Mist Empire’s Rise: Fake Noble to Fog Queen

Chapter 363 Mist Empire’s Rise- 362: Thanks to Dyleisntdial's Gift of Kings!

Second exam: Magic Runes.

Luo Wei walked into the exam room brimming with confidence. Unfortunately, things started badly—she drew the growth rune drawing and enchantment question.

If it were just drawing the rune, she might have muddled through. But the practical section required her to use her drawn growth rune to mature the flower bud on the table, making it bloom and bear fruit.

The supervising professor would score her based on the bud's growth speed and how long the plant continued growing.

What could she do in this situation?

Luo Wei tearfully drew one line wrong, making the entire rune collapse during the drawing phase. Injecting magic wouldn't produce any reaction. She barely protected her secret.

The bonus question was drawing a heating rune on an eggshell—requirements were to cook the egg without burning it, testing students' precise magic control.

Luo Wei scored zero on the basic rune question and four points on the bonus. Adding in her usual class participation scores, she just barely hit the six-point passing line.

Close call—she'd almost had to retake it!

Leaving the exam room, Luo Wei heard Professor Mike's melancholy sigh.

"Forget it, forget it. This old man just isn't likable, and the course I teach is hated by students. Sigh~"

Professor Mike clutched his papyrus scoring sheets, shuffling away from this heartbreaking place.

Luo Wei reached out desperately: "No, Professor, let me explain! I really didn't do it on purpose!"

"Professor! Professor Mike!"

Growth runes—her lifelong nemesis!

The first day's two exams ended under Luo Wei's incredibly bad luck.

Second day morning: Astrology assessment.

Because divination tools differed, the junior department exam area was divided into three zones—the crystal ball timing zone, the tarot card doubt-resolution zone, and a third zone set up specifically for Luo Wei alone.

When she stepped onto the platform, Luo Wei stared at the sign below for a full three seconds before confirming this exam platform was really called the "Green Turtle Divination Zone."

She was going to crack. What genius came up with this name?

People who didn't know would think she was a green turtle!

She could tolerate writing "turtle" without "shell," but why add "green"?

What was the difference between a green turtle and a cuckold?

Luo Wei's hands trembled slightly as she held the turtle shell. Her lifelong reputation!

The assessment hadn't started yet. She could still apply to change the sign.

Luo Wei quickly found the supervising professor, expression serious: "Professor, the divination tool on the sign is wrong. I use turtle shell, not green turtle!"

Since junior department magic apprentices had to take seven courses, with five classes of students per exam, the junior professors were overwhelmed and had asked intermediate and advanced professors to help.

The professor supervising Luo Wei was from the advanced department. He naturally knew of Luo Wei, this campus celebrity.

Not only had he heard from others, he'd also seen her from afar in the spectator seats during the academy's magic competition.

But having never interacted closely, this professor's deepest impression of Luo Wei was her holding a glowing green little turtle for divination.

Green was great! Green symbolized life. At his age, he loved green.

So when setting up the exam zones, with a grand flourish, he'd written "cute green turtle" on the wooden board.

Now hearing Luo Wei say the sign content was wrong, the professor didn't believe it: "Not a green turtle? Did I remember wrong?"

He saw the divination tool Luo Wei held and pointed: "Isn't that a green turtle!"

Luo Wei presented the turtle shell with both hands: "Look, it's just a turtle shell. There's no turtle inside anymore."

"Oh, green turtle shell!"

The professor nodded, picked up his pen, walked to the sign, and thoughtfully squeezed a tiny word into the gap after "green turtle"—"shell."

Siria's professors all respected students. Like this professor, he didn't think Luo Wei was being fussy. On this point, Luo Wei was quite moved.

But when she saw that impossibly small word on the board, grief welled up inside her.

After this exam ended, intermediate and advanced students would come rearrange the exam room. If they saw this sign, she'd never wash off the "Green Turtle" nickname!

Luo Wei humbly requested: "Professor, could you write it a bit larger?"

The professor looked troubled: "Any bigger won't fit."

"Then could we get a new board?"

"Child, just make do. The assessment is about to start."

As soon as the professor finished speaking, the exam bell rang. Luo Wei had to return to the platform. Everything would have to wait until after the exam.

The astrology exam didn't require drawing questions. Divination was extremely draining. Professors had to divine answers to their own questions first—too many questions made calculations troublesome.

There were three questions total: drawing the twelve-constellation chart, analyzing water element astrology, and divination for the exam question.

This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

The first two mainly tested students' grasp and application of basic astrology knowledge—all memorized material that didn't require magic.

The third divination question related to this year's weather.

The crystal ball zone's question was: "Will it rain in Siria over the next three months, when, and how much?"

The tarot card zone's question was: "Should the academy store water over the next three months, how should they store it, and how much is enough?"

Luo Wei could choose either question to answer.

She carefully read both questions first. Analyzing the first question's content, Siria should have rain in the next three months—otherwise the question would be too simple and the latter two parts would lose value.

But calculating three months of weather wasn't easy. The question even required calculating rainfall amounts—even astrologers couldn't calculate that precisely.

The second question looked simple but was equally difficult. It required combining astrology with reasoning to give an answer. The flexibility was high, but the chance of error was higher.

Both questions had real and false elements that complemented each other perfectly.

If Siria had abundant rain over the next three months, the academy wouldn't need to store water. If it didn't rain at all for three months, the academy must store enough water for daily use.

Luo Wei thought for a few seconds and decided to try the first question.

She placed her right palm on the bright green turtle shell, closed her eyes, and entered her mental world.

The starry river flowed. The young woman stood on the giant turtle's back, looking up at the black canopy where star tracks crisscrossed.

"When will it rain in Siria over the next three months?"

She could only divine twice daily. The first two rain questions could be combined into one.

Perhaps because three months was too long a prediction time, the constellations changed rapidly. It drained nearly half her magic before giving an answer: two months and twenty-eight days later, one rainfall.

Nearly three months for one rain. Luo Wei's heart sank.

Though she'd sensed this summer might face drought, when the divination result appeared before her, she still felt the bad news came too suddenly.

She hadn't dared divine before, fearing exactly this result.

With troubled thoughts, she asked the second question: "How much will this rain be—light, moderate, or heavy? How long will it last?"

This was actually two questions. Luo Wei was desperate, not expecting the stars to give two answers after asking. She wasn't even sure if rainfall amount could be observed. But this time the stars quickly gave an indication.

Luo Wei looked at the spinning star tracks on the canopy, pupils contracting: "Torrential rain, lasting ten days?"

Long drought brings floods—unexpectedly, Siria verified this saying too.

Luo Wei frowned. Long drought meeting sweet rain was joyous, but long drought meeting torrential rain was disaster.

Originally, predicting this summer's drought, she'd planned to build a dam on the mulberry orchard's river channel to store water and divert it to the vineyard and mulberry forest.

But the stars predicted torrential rain in three months. Her plan had to change. She must have people clear the channels early and fish out the fish from those mulberry-dike fishponds, digging several flood discharge outlets.

Divination complete, Luo Wei exited her mental world and opened her eyes.

Papyrus lay on the table. She picked up the quill, dipped it in ink, and wrote her answer on the paper.

[Rain, two months and twenty-eight days later, abundant rainfall.]

About to set down the pen, Luo Wei saw the second question: "Should water be stored?"

Over the next three months, they'd be out for practical training. Drought wouldn't greatly affect the academy—just lots of flowers and plants would die.

More than storing water, the academy needed to prevent flood disasters.

That stinking artificial lake always got blocked. When it rained, dead branches, rotten leaves, feces, and garbage all accumulated in narrow spots. She didn't want floodwaters washing feces into their dormitory castle.

Thinking this, Luo Wei took another sheet of papyrus to answer the second question.

[No need to store water. If drinking water needed, dig wells. Drought for two months and twenty-eight days, followed by ten days of torrential rain causing floods. Must clear the lake surface.]

Siria was surrounded by mountains on three sides, situated in low-lying terrain. Three rivers from the north, east, and south flowed through the city. This geography had pros and cons.

The advantage: during drought, dig down ten meters and water appeared. However dry, people wouldn't die of thirst.

The disadvantage was obvious: during floods, if discharge wasn't timely, the city would be submerged.

Ten days of torrential rain—the swollen rivers would probably flood up to the steps of Siria Temple.

After finishing, Luo Wei stepped down from the platform and submitted her answers.

The supervising professor glanced at her paper, immediately frowning: "Torrential rain for ten days after two months and twenty-eight days—this is your divination result?"

Luo Wei: "Yes."

The professor pointed at the last sheet: "You're certain this is divined, not randomly written?"

Luo Wei heard something wrong in his words and immediately asked: "Professor, is my answer different from the standard answer?"

"No," the professor shook his head, expression grave. "Your answer is more detailed than what we calculated."

They'd only calculated a heavy rain in mid-September. As for which day and how long—such precise predictions no one could make.

Since the prediction hadn't occurred yet, this professor couldn't confirm whether Luo Wei's divination was accurate.

He reviewed everything she'd written, pondering: "For this answer... I can only give you nine points for now. After discussing with other professors, I'll add the remaining points."

Nine points was already good. Luo Wei nodded: "Alright, thank you, Professor."

After the astrology exam, another stone lifted from her shoulders.

Three of seven exams done, four remaining. She'd memorized spellchanting perfectly, practiced swordsmanship and horsemanship well. Alchemy was tested last—shouldn't be a big problem.

Luo Wei walked while thinking. She'd nearly reached the academy gates before remembering—she still hadn't dealt with that ambiguous sign!

When she rushed back to the exam room, the sign had been taken away. She was one step too late.

She should have splashed ink on it when submitting, blacking it out for destruction!

Luo Wei sighed with regret.

...

Afternoon spellchanting assessment—bad luck followed like a shadow.

Luo Wei drew ten spells in succession. Four were earth element spells.

Earth Shield, Earth Binding, Earth Entanglement, Earth Thorns—the first year taught only four earth spells total, and she'd drawn them all.

The spellchanting assessment was outdoors. Examinees had to draw questions one by one in order and recite spells aloud. The process had spectators.

Luo Wei held her wand in her right hand, the spell question she'd just drawn in her left, standing on the platform so embarrassed her toes curled.

"Alright, you may begin."

The supervising professor finished recording the previous person's score and looked up at her.

Luo Wei kept her face stiff, raised her wand, interspersed the four earth spells among other spells, and began chanting at lightning speed.

Wind and rain swept the platform. The earth wall hadn't dissipated when a fireball exploded. The flames hadn't extinguished when several earth spikes shot out, creating chaos above and below the stage, choking spectating students into continuous coughing.

The supervising professor's scoring speed couldn't keep up with her chanting. He quickly used wind magic to disperse the flying dust and stopped Luo Wei.

"Why are you chanting so fast? Basic spellchanting doesn't test speed. Going fast doesn't add points."

"Chant properly. Enunciate more clearly."

Chant properly—she wanted to chant properly too! But she'd drawn so many earth spells—how could she chant properly?

Luo Wei looked up, exposing her sorrowful jawline. Why? Heaven gave her earth element affinity but also gave her a pile of bugs preventing her from using that affinity.

Growth runes were earth runes. She could draw perfect growth runes, but growth runes infused with her earth element magic had reverse effects—couldn't promote growth, only accelerate death.

Earth spells were the same. She could chant spells completely, but her earth magic was like growth runes—plants hit by the magic would rapidly wither.

What would happen to people hit by the magic? She hadn't tried yet.

Luo Wei vaguely guessed the reason. She was the Undead God's blessed one. The Undead God had lost the "life" portion of authority, so she also couldn't cause "life," only hasten "death."

The professor wanted her to chant slower. With so many spectators around, if someone accidentally entered her skill range, she couldn't guarantee keeping that person alive until the skill ended.

Under the supervising professor's urging, conflicted Luo Wei began chanting again.

She couldn't fake it. She could only finish the other six spells first. As for the remaining four earth spells, she looked sincerely at the audience below: "Sorry, I forgot the rest."