High School of Demon Hunting

Chapter 1197: Chapter 259: The Long-Awaited Philosophy Class

”In classical mystical philosophy, there are two things in this world that are inviolable.”

”Above our heads, the starry sky, which houses the indescribable beings, any disrespectful gaze would drive one mad; below our moral baseline are the roots of disaster. The Fallen Wizards are proof, for they lost their moral compass and ultimately even their selves.”

”Hermesists firmly believe that their wisdom comes from Hermes in the depths of the starry sky. Based on this belief, they have marked all their creations with the traces of Hermes, including alchemical items, divination results, newly created spells, and new magic recipes, and so on.”

”Because they think the fruit of Hermes’s wisdom is sacred and inviolable...”

At the podium, Old Yao was directing the chalk, leaving large sections of cases and explanations on the blackboard, while students from Jiuyou Academy were vigorously taking notes, feathers and bamboo sticks becoming the most active parts of the classroom.

The main subject of this lecture on Philosophy of Magic was ’Western Classical Mysticism’, involving a vast number of names, schools, and their principal thoughts, which left Zheng Qing feeling dizzy and could only mechanically record every word spoken by the professor.

The lively and noisy hearing at noon seemed like a long-ago affair. The ’distant’ memories mixed with the dull reality gave Zheng Qing a feeling of confusion as if under a confusion spell—though more likely, it was the sleepiness under the hypnotic sound of the professor’s voice.

Due to the lack of rest at noon, the young scholar was very exhausted now.

But contrary to his gradually blurring consciousness, the whispers of Xin Fat Man and Zhang Ji Xin sitting not far from him entered his ears very clearly.

”...So, splitting classes is a very wise choice,” Xin Fat Man’s voice said. ”Without those from Alpha holding us back, our progress in Philosophy class has sped up more than a layer!”

”But, this situation is ultimately temporary,” Zhang Ji Xin’s voice added. ”The school won’t allow the rift between different academies to widen further; they will come back...”

Zheng Qing’s thoughts, slow yet keen, reacted—ah, they must still be discussing the recent messy incidents in the school. Due to the increasingly sharp conflicts between Jiuyou and Alpha, the clashes between red-robed and white-robed students had become more frequent. To curb this trend, the school urgently adjusted some schedules to separate the classes that were jointly taken by students from both academies.

Like today’s Philosophy of Magic, which was originally a major class attended by both Alpha Academy and Jiuyou Academy, but now had become a purely Jiuyou Academy class.

Similarly, there was also Friday’s practical class.

Thinking of the practical class, Zheng Qing’s thoughts inevitably drifted towards the magic circle activation ceremony that would take place on Saturday, thinking of Korma, thinking of the Gypsy witch wearing a white mask.

He laboriously turned his neck, looking towards another corner of the classroom.

Elena’s head was buried behind a stack of thick textbooks, either diligently taking notes or, like Zheng Qing, stuck in the mud dredged up by Duke of Zhou, struggling hard.

The warlock’s lips twitched, pulling out a barely noticeable smile.

On the podium, Old Yao was still calmly reciting the lecture, seemingly completely oblivious to the students fighting off sleep:

”...In classical mystical philosophy, ’love’ is a very important concept. It encompasses the notions of the soul, magic, and material...”

”... Orpheus, after his wife Eurydice was bitten to death by a snake, went down to hell, attempting to use his magic to bring his wife back. This mirrors the story in Egyptian mythology where Isis rescues Osiris, both involving a search and rescue after the loss of a beloved...”

”... A more recent example can be glimpsed from Ms. Rowling’s biographical account ’Harry Potter’... Where the mother used ’love’ to cast a powerful and ancient magic, simple yet extremely effective in stopping the Killing Curse. On the other hand, a powerful Dark Wizard, having lost the capacity for ’love,’ was eventually defeated by a Young Wizard who had just reached the level of a Registered Wizard...”

”Of course, the point of these examples is not to encourage you to abandon the more refined and precise theories of magic at hand in pursuance of those ancient, vague, and implicit magical perspectives. On the contrary, I need to emphasize here that the magic born under the guidance of classical mystical philosophy is mostly based on experience and practice, and if we delve deeper, we’ll discover numerous paradoxes that defy common sense, which become insurmountable obstacles preventing the advance of magical theory.”

”But, beyond the modern theories of Dimensionism, we should not forsake traditional wisdom... Just like the magic created by ’love,’ it will never grow obsolete, forever youthful and powerful.”

”Back to my point.”

”The mysticism of Greece has had a significant influence on the genesis of the philosophical theories of Western white magic. The first group of magicians affected were those from the school founded by Pythagoras, which taught mystical philosophy...”

Zheng Qing’s feather pen effortlessly wrote down the name ’Pythagoras,’ without a tremble at its tip. He was no longer like he was when he first came to First University, surprised and flustered upon seeing familiar names in the Magic World. He had now become adept at distinguishing between reality and magic.

As his notebook filled up with many familiar historical names, the class also neared its end.

Old Yao gathered up the lecture materials and started the usual final query, ”That’s the main content for today, does anyone have any questions?”

An unexpected person raised his hand.

”Professor, will this year’s Spring Hunting still take place?” Zhang Ji Xin raised his hand and asked loudly.

This question, unrelated to the course, still effectively captured the attention of all the students. A ripple of light laughter flowed through the classroom.

Old Yao raised his eyebrows, a hint of surprise on his face, ”Well... As it stands, the school has already canceled the arrangements for this year’s Spring Hunting. If there are any new announcements, I will have Tang Dun inform you.”

The Young Wizards in the audience sighed in disappointment. Some were regretful they couldn’t participate in the Spring Hunting, but many were just going along with the atmosphere, pretending to sigh.

Thus, Humans are inherently creatures adept at disguising themselves.

”This will make us lose a lot of experience, Professor,” Zhang Ji Xin voiced his dissatisfaction.

Old Yao seemed utterly unconcerned that the Red-faced Male Wizard’s query was unrelated to his course, smiling with pipe clenched in his teeth, he educated in a tone of someone who had been there, ”Experience is like a turtle shell, protecting oneself while also adding a heavy burden. Too much experience is not good for you.”

”Young Wizards, your shells are still soft and light, able to freely stretch your bodies. I hope that in your four years at the university, you can break through that soft outer shell and let your dreams soar!”

”Don’t always be confined to this tiny world.”

”Class dismissed!”