High School of Demon Hunting

Chapter 1051: Chapter 113: The Distracted Witch

At the beginning of the semester, due to the report by Miss Pulitzer, Zheng Qing had discussed with Xiao Xiao whether language could be objective and impartially describe something.

The result of the discussion was Xiao Xiao’s creation of a concept called ”mechanical language,” which truly troubled Zheng Qing for a while. Coupled with the frequent verbal conflicts on campus, there were several days when his mind was intermittently filled with all sorts of chaotic thoughts, deeply disappointed with this biased world.

Fortunately, the heavy coursework and the ”sufficient” extracurricular work saved Zheng Qing, pulling him out of those exceedingly tedious thoughts. He thought all was past, but unexpectedly, during the fourth week of school in a Magic Script class, Professor Emma touched on related content while teaching.

As with last semester, the Magic Script class was still scheduled on Tuesday afternoons, in classroom 202 of the academic building.

The teacher was still the strict old Mrs. Emma.

At the beginning of the class, Professor Emma reiterated what Old Yao had said in the first Curse Course of the new semester, ”If one says, Talisman Studies is the wizard’s analysis of the Source of the World, and Divination is the wizard’s analysis of dimensions and the river of time, then Magic Script is the wizard’s analysis of wisdom and consciousness.”

Listening to these familiar arguments, Zheng Qing hesitated for a long while with his feather pen over his notebook before deciding to copy these words down again—he felt that since these professors repeated these phrases over and over, there must be profound meanings. Whether useful or not, noting them down and memorizing them would surely not be wrong.

By the time he finished his notes, Professor Emma on the podium hadn’t finished her citation:

”...Just as I told you a long time ago, Magic Script is essentially a very advanced universal language of the cosmos, known as Sky Script because it is prevalent above the heavens.”

”Being accepted by numerous intelligent consciousnesses naturally has its reasons.”

At this point, Professor Emma paused briefly, turned around, and wrote two large characters on the blackboard: ”Shortcomings.”

Then, clenching the chalk, she looked seriously at the students below and analyzed, ”For many intelligent lives, or in many instances, the greatest advantage of language is its ability to express some strong emotions and thoughts.”

”For instance, if you chew on a piece of bitter herb, you would feel bitterness in your mouth; drink a sip of aged vinegar, you would feel the root of your tongue turn sour; pop a piece of candy, and you would find the tip of your tongue sweetened.”

”To a certain extent, the descriptions above have already expressed our thoughts and feelings...but this is also precisely its biggest shortcoming.”

”Because language, including most of the text we use daily, has limited expressive power and is filled with emotion... Limited information transmission wastes precious space on venting feelings, meaning a large amount of information is lost.”

”Essentially, they are just a primitive form of communication tool, only capable of describing this enormously vast world beneath our feet with limited words and pronunciations.”

”Just like the sensation of being bitten by a mosquito and being gently caressed, in language, are both generally termed ’itchiness’. The feeling of a broken leg and the feeling of being heartbroken are vaguely described in writing as ’pain’. In reality, if we think about it, these are not the same sensations. But it is difficult for us to describe them with more subtle and concise terms.”

”Similar to one plus one equals two, like this basic level of mathematics; similar to the ultimate truths of this world being infinitely converged and simplifying into a forbidden spell... Language is a rudimentary mode of communication, our simplified wisdom and consciousness, aiding us in understanding the world.”

”And the truth, just like there are infinite numbers between one and two... the conclusion of one plus one needs to be expressed using an equation. In a sense, higher mathematics describes a finer world, they are more like a precise language, designed to articulate a more complete and comprehensive world.”

Zheng Qing was jotting down notes, his brow furrowing gradually; he always felt that Professor Emma’s assertions seemed oddly familiar.

He turned to glance at Xiao Xiao, then immediately twisted his head back—no, Professor Emma’s arguments were not entirely the same as Xiao Xiao’s; there was a subtle difference, barely noticeable yet undeniable.

On the podium, Professor Emma paused for a breath, picked up her teacup, and sipped her tea gently. The students were all holding their breath, anxious not to miss any key points, and the only sound in the classroom was the rustling of note-taking.

Zheng Qing, having finished his notes, nibbled on the feather of his pen—a sweet feather pen he had bought from Green Grocery, an edible pen—looking around restlessly.

Zhang Ji Xin, seated by the window, had a stern face, giving the impression of wielding a sledgehammer while taking notes; Matthew Karen, sitting in the left front row, was much more graceful, sitting upright like a statue; and then there was Elena in the back right row, clutching her feather pen with a distressed expression that made Zheng Qing quite sympathetic.

Then his gaze swept past Elena and landed not far behind her on the veteran Nicholas, who was sitting in the corner of the back right row of the classroom.

Unlike usual, Nicholas wasn’t focused on his notes and books today; instead, he looked worriedly toward the front row of the classroom. Following his gaze, Zheng Qing suddenly realized—Liu Fei Fei was blankly staring out the window, lost in thought.

This was quite a novelty.

Having finished her tea, Professor Emma glanced at the various expressions below, cleared her throat, and continued, ”... For magic, the shortcomings of ordinary language appear even more prominent.”

”Subtle emotions are hard to describe accurately with language, let alone subtler forms of magic... Subtle magic is difficult to express with ordinary language, which is a rudimentary medium. Numerals, on their part, are harsh and mechanical, lacking the aesthetic essence that magical content possesses. This formed the basis for the development of Magic Script.”

”Just like commoners can express their delicate emotions through color-rich paintings and melodious music, articulating what language can’t—the nuances of the soul, the various small changes.”

”Wizards can as well... Magic Script emerged from this need.”

Before she could finish, Professor Emma sharply turned her focus to the students below, ”Student Liu Fei Fei? Would you stand up and summarize the differences between Magic Script and ordinary language?”

No sooner had she spoken than the previously somewhat slack classroom atmosphere suddenly tightened; the students perked up, sitting up straight and holding their breath.

The thin witch in the front row of the classroom nervously stood up, her head hanging down in shame, her face a picture of bafflement.

Clearly, just as Zheng Qing had observed earlier, Liu Fei Fei had been distracted during the class.

This was extremely rare—as far as Zheng Qing knew, this was the first time he had seen Liu Fei Fei unable to answer a question and, from what he remembered, the first time he had seen her distracted during class.