Silent Crown

Chapter 219 Graduation Work 1

"Cheers!" Charles, who was already drunk and sitting beside the dining table, cheered.

Bai Xi sat beside him with Old Phil and rolled her eyes helplessly. Ye Qingxuan chuckled and continued his dinner. Abraham had surprisingly been dragged out from the library to celebrate with them. After surviving the first two rounds of the school day trials, it was quite certain that Charles would have enough points to graduate. No wonder he was so happy—he had never thought that he would graduate one day!

"Anglo, I’m coming! World, I’m coming! Pretty girls, I’m coming!" Charles yelled. He ran around the table in excitement. Annoyed to the max, Bai Xi stuck out a foot and tripped him.

After falling, Charles was finally a bit awake. He stuffed a napkin up his nostril and went back to the table to continue eating. He was already full, but it was rare to have meat, so it would be a shame to waste it!

Ye Qingxuan sighed. "Senior, don’t get happy so fast. There’s still the last round in two days."

"The last round is just for looks. What are you scared of?" Charles whistled. "Don’t worry. With me, we’ll definitely win!"

Done eating, Ye Qingxuan put down his utensils and asked the question he had been avoiding. "How exactly is your product for the graduation work exhibit on the last day?"

-

The last trial was the graduation work exhibit. It was a fixed show. It was actually an easy task because one could make whatever one wished. Most would not be too harsh either. Even if it was made horribly, the student would just lose some points.

For musicians, the graduation works of each academy were completely different. This was decided by the local culture and aim of the academy. For example, the graduation works of the Asgardian Iron Rock Academy was a demon captured by a musician digging through the glaciers with a hook.

In India, the students would have to use the form of a debate to discuss music theory with the guru of their monastery. In some places, the graduation work was to…kill their own teacher.

Of course, the Royal Academy of Music was not this cruel. Instead…its process was—uh—"unique."

Two hundred years ago, when the graduation work was still "composition," a waterway mechanic learned by himself…The academy accepted this self-learned mechanic as an exception and he graduated with high grades. But because he did not have much foundation and could not compose, he used a different way to show his learnedness on music theory.

He requested to use the Requiem Illusion and then created something new…Yes, it was the illusion that everyone used for hide-and-seek on the first day, but hundreds of times smaller. In the illusion, the musician must use music notes to guide a waterway mechanic through challenges, defeat various demons and the demon king, save the captured princess…

At the time, this work was critically acclaimed and well-liked by all the students. It almost created a craze in the musician world and trended in every academy around the world. In fact, some students quit school because they were so obsessed. In the end, alchemists even implanted the work as music score into aether balls—the tool that never leaves a musician’s side—so musicians could play when they were bored.

To the academy, this work not only displayed the creator’s achievements in music temperament and grasp on music theory. It also touched on aether usage of the Resonance level and the mechanic mind of the creator and more…

Anyway, Ye Qingxuan did not know what happened, but all graduation works were changed to be that type after that. Because of the amount of work, graduation students usually teamed up. Each school would have their own proud work. The best would even be sent to the Sacred City, receive critique from all the musicians, and spread widely.

Being in the limelight like this as a student, it was the best way to make a name for oneself. Outstanding works had been created continuously through the years.

Most started preparing one year in advance for their work. Charles, who had never thought about graduating, did not even think in that direction. Even if he worked quickly, Ye Qingxuan was not sure that he had enough time.

"There are only two more days. Will something go wrong?"

"Don’t worry. It’s basically set!" Charles drank alcohol and pounded his chest. "The music theory within is practically impeccable and shows my glorious spirit. Through this graduation work, I’ve expressed the impermanence of life, changes of the world, and the troubles of fate. It also has the dreary feeling of being forced into a dead end, with nowhere to escape but to fight. There’s no way I can’t pass!"

The more Charles bragged, the more Ye Qingxuan felt doubtful. "Anyway, just show us first."

Charles smiled mysteriously and snapped his finger. He maneuvered the enchantment using the temporary creator authority given by the school.

Boom! There was a muffled burst.

An iron box, 1.5 meters tall, suddenly appeared in the room. It looked like the refrigerator that had recently been invented. There was a suspicious lever on the right side. There were also three runners going down the middle of the box. Colorful designs were drawn on them. It seemed that the runners would turn with a pull of the lever. There was also a circle of slightly-dazzling colored lights around the knobs. All in all, it did not look like something good!

"What the h*ll is this?" Ye Qingxuan felt a headache coming.

"My graduation work! Look, I’ll show you!" Charles moved forward and abruptly pulled the lever. The machine began playing a horribly cringe-worthy kid’s song. The lights around the turntable lit up, blinding everyone. Then the three wheels inlaid in the machine began rolling wildly. The designs on them changed quickly before gradually slowing. Finally, the clanging sounds of coins falling traveled from the box. As the lights flashed wildly, a giant pile of coins fell from the opening.

Ye Qingxuan was fossilized. "That’s it?"

"That’s it." Charles nodded. "You can use it if you pay some points. If the designs on it create a group, you can receive different amounts of points. I haven’t connected it to the point calculator though, so I replaced it with coins. Anyway, I played a bit after finishing it and I couldn’t stop. I almost put all my drinking money into it and still haven’t taken it out."

Ye Qingxuan felt his vision going dark. There were no words to describe what he felt. Walking around the machine, his gaze fell on the three runners. "What…is drawn on it?"

"No wonder you’re my junior! You always get the main point." Charles whistled. "Look, it’s the pineapple from the backyard of the School of Revelations, banana from the School of Royalty, cherry from Modifications, and this—this is my best work—I drew a five-pointed star with one stroke! What about it? Aren’t I awesome? If you want, I can teach you!"

"Uh…why does this dog look like Old Phil?"

"Because it is!" Charles slapped his knee and said excitedly, "I drew each stroke while looking at Old Phil! What do you think? Doesn’t it look like him? It’s the biggest prize! If you get three Old Phils, you can win a hundred times the school points!"

"Senior, your drawing skills probably haven’t improved since you were eight!" Ye Qingxuan thought, but he had no strength to speak. He just wanted to get drunk, but Charles kept holding him and rambling about his design, this thing’s bright future, and finally ended on the name.

"Oh, I named it the Blood Lion. Don’t you think it’s really mighty and domineering?"

"Why does it sound like bad news? And there isn’t any blood or lion."

"Then let’s call it Destructive Duke."

"No."

"Dark God of Destruction Four."

"You want to graduate after ten more years? And you don’t even have one, two or three!"

"Half a Lifespan Three?"

"Shut up!"

After talking on and on, Charles finally stopped. Ye Qingxuan already felt dizzy as his intelligence dropped like a diver. To save the academy’s students and save their points, the youth slammed a fist on the table and announced, "Anyway, this thing won’t work!"

-

They soon returned to the dining table. Ye Qingxuan sighed and said, "So you used one month to create a gambling machine?"

Charles panicked. "I’m sure it will have a good future! When it comes out, we’ll be able to live happily with just the money given to use it!"

"…Senior, don’t you want to graduate?"

Ye Qingxuan’s words hit Charles in the guts. He sighed in pain and abandoned the idea. "But I can’t redesign something. Where do I find a new script?"

"Script?" Beside them, Bai Xi grinned. "I have it."

"…"

"…"

Ye Qingxuan and Charles stared at her as if looking at a ghost. Bai Xi was a little scared by their eyes. "Why are you looking at me like that? I want to contribute sometimes too!"

"Yezi…" Charles sighed with teary eyes, "Bai Xi is all grown up."

Ye Qingxuan’s eyes were slightly red too and he dabbed at the corners. "Yes, I’m so pleased."

What they got in reply was the double performance of "source" and "frost." A large basin of freezing water poured from the sky, chilling them to the bone.

"Are you done?" Bai Xi glared at them. "Leave if you don’t want it!"

"We want it!" Ye Qingxuan nodded quickly. It was rare that Bai Xi was willing to help. Even if she could not, her thoughts were enough to make him and Charles touched.

With their coaxing, Bai Xi finally described her plan. "This graduation work is called Soul Warrior. In Indian, it’s called Soul…"