High School of Demon Hunting

”A wise gambler never goes all-in at once when betting,” he opened, ”because they know they’re gambling, with their risk exposure always at its maximum.”

”To hold reverence for things you barely understand is not disgraceful, as long as you are alive, there will always be an opportunity to understand them further.”

At this point, the Rat Immortal lightly tapped the yellowed parchment on the table, slightly intensifying his tone, ”This magic circle is like this, demons are also like this... You think I have nothing to do with demons, but how much do you really understand about the nature of demons? You think the school will prevent demons from entering the campus, but how much do you know about the policy makers of First University?”

It emitted a short but piercing laugh, as if to annotate his two questions.

The witch furrowed her brows tightly, a cautious expression appearing on her face.

This type of knowledge, secretive within the Wizard World, was beyond her reach, even as the vice president of the student council. Not to mention her origins from North Beta Town—the universally acknowledged Magic Wasteland in the Wizard World.

The Rat Immortal seemed not intent on elaborating on his two questions, switching the topic back to his story:

”Stimulating magic power reactions through demon qi to improve the success rate of wizards advancing—this was the main topic of my laboratory’s research. Simply put, magic power reacts to demon qi in a stress-like response; demon qi can induce multiple transformations of magic power in a short time, thereby enhancing the quality of the magic power... until the wizard can no longer withstand the transformation and succumbs to the reshaping by the demon qi, becoming a fallen wizard.”

”By then, our research had reached the stage of ’Measuring Yaoqi Erosion Dose Limit’, that is, arranging different control groups to determine at what concentration and dose of demon qi can maximize the stimulation of magic power potential without causing negative effects on the wizards.”

When mentioning these experiments, a hint of pride and longing could still be seen in Rat Immortal’s face.

But quickly, that hint of luster was lost with the continuation of the story.

”... An accidental leak of demon qi forced the laboratory into a Level 5 Lockdown. We wore protective suits, enduring the erosion of high concentrations of demon qi... unable to leave. Unable to meet people or contact outside wizards.”

”The entire laboratory became a big ’Sandbox’.”

”The school did not abandon us. They arranged many wizards from other laboratories to help us stabilize the situation, control the erosion process of demon qi, neutralize the leaked pollutants... and also to help us contact our families.”

”Juice was not even three years old at that time. Although very smart, she was still just a child and couldn’t sleep well at night without her mother. So, the principal thought of a good idea and made two double-sided mirrors, one hung above Juice’s bed, and the other was smuggled into the laboratory through a special channel.”

”Through that mirror, Juice could hear our voices, see our feigned images; we could also hear her voice, see her likeness. She showed us how she changed her own diaper, how she mixed oatmeal with hot milk; we told her bedtime stories from Grimms’ Fairy Tales, sang her lullabies.”

”Why the feigned images? That’s because the demon qi erosion caused significant changes in the appearance of everyone in the laboratory, including me... terrible changes. So terrible that Juice would never believe that the lump of rotten flesh on the other side of the mirror was her dad or mom.”

”... With the double-sided mirror, we were already very content.”

”Juice clung to the small mirror all day, calling out for dad and mom. Every day, she was on that side of the mirror, we were on this side. Listening to her babble turn into chatter; listening to her quietly complain about the nanny’s bad cooking, the old man teaching her magic as a dummy who liked to oversleep; listening to her count the days for us to come home.”

”Because the principal told her that her mom and dad had gone on a far journey... and would be back very soon.”

”Three years old, four years old, five years old, six years old, seven years old...”

”As she grew older, Juice became increasingly reluctant to talk to us through the mirror. She started to feel that we were deceiving her. Because the ’very soon’ never came.”

”That winter when she was eight years old, she ignored us all winter.”

”We could understand. So, we worked even harder on experiments, analyses, computations. Hoping to recover sooner, to return and reunite with her.”

”Juice was ten years old when the school finally lifted the seal on the lab.”

”We also regained our wizard identities and returned to the sunlight.”

”I held my wife’s hand, walking from the dark lab into the sunlight, looking at the dazzling sun, which resembled Juice’s radiant smile. My wife’s hand was cold, and it trembled continually.”

”The principal, dressed in a black robe, was waiting for us outside the laboratory building.”

”He walked towards us and slapped me across the face.”

”A hard slap that left me dazed and disoriented.”

”As I cried, I laughed like a fool, and even asked him, ’Is Juice still in class?’”

”The principal handed me a small box, inside which was a double-sided mirror, identical to the one my wife was clutching.”

”My wife’s face turned deathly pale, and she gripped my hand painfully tight, asking again, ’Where is Juice?’”

”The principal said nothing.”

”In a panic, I snatched the double-sided mirror from my wife’s hand, shouting Juice’s name loudly.”

”The mirror quickly responded.”

”Ten-year-old Juice poked her head out from under the covers, showing a sleepy, lazy expression and murmured, ’What? It’s the weekend, I want to sleep in...’”

”I was truly stunned.”

”If the mirror the principal gave us belonged to Juice, then where was Juice now?”

”The principal stood in the sunlight, his voice as piercingly cold as a winter wind, ’Juice is a highly talented child. Stronger than both of you. She mastered precision escape techniques at the age of five. On her eighth birthday, she said she wanted to give you a birthday surprise. I thought she was just showing off a newly learned spell. But unexpectedly, she escaped into the mirror. She wanted to travel to the World in the Mirror to find you.’”

”’The World in the Mirror is part of a fictitious temporal space, and even I can easily get lost in it.’ The principal’s voice had grown much older, he spoke slowly, the contents cruel, ’On your birthday, Juice escaped into the World in the Mirror. She never came back.’”

”My wife, already frail, collapsed abruptly when she heard this, her precarious balance between magic power and demon energy completely shattered, transforming her into a demon. The principal didn’t resist, letting her attack him wildly.”

”I didn’t resist either, but she couldn’t even be bothered to glance at me.”

As Rat Immortal spoke, he burst into inconsolable weeping.

His murky tears streamed down his crisscrossed wrinkles; Korma had never seen this old man in such a sorrowful state.

Watching the elder wizard cry bitterly, the witch didn’t know how to console him, only managing to gently touch the tip of his claws with her finger.

Rat Immortal hiccupped and withdrew his claws, roughly wiping his face:

”I’m telling you this story not to stop what you plan to do tomorrow, but to tell you that life has many pivotal moments and many valuable things. We can never control everything, but we can choose to control the right things.”

”Magic is the universe’s greatest miracle.”