High School of Demon Hunting

Chapter 913: Chapter 261 Final Exam

The chance encounter with Neville in the cafeteria was just a minor episode in Zheng Qing’s campus life.

For the students of Jiuyou Academy, at this time, the most important thing in the world was nothing but the final exams. Neither the lingering effects of the winter hunt from just less than a week ago nor the upcoming new issue of ’Arcana’ from ”Magic Wand” were as suffocating as the ever-looming exams.

Upperclassmen had it slightly easier, having gone through several final exams before, which allowed them to adjust to some extent without completely losing their composure.

But for the underclassmen, especially the freshmen who had just started this year, their hearts were not so strong.

Because Jiuyou Academy places a great emphasis on fairness, exams carry a significant weight in students’ advancement. The final exams, as the most important means to assess a semester’s worth of learning, are especially important.

It was already the eighteenth week of the semester.

According to the teaching syllabus published by the school, classes would officially end starting the nineteenth week, and the examination period would begin. But considering the tense atmosphere pervading the academy, professors wisely gave up continuing dry and tedious lectures in class and instead returned the time to the young wizards below.

”All of you are adults now and this isn’t your first time taking final exams, so you should all have your own more mature and effective studying methods,” said Mister Sima, the history lecturer, to everyone on Wednesday morning during the last class: ”I’ve been through it myself and know everyone is nervous... The only thing I hope for is that you don’t confuse ’Stubborn Wizards’ with ’Conservative Wizards’ during the exams, remember the tremendous impact of the 1862 ”Fairy Liberation Proclamation” on the modernization process of the Milijian Wizard Society, and the several types of Taboo Magic that appeared during the Witch Demon War of 1918...”

Though he spoke of ’only’ hope, once Sima Yangyun started talking about the exam highlights, he couldn’t help but go on and on for half an hour, and his ’only’ hope slowly turned into ten, twenty, thirty ’only’ hopes.

Zheng Qing sat at the back of the classroom, scratching his head while adding several more asterisks next to the already multiple-wave-lined key points.

It was a rather futile compulsion, as there were countless color-coded key points in his books, and he never seemed to have the time to go over those key points again.

But if he didn’t mark them, he would fall into an inexplicable panic, always feeling like he hadn’t reviewed anything significant, leaving a hollow feeling inside.

Relatively speaking, Zheng Qing’s state was fairly normal.

For students like Zhang Ji Xin and Duan Xiao Jian, who were lackadaisical in their daily studies and not exceptional in memory, these days became particularly tough. It would be better if their minds were completely blank; then, how much they could accomplish in the exam would just depend on whether fortune favored them.

But the trouble was that their minds were not a blank slate, nor a well-organized library. Their brains were more like a maze, often hiding the correct information behind winding secret passages, and every time they began to write, they would pen somewhat incorrect answers – such as writing the properties of schisandra as cold when it should be warm, the properties of gallnut as sweet and warm, or misremembering the name ’Gavrilino·Princip’ as ’Gavrilino·Princip’—the former being the spark that ignited the Witch Demon War, the latter a wild werewolf who advocated vegetarianism.

In the face of this situation, there was no better method than to memorize by rote.

So, after Mister Sima Yangyun announced free study time, Zhang Ji Xin hugged his arms and rolled his eyes weirdly, starting to murmur toward the bald wall beside him: ”...1775 Lexington, 1777 Saratoga, 1783 ’Paris Agreement’...”

”Elder, you can’t remember it like this!” Zheng Qing listened to the buzzing sound next to him, which showed no sign of stopping, and finally, with some helplessness, turned his head towards Zhang Ji Xin and interrupted, ”Memorizing historical dates must be combined with the events. Only remembering parts of it can easily lead to mistakes... like the ’Paris Agreement’ you just mentioned, there are many. For example, the 1783 one was between the Blood Race Demonic Party and the Secret Party; there was also a ’Paris Agreement’ in 1814 between the Dwarves and the Abominable Snowmen, and another one during the Witch Demon War’s intermission period in 1919...”

”Right, right, right, you’re absolutely right!” Zhang Ji Xin waved his hand as if shooing away a fly, without a hint of pause at his mouth, as he stubbornly persisted with his way of review: ”...1775 Lexington, 1777 Saratoga, 1783 ’Paris Agreement’...”

Zheng Qing let out a long sigh, touched his grey cloth bag, and pulled out two Calm Heart Talismans.

There was no helping it, talismans always had to be used at the most crucial moments. And what could be more crucial than exams?

Compared to the buzzing red-faced male wizard and the frustrated cost student, Xin Fat Man appeared much more relaxed. He even had the leisure to look around and engage in small actions with other classmates. Zheng Qing would occasionally see a paper frog or a paper mouse crawl out of Fat Man’s desk’s hole and leisurely make its way toward the desk nearby.

”What are you doing?” Before slapping the Tranquility Talisman on his forehead, Zheng Qing couldn’t help but jab Fat Man with a brush.

The brush end poked on Fat Man’s back, creating a satisfying indentation.

”Hiss...!” Xin Fat Man sucked in a breath of cold air and turned around with effort, glaring at Zheng Qing: ”Didn’t you see I’m doing business here? Don’t disturb others at such a crucial time, will you?”

”Doing business?” Zheng Qing blinked, puzzled.

”If you hadn’t been playing disappearing act every now and then these past few days, you would know what business I’m running.” Fat Man snorted coldly, appearing to have no desire to elaborate.

Zheng Qing curled his lip and with a ’slap’ stuck one Tranquility Talisman on his own forehead.

Then, with a turn of his hand, ’slap’ he put another Tranquility Talisman on Zhang Ji Xin’s back.

”Thanks...” Elder Zhang Da didn’t look back, just friendly waved his hand behind him, still murmuring against the wall: ”1775 Lexington, 1777 Saratoga...”

By the way, what have you been up to lately? You seem as mysterious as Yilian was a while ago,” Xiao Xiao, who had been flipping through his notebook, turned his head to look at Zheng Qing upon hearing this.

”Hmm, just been busy in the library.” Zheng Qing explained vaguely, while subconsciously turning his head to glance in the direction where Yilian was. The Gypsy witch was buried in a pile of books, with only her wine-red wavy hair visible from Zheng Qing’s angle.