Chapter 25: Standing Asleep in Potions Class

It was still early. Only a few students sat scattered around the classroom.

Morning light slanted through the windows, leaving bright rectangles on the wooden desks.

He had deliberately picked a hidden corner, perfect for dozing off in class.

When Mia saw him sit down, she took the seat beside him as naturally as if it had been saved for her. She set her bag down without making a sound.

Aelian had barely touched his chair before he flopped forward, face buried in his folded arms. He fell asleep in nearly a second.

Until the teacher arrived, this time belonged to his sacred nap.

His face was hidden in his arms, his breathing long and heavy. Sunlight fell on his fluffy silver hair, lining every strand with warm gold.

Beside him, Mia had already opened her textbook. Her fingertip traced line after line as she previewed the material with complete focus. The contrast with Aelian’s heavy breathing was obvious.

His breathing was a little loud, but as long as he did not snore, grind his teeth, or talk in his sleep, no one should bother him.

The girl glanced at the sleeping boy beside her from time to time. Sometimes her eyes lingered on his profile, sometimes on his eyelashes, sometimes on his lips.

Each time she looked only for a few seconds before hurrying back to the page. Her fingers around the pen always tightened without her noticing.

Vero stayed quiet in his pocket. Aelian had warned her not to make a sound.

Every now and then, a tiny rustle came from the pocket, probably the radish root turning over.

Before long, more students entered the classroom. The later arrivals seemed to avoid the two on purpose. Even the closest sat at least two seats away.

Clearly, they had been mistaken for a couple. No one wanted to be the third wheel.

Two girls leaned together, covered their mouths, and whispered something. Their eyes were full of teasing laughter.

“Tch… what a damn couple.”

That one was blinded by anger.

“Ugh, I want a boyfriend or girlfriend too!”

That one was simply expressing a reasonable wish.

“What should I eat for lunch today?”

Yeah. What should they eat?

Once most students were seated, a middle-aged male teacher with neat black hair walked into the classroom.

He wore a dark gray robe with a stiff collar and tightly buttoned cuffs. Under his left arm he carried a lesson plan thick enough to knock someone out.

His gaze swept the room first. Then he walked slowly up to the podium.

Leon and Stella followed behind him. Stella went straight down to find a seat. Leon stood on the podium, chin high, eyes lowered, as if nothing in the classroom had anything to do with him. He looked like a statue.

Stella still looked a little pale, but clearly much better than before.

When she passed the third row, she nodded to a red-haired girl, then quietly took her seat.

The male teacher tapped the blackboard with the back of an eraser to get everyone’s attention. Then he cleared his throat.

“Students, I am your Potions teacher. For the next year, I will be responsible for your Potions course. Before we begin, I want to praise this student, Leon.”

The Potions teacher’s voice carried an authority that did not need anger.

He did not speak loudly, but every word reached every corner of the room. When his gaze swept the class again, the students who had been whispering fell silent at once.

“Last night, Leon successfully solved the campus kidnapping case and brought the kidnapped student back. The academy will reward him. Let us congratulate him together!”

A rare smile pulled at the teacher’s lips. He looked at Leon and led the applause.

The students clapped along. They all knew the boy on the podium. He was the S-rank magic affinity student from last night’s aptitude test.

The loud applause gradually faded. Aelian suddenly raised his head and pretended to clap a few times. Then he dropped back down.

Leon remained on the podium with the same expressionless poker face. Only after the applause ended did he finally speak.

“This was not my achievement alone. I was only lucky.”

He bowed deeply to the class and returned to his seat.

The students immediately felt that this Leon was strong and had a good personality too.

Come to think of it, there was someone with an even more impressive dual super-limit aptitude. That person was also in Class A, right?

A few students remembered this and looked around the classroom. After scanning several times, they found no familiar face.

Because at that moment, Aelian was face down on his desk, sound asleep.

Seeing him like that, Mia’s smile grew wider.

The Potions teacher on the podium noticed that someone was sleeping. He threw a piece of chalk.

The whole class followed the chalk with their eyes. Their gaze finally landed on the sleeping Aelian.

The girl beside him sensed trouble. She secretly kicked his calf under the desk.

“Mmm… is school over?”

Aelian jerked his head up, eyes unfocused, a suspicious trace of drool at the corner of his mouth. The class burst into laughter.

He hurriedly wiped the drool away. Since he still had no idea what was going on, he gave an awkward smile to cover it up.

“No sleeping in class. Stand up and listen.”

The teacher’s tone was stern. After all, they had been through that incident last night. It was understandable that a first-year had not rested well, so the punishment was not heavy.

Aelian rubbed the back of his head and slowly stood up. He opened his textbook on the desk and tried hard to keep his eyes wide.

“So Potions is generally classified under alchemy. Now, continuing from before, with unicorn horn as the base…”

The teacher continued on the podium, but Aelian’s eyes gradually lost focus.

“Zzz… Zzz…”

The boy had actually fallen asleep standing up. A faint snore leaked from his nose, especially jarring in the quiet classroom where everyone was taking notes.

Someone held back laughter, shoulders shaking.

Mia seemed amused by the sudden snore too. But before she could wake him, the teacher’s second piece of chalk was already flying.

A direct hit!

Aelian jolted awake again and stumbled forward instinctively.

The teacher’s tone was flat, as if announcing something unimportant.

“That sleepy? Go back to the dorm and sleep. You do not need to come this morning.”

The teacher paused, then pointed at the still-dazed Aelian.

“If your final Potions grade is below A, you fail.”

Aelian looked completely lost. But things had already come to this. It would not be good to openly defy the teacher.

So without another word, he stood up and swaggered out of the classroom, not forgetting to take his textbook.

The moment the door closed behind him, the Potions teacher finally lost his composure. Anger surged up, and he pointed at the direction where Aelian had disappeared.

“Among the freshmen, even the dual super-limit aptitude student is not as arrogant as him! If he does not get a perfect score on the final, I will fail him!!”

The classroom was utterly silent. No one dared to provoke the teacher at a time like this.

Or so it seemed.

From the corner came a timid, pretty female voice.

“Teacher, that student is the dual super-limit aptitude student.”

The classroom went dead silent.

The Potions teacher’s hand froze in midair, like a marionette suddenly stopped.

He slowly turned his head and glared at the girl who had spoken.

The blonde girl laughed secretly, quickly lowered her head, and pretended she had never opened her mouth.

“…Continue the lesson.”

📚 Also on NHV Novels

Night of Arcbalis

BLContract RelationshipDark Fantasy

Read Now →
Not interested