The villainous young master just wants to live a Buddhist-like life.

　Professor Mitya simply said, "Of course, ordinary people can't, but there are always extraordinary people in this world, like you."

　Dark couldn't help but grin awkwardly.

　No one knows his own extraordinary qualities better than himself, but isn't there something wrong with the way you describe your extraordinary qualities?

　What's the use of having 88 constellations? Do you need to write 88 academic papers?

　“That’s your own problem.” Professor Mitya suppressed a laugh. “In short, the assignment has been given. How you do it is up to you. I’m only responsible for grading.”

　Dark: "..."

　……

　So Dark was forced to compile all the information on the eighty-eight constellations, write an extremely long analysis, and, based on the final scene of destruction he saw in the Star Palace Maze, attempt a "prophetic interpretation".

　But when it comes to "prophecy interpretation," it is actually just a vague prediction of what has happened recently.

　The flames shooting out from beneath his feet signify that he is about to step into danger. And those flames represent the fire-related disasters he will encounter.

　Basically, this is the level of "prophetic interpretation".

　After interpreting the information, one must naturally seek solutions.

　Generally speaking, water controls fire.

　Therefore, to deal with fire damage, one should seek out items related to water.

　That's exactly what Dak wrote in his assignment.

　But what he really thought was: Why not just stay home?

　Anyway, he wasn't planning on going out, was he?

　So Dark didn't pay too much attention to it.

　By the time he finally finished his final assignment for astronomy class, it was already the third week of May.

　In the first two weeks, he extracted a total of 5 drops of "Pride" and 5 drops of "Greed," and stored the remaining 6.5 points of "Pride" and 6.5 points of "Greed" in the Insect Tree.

　Then, on Thursday afternoon of the third week, the History of Magic class finally assigned the final project!

　As one of the major courses, the History of Magic course has always been assessed through a combination of theoretical exams and classroom Q&A sessions.

　But each professor has their own ideas.

　Professor Ryan Harker believed that theoretical exams on the history of magic were not very meaningful and changed them to open-book essays, similar to the format for astronomy.

　He listed eight topics in total, which students could choose from.

　However, each of the topics was quite difficult and boring, with little interest, causing the first-year junior magicians to wail in despair.

　The history of magic is, after all, a major course, unlike astronomy, which is a hobby course.

　If you don't get the required score for this course, you'll face failing the course, having to retake the exam, or even needing extra tutoring.

　If you fail multiple courses, you may face repeating a year—that would be the end of you!

　Therefore, although the first-year students were inwardly groaning, they still tried their best to find information and complete the project.

　The same goes for Dak; these days, his spare time is basically spent going back and forth between the library and his dormitory, and he is getting busier and busier.

　In addition to the History of Magic courses, the assessment methods for the other courses were also announced during class.

　Among them, Summoning, Magic Theory, Potions, and Duel are all assessed through a combination of theoretical written exams and practical examinations.

　Only arithmetic and Warcraft studies have written theoretical exams.

　Warcraft studies has relatively low requirements and is currently considered a hobby course.

　All practical assessments will be conducted in the fourth week of May, while the written theoretical exam will be held in the second week.

　Read the full text for free here

　Starting on the 8th.

　In short, papers, experiments, and revision filled the students' entire month of May.

　As a result, the first-year students' attention to the Academy Cup competition has decreased significantly.

　Many people only realized that the inter-departmental competition was about to begin when they were engrossed in their studies!

　Although first-year students cannot participate in the inter-faculty competition, the strong sense of collective honor passed down through generations still deeply resonates with them.

　The atmosphere between students from different departments has deteriorated considerably as a result.

　"From 8 p.m. Friday to 8 p.m. Sunday, a period of 48 hours."

　"Students from each college in the second to sixth year will be selected to form a team of three students from each college and year to venture into the dungeon. At the end, points will be calculated based on the actions of each team."

　"The hospital will release several high-scoring tasks before the competition begins. If you can complete the tasks first, you can get a lot of points."

　"In addition, there are extra points for actions such as defeating bosses of different ranks and exploring unknown areas."

　"There is also a weighting factor for lower grades compared to higher grades."

　"Therefore, in the dungeon adventure competition, the points obtained by senior students are not necessarily higher than those of junior students."

　"Unfortunately, the dungeon adventure competition is not broadcast live, so we can only estimate the situation by looking at the changes in the scores of each division."

　Dak put down the rulebook and continued studying.

　He wasn't very interested in other people's dungeon adventures.

　This time next year will be his stage.

　……

　It wasn't until 7 p.m. on Sunday that he temporarily put down his pen and paper, left the dormitory, and went to the common room.

　The common room was already packed with people.

　The students of the Noble Academy gathered here, discussing the changes in points with great enthusiasm.

　The four colleges, five grades, and twenty adventure groups located in the underground city noticeably accelerated in the last hour, with the temporary points of each college increasing at an extremely rapid pace.

　Dark found the first-year students' seats, sat down next to Doron, and asked, "So, who has the advantage?"

　Doron's cheeks flushed with excitement, and he immediately exclaimed, "Of course the House of Nobles has the upper hand!"

　But Pistan, the chubby boy next to him, seemed a little nervous: "Xiaoyou is in the lead, but he could be overtaken at any time. The Magic Academy is really strong this year!"

　Dark took out his Sorting Card, opened the bar chart, and sure enough, found that the Noble Academy's temporary credits were only slightly higher than the Magic Academy's. Moreover, the Knight Academy and the Fool's Academy's temporary credits were also closely following.

　The overall strength gap between the four colleges is not as large as imagined. The contestants selected from each grade are all top students, and they are basically evenly matched.

　"There's still half an hour before the critical period, right?" Dark thought for a moment and said.

　Pistan immediately nodded and said, "Yes, in half an hour, the strongest quest boss in this dungeon competition will appear. Whoever can find and defeat the boss within this half hour will most likely take the lead. Even the Fool's House, which currently has the lowest temporary credits, has a chance to win the championship in an instant!"

　"The strongest mission boss... I'm afraid even if a second or third-year student found it, they would have a hard time defeating it."

　Dark glanced down at the Sorting Card again, then his eyelids twitched suddenly, and he exclaimed in surprise, "Did we complete some high-scoring task for the House of Fools?"

　Almost simultaneously, a series of exclamations rang out in the common room.

　The bar chart representing the House of Fools suddenly surged, causing this house, which originally had the lowest temporary credits, to jump to the highest!

　Dark turned his head slightly and saw that Doron, who had just been excited, was now slamming his fist on the table, looking just like a pitiful person who had suddenly been overturned and killed in a winning situation.

　Little Pistan quickly lifted the tabletop, reassuring him, "Don't panic, Doron, we have a good chance!"

　"Yes, never give up until the very end, never give up until the very end!" Doron clenched his fists and muttered repeatedly before falling silent.

　After observing for another week, Dak discovered that many people were just as excited as Doron.

　He couldn't help but think to himself, "Why do these people seem to value the Academy Cup even more than I do?"

　His emphasis on the Academy Cup stemmed from his need for the Holy Grail.

　But these students seem to be driven solely by a sense of honor for the so-called aristocratic academy?

　……

　Just as Dak was analyzing the students' psychology, the bar chart on the sorting card underwent another dramatic change.

　The Knights Academy, the Magic Academy, and even the Noble Academy, which had fallen to second place, all seemed to have suddenly completed a high-scoring task, causing a temporary surge in credits.

　Then, just half an hour before the Dungeon Fighter Tournament, this increase suddenly slowed down.

　According to the predictions of the upperclassmen, this is most likely because the upperclassmen of all four colleges have simultaneously discovered the strongest boss!

　"How many points can this boss give?" Dark couldn't help but ask.

　Pistan immediately picked up a document from beside him, glanced at it, and then looked up and said, "Ten thousand points."

　"One hundred thousand points?" Dark thought to himself. "I remember that in the Academy Cup duels, each victory was worth ten thousand points?"

　Read the full text for free here

　Pistan nodded and said, "That's right. The duel competition adopts a college-level confrontation model. First, there are confrontations between different grades, and then there are confrontations between students from different grades. Each grade can only send one person, and each person has one chance to challenge a student from a higher grade. Each duel victory will earn 10,000 base points, and each student will earn 10,000 base points for challenging a student from a higher grade. The college with the most points will receive an additional 100,000 points as a winning reward."

　"In other words, these 100,000 points can offset the final prize for winning the duel."

　Dak couldn't help but squint.

　Since these are temporary credits, even if there are tens of thousands of temporary credits, they are not of practical significance. The main thing to look at is the difference.

　A difference of 100,000 points can secure victory.

　If the strongest dungeon boss and the winner of the duel are each won by one of the two academies, then determining the winner will depend on other accumulated resources.

　At this point, the actual total number of credits, which is not much different, and the temporary credits converted from the final exam scores, become significant.

　……

　The atmosphere became noticeably tense afterward, with students in the common room staring intently at the bar chart of the sorting card, waiting for the final result.

　Just two minutes before eight o'clock, the Magic Academy's temporary credit column suddenly jumped up!

　The entire audience wailed in despair!

　"It's over, the Holy Grail is finished this year!"

　"How could it be the Magic Academy? Why would it be the Magic Academy?"

　"Quick, quickly calculate the credit gap..."

　The students' screams rose and fell, and the sounds of banging on tables, watermelons, and radishes filled the air.

　Beside the ashen-faced Doron, Dark immediately calculated the credit gap and finally breathed a slight sigh of relief.

　The slight advantage initially established by the House of Nobles came into play, and the credit gap between the two colleges remained less than 100,000.

　This means that as long as the Noble Academy wins the duel, it will have a high probability of winning the Academy Cup.

　In other words, there is still a chance.

　Having a chance is certainly better than having no chance.

　The atmosphere at the scene gradually calmed down.

　The younger students discussed this extensively.

　The older students, however, seemed like deflated balloons, drooping their heads as they left one after another.

　Looking at the reactions of the upperclassmen, Darke couldn't help but cross his fingers and guess, "Looks like we should prepare ourselves for not getting the Holy Grail this year."

　Winning the Academy Cup Duel Tournament is no easy feat, especially with the "Silver Dragon Girl" among the fourth-year students of the Magic Academy.

　Last year's duel tournament was just like that. The "Silver Dragon Girl" not only gained a point in the duel against someone of the same grade, but also gained a second point in the challenge against someone of a higher grade, helping the Magic Academy achieve the final victory in the duel tournament.

　If it weren't for the overwhelming advantage the Noble Academy gained in the Dungeon Fighter Tournament, they would never have won the Academy Cup last year.

　"Well, I guess I'll have to rely on myself in everything."

　Dak took a slight breath and stood up from his seat.

　Fortunately, his need for the Holy Grail isn't that high at the moment.

　With Professor Harvey's help, the "Death Curse" was upgraded to the beginner level.

　Through persistent efforts, "Netherworld God Technique" has also reached the threshold of breakthrough.

　Dark patted Doron on the shoulder and said, "Don't be discouraged. Even if you lose this year, there's always next year."

Chapter 442 Darkdemon's Final Exam (4.5k)