Mist Empire’s Rise: Fake Noble to Fog Queen

It was hard to describe that sound—like something releasing gas, or like a membrane vibrating, with intermittent electrical crackling mixed in.

Luo Wei held her breath and listened carefully as the sound drew closer.

She searched around until finally realizing the sound came from above.

A peculiarly-shaped small bird flew over her head toward the bulletin board.

Luo Wei watched the bird in amazement. Its body was covered with a metal shell coated in some unknown black material that provided excellent camouflage in the darkness.

What surprised her wasn't that the metal bird could fly, but that its power source wasn't magic spells or runes.

There was no magical element fluctuation from the bird, indicating its maker hadn't infused any magic power into it. Its flight relied entirely on small windmills under its wings and the flickering electricity visible in its belly.

Who was skilled enough to bring technology to life in a magic academy?

Luo Wei lay curiously in the grass, watching the bird hover before the bulletin board, wondering what it would do next.

How would it find the specific self-criticism letter it was looking for?

Did it have artificial intelligence?

Or was someone controlling it remotely?

Many questions popped into her mind, but before she could analyze them, her eyes reflected a burst of flame.

The metal bird opened its sharp beak, extending a thin tube that shot scorching flames at the bulletin board.

Luo Wei: !

Of all possibilities, she hadn't expected this—the person who released the bird wanted to burn down the entire bulletin board!

The parchment had no fireproofing treatment and caught fire instantly, burning into a large patch within seconds.

It was too late to save it now. Luo Wei calmly stayed hidden in the grass until the metal bird finished burning the wall and left, then quietly got up to follow it.

The metal bird flew toward the girls' dormitory. In the distance, Luo Wei saw a slim figure on the castle roof, watching in the bird's direction.

Without seeing the person's face, Luo Wei already knew who it was.

Hessel Calansis, an intermediate alchemy apprentice—the senior student who had burned down a classroom due to an alchemy accident.

Although Luo Wei knew who she was and could see her standing there, she couldn't go up to catch her. An ordinary junior magic apprentice wouldn't be able to fly.

By the time she climbed up the stairs, the culprit would have returned to her room.

She could give up on earning this credit, but she couldn't lose points for failing her guard duty.

Luo Wei estimated the metal bird's height and distance from her, waved her landing net, got a feel for it, then ran, jumped, and threw the net with full force.

With a clang, the net caught the metal bird and brought it crashing to the ground.

Luo Wei looked up at the castle roof—as expected, the slim figure had vanished.

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She went to pick up the metal bird. Catching the bird meant catching the person—another credit point successfully earned.

Luo Wei didn't rush to submit the evidence to the Student Council office. She carried her net back to the bulletin board and cleaned up the ashes and fragments.

After cleaning, she took out the stack of self-criticism letters she had copied from under her skirt and pinned them back on the wall.

Junior students who had only been enrolled for half a year didn't know the terrible consequences of having their self-criticism letters posted on the bulletin board, so they probably wouldn't come to steal them.

But intermediate and senior students were different—they were craftier. Luo Wei figured they would definitely try their luck at the last minute.

Sure enough, around five o'clock, as dawn approached, several shadowy figures appeared near the bulletin board.

Here they came—her credit points.

Luo Wei gripped her net excitedly from atop the tall elm tree. When the figures nearly gathered, she shouted and jumped down, catching them completely off guard!

"Dear seniors, since you're all here, why don't you come with me?"

"Don't run! The supervisors are watching from upstairs. Trying to escape will double your punishment—all your credits will be deducted!"

The five seniors: ...

Losing all their credits—that was too harsh!

By the time Luo Wei left the Student Council office after six o'clock, dawn had broken.

After a busy night, she had earned eight credit points. Though not as many as she had imagined, it wasn't bad.

However, threatening Vina to spread the word seemed unnecessary now, and it had damaged her image of being kind and tolerant—a poor move.

But then again, she never had a good image in front of Vina anyway, so ruining it further wasn't a big issue.

Actually, the biggest gain last night wasn't the credit points, but the owner of that metal bird—Hessel Calansis.

That she could invent a bird that could fly without magic, despite the backward state of basic physics research, suggested that if she had access to more advanced physics knowledge, she might be able to invent airplanes.

People without magical talent couldn't use magic-related devices, and only a tiny minority could travel through transfer arrays.

Only non-magical transportation like airplanes and ships could truly benefit ordinary people.

In the future, when she needed to send people without magical talent to the Misty Plains, she would have to rely on air transportation.

She needed to find a way to bring Hessel to her side.

As dawn broke across the south, the morning bell rang.

The vast academy awakened from its slumber, with chirping birds accompanying hurried footsteps outside the church building.

On the second day of the new semester, there were regular classes in the morning and a faculty-student assembly in the afternoon.

Luo Wei had Rune Magic class in the morning. After a month's absence, Professor Mike's brown hair had grown a bit whiter.

Mages aged faster when they stayed too long at one level.

"Good morning, children!"

"Good morning, Professor Mike!"

Professor Mike walked into the classroom carrying a thick book of runes, which he opened on the podium.

"Alright, let's begin class."

"Last semester we learned basic rune calculations and engraving. This semester we'll study enchantment."

"Enchantment can't rely on external tools—you'll need to engrave runes using your magical power, which requires very precise control."

"So the first step in learning enchantment is mastering precise magical power control."

"Everyone come get a wooden stick. Today's task is to learn how to concentrate and release magical power to cut through the stick."

"Once you're proficient, we'll learn how to engrave on wooden boards, and how to enchant harder or softer materials..."

After one Rune Magic class, Luo Wei could barely keep her eyes open.

The effects of staying up all night were finally showing—she had almost dozed off in class, barely avoiding being caught by Professor Mike.

"Dear Luo Wei, shall we go out for lunch?"

Jane caught up from behind and linked arms with Luo Wei.

Luo Wei was too tired to open her eyes and said wearily, "Sorry Jane, I'm so sleepy. I want to go back to the dorm for a nap first."

"What were you doing last night to be this tired?" Jane asked curiously.

Just as Luo Wei was about to answer, excited screams suddenly erupted from the crowd ahead.

"Ahhhh! I've been selected by the academy for the magic competition!"

"What? You?"

"Oh my god, Jack was telling the truth—the academy has posted the team roster!"

"What? The team roster is out? Let's go look!" Jane's eyes lit up as she pulled Luo Wei into the crowd. "Hurry, Luo Wei, our names might be on there!"

Luo Wei was puzzled: "What team roster?"

Jane didn't hear her and continued pulling her forward, finally squeezing through to the bulletin board. But when she looked up, her face fell in disappointment.

"This isn't right. How can the list be like this?"

"No me is one thing, but how come you're not on it either! There's Axina, Jack, Tong'en..."

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