Aerin woke up in pain. Waiting for a wave of dizziness to pass, she tried to recall what happened. It didn’t take her long to remember everything. She immediately became furious.

“Bitch … just wait … I’ll make you … pay.” She said with gritted teeth. If someone had told her she would suffer so greatly at the hand of Abi, she would have never believed him. Not only had she lost but she had also miserably lost. Moreover, it was a 3 vs 1 fight. Even if they had been holding back without the intent to kill, they should have been able to crush Abi without much effort. Aerin could only sigh with resignation after recalling the previous fight.

After observing the surroundings, Aerin noticed that she was at the bottom of a huge crater. It was difficult to imagine how a mere punch could have created such a huge crater. Her belly was still crying in pain because of Abi’s punch. She casted a healing spell to treat her injuries. The spell wrapped her body in a gentle white light and she was soon able to move again. After exiting the crater, Aerin went to search for the twins. She recalled that they had also suffered greatly under Abi’s care.

The culprit had already at destination. She arrived in time but had encountered a nasty surprise. Standing in front of a wooden door, she was staring at a poster attached to the door with an annoyed expression.

“Tsss … If you want to cancel a course, at least tell the student in advance.” She muttered under her breath. She was not angry because the course was important, she was angry because she had wasted time coming here, time she could have used to cultivate. Courses in the Royal Academy of Magic were divided in “Mandatory courses” and “Optional courses”. A mandatory course was held once per week and all the students had to attend it. In case of absence, the student would be penalized. Although the optional courses were not mandatory, they were the most important ones as mandatory courses only displayed basic knowledges. However, not everyone could attend an optional course as nearly everything in the Royal Academy of Magic had to be earned through competition.

In fact, nearly everything required contribution points which could only be earned but not given. As a total failure, the former Abi didn’t possess a high amount of contribution points. Thus, she hadn’t attended a single optional course since the beginning of the academic year. Abi took a mental note to earn the maximum of contribution points as quickly as possible. According to her memories, there were many interesting things which could be exchanged with contribution points. Those resources would be very helpful for her future cultivation. But, for the time beings, she decided to take a trip to the library. There was no better place to gather information than a library and she needed as much information as possible about this new world.

The academy resembled a small city. Many buildings could be seen and the library was the biggest of them all. It looked like a gothic-style stone cathedral. Located in the middle of the academy itself, it dominated everything with its height. Seeing the library reminded Abi of a modern skyscraper on Earth as it was just too big. Dozens of students were entering and exiting its entrance every second which made it look like an anthill. They all looked very busy but their expressions changed when they saw Abi approaching. Different reactions could be seen. The women frowned while shooting disdainful gazes. The guys were also shooting disdainful gazes but mixed with disgusting smiles. Those guys, it was not difficult to imagine what they were thinking while looking at her. Some of them were even licking their lips but none approached. Apparently, their disgust was more powerful than their lust.

Although, anyone in this situation should be angry or feel at least uncomfortable, Abi didn’t mind it at all. In fact, she understood them completely. There was no more prestigious school than the Royal Academy of Magic. Each student here was a genius among geniuses, chosen from talents all over the Spirit Mountain Kingdom. It must be known that the kingdom had a population of a little more than one billion and everyone was a mage. Of course, talent levels in the population were not distributed equitably. At one end of the spectrum were the people stuck at level 1 or 2 for their whole lives. They couldn’t become a spiritualist with such poor talents and were only capable of using basic spells. At the other end the spectrum were the absolute geniuses who were able to attain level 7 at the age of 16. Only those young mages were worthy of the Royal Academy of Magic.

With such environment, it was not astonishing to find proud and arrogant student in the academy. In fact, all of them were proud and arrogant to some extent. How could they support the arrival of Abi in the same school of them? Putting a talentless level 3 student was like an insult to their pride. Abi ignored them as she passed the library entrance. After passing the entrance, she entered a luxurious circular room a hundred meters large. The entirety of the floor was covered with marble while the walls were covered with silver and gold. There was a ten meters high statue in the middle of the room, a statue entirely made with gold. It depicted an old man wearing an armour. He was exuding an aura of absolute power as he was standing with a sword on his right hand and a star on the left hand. The old man was staring at something far away with an expression of intense concentration. It was as if he was facing his archenemy.

Abi tried to recall who this old man was as he must have been someone important in the history of the academy. But no matter how hard she tried, she recalled nothing. Her mind was totally blank which made her sigh wit sorrow. As a former scientist, she was used to know a lot of things about many subjects. Not knowing such trivial thing as the name of an historical figure made her feel dejected. She really needed to hurry and learn the history of this new world. After passing a door in the back of the circular room, she crossed a corridor which lead to the reception. Instead of a librarian, a human-shaped clay golem greeted her. It resembled a human except for its face which had no eyes, nose and no mouth. It began talking mechanically with a voice coming out of nowhere.

“Abigaël Lightning, first year student, 10 contribution points. You have not sufficient contribution points to borrow a spell scroll. Consultation only. Please take a seat.”

Abi nodded before sitting at a random table without paying attention to the people sitting next to her. Before her butt touched a chair, nearly all the people occupying the table stood up hurriedly before searching for another one. They left a dumbfounded Abi. What the hell! Did she stink or something? She began to wonder as everybody ran away as soon as she approached. It made her feel like she was a bag full of stinking shit. Although she was a loner, she didn’t mind interacting with people from time to time like any normal person. Unfortunately, the former Abi’s reputation was too bad which dissuaded anyone from interacting with her. Although, it was annoying, she couldn’t do anything about it. Thus, she ignored the issue and decided to search for interesting books.

It was this moment that she realized something unexcepted. Not everybody had left the table. There was a young man sitting in front of her. According to his uniform, he should be a first-year student like her. This young man was fully concentrated on reading. There was a huge pile of books next to him and he ignored the entire world as he was flipping through books. Seeing him made Abi think about the old days when she was still a student at the university. She had been just like him when reading books. She even remembered that one day, she had almost slept inside a library as she had been too engrossed about a quantum electrodynamics book. After looking at the young man which reminded her of a good memory of home, she decided to talk to him. It was always good to make some connection and create good karma with other people.

“I think you forgot something.” She said.

The young man seemed like he didn’t hear anything as he took another book from the huge pile. Slightly embarrassed, Abi coughed to attract his attention. Unfortunately, the guy didn’t notice it at all. She coughed much louder but without better result. He was ignoring her! She pursed her lips with dissatisfaction. Nearly everybody ran away when they saw her and the only person who didn’t run away was ignoring her completely. She suddenly stood up, turned around the table before sitting next to him. This time, he noticed her arrival and looked at her.

“I think you forgot something.” She said again with a gentle smile, a kind of smile which was enough to melt any man’s heart.

“When I arrive, everybody left this table except you. It’s not too late, you know. You should leave now before your reputation takes a hit. It’s not a good idea to stay at the same table as me, Abigaël the trash.” She was looking at him intensely, anticipating what kind of reaction he would have.

What she didn’t realize was that she had come too close to him. The young man had been in the process of solving a complicated problem when a terrifying beauty suddenly talked to him. He almost died of heart attack the moment he saw her. A blond girl with long golden hair as soft as silk, a face like that of a celestial, tiny lips which made you want to eat them and her chest! He gulped a mouthful of saliva. He had the impression that her breasts had their own wills and were whispering to him. They wanted to be grabbed and to be kissed and … His hands were already moving but a sudden spark of intelligence lighted up in his mind which made him stop. It was fortunate that his rational mind came back to save him. A quick reflection made him conclude that he had no chance to sleep with this girl. Thus, it was useless to even try. As he also remembered the complicated problem he had to solve, he finally said.

“Oh, I don’t really care about my reputation as long as I’m left alone.” He said as he began to read a book again like nothing happened. Seeing this, Abi thought that the guy was definitely a weirdo. In theory, a man should be happy to talk with a beautiful girl, right? But she underestimated the power of her new body. A normal woman with her physic would already be categorized as otherworldly beautiful but, with magic added to the mix, it had made her body emit a special aura which mesmerized one’s soul. The closer she was to someone the stronger the aura was felt. Sitting so close to the yound man made her irresistible for him. Her power was so strong that it had an opposite effect on the young man. After seeing Abi, he just concluded that she was too beautiful for him and totally lost interest in her.

After the fiasco, she decided to leave him alone. According to her memory, searching a book in this large library required a special spell. After whispering something, a white screen appeared in front of her. It looked like a hologram at first sight but was in fact entirely different. A hologram was a projection of light on a physical medium whereas the white screen was a concentration of solid light. How can they make light become solid? There was only one explanation … magic! Abi touched the screen which was of course a tactile screen and began searching for historical books. Soon, thousands of references appeared on the screen. There were just too many books and she didn’t know which was of them were good ones. After thinking for a long time, she couldn’t help but look at the young man again. A bookworm like him should be able to help her, she thought. She coughed again to attract his attention.

The young man frowned, he didn’t like to be disturbed.

“I wonder if you could help me find some books?” She asked apologetically.

He sighed before leaning towards her.

“What kind of books do you want?” He asked with a hint of frustration. He wanted to finish this task as quickly as possible and return to his spell design. Moreover, he began to smell a sweet fragrance from Abi which attracted him like a magnet. How troublesome!

“Books about the history of Altaïa. Official history but also legends and myths. I also want some books about the history of the northern continent, the Spirit Mountain Kingdom and geopolitics of the empires and kingdoms within the northern continent. By the way, what’s your name?” Abi asked after stating her demand.

“Feanor.” He said while trying to remember all the books he had read about history. Soon, he found some references and pressed the screen. Each time he touched a book title, said book would leave its shelf before heading towards the table by flying. After a short time, a huge pile of books appeared in front of Abi. His task finished, Feanor wanted to return to his previous seat but Abi pulled his arm which made him feel like being struck by lightning. He sensed a strange energy entering his meridians before spreading in his entire body. Soon, something soft in his lower abdomen began to harden.

“Wait”, she said. “You have help me quite well, I have to help you in return. Is there something you need?”

Trying hard to control himself, Feanor answered with difficulty.

“No need, you can’t help me.” He tried to free his arm but it didn’t bulge. It was like his arm was imprisoned by a metallic clamp.

“You don’t understand. You helped me and I will help you. What you have given me I will pay you back. That is karma.” She responded, her eyes burning with seriousness. She was so serious that Feanor became embarrassed. What was so important about it anyway? He thought for a moment and decided to let her do what she wanted. He couldn’t waste any more time here.

He sat back next to her and put a piece of paper on the table. Abi recognized a spell scroll immediately as the paper was covered with symbols.

“I’ve been working on this spell for one month. It’s a variation of [Adros Shield], a rank one spell. When casted, it should create an energy screen in front of the user which should block all physical attacks. I’ve designed a minor variation which, according to my calculations, should increase the defence capabilities by at least 10%. But it doesn’t work. No matter what I try, it refuses to work.” Feanor said with an angry tone of voice.

He didn’t think that Abi would be able to help him. He just stated his problem so that she realized the difficulty of the endeavour. Who did she think she was? Even he, Feanor, couldn’t solve it, much less an average girl. He was even smirking, waiting for Abi’s confidence to falter so that he could return to his spell design. However, he became soon disappointed as the young woman didn’t plan to give up. She looked at the scroll a moment before talking again.

“You are only a first-year student but you want to improve a spell already? Truly ambitious. You are lucky I’m here. Look, the problem are those symbols. They are not compatible with each other which create an imbalance. The mana isn’t being transmuted properly. But, it should be fine if you use other symbols instead.”

She put a finger above the scroll and all the symbols began squirming like little insects. The bad symbols trembled before disappearing. Soon, they were replaced by new ones. The moment the new symbols appeared, the entire scroll trembled violently while emitting a gust of elemental energy. It couldn’t be mistaken; a complete spell scroll had been created.

Feanor’s eyes widened in shock. How was that possible? He had spent an entire month on this spell but hadn’t find a solution. However, a random girl unexpectedly solved his problem. Not only had she solved the problem, she had solved it without any effort as if it was the easiest thing in the world. It was spell design for God’s sake, one of the most difficult job in the world. Becoming a spell designer was Feanor’s dream but he knew of the extreme difficulty to reach it. The difference between using a spell and creating one was like the difference between the heaven and the earth. If Abi had been a spell designer, he would not be so shocked but she was just a first-year student like him. Her uniform was undoubtedly that of a first-year student.

He felt defeated, completely defeated. She was not only beautiful beyond reason, she was also a genius spell designer. Seeing him in a daze for too long worried Abi a little. She gave the scroll back and asked.

“Are you fine? You are looking strange.”

Feanor finally came back to reality after hearing her. He took the scroll hurriedly like it was some kind of treasure.

“Yes … I’m … I’m fine. Thank you for the scroll.” He said with difficulty as he still couldn’t believe what he had seen earlier.

Abi nodded before talking. “We are even then.”

“Heuuu … can you give some pointers with spell design in the future? If I encountered a difficult problem of course. I won’t bother you with something trivial.” He couldn’t help but try. This kind of genius was very rare. If he wanted some pointers from a teacher, it would cost him too much. Contrary to his expectation, Abi didn’t refuse.

“Sure, come find me if you have any difficulty.”

She was too adorable, Feanor thought. She hadn’t think about it at all and immediately accepted. He had a very good impression of her because of that. As he was thinking, he couldn’t prevent his eyes for looking at her tender neck and even more tender chest. A sudden urge to pounce on her appeared in his mind but he suppressed it and hurriedly headed to the room exit. He had the intuition that he would do a very stupid thing if he remained there any longer.

Abi looked at him go and smiled. She thought that sowing good karma was always a good thing to do. You always reap what you sow. Those who sowed good things would be rewarded but those who sowed evil would be punished. That was karma, the most fundamental law in the multiverse. When she thought about punishment, she remembered her old enemies. Her eyes became icy cold while thinking about them.

“Wait for me guys, it’s me who will find you. And when I’ll find you … hmmm. Just prepare to die!”