For Leovena, the news was a delightful breeze, signaling her official passage from childhood to girlhood—though still a distant echo of womanhood. Yet for Leoric, it was a tempest of disaster.

  Ordinarily, matters pertaining to girls followed a predictable, punctual rhythm. As this event coincided with the turn of the month, barring any unforeseen twists, the same scenario was poised to unfold at the same time next month.

  Leoric's predicament stemmed from the fact that he was granted but one day of respite each month—a school regulation as unyielding as stone.

  He yearned to curse the architect of this rule, but dared not, for it was the Lord of the Haunted City who had decreed it.

  The Haunted City, an ancient entity nearing two millennia of existence, had nested in the Shadowfell for over seventeen centuries. Throughout these epochs, the title "Lord of the Haunted City" referred to a singular figure—a man whose lifespan stretched beyond two thousand years.

  Tarramant Tanshuer, the Lord of the Haunted City, was both its founder and ruler. Once a Grand Arcanist in the magical empire of Netheril, he had single-handedly conjured this floating city. Indeed, many such cities graced the skies in the Age of Netheril, each Grand Arcanist boasting one of their own. Furthermore, it was he who devised the potent magic to traverse planes, relocating the entire city to the Shadowfell and thus narrowly escaping the calamity that devoured Netheril.

  In the Shadowfell, Tarramant's reign over the Haunted City continued unabated. As a formidable wizard, he employed arcane means to extend his lifespan almost indefinitely, ensuring that even after two thousand years, he still sat upon the throne, his gaze ever watchful over his subjects.

  This method of near-infinite lifespan extension was also bestowed upon his twelve sons. Born in the era of Netheril, before the Haunted City's exile to the Shadowfell, the twelve sons of the Lord of the Haunted City were each over seventeen hundred years old. They assisted their father in governing the city, each overseeing a distinct facet of power, and were collectively revered as the Princes of the Haunted City.

  Like their father, the twelve Princes were paragons of excellence, ranking among the finest in magic, martial arts, scholarship, governance, and political intrigue. Alas, due to their father's enduring vitality, the Princes of the Haunted City were destined to remain "princes" forever, never ascending to the title of "lord."

  The Lord of the Haunted City's rule was as unwavering as a mountain.

  The Haunted City was a realm of rigid hierarchy, its layers of power stacking like the steps of a pyramid, with the Lord perched at the very apex. Within this city, none dared to challenge or resist him. Even Rivalan Tanshuer, the Archbishop of the Hall of Shadows, the Chief Priest, and the preeminent representative of the goddess Sel?ne in the Haunted City, accorded the Lord the utmost respect—at least on the surface.

  Indeed, by name alone, one could discern that this Chief Priest of Sel?ne belonged to the same illustrious lineage as the Lord of the Haunted City. In truth, he was one of the twelve Princes, the eldest son of the Lord. Once a wizard like his father, deeply entrenched in the mysteries of arcane magic, he had, after the city's exile to the Shadowfell, embraced the church of the goddess of the night, ascending to the rank of Chief High Priest in the Haunted City.

  Unlike the Earth Leoric had known before his time travel, in the fantastical realm of Faer?n, deities were very real. They bestowed divine spells, stripped powers, safeguarded their followers, punished transgressions, manifested miracles, and intervened in the mortal realm. Consequently, faith in this world was unyieldingly strong. The Haunted City, trapped in the Shadowfell and unable to return to the Material Plane, left Leoric uncertain of the beliefs in other cities, but within the Haunted City, everyone was a devout believer.

  The Haunted City revered only the goddess of the night, Sel?ne, and every soul was a disciple of hers. Even Leoric and Leovena, at least nominally, venerated the goddess Sel?ne and would visit the temple to offer prayers during festivals.

  This was a world where deities walked among mortals, a realm where nearly everyone was a believer.

  Thus, in this world, the authority wielded by religious leaders was immense. Much like the Pope in medieval Europe, Rivalan, as the Chief Priest and highest representative of the goddess in the Haunted City, commanded supreme authority and honor.

  Yet even Rivalan could not rival the Lord of the Haunted City.

  Within the Haunted City, all residents, besides worshiping the goddess of the night, held the Lord in equal awe and reverence. In the minds of all, the Lord of the Haunted City was the supreme leader, an infallible being, the font of all confidence, the arbiter of value, and a near-deity.

  Even Leoric, a time traveler who had immersed himself in this environment for a decade, had absorbed the aura of the Haunted City. His dissatisfaction with the Lord was confined to muted grumblings, never daring to voice a curse aloud.

  In summary, due to this unexpected twist of fate, Leoric's plan to seduce his sister was doomed to failure.

  After hastily cleaning up the bloodstains, the two got up in a rush. After breakfast,Leoric hurried back to school and managed to arrive before eight.

  What one fears most often comes to pass.Leoric's fear unfortunately materialized: every month when he returned home at the end of the month, he would always bump into Leovena's "those days." The little girl's body was incredibly regular.

  It was said to be a sign of good health... Well,Leoric naturally hoped Leovenawas healthy, but he was still quite dejected.

  What made him even more dejected was that because of this, not only had his plan to seduce his sister completely fallen through, but even the privilege of hugging his little sister and dreaming of a sweet sleep was revoked. Leovenahad a mild case of mysophobia, feeling and bloody during these days, and was unwilling to let her brother get close.

  "Go sleep in your own bed, okay."

  "But I'll be so cold sleeping alone..."

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  "You're lying. You're like a little furnace."

  "Then let me keep you warm, you're cold too..."

  "You're too hot, making me sweat. I don't want you."

  No matter howLeoric pouted, begged, and pleaded, his sister firmly kicked him out of the bed and sent him away.

  To be honest, withLeoric's strength, it would have been easy to force his way in if he really wanted to; even if he didn't use force, with a few flirtatious tactics, given Leovena's sensitive constitution and inherent charm, it wouldn't have been difficult to make her surrender willingly. But strangely enough, despiteLeoric's uncontrollable desires , whenever he met his sister's gentle yet firm gaze, seemingly mixed with a hint of pleading, he couldn't bring himself to force her in the slightest. He could only sigh, pick up his pillow, and obediently return to his top bunk.

  "Good night, sister."

  "Uh, good night."

  Well, it was heartbreakingly disappointing. Judging from the current situation, the plan to deflower his sister at the age of thirteen was simply impossible to achieve. Unless the school announced a sudden holiday for everyone, there would only be a chance after graduating in five years.

  Of course, if he were to be eliminated in the year-end exams, he could pack up and go home early—but that would be embarrassing, not to mention that Leovenawould likely be disappointed beyond measure. As a man, if he ended up like this, it would be better to find a wall and bump his head against it than to have the shame of trying to hook up with his sister again.

  Since there was temporarily little progress to be made with his sister,Leoric might as well see if there were any other worthy targets. From his previous life to this one, spanning over thirty years,Leoric had never intended to be a righteous man. Men in this world, no, accurately speaking, male creatures, all hoped for a harem of concubines. If there were any exceptions, they must be saints, andLeoric had no intention of becoming one.

  His sister was naturally the best—but that didn't mean his eyes would only be on her for the rest of his life. Otherwise, why had he worked so hard to learn from Tian Boguang just for his sister? It would have been a waste of effort.

  However, saying that was one thing; actually putting it into practice was quite another challenge...

  The Haunted City had no laws limiting marriage to one wife, and love between men and women was a personal freedom. As long as you had the skill, no one would care how many beauties you flirted with—of course, flirting with someone else's wife was a different matter.

  However,Leoric is basically confined to the wizard school now, with only one day off per month, which he must spend with his sister. In other words, his options for hunting for beauty are extremely limited, confined solely within the wizard school.

  And within the wizard school... there isn't much to choose from, really.

  Technically speaking, wizards are also humans, and among humans, there are both men and women. It seems that there are no hermaphrodites in the Spirit City. Given this, the wizard school should logically have not only males but also many females. Yet strangely enough, despite the Spirit City having absolutely no gender discrimination, female wizards are really, really rare. It's unclear what the reason is.

  During casual conversations with Tian Boguang in the past, Tian once expressed his great disappointment in the quality of women in the Spirit City.Leoric fully understands his perspective. Imagine, from the aesthetic standards of a person from the Ming Dynasty in China, seeing a group of women with blonde hair, blue eyes, high noses, and deep-set eyes, they would naturally consider them incompletely evolved monsters or demons.

  As a modern person with ideals, morals, culture, and discipline,Leoric has received education on the Three Represents and advancing party spirit. Naturally, he cannot be as uninformed and tasteless as Tian Boguang. Spring has flowers and autumn has moons, summer has cool breezes and winter has snow. As an excellent rogue, one must appreciate the beauty of different types of women.

  The problem is, even if one knows how to appreciate, there must still be a sufficient number to appreciate...

  In terms of students, the wizard school has five grades, with an average of about seventy to eighty students per grade. After subtracting those who drop out, die unexpectedly (learning magic is very dangerous), are enrolled by name only, and so on, there are about three hundred students in total.

  Among these three hundred students, there are only a dozen or so females, which means they only account for about five percent of the total.

  Using a rhymeLeoric heard in his previous life that was popular on college campuses, "Not only is the quantity insufficient, but the quality is also poor." The five percent ratio should have madeLeoric sigh, but after carefully inspecting the quality, he was even more devastated... No, he fled in panic.

  If one turns their gaze towards the professors, the result is even more terrifying. AlthoughLeoric isn't too interested in mature women, raping a beautiful female teacher seems to have been the dream of every male student at one point. There are indeed a few female professors in the wizard school, but... if the female teachers you see every day are pale like dead people, with eyes gleaming like ghostly flames, surrounded by an eerie aura like grievance spirits, and their arms sticking out of their sleeves are dry and bony... if you can still harbor evil thoughts at this point, then you truly deserve admiration and respect flowing like a river, unable to be stopped.

  "Are all the women willing to become wizards dinosaurs?"Leoric groaned in frustration.

  Complaints aside, they are ultimately of no help to reality. Anyway,Leoric scanned the wizard school and didn't find a single worthwhile target. Since that's the case, he might as well prioritize his studies and behave as a good student.

  Time is a strange thing. It can pass slowly, making each day feel like a year, or it can pass quickly, making time fly like an arrow. Putting aside his lust for Shan Jia,Leoric buried himself in his studies, and before he knew it, a year had passed.

  Although he can't be said to be exceptionally talented, he's not bad and can be considered above average among his classmates. Moreover, the body of a ten-year-old boy actually houses the soul of an adult, and the more than ten years of formal education he received in his previous life are not entirely useless.

  Knowledge of astronomy, geography, biology, and chemistry is basically obsolete due to the change of world. This is a magical world with gods and magic, and even physical laws may not be fully applicable. But at least one thing is universally true.

  Mathematics.

  One plus one always equals two, no matter where you are, with the numbers only differing in writing and pronunciation. In China, it's one, two, three, four, in England, it's one, two, three, four, and in this world, it naturally has its own writing and pronunciation, but the fundamental rules remain unchanged.

  To become a wizard, it is naturally very necessary to study mathematics well. Although on the surface, the fearsome power of wizards is magic, which seems to have nothing to do with mathematics, if a wizard doesn't have a solid foundation in mathematics, he won't be able to learn any magic. And let's not even mention studying magical runes, seals, and the like, for which a profound understanding of plane geometry and analytic geometry is essential.

  Just like on Earth, pure mathematicians may seem to have no practical use. But whether it's rockets launched into space, submarines diving underwater, planes, missiles, tanks, cannons, or computers, televisions, refrigerators, air conditioners, without a solid foundation in mathematics, they would all be unrealistic fantasies.

  Leoric is very good at mathematics—but the real key doesn't lie here.

  The true value of mathematics lies in training one's logical thinking ability, which is the most fundamental element of becoming an excellent wizard.

  The soul and insight of an adult, coupled with the logical analysis skills developed through more than ten years of systematic education, all compensate for his lack of foundation in magic compared to his classmates. And the fact that due to years of persistent internal martial arts practice, he only needs two hours of sleep per day is an even greater advantage.

  At the end-of-year exam,Leoric ranked within the top twenty. This result is naturally not exceptional, but it's not too bad. At least, he can continue to advance to the second grade and learn more advanced arcane knowledge, rather than packing up and leaving in disgrace like the bottom ten students.