Whatever Happened to the Trust We Agreed On?

"Ice Vine!"

Without a single pause, without the slightest break, Mu Bai executed the skill in one fluid motion, putting the full fruits of his training on display.

His pupils shifted in color. The moment he breathed out his magical aura, white frost erupted across the humanoid wooden dummy.

The frost spread rapidly, coating the entire dummy as though it had been painted over with ice lacquer — the sight was startling.

Frigid air rolled unchecked through the entire examination area.

**Creak... creak... creak...**

The Ice Vine didn't stop once it had covered the dummy. It began spreading across the examination ground itself.

Another class also had an Ice Element student who had tested the Ice Vine skill, but his performance was nowhere near as overwhelming as Mu Bai's.

Students stumbled backward in alarm, certain the frost was about to reach where they stood.

The school administrators and examiners, however, remained composed, a flicker of approval crossing their faces.

This was a relatively mature execution of Ice Vine — solid enough to pass muster at the Mage Association itself.

The Mage Association catered to adults. For a student who had only awakened for a single year to produce such a polished Ice Element technique was genuinely remarkable.

"Not bad," Mu Zhuoyun said — the same measured praise as before.

Unsure whether he had truly impressed Mu Zhuoyun, Mu Bai turned his gaze toward Mu Ningxue, heart restless with anticipation.

What he saw hit him like an arrow to the chest. The girl he adored wasn't even looking at him. Her gaze was fixed on someone else in the class.

He followed her line of sight — and took a second arrow.

Mo Fan!!

She was looking at Mo Fan!!

*Bastard. Bastard!!*

*Why is she looking at him again!!*

*What's there to see in someone who belongs at the bottom of a trash heap? My Release was flawless — why isn't she watching me!!*

Mu Bai's face had nearly contorted beyond recognition.

This was the most important moment of his life, and all he'd wanted was for Mu Ningxue to look at him — yet her gaze had found that little punk instead. That punk was nothing but a clown who'd once made the princess laugh. What was there to watch in a clown? You laughed once and moved on. *Why are you still wasting your precious attention on him??*

"I'll make you pay for this," Mu Bai muttered, his expression dark as a storm front, stepping down from the examination platform with fury coiled tight in his chest.

"Exceptional results — Stardust: S, Release: Grade B," the examiner announced.

Even among the top students, Release scores rarely exceeded Grade C or D. The only other student to reach Grade B had been Xu Zhaoting of the Lightning Element.

A score like this was undeniably the best in the school.

"Next — Mo Fan!"

While the crowd was still marveling at Mu Bai's spectacular performance, Mo Fan's name was finally called.

Honestly, Mo Fan found the timing a little suspicious.

*Why does that scheming pretty boy go right before me? That's got to be arranged.*

He didn't believe in coincidences this convenient.

*Whatever. You eat when you're hungry, sleep when you're tired. Meet every problem as it comes. And if nothing can get a rise out of you, call it a clear day.*

"Well?" Mu He murmured as Mu Bai approached.

"Done exactly as you instructed," Mu Bai replied, each word laced with the venom of a jilted spouse.

"I'm doing this for Mo Jiaxing's own good," Mu He said. "Sweep his son out of here and be done with it — saves the man the grief of worrying. Mo Fan was never cut out for magic; there's no reason to keep forcing his way in."

Mu He and Mu Bai naturally had a scheme prepared for dealing with Mo Fan.

Before the examination, Mu He had used his authority as School Board Director to lay careful groundwork.

The bald examiner was Mu He's man, and Mu He had also arranged the order in which students would be assessed.

Mu Bai's assessment would be followed immediately by Mo Fan's; after Mo Fan's would come a break for announcing partial results — a perfect window for tampering. Specifically, when Mu Bai placed his hand on the Star Sensing Stone, he slipped a dark stone beneath it.

The dark stone's function was simple: when the Star Sensing Stone emitted its glow, the dark stone would siphon off a portion of the energy, dimming the light considerably.

That way, even if Mo Fan somehow scraped together a C, the tiny, sand-grain-sized dark stone would reliably drag his score down to a D — or lower.

He's worthless anyway — might as well let him sink all the way to the bottom. There was no reason to waste school resources on someone like that. Getting rid of him early was a service to everyone, school and family alike.

Mu Bai's smile had already twisted into something ugly.

*This time, Mo Fan, you'll fail and be humiliated in front of everyone.*

"Mo Fan," Mu Zhuoyun said slowly, as though turning the name over. "That sounds familiar."

"Elder Brother, he's the son of the madam's driver," Mu He offered helpfully.

At that moment, Mu Ningxue — whose gaze had been as cold and still as winter frost — stirred almost imperceptibly.

She had recognized Mo Fan long ago. What puzzled her was why, the very moment her group arrived at this section, it happened to coincide with Mu Bai's and Mo Fan's assessments.

Mu Zhuoyun glanced at Mu Ningxue beside him.

She composed herself quickly, settling back into the same impassive expression she had worn while watching the unremarkable students before — no trace of emotion.

A flicker of satisfaction crossed Mu Zhuoyun's eyes.

*Children always go through their rebellious phases. Once they grow up, they stop being so foolish.*

"Let's watch," Mu Zhuoyun said evenly. "He was one of ours, after all. Once was."

Mu Zhuoyun knew perfectly well that a driver's son couldn't amount to much. Having Mu Ningxue witness this might even serve a purpose — a run-of-the-mill boy from Bo City would fade from their world soon enough. The last thing he wanted was for a nobody like that to leave any mark on his precious daughter's heart.

On the other side of the examination area, Mo Fan paid no attention to whatever those people were muttering about.

He had already made his way to the Star Sensing Stone and placed his hand on it, just like every student before him.

"Honestly, I'm grateful he's here — he keeps the bottom spot warm so I don't have to," one of the slackers quipped.

"Hey, Third, I'm a D too — no worries. We'll walk out of here in style together," said Xiao Bin, the Water Element student from their dorm.

"Hard to say if he'll even manage a D."

"Right, not a shred of improvement all year."

Zhou Min, the other Fire Element student in the class, was watching Mo Fan as well.

She wanted to know if he'd put in any work at all. Someone with a higher Fire Element aptitude than her own, on the verge of expulsion — she couldn't help feeling a twinge of regret, tinged with an involuntary contempt for someone so unmotivated.

"There's a glow — there's a glow..."

"It looks weak though. Even fainter than a D."

On the Star Sensing Stone, the light was impossibly dim — unable to break free from the stone's interior.

And yet the inner light seemed to carry real force, as though it should have been blazing — only something was holding it back.

"Wait, that's not right."

"That light... that doesn't look like a D!"

"No way — C??" Xiao Bin froze, barely able to believe that Mo Fan had actually summoned a Grade C Fire Element glow from the Star Sensing Stone.

They'd had an agreement to walk out of here in style together — but a C meant Mo Fan had squeaked past the passing line.

*What happened to the trust between one slacker and another??*