Chapter Ninety-Four: The Enigma Returns

Since the Tenth Team, led by Chu Yun, achieved the highest score, they received a reward of ten thousand gold coins, equivalent to one hundred platinum coins. Anna’s Ninth Team received five thousand gold coins.

As for the First Team, the group of all-around top students that had been expected to shine, they received only three thousand gold coins.

The remaining teams did not receive prize money, though many parents of the students had offered donations during the teaching period. Such things were perfectly normal on this continent and not against the rules.

When it was time to receive the awards, Anna beamed like a child. If the hall had not been crowded, she would have been hopping with delight.

If last night’s performance, after being reported in the news, had only slightly raised Chu Yun’s fame, then this time his name would spread throughout Blackstone City. The Mage Guild was one of the city’s most important organizations, and to win the championship in such a competition, while creating such a miraculous result, meant that his reputation would spread not only through Blackstone City, but also throughout the Kingdom of Elnor and even across the continent.

This week, the Earthwalker Weekly would also run a special feature on the founding of the Continental Mage Academy, and Blackstone City, otherwise unremarkable on the continent, might well find itself in the spotlight because of it.

"Chu Yun, how did you do it?" Nelson could not help asking when the awards were being handed out.

The surrounding instructors and onlookers also stretched out their ears, especially those instructors whose results had been a complete disaster; their minds were full of question marks.

Model teaching aids were not so useful in one-on-one instruction, where their effect fell far short of demonstrations within the spiritual world. But the models had their own strengths: they could be observed for long periods, and the process of spell development could be gradually unfolded before the eye.

This secret could not be kept. Whether it was the servants in Richard Manor or the students Chu Yun taught, the teaching method would sooner or later be revealed.

Such teaching aids could not be patented either, since they were hardly technologically complex.

Rather than hiding the secret, it would be better to reveal it openly. As this teaching model spread in the future, Chu Yun would become a pioneer, a trailblazer, a great figure of the Mage Academy, even of the educational world, and perhaps a living legend...

For Chu Yun, if he wanted to teach a student or a subordinate, he could simply copy the skill directly; there was no need to make things so complicated.

"Actually, it's very simple. Just teach according to my method. Improving the efficiency of self-studied spells by forty or fifty percent should not be a problem," Chu Yun said as he took the model from his spatial belt.

"This is a model of inscriptions. Different colors represent different elements, and the lengths of the connecting rods represent the distance between particles..." Chu Yun explained how the model could be used in teaching, as well as his own teaching process.

Those mages who could never remember the model, or who lacked spatial sense and therefore always failed when constructing it, suddenly found the path clear before them.

Chu Yun's method was actually very simple; once one thought of it, anyone could do it. But he was the first person to think of doing it this way.

After hearing Chu Yun’s explanation, Nelson’s eyes lit up. Although this method could not compare with direct instruction in the spiritual world, it possessed enormous advantages in collective teaching at an academy. It was practically tailor-made for a magic school.

"Chu Yun, I will report your invention to headquarters and promote your method across the entire country. Thank you for your contribution to the Mage Academy. I have decided to appoint you as an honorary instructor of Blackstone City Mage Academy. What do you think?" Nelson suggested.

Chu Yun had previously refused an offer to become a formal instructor, but an honorary instructor was different.

An honorary instructor held only a nominal position. Whether one taught classes or did any actual work depended on one’s mood, but the role still came with a handsome salary and certain privileges. If extra classes were taken, there would also be additional subsidies.

This proposal was not merely because Chu Yun had invented a teaching model of far-reaching significance; it was also because his strength was sufficient. A third-rank mage was, wherever one went, considered an expert.

Chu Yun did not refuse, but after the awards were over and there was a break, he put forward one condition.

He wanted the list of everyone in the guild who knew the spell known as Earth Vein Tunnel. What had happened last night, he could not simply pretend had never occurred.

"Very well. I still have many matters to attend to at the Mage Academy. Leave this matter to you to investigate on your own. However, if you discover anything, do not act rashly. Tell me, and I will deal with it," Nelson agreed to Chu Yun’s request.

Chu Yun had every right to investigate, since he himself had been involved. Even if Nelson had not agreed, Chu Yun still had ways to slowly uncover the list. Still, Nelson did not believe that the culprit was one of the guild’s own members.

Thus he expanded the scope of the list, handing Chu Yun the names of all mages in Blackstone City, as well as those who had recently appeared in the city and knew this spell.

These materials had been prepared overnight at his command. He took last night’s attack very seriously as well.

After receiving the list, Chu Yun began reviewing the internal records of the guild members. He first examined the profiles of the other instructors who had participated in the competition.

"It probably wasn’t him. With results this bad, there’s no reason for him to target me." The likely suspects among the instructors were the ones from the Sixth Team and the Eighth Team.

"Hm? Casido? This name... Anna’s senior brother?" Chu Yun’s memory was quite good, and upon seeing the name, he immediately remembered the eager-to-please mage he had met in the coffee shop five days earlier.

"He knows this spell too?"

Chu Yun marked Casido’s name with emphasis. He could tell that Casido had been jealous of him at the time.

Among the remaining internal guild members on the list, most were strangers to Chu Yun. He had only recently arrived, and had not formed any conflicts with them. Of course, it was also possible that the culprit’s target had been a contestant or Anna, rather than him.

"Since there is only one suspect, I’ll start by investigating him."

Casido did not know that he had already been targeted. At that moment, he had already left the examination venue that had filled him with burning jealousy. Over the past few days, he had felt something was off; if he stayed any longer, he feared he might not be able to resist acting.

"What is going on? Why am I so impulsive? How could I have made such a plan?" Casido was puzzled.

"Damn it, the president already sent people to investigate yesterday. There is no way I can prove where I was these past few days."

"They have no evidence. Even if they suspect me, they probably can’t do anything."

"And even if I really am found out, the president will probably spare me for my teacher’s sake, right?"

As Casido thought on, he grew increasingly nervous and afraid. As his negative emotions deepened, another voice seemed to arise in his mind.

"Kill him. As long as you kill him, no one will keep caring about this matter."

"Kill him. As long as you kill him, Anna will be yours."

...

"Kill him! Kill him! Kill him!"

The eerie voice echoed repeatedly in Casido’s mind.

"But he is a third-rank mage. How could I possibly kill him?" Casido’s voice weakened.

Deep in his heart, he had already conceded defeat and did not believe himself to be Chu Yun’s match.

"Then... do you desire power?"

A mysterious whisper curled around his ear, and Casido, already deeply influenced, could not refuse the temptation.