It moved unhurriedly down the aisle between the seats, its posture graceful, like a stroll through a quiet courtyard. At times, it would nimbly leap onto a desk, its single eye glancing at the curious freshmen before silently hopping back down.

  Its calm and composed demeanor stood in stark contrast to the surrounding chaos.

  It seemed to notice Pandora’s appreciative gaze.

  Three eyes met.

  An invisible wave of spiritual energy, a gentle tide, washed over it. Its large, single eye froze for a moment, as if a boy who had never seen a flower had stumbled into a blooming garden for the very first time...

  Then, it broke into a light, quick pace, wove through the crowd, and obediently came to a stop before Pandora. It raised its wrist and gazed at her with its clear, serious eye.

  Pandora, satisfied, withdrew the spiritual influence of her second-rank Wizard self. She reached out and gently stroked the skin of the Palmfiend that had claimed her, its texture as smooth as silk.

  Nodding in satisfaction in her heart.

  Good. It suits my taste perfectly.

  ………………

  The process of the Palmfiends claiming their masters, while a bit chaotic, was mostly over after half an hour. Everyone had acquired their very own Palmfiend. With that, Teaching Assistant Poppy’s orientation task was also completely finished.

  She didn’s say much more. She just left them with a single sentence, in that emotionless, official tone. “Don’t contact me unless it’s an emergency.”

  Then, she turned and left.

  A dense black mist billowed from her red lips, pooling at her feet. A vicious, massive beast-shadow flashed within the fog, and in an instant, it had swept her away, leaving behind this classroom that had changed the fate of everyone inside.

  To her, the teaching assistant gig, and the similar “Warden’s” gig, were the same damn thing. They were just one of countless commissions. Aside from the required steps of the gig, she didn’t want to waste a single extra moment of her time.

  Soon after Poppy left, now that the person in charge was gone, the noise in this classroom surged like an unbound tide. The excitement of stepping into a brand new world, the unknown and the bewilderment, along with the soul-deep yearning that came after witnessing the power of the Transcendent, had completely overwhelmed their earlier fears.

  Freshmen gathered in groups of two and three, each with their own plans. Some wanted to immediately go and see the vastness of the great library. Others felt that filling their stomachs was the more pressing matter and excitedly set off in the direction they imagined the mess hall to be.

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  Pandora, however, remained seated, curiously looking over her own “Palmfiend,” which was obediently perched on her knee. She discovered that the skin on the Palmfiend’s palm could change color rapidly, with a rich palette of colors. The effect was like the early LCD screens she’d seen in films from her past life. While its clarity and fluidity were far inferior, and it had almost zero entertainment value, it was more than sufficient for providing necessary information.

  Right now, Pandora was browsing the “Contribution Point Market” that came with the Palmfiend. As freshmen, each of them received a rather generous starting sum of Contribution Points from the Academy. At least for the initial period, as long as they weren’t excessively wasteful, the freshmen didn’t need to worry about a shortage of Contribution Points.

  “Pandora… my lady, you…”

  “You don’t have to call me ‘my lady’ anymore,” Pandora interrupted Aurora. She looked up at the knightess and the Little Kitchen Maid standing before her, their expressions a little awkward, and said with a smile. “Everything’s changed now. From now on, you can just call me by my name.”

  This small change in address was incredibly significant.

  Aurora froze for a moment, then a hint of wistfulness appeared on her face. She followed Pandora’s request, but her tone was still a little unused to it: “…Pandora. What are you planning to do next? Are you going to the dorms with us?”

  This was an idea Aurora and Betty had come up with together. They were planning to settle into the dorms with Pandora.

  However… Pandora gently shook her head.

  She raised a finger and tapped the palm of her own Palmfiend. On it, a line of small text regarding “Housing Rental” was displayed.

  “I’m planning on renting a two-person unit here on campus. Elsa and I will live together.”

  “Rent a place to live?!”

  Aurora and Betty were both confused.

  Renting a room on campus wasn’t cheap, though it wasn’t exorbitant either. But Contribution Points were extremely precious. Even without Teaching Assistant Poppy’s earlier reminder, they could see this clearly from the high prices of items sold on the Contribution Point Market. Although every freshman received a starting sum of Contribution Points, the growth of a “Corpse-Plague Acolyte” would drain their accounts dry.

  The market was filled with all kinds of potions that could assist with the process, alleviate the pain, and help apprentices grow faster. Never mind anything else; in Pandora’s past life, just fitness for ordinary people had a dozen or even dozens of so-called “supplements”! And that was just “supplements,” not to mention the hardcore steroid stacks or experimental products from the cutting edge of science.

  And in this world of Demon Hunters, there would be even more potions, supplements, ointments, injections, and assistive devices. The freshmen could easily have their meager starting Contribution Points wiped clean if they weren’t careful. They were destined to have to be frugal, spending every single point where it counted most.

  Renting a room was, fundamentally… not considered by the freshmen.

  But, in Pandora’s eyes, it was a necessity.

  On one hand, since she wasn’t on the “Corpse-Plague Acolyte” path, most of the popular potions and resources on the market, which were aimed at aiding the plague transformation, were useless to her.

  On the other hand, she believed that she wouldn’t be lacking in Contribution Points in the future. With “Assisted Alchemy,” as long as she mastered the refinement method for a single potion, she could produce “perfect-grade” potions. With a skill like that, basically printing money, it was almost impossible for her to be broke for any length of time.

  Therefore, Contribution Points were not her priority right now.

  On the contrary, an independent, undisturbed space—its privacy—was her primary consideration.

  Aurora, seeing that she couldn’s persuade Pandora, couldn’t help the look of disappointment that crossed her face.

  So… was this it? Were they going to be separated from her lady?