Zhang Dong watched the monster jump out of the window and the Gandalf look-alike Vice-Principal chasing after it. He was lucky that he noticed the cat girl’s transformation technique, this he achieved after he started poking some of the old-looking books.

As always he was looking for information but he witnessed the third eye flickering into existence after he got closer. His power was diminished so he couldn’t spread his senses into the surroundings to scan people. In this form, he was limited to a couple of meters, maybe more if he had Beatrice lend him some mana. Now after dispelling the disguise he had left the poor girl with another headache.

“Would you be so kind as to give Beatrice a mana potion?”

He asked the dark elf lady who was holding some kind of crystal orb. She was already sending out some orders to other teachers and academy enforcers to catch the shape-shifting monster.

“Ahh… of course…”

The interruption didn’t go unnoticed and the mana potion was delivered. Zhang Dong in his smaller form pointed to a nice leather couch to the side while speaking to Beatrice.

“Beatrice, how about you rest there and I’ll discuss a few things with the Principal.”

The blond girl just nodded while drinking the bitter mana potion. It was clear that she was reaching her limit after the stressful day filled with tests and trials. For now, she could take a nap while he maintained his form with minimal mana use.

The Principal looked to the blond lady that followed the spirit’s instructions. It was strange to see a summoner listening to their spirit and not the other way around. It was also strange to see this spirit maintaining his form without the need for the summoner to concentrate much.

From where she was looking the girl named Beatrice was quite tired, a normal summoner would need to concentrate at least a bit for the spirit to remain in the material realm. Otherwise, they would be forced back into the spirit realm. This worked by the summoner feeding the mana into the spirit themselves.

Summoned spirits couldn’t absorb mana out of the world themselves. They needed the help of their contractor to filter the energy for them and then inject it back for them to work. This spirit here was somehow able to either minimize the effect or go around it in some way. The way it changed its forms to suit the mana usage was also something unique, normally a summoner couldn’t just summon a part of a spirit. It was either all in or nothing.

“While your subordinate chases after that three-eyed goblin we can discuss our new business venture.”

“Business venture?”

The dark elf replied while the small white haired Zhang Dong floated on top of her white desk. The two were now looking at each other. The woman had called Beatrice over here to get some answers and have the Vice-Principals mark be removed. Now after that was resolved she was left with many more questions, the biggest one being who this spirit was and how was it so intelligent. It didn’t even feel like a spirit but more like a human.

“Yes, I already showed you some of my capabilities.”

Zhang Dong said while leaning back, his form was smaller so he could sustain his flight with minimal mana usage.

“Now I would ask you for something in return…”

“Something in return?”

The Principal narrowed her eyes as she had never heard about anything like this. Summoned spirits only came to this world to form contracts with the mages. Mana that was abundant in this world was the only thing they were interested in taking. The spirits didn’t make any demands of other people after forming a contract, only when it was broken would they try to find a new summoner.

This one on the other hand was about to make some demands while offering his demon detection capabilities. The elf thought that this spirit was a lot more cunning, more like a person as it understood how to barter.

“Yes, please take a look at this.”

Zhang Dong replied while waving his finger. He produced a few cubes that looked like the ones that he was looking for. The ones that he had found didn’t always have the same shape and sometimes had strange runic symbols on them. He recreated all of those that he came across so the dark elf would have more to work with.

“I need you to help me find artifacts that look like this. They might not look like much but I’m willing to share some of my knowledge and services if you help me find them.”

The cubes that Zhang Dong produced were just holographic recreations of the originals. The Principal looked at them with interest as the runic patterns weren’t something that she was familiar with.

“This…”

“I know that it might be hard but any help would be appreciated, you would have this Leigongs eternal gratitude!”

“I don’t think that I have ever seen artifacts such as these honorable Lightning Emperor… I will have to consult the old scriptures…”

“That is fine, I would also wish to visit places where some old famous figures were first spotted… I think you also sometimes perform hero summoning rituals…”

Zhang Dong knew where these cubes could be hidden. They were probably buried deep underground where no one could spot them. It was normal for the elf to not know where they were.

The biggest problem now was his system that was severely underpowered. The map that he could use to help him scan everything was limited in range. If he was in his nascent soul realm he could just scan the whole planet in a matter of days. It wasn’t that large compared to the place where he lived.

Due to this, he would need to rely on the people here to take him to places where old heroes or sages were first spotted. Those were the most probable spots where one of these cubes could be hidden.

He also had an idea where one of the cubes could be, which would be on the Demon King continent. He had a sinking suspicion that he would find one in the Demon King’s castle or even inside of the monster itself. Similar to how it was inside of the Cthulhu that he faced.

Besides those spots, he also wanted to visit some of the dungeons that this world had to offer. Those were locations where adventurers set off to gain experience and increase their battle sense. Even though this place lacked a leveling system the people somehow increased in strength through battling many monsters.

After going through some books he believed that this place could have some kind of hidden leveling system that people didn’t have access to. Maybe only the people that were teleported here from other worlds would be made aware of that. Everyone sent here most likely had a similar system that he had to help them in their own adventure.

“Hero summoning? Famous figures?”

“Yes like sages of old… powerful kings, emperors, and maybe some heroes that lived long lives? I’m sure you’ll figure something out. In return, I could help you with that demon problem you are having…”

He had stated what he wanted and now it was time to offer something in return. His spiritual sense was several times weaker than normally so he couldn’t just scan the whole school. He would need to examine everyone up close and personal. This wasn’t his problem though as there were ways to go through everyone even with that limitation.

“T-that would be very helpful great spirit… Is this the only thing that you desire?“

“There are some other things, concerning Beatrice. I would like her to have access to the full library and maybe some pocket money for some items…”

Zhang Dong started listing some things that he wanted. Besides the books in the library, he wanted access to most places in the academy. This would probably be possible by having Beatrice achieving the white uniform status. Then he needed freedom to move through the teleportation gates without needing to pay, some money to get potions for Beatrice so she progressed faster. He also needed a pass for her so she would be allowed to travel through the lands unrestrained while not having to attend the tests and lessons.

“But that would cause problems with the other students; they might not accept a Baron’s daughter...”

“I’m sure you’ll figure something out, don’t you want to get rid of all the demons in your school? They could be replacing your people at this very moment, I don’t think you have the time to care about things like status…”

Zhang Dong shrugged while floating around. He knew that people like this adhered to the status quo. This wasn’t something that he was concerned with, the girl had already shown that she was above the rest during the tests. Her receiving a high reward after breaking old records was something only natural in his mind. If the other students complained he could just have them battle him and Beatrice. He didn’t think that he would lose to any of those youngsters in any shape and form. After defeating the instructor he was quite confident.

“Don’t you have some special exceptions for exceptional students? Where the heroes of old not exempt from the social quarrels and bureaucracy of this world?”

“W-well there is one position but I’m not sure if the noble houses will be too thrilled about something like that, I would need to consult with the other Vice Principals…”

“I’m sure that you will work something out!”

Zhang Dong replied while floating back towards Beatrice. The girl had fallen asleep during his talk with the Principal. The stress from the day had finally crept over till she just passed out.

“I will only aid you after you make the announcement, not sooner. I’m sure that you realize that you shouldn’t waste time as your student lives could be at stake here. I’ll be awaiting your reply but for now, I bid you farewell!”

Zhang Dong’s figure started to change into tiny golden bubbles of light that soon faded away into the ether. It was clear that he returned to his summoner while leaving the dark elven Principal in this room with a hard decision to make.

He found Beatrice sitting in a chair in his castle that he had made before. She had awoken in his soul realm automatically after falling asleep.

“Mr. Leigong… what did you discuss with the Principal…”

“Ah you don’t need to worry about it, you should probably wake up and go to your dorm to rest, I’ll send you on your way.”

Zhang Dong snapped his finger which caused Beatrice to wake up on the Principal’s couch. He then watched the blond be very apologetic before removing herself from the woman’s office.

“Hope that Principal delivers, this could hasten up the process tremendously, hope I can find a cube on this continent but I’m not sure if that will be enough…”

From what he knew one cube would only give him like a 30% chance of returning home, if he got two then that number would double. To be sure he would need three but if there were even three of those around here remained to be seen.

“Well, I should relax. I’m sure they will accept my terms. I didn’t ask for that much…”

He said to himself while snapping his fingers, his soul dimension shifted back to a tropical island location as it was far nicer to relax here than at a cold castle.

“Time to play the waiting game…”