High School of Demon Hunting

The first weekend after school opened.

Beta Town shook off the bleakness of the winter break, and the pedestrian street had regained most of its former bustle.

The wizards and witches coming and going on the street were unabashedly pulling each other around, holding hands or embracing, and the joyful laughter and lively atmosphere had completely swept away the last bit of cold left from the previous winter, as if overnight, the whole world was wreathed in the essence of spring.

Zheng Qing walked outside the crowd.

His face hidden under a broad hood, he chose paths with fewer people, like corners and behind houses, which meant it took more time to reach Doctor Du Zemu’s home.

The witch walking with him had heard about a secret society planning to act against someone, so she understood the wizard’s choice, happily accompanying him through winding alleys.

Meanwhile explaining some knowledge relevant to his graduation thesis.

"...For students graduating normally, the school assigns a thesis advisor in the first semester of their senior year, then the advisor meets one-on-one with each student to determine the direction they want to ’research’

...Of course, the school doesn’t expect too profound theories or powerful magic from those who haven’t even passed the registered wizard assessment. At best, it’s a way to systematically train everyone’s ability and habit to research, analyze, and solve problems, and test the students’ grasp of professional knowledge, etc.

...After the interview, the topic needs to be opened. The advisor will explain how to write the opening report, the requirements for the thesis’s word count and format, etc. If using a laboratory is needed, the advisor must coordinate the relevant experiment time and material usage quota. A good opening lays the foundation for a thesis, and students new to thesis writing spend almost half their time on this.

...This is the graduation thesis process for ordinary students. Those like us graduating early don’t follow regular procedures, for instance, fundamentally needing to find our own advisors."

"Did you find yours yourself too?" Zheng Qing couldn’t help but interrupt: "Who did you find?"

"Um, a relative from my family, who’s a professor of magic sociology at the school."

The witch explained briefly and immediately reminded him, seeing the thoughtful expression on the boy’s face: "If you plan to ask Old Yao to be your graduation thesis advisor, better dispel that thought as soon as possible. Firstly, His rank is too high, and He doesn’t normally advise graduates, may not guide you to write a truly qualified thesis; secondly, He’s too busy. Especially for someone like you, who knows nothing, you’ll definitely panic later on while writing the thesis because you can’t find Him. It’s better to choose a lower-ranked but more responsible advisor from the start..."

Hearing this suggestion, Zheng Qing’s mind immediately conjured a list of names.

From the talisman course’s Zhang Huaigu, to the history of magic’s Sima Yangyun, to the Fishman professor Abu Garcia, even Professor Montreya from the Edge Academy was a good choice.

Especially the last one, Zheng Qing had fond memories of working as an assistant in Montreya Laboratory. And as his current ’direct supervisor,’ the professor likely wouldn’t refuse the role of his graduation thesis advisor.

"...I suggest you determine your thesis topic first, then find a relevant advisor. Rather than find the advisor first, then choose a topic." The witch’s voice again sounded in his ear.

This time, Zheng Qing didn’t ask why.

Instead, he curiously glanced at the reference books in her arms and asked, "What topic have you prepared for your thesis?"

"Hmm, ’Redefining the Influence of Radical Fringe Wizardry on the Internal Structure of the Alliance.’

The witch cleared her throat, providing a rather convoluted answer and simply explained: "Mainly referencing the Black Prison battle where the Dark Council emerged, the ’Give Me a Frog’ movement, Nicolas pulling out his werewolf bloodline, and the evolution from First University’s underground mice to the Mouse Clan... Because we participated and witnessed many of these events personally, we have very rich firsthand materials. Coincidentally, my relative is an expert in the field of magic sociology. He believes research in this area is valuable to the whole alliance, suggesting I could lightly touch on it."

"Wow, sounds really complex... and quite grand." Zheng Qing sincerely praised, but couldn’t help showing some level of confusion: "But this topic..."

Jiang Yu smiled slightly: "Feels not closely related to our major, right?"

Zheng Qing nodded honestly: "I thought our thesis could only relate to magic script... you know, our class name, Astronomy Class 08-1."

He reached out and sketched an invisible magic script character in the air.

Representing ’silence’ or ’quiet.’

A shower of sparks fell, weak magical fluctuations spread from the dissipating character, hitting walls, causing a few bugs squeaking in the wall cracks to shut up, indicating they got the wizard’s suggestion.

"That’s the requirement for ordinary students."

The witch watched this scene with a smile, explaining briskly: "Like you, most elective courses are related to the talisman, how much content relevant to magic script can you write? Graduating early deserves a little privilege."

"Then do you think writing a thesis about sprite evolution is good?" Zheng Qing suddenly thought of tonight’s aim and those unusual sprites, feeling this topic was excellent.

Jiang Yu hesitated for a few seconds, then very tactfully replied: "Difficult, but an interesting topic. You can try. But I remember your alchemy grades aren’t particularly outstanding?"

Zheng Qing scratched his head.

Not just lacking.

Since starting as a freshman, his alchemy grades were almost at the bottom across subjects. Compared to him, Lin Guo seemed more like a bug in this world, possessing unusual talent in alchemy.

The fleeting joy vanished in an instant.

"If you truly have this idea, I suggest consulting Doctor Du Zemu about it when you see him, see if he can be your thesis advisor... Of course, provided we find him tonight."

As they spoke, the two had already passed through the cold, quiet alley, standing at the entrance of the Abnormal Life Research Institute.

Two guardians hung on the talisman board at the gate held their weapons and shouted in unison:

"Yin Ye is here, who comes?"

The white-haired tiger crouching in the corner of the talisman board swung its neck and roared loudly.