Chinese professors at the Wizarding Academy

Jim collapsed to the ground like a lump of mud. He had already resigned himself to his fate. His mental strength was barely qualified, and he entered the Gray Tower Academy in the Black Forest as a blood tax paid by the Kingdom of Lorian.

This is a great gift for talented people, but for most people it is a deadly trap.

Otherwise, everyone would be begging to pay, so why would it be called a "tax"?

You can't avoid paying taxes!

Entering Gray Tower Academy, you may become a wizard who seeks truth and wields extraordinary divine power...

However, the probability of becoming a material is still greater for those without the necessary qualifications.

"Wake up, stand up, and come with me."

Gu Chen stepped forward and gently shook Jim, who was lying on the ground unresponsive.

The movements were so gentle it was almost unbelievable, which made the witch Alyssa, who was watching from the side, twitch the corner of her mouth.

"How hypocritical..."

"So tender towards a material? You just want to dismantle him alive and use him as upgrade material... A heart that's been overly frightened will pump out the most vibrant blood."

"The best way to upgrade the Blood Drain spell model from beginner to expert is to obtain [Blood of Vitality], and I know that better than you do."

Gu Chen ignored Alyssa's sarcastic remarks. He frowned, turned his head, and uttered a cold reply.

"Shut up."

"Getting angry won't help. Within the academy, wizards are forbidden from killing each other."

He then ignored Elisa, who was clearly displeased.

Gu Chen's actions weren't a deliberate performance; as he shook Jim, his mind was filled with various thoughts.

Thanks to the "mutual learning" skill provided by the "Grace" talent, even if Jim only makes a little progress under her guidance, she, as the teacher, can receive feedback beyond her imagination.

As long as Jim performs well as a student, he has a good chance of obtaining "analysis points" to understand and master spells, and then try to advance from a low-level first-ring wizard to a mid-level first-ring wizard, thus escaping the fate of failing the assessment and becoming mere material.

But Gu Chen didn't think Jim was just an opportunity for him to survive and make a profit from his talent.

"Even though you have very poor talent and are a piece of trash who is about to be melted down in the furnace, I still have no choice but to choose you."

"You are my chance to live, you are my material, but you are also my student."

"As a teacher, I will certainly teach any student who is my student with utmost care and dedication..."

As a seasoned teacher, Gu Chen understands that students will have differences in talent and effort.

Before transmigrating, Gu Chen was seen as a typical Chinese teacher, the kind of person parents considered reliable.

He would deliberately dress unkempt, carry a microphone on his waist, and get angry when students couldn't learn something.

His teaching style is strict, but not torturous.

Gu Chen also patiently guides students who are eager to learn, protects students who make mistakes, turns a blind eye to students who are late for morning reading because they are too sleepy, and provides financial support to poor children to help them complete their studies.

But now, in Gu Chen's eyes... Jim is a student without talent, a good-for-nothing in this wizarding world.

But we can't let him die just because he lacks talent.

"Get up! I'll take you away from here. Do you want to live?"

Gu Chen shook Jim, who was lying on the ground, again, his movements always gentle and light.

This child is both his only chance to trigger the "teaching and learning from each other" effect, gain benefits, and pass the assessment, and a tragic, pitiful student who deserves another chance.

Teachers and students should always respect and support each other.

Strictness stems from responsibility, while gentleness stems from respect.

Jim's unfocused pupils shifted slightly.

Is this a dream?

Did someone save me?

Jim's dazed vision finally focused, and he saw the gentle-looking face.

"An angel...?"

To see such a gentle expression in the cold and desolate Gray Tower Academy? Am I in heaven?

Then, Jim's gaze shifted downwards and fell upon the necklace hanging around the neck of the person in front of him.

It was a blood-drop-shaped badge, gleaming with an ominous dark red luster in the dim light.

"A blood sorcerer!?"

Jim was prepared to die when he was forced into Gray Tower Academy as part of a blood tax, since he really didn't have any talent...

However, the Soul Furnace dies in an instant, but it can fall into the hands of a Blood Wizard.

I'd rather be dead!

He had heard those rumors... a blood sorcerer's apprentice was found the next day looking like a withered fruit, his skin clinging to his bones, every drop of blood drained away!

Bloodsucking, internal organs removed for a ritual...

Jim immediately realized that he had been targeted by the Blood Wizard to be used as material!

"No, no, no!! My lord! Kill me!"

"Let me go back! Let me go back!"

Jim snapped back to reality, letting out a dying beast's howl as he used his last strength to scoot backward, tears streaming down his face, his eyes filled with the deepest terror.

"My lord, please let me return to the furnace!"

Meanwhile, the skinning golem grabbed Jim and slammed him to the ground.

Gu Chen crouched down and looked at the boy who was struggling violently out of extreme fear, but to no avail.

All emotions vanished from that gentle face, leaving only a deep-sea calm and an unquestionable resolve.

The sound wasn't loud, but it clearly pierced through Jim's hysterical cries.

"Death is simple; the furnace is right next door."

"Death is difficult, becoming material is a desperate thing."

"But as long as you live... there's always a way out if you live."

Gu Chen extended his hand, making an invitation that brooked no refusal.

"I've already decided on you. You either die now, or you gamble on a chance, a chance I'm giving you."

Gu Chen's calm gaze locked onto Jim, and he posed the question that would determine their fate:

Now, answer me:

"Would you like to be my student?"

Whether out of fear or a deep desire to live, Jim finally uttered the answer that Gu Chen had hoped for.

"Okay, okay... fine..."

After a terrified Jim stammered out that they were teacher and student, Gu Chen helped Jim up, who had just fainted.

The corners of his mouth unconsciously turned up slightly.

After a month of waiting, Gu Chen finally got his first student!

"...You're so hypocritical."

Alyssa, who witnessed the whole thing, rolled her eyes and exhaled a sigh of exasperation, her heaving chest revealing her ample bosom.

She is also a Blood Wizard, currently at the mid-level of the first ring.

Alyssa was disgusted by Gu Chen's actions. All he did was grab some materials to use as his own health pack since she had no hope of leveling up.

"You suck the blood of these trash...aren't you disgusted by their revulsion?"

"Oh, wait, you're a good-for-nothing too. It really is a bunch of good-for-nothings together, hahaha~"

They keep saying things like "Become my student" and "I'll give you a chance!"

it is ridiculous!

As Alyssa thought of this, she couldn't help but let out a soft hum, her laughter filled with unbridled mockery.

It's just some preliminary preparation for obtaining high-quality materials!

Alyssa herself is a third-tier star-level blood wizard! She has absolutely no need to worry about any so-called promotion assessments.

Once Gu Chen's month-long death struggle ends... we can retrieve his body.

You can then obtain the advancement material "Wizard's Blood"!

You won't have to worry about advancing to the next level at all!

They might even go further and gain a deeper understanding of blood magic!

The best food for a blood wizard is another blood wizard!

"Give up, you have no chance. You might as well come with me now and lie on my dissection table."

"Maybe I'll even give you a little favor~"

Alyssa sat up from the back of the faceless humanoid puppet, gently tossing her hair, which emitted a captivating fragrance.

She stretched, revealing her beautiful curves once again.

Gu Chen listened to Alyssa's words and simply couldn't be bothered to talk to her.

In his eyes, although Alyssa held the title and position of lecturer at the wizarding academy, she was less a teacher and more a heartless, cold-blooded leech.

He had no intention of arguing with Alyssa, who was standing beside him. He simply knelt on the ground, picked up Jim, and prepared to leave.

Inside the shadowy corridor, a figure carrying someone on its back was moving away from the Soul Forge. The figure carrying the person was not very tall.

Just as Gu Chen was about to leave the Shadow Corridor, Alyssa's mocking voice came from afar.

"Those of you without talent, your fate is already sealed."

"And you are the most hypocritical one. You just want to leech off him and make some false promises."

Gu Chen suddenly stopped in his tracks. He had heard similar words many times as a teacher.

He replied with a single sentence without turning his head.

Gu Chen had seen this sentence on the wall of his school in his previous life; the handwriting was crooked and messy, but he remembered it for his entire life:

"But teacher, what about those who lack talent? Were their lives wasted from the very beginning?"

The sound echoed in the corridor, but the person deep inside did not reply...