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Chapter 719: Professor Lanchi's Class
Chapter 719: Professor Lanchi's Class
October had arrived, and as the breeze blew through the Moon God's Garden, the ginkgo leaves by the road fluttered and danced, creating a carpet of golden yellow on the path.
It was also the first Monday of October.
As the clock struck eight in the morning at St. Cryxie Abbey, students in the uniforms of the St. Cryxie Abbey School of Clerics and Bishops gathered in groups around the campus, chatting about their academics and practical training, even though morning classes had not yet begun.
Elliot Square
"Hey, have you heard?"
A vibrant young noble lady ran up from behind, patting the back of the blonde-haired boy in front of her.
"What?"
The tall boy turned around slowly, unstartled by the silver-haired noble miss.
"Starting today, we're getting a new professor for this class."
The noble lady leaned in and whispered.
Their conversation briefly caught the attention of passing students.
They were standing in a square not far from a building, located in the center of the St. Cryxie Abbey campus, right next to the iconic Vinard Library and Grand Hall.
The five-story giant main building was constructed from red bricks and gray stone, adorned with holy white decorative lines, and the ancient emblem of St. Cryxie Abbey was embedded in the triangular pediment.
Below the pediment were three arched doorways, and the middle main entrance was engraved with the words "St. Cryxie Elliot Hall."
Although most students wouldn't share the same class with them, it was indeed rare for the Grand Abbey to recruit a new professor at this time.
Usually, this Imperial pinnacle of learning wouldn't hire just any professor; the new hire would undoubtedly be taking over complex advanced courses, and their background would surely be impressive.
"Isn't Professor Branck doing a great job?"
The blonde boy asked, puzzled by the school's decision.
It seemed he couldn't quite understand the rationale behind it.
"Professor Branck is getting on in years. Even though he's capable of teaching many courses, it's not feasible for him to handle two Level 4 courses and a Level 5 course by himself. The course scheduling was already strained at the start of this semester, and Headmistress Violet had promised Professor Branck that he wouldn't have to continue with this Level 4 course once they found a new teacher."
The noble lady spread her hands, explaining the situation.
After all, a course director was different from a regular tutor. They needed to oversee the entire course curriculum, supervise teaching quality, develop unit plans, finalize assessment methods, manage teachers and teaching assistants, handle external liaison, and more. It required a combination of management skills, leadership, and academic prowess to excel in such a role.
Only someone with exceptionally high attainments in their professional field could handle it with ease.
"In the empire today, aside from those professors requisitioned by the Imperial military, is there anyone else capable of teaching such advanced subjects?"
The blonde boy voiced his skepticism.
St. Cryxie Abbey had five levels of courses, with the course number prefixes indicating their respective levels.
Typically, the first three levels corresponded to the first three grades.
Students could apply for graduation after completing eight Level 1 courses, eight Level 2 courses, and eight Level 3 courses in their three years of study.
As for the special advanced courses of Levels 4 and 5, they offered higher credits and challenges, and only third-year students or those who stayed on after graduation would choose to take them.
"Nowadays, there's a talent gap in the Cryxie Empire, so naturally, capable individuals will be sought out and discovered."
The noble lady replied proudly, seemingly excited to see who this new professor was.
"Anyhow, let's head to the classroom."
She happily strode forward.
The blonde boy nodded and accompanied her into the main building of St. Cryxie Abbey.
The entrance hall of Elliot Hall, with its black and white marble floor, featured a hanging brass chandelier. The entire building boasted one hundred and twenty-one classrooms and seminar rooms, primarily used for undergraduate students' magic theory research and magitech engineering courses.
The classrooms varied in size, accommodating twenty to two hundred people each.
In addition to regular classrooms, there were also advanced case study rooms and Imperial magitech engineering laboratories to cater to the diverse needs of different courses.
The middle floor of Elliot Hall also housed a staff lounge, providing not only a resting space for teachers but also an ideal venue for academic discussions between faculty and students. It was equipped with soft sofas, a complete set of tea tables, wall-to-wall bookshelves, and exclusive printing and coffee machines for the teachers' convenience.
Another notable feature was its clock tower.
The tall tower had four large clocks embedded in its walls, and at every hour, the melodious chimes could be heard throughout the central area of St. Cryxie Abbey. The terrace below the clock tower was a favorite spot for students to gather and relax during their leisure time.
As the two walked past the terrace, they passed by a black-haired figure with his hands resting on the stone railing, gazing out at the campus.
"To be honest, even after studying here for several years, I still get lost in this building pretty easily."
As they walked back into the indoor corridor, the noble lady sighed.
"I hope the new professor won't be late."
The blonde-haired boy, who had once spent half a day looking for a classroom when he first came here, couldn't help but agree.
This building was indeed a nightmare for those with a poor sense of direction, which was why most of the classes held here were advanced ones.
Punctuality for the first lesson would be a good indicator of the new teacher's reliability. After all, a top-notch university like St. Cryxie Abbey shouldn't have ill-prepared professors running amok.
It was worth mentioning that Elliot Hall, this main building, also housed several major student organizations of St. Cryxie Abbey, such as the St. Cryxie Abbey Student Council and the St. Cryxie Abbey Debating and Religious Research Society. The offices of these organizations were all located within Elliot Hall, making it even easier to get lost and mistake a room for a classroom.
Although Elliot Hall was nearly a hundred years old, it had not stopped evolving. In recent years, it had undergone several renovations and technological updates to meet the modern Empire's teaching needs. The introduction of interactive magic-guided whiteboards and the integration of the Imperial Coordinated System had infused new life into this ancient structure.
As a plaque in the Elliot Fourth Floor Atrium stated, "The path of education lies in enlightening the mind, pursuing truth, and perpetuating splendor."
Elliot Hall had borne witness to St. Cryxie Abbey's journey for nearly a century, and every brick and tile was imbued with the academic atmosphere and humanistic spirit of this highest institution of learning in the Southern Continent.
Those who gathered here were the most promising young people of the Cryxie Empire.
Unknowingly, the two of them had reached the wide staircase classroom at the depths of the fourth-floor corridor.
Sunlight streamed in through the floor-to-ceiling windows, bathing the entire classroom of several hundred square meters in a hazy golden glow.
Laughter and chatter filled the room as students greeted friends they hadn't seen over the weekend, catching up cheerfully.
However, the groupings among the students were noticeably distinct.
Despite attending the same academy, their social statuses varied greatly.
At a glance, one could discern the three distinct areas occupied by the students of St. Cryxie Abbey, from right to left: the noble class, comprising members of the royalty, high nobility, and influential families; the middle or neutral class, consisting of wealthy merchants, officials, and distant noble offspring; and the commoner class, made up of special admit students and those from ordinary merchant families.
Even though they were all talented scholars, they couldn't escape the constraints of their birth and social standing, unconsciously forming cliques based on their origins and family backgrounds.
While the blonde-haired boy and the noble lady had the credentials to mingle with the nobles, they didn't seem too keen on emphasizing this label in class, choosing seats towards the back of the middle section, where they had a good view.
There was still some time before the official start of the class.
Sitting in the classroom, one could clearly hear the buzz of conversations.
"Is the new professor taking charge of a Level 4 class directly? Must be pretty amazing, huh?"
"There's no other way. Professor Branck is already at a retirable age. The fact that he's still teaching at St. Cryxie Abbey is partly due to Headmistress Violet's persuasion and partly because he doesn't want to get entangled in the military's recruitment."
"Maybe they really couldn't find anyone, so they had to push a new professor into the spotlight to fill the gap."
"I've heard a little bit of gossip about the new professor..."
The noble student lowered his voice.
"Any juicy details?"
"He's a poor noble from the remote northwestern region of Nicksander. He probably never set foot in the capital before."
As soon as he finished speaking, a disdainful snicker echoed among the noble students.
In the eyes of the noble class, those remote impoverished nobles who brought shame to the nobility had already been expelled from their ranks.
As they spoke, their gazes inevitably drifted towards the left side of the classroom, where a female student with black hair sat.
In their class, there was a typical example of a declining noble lineage.
One had to admit that she possessed an innate and outstanding talent for magitech engineering.
However, it couldn't change the fact that she had chosen to categorize herself as a commoner, and thus, she was looked down upon by the noble class.
"So, which side will the new professor lean towards?"
"Rumor has it that he's a young magitech engineering genius. He obtained an Imperial doctorate at the age of 23 and became a professor at Nicksander Northwestern University at 25, but before he could even start teaching, he was transferred here."
Another group of students continued to whisper, some of them looking worried.
The stance of the course director often influenced the students' choice of classes.
In some classes, you'd see mostly noble students, while in others, the majority would be commoners.
If the professor favored the nobles, it would be extremely difficult for commoner students to pass or get high scores.
The previous Professor Branck was well-liked by many students because he did not show favoritism towards either the nobility or the common folk. He did not give preferential treatment or oppress students based on their backgrounds; he was kind to all.
It was rare for a course to change professors midway through, but when it happened, it was filled with elements of luck.
Just as the students were discussing this matter, the front door of the classroom opened, and light poured in.
All eyes turned to the black-haired man who entered, and the room fell silent.
His appearance was like the morning mist floating on a calm lake at dawn, faintly glowing.
Mysterious, hazy, yet clear.
His every movement exuded a worldly, cultured, and condescending aura. His gentle gaze was focused solely on the minute actions of closing the door, walking to the lectern, and placing his book down. He was unaffected by anyone or anything.
Only when he finally turned to face the students on the other side of the lectern did he speak.
Even before any conversation began, many students felt that he would not be a bad person just from looking into his eyes.
His azure eyes, like the surface of a lake, naturally carried compassion and contemplation, but not for himself.
It was for the sake of all living beings and their sufferings.
Those were the eyes of a saint.
The professor removed his soft felt hat, which had a rounded top and a small brim.
The simple lines of the hat, paired with his gray vest and loose overcoat, accentuated the scholar's calm and reserved demeanor.
Gulping.
Many students in the classroom were unconsciously captivated by his unique aura and swallowed their saliva.
"I am Landry Washington, the new professor of the St. Cryxie Abbey School of Magic Engineering."
He introduced himself,
"There's no need to be too formal. Today's lesson will be more of a discussion or an outline of the course, rather than a formal lecture."
His melodious voice instantly snapped the students out of their trance, and the classroom buzzed with activity once more.
Many students felt relieved by his appearance and even started whispering among themselves.
The new black-haired, blue-eyed professor didn't mind the increasingly noisy classroom. He simply let the students chat freely while he slowly took off his gray overcoat and hung it on the coat rack before turning back to face the class.
"Professor, what are your thoughts on the current state of the Empire?"
A student in the front row asked proactively.
After a brief exchange of opinions with their peers, many students agreed that the professor seemed to lean towards the moderate and conservative neutral faction and was likely to favor neither the nobility nor the commoners.
Although the question was sensitive, it was undoubtedly the aspect that all the students cared about the most, as it would reveal the professor's faction and stance.
"......"
Lanchi looked confused at the questioning student and remained silent.
The atmosphere he created caused the classroom to fall silent once more.
"The existence of the Abbey is to provide a haven for independent thinkers. Political topics should not be discussed within the school."
He finally spoke slowly, as if he, too, was pondering the question,
"We all know that the world has changed. Some people laugh, some cry, and most remain silent."
The same course would be attended by students from different grades.
Due to the flexibility of the curriculum at St. Cryxie Abbey, students could freely arrange their required and elective courses. However, many courses had prerequisites, so most students would complete the more fundamental courses in their lower years, unlocking more advanced courses later.
Of course, if a student wanted to take on a more challenging course ahead of time, they could directly contact the professor, obtain permission, and register for it at the student service center.
Lanchi's current course was an advanced specialized magic engineering course, "Research in Demon World Magic Engineering," which was Level 4 in course difficulty. It was suitable for third-year students who had completed their coursework or were pursuing an honors degree, as well as outstanding graduate students who stayed on for research. Whichever the case, this classroom gathered the Empire's youngest magic engineering geniuses.
"So what?"
A student asked, unable to contain their curiosity. They didn't quite understand why the professor seemed to be focusing on matters outside the Empire instead of addressing the internal issues.
It had to be admitted that the internal and external problems of the Cryxie Empire were intricately linked, with a causal relationship.
However, his perspective and the scope of his vision seemed entirely different from theirs.
"The messenger who stole the fire of humanity is an embodiment of light and can also be a harbinger of death."
He flipped through the "Magic Scriptures: Old Edition" in his hand and murmured,
"Perhaps the moment the Southern Continent truly needs a terrifying balance has arrived."
(End of Chapter)
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