Ivan stepped onto the old wooden stairs, which creaked dully, and the air was filled with a faint smell of mildew, mixed with the unpleasant odor drifting from the communal washroom at the end of the corridor.
He hadn't expected the apprentice dormitory at Horton Wizard Academy to be so spartan.
Looking up at the room number, Ivan estimated that he should be able to find Essida's apprentice dormitory by going up one more floor.
Although the living conditions were simple, the academy still arranged single rooms for each apprentice, probably to avoid disturbing each other during meditation, but the environment was truly concerning.
Ivan hadn't fully reached the third floor when sharp, ear-piercing shouts and curses came down the stairs, like a flock of noisy crows.
"What kind of skill is it to hide inside, you little Navajo bastard!"
"Come out! Weren't you pretty fierce when you were hitting people? Why don't you dare come out now?"
"This little bitch... If you ask me, what's the difference between Navajo and monkeys? Yellow-skinned monkeys!"
Accompanied by banging on the door, several voices cursed relentlessly, the vulgar language unbearable to hear.
Ivan's brow furrowed tighter.
Navajo people did indeed have some physical differences from the residents of Horton Port.
After all, most of the residents of Horton Port were descendants of Anglo-Saxons, that is, descendants of the colonists who came from the Holy Grander Empire by ship to this New World during the Great Colonization period two hundred years ago.
Among those colonists were ruffians, drunkards, and homeless people, and of course, some Wizards who hid their identities to avoid the Old God Church's witch hunts.
It was these Wizards who ignited the spark of knowledge in the New World, completely breaking the Old God Church's persecution of Wizards.
By the time the Old God Church reacted, the Wizards had already established a firm foothold in the New World, and it was too late, so they had to reluctantly acknowledge the existence of the New World Wizard Council.
The Navajo, on the other hand, were the indigenous people of the New World; their skin was often a healthy wheat color, and they had their own customs and culture.
As for the vicious voice just now that cursed "Navajo are monkeys," it also represented the thoughts of a considerable portion of Horton's people.
Ivan turned the corner of the corridor, and several figures standing directly opposite the staircase entrance came into view.
They were a few apprentices wearing Energy Shaping School Wizard robes, gathered around a closed wooden door, the sound of kicking mixed with curses echoing in the narrow corridor.
Ivan looked up at the room number and confirmed that this was indeed Essida's room.
Just as Ivan was about to speak to disperse the apprentices from the Energy Shaping School, Essida's door creaked open on its own.
Essida stood in the doorway, her lips tightly pressed together, her eyes slightly red-rimmed, but she tightly gripped a deer antler slingshot, the string taut, her knuckles white, aiming directly at the heads of the Energy Shaping School Wizard Apprentices in front of her.
"If you want your head broken, try saying that again!"
The sudden turn of events stunned the apprentices, and for a moment, there was dead silence.
They were just Wizard Apprentices with spiritual power aptitude; before they began learning spells, they were no different from ordinary people, and they were scared.
One Energy Shaping School apprentice clearly couldn't swallow his pride; he hesitated for a moment, but still said fiercely.
"Who are you trying to fool? Navajo should roll back to your mountain ditches..."
Before he finished speaking, Essida's arm suddenly loosened, the taut slingshot shot out abruptly, hitting the Energy Shaping School apprentice squarely on the forehead.
"Ah!" The apprentice screamed, covering his head, and blood flowed down through his fingers.
This was like pouring a ladle of water into boiling oil; the other Energy Shaping School apprentices also started shouting and clamoring, all wanting to rush forward and teach Essida a lesson.
"Get out! Get out of the academy!"
"Beat up this wild woman!"
The chaotic shouting attracted many apprentices to come and watch curiously, among them not a few Energy Shaping School apprentices also joined in the commotion.
Essida was surrounded by the crowd like a lone boat, biting her lip tightly; she didn't know how to handle this situation and could only clutch the slingshot in her hand tightly, scaring away anyone who tried to rush forward.
"You bitch..."
Suddenly, the Energy Shaping School apprentice whose head had been broken seemed to lose control; he covered his bleeding forehead, his eyes full of hatred, and raised his hand towards Essida.
On his finger, a ring inlaid with a scarlet gem was faintly glowing; this was the prelude to a Wizard tool taking effect!
Many of these Wizard Apprentices came from noble families in Horton Port. For the sake of family face and the apprentice's safety, slightly wealthier noble families would prepare one or two Wizard tools for the apprentices studying at the Wizard Academy.
And now, it was clear that this out-of-control Energy Shaping School apprentice was preparing to use a magic tool to give Essida a severe lesson!
If the spell solidified in the tool was powerful enough, people could die!
The apprentices watching held their breath, some timid ones even quietly backed away a few steps, fearing being affected.
But the next moment, the Energy Shaping School Wizard Apprentice was about to chant the spell syllables to activate the magic ring on his hand.
But for some reason, the words twisted into a long braying sound when they reached his mouth.
Hee-haw...
He covered his mouth in terror, but found that the hand covering his mouth had turned into a hard, hoof-like limb, his spine began to bend, his legs grew backward-bending knee structures, gray hair grew from every inch of his skin...
In just two or three seconds, he transformed from a living person into a terrified, braying gray donkey, flapping helplessly.
This astonishing transformation scared everyone; the Energy Shaping School apprentices didn't know what had happened and could only scream in terror and retreat, and someone in the crowd shouted.
"Devil! There's a devil!"
This made the watching apprentices even more panicked, and even Essida was scared back several steps.
At this moment, a cold male voice suddenly rang out, pouring a basin of ice water over everyone's heads.
"Unauthorized use of magic tools to attack other apprentices, this is a blatant violation of Horton Wizard Academy's school rules..."
Ivan walked step by step towards the crowd; he had been standing in the shadow of the corridor corner before, so neither Essida nor the apprentices had noticed his presence.
Now, as he stepped out of the shadows, his thin, tall figure, his pale, cold face... Soon, someone remembered Ivan's identity.
"It's Ivan, the Wizard from the Necromancy School!"
The Energy Shaping School apprentices were somewhat fearful of this Necromancy Wizard who had left a particularly deep impression on enrollment day; now, they scrambled to make way for Ivan, leaving only whispers.
Ivan walked up to the gray donkey, picked up the magic ring that had fallen to the ground; it was cold to the touch, and he didn't know what spell was solidified on it.
"Loud noise, disturbing public order, unauthorized use of magic tools... Is this how the official Wizards of the Energy Shaping School teach you?"
Ivan's gaze swept over the surrounding Energy Shaping School apprentices; those who were seen felt a chill down their spine and quickly averted their eyes to avoid meeting Ivan's gaze.
"Seeing as this is the first time, I'm just applying a minor punishment with a transformation spell. If there's a next time, you should consciously roll to the apprentice discipline room to be punished!"
"What are you still standing around for? Do I need to teach you how to go back to sleep?"
The surrounding apprentices who were watching immediately scattered like birds and beasts, leaving only a few timid apprentices, who were likely companions of the apprentice turned into a gray donkey; they wanted to leave but couldn't just abandon the gray donkey.
Ivan ignored these few Energy Shaping School apprentices and walked directly towards Essida, motioning for her to follow him.
"Don't mind these noisy guys."
"Come with me, I'll take you to see the laboratory."