I not supposed to hear? I want to listen too.” Mu Zi said with a pout.
Ma Ke’s face reddened further as he whispered, “This is something related to the subject of men and women. Are you still sure you want to continue listening?”
Mu Zi’s small face flushed red. She turned and ran away while saying, “You’re annoying! There is nothing good about you guys!” This just made Ma Ke and I laugh.
“Go on then, what happened?” I urged.
Ma Ke looked around to confirm that there was no one around and mysteriously replied, “When I woke up, there was blood!”
I was stunned. “Where?”
Ma Ke bitterly smiled. “There!” As he said that, he pointed downwards.
I came to a realization and replied, “You’re saying…”
Ma Ke nodded. “That’s right! It is as you think.”