The Freshman Welcome Gala featured more than just the headmaster's speech and banquet. A crucial segment was teacher-student interaction.

Senior teachers and professors sat at the back of the hall. They chatted while observing new students from afar. Midway through the feast, they'd step in to mingle.

This arrangement served two purposes. It gave师生 a chance to connect. It also prevented students from feeling awkward if teachers arrived too early, hindering peer bonding.

Time was up. Teachers rose and headed to assigned tables. For years ahead, they'd guide these students to become skilled mages—no, warriors.

Each of the seven regular departments had one teacher per table. That meant one senior teacher mentored ten students. But the three special departments offered one-on-one tutoring: each student got a dedicated mentor.

Beneath this system, undercurrents swirled. Especially for special department mentors. A student's performance indirectly reflected the mentor's prowess. In short, student rivalries were also mentor rivalries.

"Professor Lu Yun," a voice chuckled. "Your student seems to have... heh."

Ouyang Tao had left early. When mentors entered, his seat stood empty. As his assigned mentor, Lu Yun faced cold jabs from other professors.

"Indeed," Lu Yun replied smoothly. "A pity not to meet him right away." He was used to this. He sat calmly at his spot, smiled slightly, and stayed silent—the best shield against awkwardness.

Silence worked, but it wasn't what Lu Yun truly wanted.

*He's a spirited kid,* he thought inwardly.

He'd seen Ouyang Tao leave. He knew exactly what happened—he'd faced the same humiliation before.

Though from a noble lineage, Lu Yun's family had faded by his generation. Simply put, he was a fallen noble, living like a commoner. He'd endured coldness, isolation, discrimination, and invisible pressure.

Rationally, Ouyang Tao's rash move was unwise. The weaker side only worsened things by acting. Doing nothing was the only solution.

Young Lu Yun believed talent would earn acceptance. He'd take root at Augustus College and change his fate. He was half right. He became the academy's youngest professor, securing his place. But his circumstances never truly changed.

That was due to exclusion and Envy from fellow professors.

Lu Yun chose silence again. It let him survive—but this wasn't the life he craved.

Today, he saw Ouyang Tao choose a different path. Even scorned, even isolated, he stood his ground and stayed true.

Never backing down—that fiery spirit stirred Lu Yun's long-dormant heart.

"Mentor," a girl's voice cut through his thoughts. "May I speak with you?" It was Deya, daughter of Prime Minister Marquis Zakuin, a Mechanical Department postgraduate.

"Of course," Lu Yun agreed readily. This would ease his current discomfort.

Deya was his former student, hailed as a "once-in-a-century genius." She'd already earned the rank of Mechanical Master.

As her mentor, Lu Yun felt proud of such brilliance.

Deya sat beside him and got straight to the point. "Mentor, I have a request."

"Hmm, go ahead."

"In tomorrow's guidance match, I want to fight that commoner student, Ouyang Tao."

"Oh?" The unexpected request left Lu Yun momentarily speechless.

But curiosity quickly shaped his reply.