Once they reached Zhongyang, Wolf took the asura to Star Marshall Hall while Jier and Feng Wu went to the Adventurers’ Guild to finalize their quest and collect payment.
They only got a measly 700 gold coins for their two tasks despite the crazy difficulty level and the involvement of the asura.
They checked the ranking list once they got back to school and saw they didn"t make the top ten.
The mysterious prize for the top earner motivated the students to work really hard. In first place was the female magician, Zi Cheng. Her earning pace was phenomenal, having made a preposterous amount of gold. Second place was Ai Lin with just a little over ten thousand. There was a large gap between first and second place. The rest in the top ten were also big money makers with thousands to their names.
Jier sighed as he turned to Feng Wu. It looked like a fierce battle but from Feng Wu’s expression he didn’t think she cared. He too lost interest in the rankings. So they waved goodbye to each other and returned to their respective dorms deciding to rest for the next few days. Afterwards they would sign up for more quests and earn gold that way. Neither were interested in getting first place, they just wanted to complete the mission.
Feng Wu returned to a deserted dorm. When her roommates came back and saw her, they were naturally curious. Xi and Annika asked her where she had gone and what she did the past few days. Jasmine didn’t join in on the conversation. She pointedly ignored Feng Wu and instead went upstairs to her room.
Feng Wu wasn’t one to chatter so she didn’t care about Jasmine’s cold shoulder, but Annika was embarra.s.sed over the situation and felt the need to apologize. “Xiao Wu, don’t mind Jasmine. She’s just in a bad mood because she hasn’t made much money. She didn’t mean to ignore you.”
Annika and Jasmine got along well because they were both magicians from an aristocratic background. Because of this she wanted to speak up on Jasmine’s behalf.
“Oh.” Feng Wu nodded her head. “I don’t mind.”
“Eh…” Annika[notes] stared at Feng Wu trying to gauge if the other girl was being sarcastic, but even after staring for a while, she couldn’t tell. Annika decided to drop it when she realized she couldn’t decipher Feng Wu’s deadpan expression.
“Jasmine is strange. Water magician’s are the best at making money, but somehow she’s having trouble. I don’t understand her.” Xi had always been blunt so she spoke exactly what was on her mind. The att.i.tudes of young misses from rich families generally annoyed Xi.
“She’s just not used to it yet.” Annika tried to explain on Jasmine’s behalf.
“Not used to it?! She’s not the only aristocratic girl in school you know. Others in the same position have done well. She needs to stop acting like some high and mighty princess! Every time something doesn’t go her way she comes back with a stink face, like she’s been ma.s.sively wronged or something. Do you know? Other people have asked me if we bully her?! Annoying to death!”
Xi was normally an easygoing person, but the situation was too unbearable. If it wasn’t true she wouldn’t have complained.
“Jasmine didn’t do it on purpose.” Annika didn’t know what else to say. She knew Jasmine and Xi weren’t on the best of terms, but they still needed to maintain the relationship.
“I know she didn’t do it deliberately. If she had done it on purpose I would have killed her already.” Xi had been feeling oppressed the past few days. Lately it had just been the three of them in the dorms. She found it impossible to chat with the foolishly stupid Jasmine. Annika was always talking to Jasmine, so it wasn’t like she could join in on the conversation. Now with Feng Wu back she felt like she had an ally again. “Xiao Wu, you be careful too. There are so many ways to harm someone; you can do it without saying a word. As long as the expression is right, others will gobble it up.”
Annika[notes] sighed as she looked up to the second floor landing. Luckily Jasmine[notes] didn’t hear, otherwise there would have been a fight.
The next day Feng Wu met with Instructor James – the instructor who gave her and Jier their leave of absences. He asked her about the two missions. Feng Wu was honest and sincere but she was a poor storyteller. She didn’t use flowery language, emotive expressions, or exaggerated anything. Her narration was factual and to the point, if a bit dry. She told about the asura and about having met Wolf, one of the stars in the 28th generation. Instructor James of course realized how unusual and difficult the children’s missions were.
After reporting in, Feng Wu returned to cla.s.s. Earning money was not an excuse to skip; daily attendance was expected. The only exceptions were those who had to travel far for their missions.
History was the first lesson. It was the easiest to sleep through so many students took the opportunity to catch up on some shut eye. Feng Wu was energetic and seriously studying the board.
(What a good student! So respectful of history.) The teacher was moved by her diligence.
With great difficulty Feng Wu got through history. She rubbed her eyes and kneaded her temples. It was not a fun subject and listening so intently wore her out.
A boy with wavy green hair grabbed a stool and sat next to Feng Wu. “Hey are you really that interested in the history of the continent? You listened so earnestly in cla.s.s.”
“Not interested,” was Feng Wu’s honest reply.
The boy rolled his eyes. “Then why do you listen so seriously?”
“Shouldn’t you listen carefully if you’re in cla.s.s?” Jier had told her to pay attention in cla.s.s, to read and study properly.
He scratched his head. “Ah… that’s true.” He didn’t know how else to reply so he returned to his seat.
Two subjects later Feng Wu grabbed her book and left cla.s.s. In leaving she walked pa.s.s a deserted hallway where an interesting scene was playing out.
“Senior, these are my feelings. Please accept them.” A madly blushing girl held out a pink envelope in both hands to the boy in front of her.
The boy, his face beet red, was equally embarra.s.sed as he accepted the envelope. With her missive accepted, the girl shyly ran away with her head bowed down.
“That senior is amazing. How come I never get love letters?” sighed the green-haired boy from earlier. He had also witnessed the scene.
Feng Wu turned around. She tilted her head inquisitively. “What is a love letter?” It sounded mysterious.
If the boy could read her thoughts, he would have said she was thinking too much of it. It was nothing that amazing. He touched his chin as he thought for a moment. “A love letter is confession of love to someone.”