High School of Demon Hunting

Chapter 916: Chapter 264 New Year’s Day

Zheng Qing ultimately didn’t get any more advice from the stunning Su Shi.

However, before he left the Two-Dimensional Evolution Lab, Su Shijun gave the young wizard a green knitted bracelet.

”I’ve woven some Tranquility and Evil-Repelling runes into it, and I blessed it when I had the time, so it should be able to slightly reduce the frequency of your nightmares,” the witch paused for a few seconds before adding, ”Anyway, you’re just having nightmares now, without the previous headaches... Relax, you’ll be fine.”

Touching the fluffy bracelet, Zheng Qing wanted to ask the witch what material it was made of but was worried about using the wrong words, and without realizing it, he altered his response.

”Thank you!” he expressed his sincere gratitude, while pondering in his heart to reciprocate with a gift for the witch on New Year’s Day tomorrow.

For Christmas, he had given Su Shijun a ’Pandora’s Gift Box’ from the Apple Tower as a present — this type of gift box was the most popular festive gift among students at the First University, moderately priced and quite novel.

Each Pandora’s Gift Box is sealed until opened, and neither the dealer nor the person who receives the gift knows what kind of surprise is inside.

It might be a burst of Magic Fireworks, a clip of an elf’s dance, an ancient jade coin, a delicate jade cup, possibly a piece of delicious cake, or even a rare Spiritual Beasts hatchling.

In short, it is a gift that depends both on luck and mood — provided you don’t mistakenly pick a Pandora’s Magic Box instead of a gift box. Unlike the gift box, the Pandora’s Magic Box is the perfect tool for pranks.

”You can never imagine what kind of shock you will get after opening the magic box,” was the enduring slogan put out by Apple Tower after they launched Pandora’s Magic Box.

Of course, this time, Zheng Qing did not intend to give Su Shijun another Pandora’s Gift Box.

He touched the green bracelet on his wrist and felt that no matter what, his gift in return should be more thoughtful.

”If you’re truly grateful, then remember to bring Poseidon with you the next time you come to see me!” The beautiful Su Daxu rolled her eyes and pretended to be angry after hearing the young cost student’s reply, ”After all, it’s a part of me. Don’t you feel guilty for leaving it all alone in such a place?”

What place? Isn’t it the school’s Pet Garden?

Thousands of pets from the First University are safely and quietly staying there, why should my conscience hurt!

The young cost student quietly complained in his heart, awkwardly replying.

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Thursday was January 1st, 2009, New Year’s Day.

There’s no concept of counting down the new year in the wizard world; for most wizards, so-called New Year’s Day is more like a large pocket watch resetting to zero, marking the beginning of time calculation. Hence, when Zheng Qing returned from the Two-Dimensional Evolution Lab on Wednesday evening, he didn’t see any celebratory parties or lively parades in the academy.

Instead, there were the brightly lit Book Mountain Library and students hurrying to and fro.

Although the wizard world has its own unique wizarding calendar, aside from certain official documents, few wizards use that complicated and profound thing.

For it was a calendar created by wizards before the rise of Dimensionism based on the fluctuating patterns of the Magic Tide, and for the wizards living on Earth, the subtle changes in the Magic Tide are nowhere near as clear and straightforward as the movement of the moon or the sun.

The lunar or solar calendar alone was sufficient, since living in the present world did not require looking millions of years into the future.

Moreover, for the vast majority of modern wizards, the wizarding calendar was synonymous with being antiquated, decayed, and backward. It persisted only because the Dimensionists had not yet completed their own calendar theory, and there was a need to accommodate the positions of some old-school wizards. In Zheng Qing’s view, this wizard calendar was like the United States in the original world using Fahrenheit, miles, and ounces for measurement—a pure historical regression.

In short, although wizards had their own calendar, they did not reject the use of the lunar or solar calendars.

This was why New Year’s Day became an official holiday at First University.

Indeed, although the end-of-term exams were just around the corner, the school still strictly followed the schedule set at the beginning of the term, granting everyone a day off on January 1.

To everyone, this holiday was considered a very poor one.

Teachers felt there were many key and difficult points to instill in the students, and taking a holiday at such a crucial time was very unsatisfactory; whereas students, burdened with the imminent final exams, were unable to enjoy the leisure of the holiday.

In a word, this was a lose-lose holiday.

But rules were never altered for the sake of people’s dissatisfaction. Rules were rules.

Enough digressions.

On New Year’s Day, Zheng Qing arrived early at Book Mountain Library, fortunate to get a corner seat by the window, alone between tall bookshelves, perfect for focused studying.

If it were any other day, he would have been delighted to stack a large pile of books on his desk and leisurely work through practice exams all day.

But not today.

Today he had other plans.

After returning from the Two-Dimensional Evolution Lab the previous evening, Zheng Qing pondered deeply and finally thought of an appropriate return gift.

He planned to write a set of Runes, totaling one thousand two hundred and ninety-six, to give to Su Shijun as a New Year’s gift. Of course, these Runes would not be infused. Even so, this gift was still very precious. In the entire Wizard World, the vast majority of ordinary wizards, including most registered wizards, could not master such a complete set of Runes.

The last time Zheng Qing wrote this set of Runes in its entirety was at the beginning of the term during Professor Zhang’s diagnostic exam.

According to his usual pace, Zheng Qing estimated that it would take him about a morning to complete this task. Fortunately, writing Runes also served as a process of reviewing knowledge points from the Fu Lu Class, so it wouldn’t seem too much like a waste of time.

Originally, Zheng Qing had planned to buy a floral stationery Talisman Scroll from the Green brothers’ grocery store to hold this set of Runes, and for this purpose, he had carefully chosen a Balloon Flower Talisman Scroll—not because the Balloon Flower was particularly unique or prominent, but simply because he had read a comic book as a child in which some aspect, some temperament, of the female protagonist seemed to fit Su Shijun perfectly, nothing more.

However, when the clerk at the Green grocery store asked offhandedly, ”Are you planning to buy it to write a love letter to your girlfriend?” the warlock immediately abandoned the original plan.

It was just a holiday gift, with no other meaning. The young cost student told himself so.

Therefore, in the end, he chose to use the standard Talisman Scrolls that Hui Zi Ji Granny Cai had given him.

Yellow Paper, Return Grid, very thick to the touch, and if one were to plan on performing an Infusion later, it would go very smoothly.