High School of Demon Hunting

Chapter 1875: Chapter 96: Taboo

”Who else knows other commonly used short spells?”

On the podium, Old Yao bit his pipe, chewing the bluish-white smoke, his beetle-like eyes scanning the room momentarily before nodding at the male monitor of Astronomy Class 08-1.

”Frankness!” Tang Dun stood up to answer.

”Hmm, that’s a very interesting spell as well.”

Old Yao turned and knocked on the blackboard, which immediately spewed out a series of well-structured spell formulas, describing in detail the spell Tang Dun just mentioned:

”...Just like your intuitive understanding, this spell is often used for gentle inquiries, where the caster hopes to obtain the most truthful answer with minimal harm. Compared to truth serum or other more coercive magical means, this spell is quite favored by the Dan Hag Wizard Rights Protection Committee.”

”Therefore, you can often hear it at the wizard meetings organized by the Alliance or during Trident Sword’s daily tasks. The journalists from the ’Beta Town Post’ also like to use it quietly during interviews... It is not illegal, but unethical. Anyone want to experience it?”

As he spoke, the professor took the pipe from his mouth and glanced around the classroom.

All the students who met his gaze quickly lowered their eyelids, with a few timid ones wishing they could stuff their heads into the desk drawers. Perhaps only the ever-reckless Li Meng had a hint of eagerness in her eyes.

But Old Yao’s gaze never landed on the little witch; instead, he looked at the young wizards at the back of the classroom with a smile, his eyes lingering between Zheng Qing, Nicholas, and the new student Carmen, finally settling on Zheng Qing.

The young public-funded student stood up with a look of despair.

Professor Yao did not immediately cast the spell on the warlock; instead, he continued explaining leisurely:

”...Unlike ’Taboo Words,’ which are refined to the extreme, ’Frankness’ is also a short spell, but it requires creating an appropriate atmosphere when used, which is subtly different from the ’Ge Zhitianxi, Cast to So-and-So’ you learned last semester.”

”For example, right now.”

”Student Zheng Qing is standing in front of me, I ask him, ’How do you think I’m doing as a professor?’ After tossing out this question, while he’s pondering, I can throw ’Frankness’ on him and hear the most real answer...”

Saying this, the professor tapped lightly on the lecture notes with his fingertip, and Zheng Qing felt a gentle breeze on his face. A series of strange ideas popped into his mind, and his mouth and tongue started working uncontrollably:

”So-called, the decline of orthodoxy, oddity brewing disaster, chaotic school years, disturbances in all directions; thereby, in the classroom, ferocious beasts teach, among the school grounds, beasts consume salaries; brutes and savages take the stage, the exceedingly vicious...”

”Taboo Words!”

On the podium, Professor Yao interrupted the young public-funded student’s endless ’Frankness’ with a dark face. He stared at Zheng Qing’s pale face for a while, eventually laughing dryly twice, explaining amidst the dead silence:

”What I asked in my heart was ’how do you view the school’s practice of hiring Bell Lake fishmen as teachers’... It sounds like Student Zheng Qing has quite an opinion on this school policy privately. It’s okay to have opinions, as long as we maintain good communication, even more opinions can be solved.”

Below the podium, a group of young wizards finally shook off the influence of ’Taboo Words’, collectively exhaled a breath of relief, nodding headlessly in agreement with the professor’s explanation.

Xin Fat Man cautiously turned half his body, gesturing ’you’re really bold’ towards Zheng Qing.

The young public-funded student stood with a stiff expression, beginning to ponder the thirteen common formats for a will, whether his deposit at the Wizard Union Bank should be left to his parents, Poseidon, or donated to the Cat Fruit Tree.

But Old Yao didn’t give him much time to think.

”...As I’ve emphasized before, ’Frankness’ belongs to the category of conditionally used restrictive spells, if any of you have mastered this spell, be sure to think twice before using it.”

After a brief summary, the professor looked again at the young public-funded student: ”Since Student Zheng Qing is still standing, why don’t you mention a spell related to ’Taboo’.”

This was absolutely retaliation.

Zheng Qing rolled his eyes inwardly, betting that if he couldn’t come up with a suitable spell, Old Yao would definitely mark him in the classroom assessment form and deduct points from the in-class marks.

A slight rustle came from beside him.

Zheng Qing’s peripheral vision caught Xiao Xiao’s notebook with two conspicuous bold typeface words written on it.

”Taboo!” The young public-funded student almost instantly shouted out those two words.

The classroom fell into silence again, but unlike the tranquillity caused by ’Taboo Words’ before, this time the quietness in the classroom seemed a bit eerie.

Old Yao rarely didn’t smile.

He frowned, picked up a pen, and turned to write these two words on the blackboard.

”Taboo!”

”Don’t be afraid, there’s nothing that can’t be said.” Turning back, Old Yao encouraged like a cheerleader. But the classroom still retained that unsettling dead silence.

”This spell contains two powerful spell words. Just like last semester’s mention of ’Tangled Vine’ inside ’Ge Li’ and ’Lei’, they belong to the same kind, but have mutual support and strengthening effects.”

”Taboo, contrary to one’s own will, unable to say what one wants... We’ve already talked about this just now.”

”Avoid, more severe, belongs to fear and dread; has a very strong negative attribute.”

”Taboo, avoiding because of fear or dread. Just like what you’re doing now, simply due to these two words, it evokes fear from the heart and results in silence... This is also the strength of this spell.”

”But everything has two sides.”

”Since everyone can avoid because of taboos, isn’t there an extended possibility for a better effect? For example, reinforcing its ’avoidance’ effect. Many wizard families are accustomed to combining this spell with other rituals to create a magical effect.”

”This is invisibility.”

”Invisibility?!”

This word obviously piqued everyone’s interest, even if still somewhat uneasy, the attention of the young wizards — especially the warlocks — had a noticeable fluctuation.

”The ancients said, ’If you see something, don’t go too deep; Taboo means deep, deep means invisible,’ clearly pointing out the principle behind this extended spell.”

”Unlike traditional invisibility magic that bends light and deceives sight, the ’Deeper than Deep’ derived from ’Taboo’ achieves invisibility through more subtle means.”

”After using this spell, as people around you subconsciously avoid you, achieving effects like ’seeing but not seen’, ’hearing but not heard’. Compared to simply visual interference, this direct-to-heart power is more secretive. However, for wizards with firm will and strong beliefs, this spell has absolutely no effect.”