High School of Demon Hunting

Chapter 2041: Chapter 262: Effort Is Like Snow Accumulating

On Friday morning at six, Zheng Qing awoke from a chaotic dream.

In the dream, giant purple spiders crawled into the pitch-black dormitory, with a row of white spindle shapes of varying sizes hanging from the ceiling. The spiders waved their sharp forelimbs, tearing open those web-woven spindles, revealing the rotting, moldy green bodies of all the members of dorm 403.

Among them were young wizards like Zheng Qing and Xiao Xiao, as well as the little sprites he kept, and that fat cat—it held a half-eaten chicken leg in its mouth, covered in mottled mold.

”Crack crack!”

A sound of fine and dense collisions came from between the spider’s joints, quickly coalescing into a strange-sounding sentence: ”... What a beautiful row of fruits... what a pity they aren’t in my orchard.”

The night wind blew into the dormitory through the crack the spider crawled through, and the young public student felt the shattered strands of web fluttering up and blocking his nose, making it hard to breathe.

He struggled mightily, crying for help in his heart.

When he propped himself up on his elbows, cold sweat breaking out all over his body as he climbed out of bed, the last thought that flashed through his mind was, ’I’m already dead, so why can’t I breathe?’—such a strange thought.

A hand touched his forehead, cold and slender, so much like a spider’s claw, scaring the young public student into a scream.

”Had a nightmare?”

Xiao Xiao’s familiar voice sounded, quite positive: ”I still have some doses of Soul-Stabilizing Soup here, want to drink some before morning class?”

Since Zhang Ji Xin had a nightmare all night after the first selection match, the Absolution Hunting Team had prepared many protective measures very carefully, including Nightmare Dolls under pillows and calming soup after waking.

But since the matches in the following days went peacefully, these measures now seem a bit superfluous.

Zheng Qing took quite a while to come to his senses.

”No, thank you.”

He refused vaguely, trying to recall the previous dream, somewhat uncertain: ”...Probably doesn’t count as a nightmare... although it was a bit scary... Are we starting morning classes today?”

Due to the late-night matches, Zheng Qing hadn’t gotten up for morning classes for almost a week—after insisting on doing morning classes Sunday after the first selection match, he was in poor spirits for the whole day, which affected that night’s match—in a way typical of most good habits once broken, it was always a bit difficult to pick up again.

Just like now, the warlock felt he should rest one more day.

”It’s up to you.”

Xiao Xiao adjusted his glasses, glanced at the young public student, already dressed in his robe and waxing his bamboo slip law book, while making an interesting analogy: ”But I must remind you, effort is like accumulating snow, it can either pile up into an iceberg taller than the sky, or be fragile enough that one stream of urine leaves a big hole...”

Zheng Qing accepted the hot towel offered by a little sprite, wiped his face, and instantly felt much more refreshed.

He decided not to let a stream of urine in life knock him down.

As it turned out, he wasn’t the only one being lazy that morning.

Perhaps because the previous night was the last match of the selection series, there were a lot of people watching and participating in post-match activities, so everyone got up a bit late the next day. In the Flying Garden where morning classes were held, there were sparse figures, the cafeteria had few diners, and even inside the teaching building, every classroom passed by was much quieter than usual.

When Zheng Qing took off the invisibility talisman and pushed open the door to enter classroom 503 East, almost everyone was in their seats, chatting idly and occasionally interrupted by yawns.

The stick figure at the door was buried in thick chalk dust, unknown whose handiwork it was, but Zheng Qing guessed someone found it too noisy and covered it.

Noticing the identity of the person entering, the already sparse conversation in the classroom abruptly stopped.

Zheng Qing’s gaze swept over the crowd—Jiang Yu was as usual previewing her coursework, Li Meng was dozing with drool nearly dripping onto her chest, Matthew’s face hidden in the broad shadow of a curtain, Nicholas cautiously helping Liu Fei Fei with her hair, and there was Tang Dun, standing up and waving an arm energetically at the young public student.

”Good morning, Brother Qing!”

The monitor of Astronomy Class 08-1 happily greeted: ”I heard that you used a second-rank battle formation in the Hunting Ground yesterday? That was amazing! Could you possibly instruct the class on the key points of deploying a second-rank battle formation during the afternoon practice session? I can submit a request to the school for any consumables you need, and I’m sure it will be approved.”

He patted his chest emphatically.

For this point, Zheng Qing had no doubts. Moreover, he thought it would be good to reinforce the magic he had mastered and help everyone learn together in class.

”Of course, no problem.”

The young public student agreed readily, his gaze instinctively resting on Jiang Yu, curious why she hadn’t discussed this earlier: ”... As for consumables, we might need some blood of the Bo Fu Clan.”

Tang Dun grasped a feather pen and quickly jotted that on a piece of parchment, then crumpled it and shaped it into a small paper crane, tossing it out the window. The paper crane fell for quite a distance before barely flapping its wings, fluttering toward the direction of the administration building.

”Of course, the school will definitely also give you some credit points as a reward,” at this point, Tang Dun glanced over Jiang Yu, and added: ”... Additionally, Student Jiang Yu has already submitted the relevant application materials. If the guidance goes well, it might not just be our class afterward.”

The witch finally looked up, giving a slight nod as acknowledgment.

When their eyes met, Zheng Qing suddenly realized she hadn’t discussed this with him earlier because she knew he’d definitely agree. This thought lifted the young student’s spirits significantly today, and an unconscious smile appeared on his face.

As he passed by Li Meng’s desk, he teasingly tapped on the table.

Dong dong!

The little witch jolted, her head shooting up, babbling incoherently as if seriously reading the textbook in front of her.

Zheng Qing jeered, ”No need to rush, wipe off your drool first... It’s nearly dripping onto your textbook. Didn’t you see the two wizards doing experiments have already hidden in the corner?”

Li Meng glared at him fiercely, her gaze clearly saying, ’None of your business’!

A handkerchief was promptly handed over from the side, as Jiang Yu wiped the drool from the little witch’s face and warned, ”If you’re sleepy, go wash your face, or stand up to listen to class for a while... Little kids shouldn’t drink too much energy magic potion.”

”Oh,” the little witch obediently responded, ”I never drink those peculiar things!”

Listening to the conversation behind, Zheng Qing, while cheerfully greeting his classmates—after nearly a week’s adjustment, the class finally lost its initial fervor—strolled over to his familiar corner.

Zhang Ji Xin and the fat boy were already there.