High School of Demon Hunting

Chapter 1348: Chapter 95: Inside the Mirror Pavilion

”Do you know what this pavilion we are in is called?”

Before the class resumed, the teacher threw out this question, and the young scholarship student sighed deeply in his heart—how would he know this? He then honestly shook his head:

”I don’t know.”

”This pavilion is called ’Mirror Pavilion’. The mirror of a mirror.”

Zheng Qing’s gaze involuntarily fell on the large floor mirror in the center of the pavilion.

”That’s right, it’s because of it.” The teacher raised his hand to support the Roman column next to the floor mirror, and Zheng Qing noticed that the devil with goat horns and bat wings under the column seemed to quietly lift its wings to cover its head.

He couldn’t help but chuckle.

The teacher also smiled a bit: ”...Although the pavilion is named after the mirror, the mirror itself has no name. Strictly speaking, it is also called ’Anonymous’. As more people know about it, they refer to it as ’the mirror in the pavilion’ or ’the mirror of the Mirror Pavilion.’”

”This is a mirror that exists between illusion and reality... including this pavilion.”

”Most wizards cannot find them.”

This description was very magical, and Zheng Qing wore an intrigued expression on his face. His thoughts, dragged down by the mud that Zhu Si brought, barely pulled themselves out as he focused more attention on the teacher’s lesson:

”But, sir, you mentioned earlier that we are now at the First University...”

”That’s correct.”

”And you said this mirror exists between illusion and reality?”

”Has anyone told you that the First University exists only in the real world?” the teacher replied, ”Have you ever traced the origin of the name ’Buji Island’? If it only exists in reality, how could the First University be qualified to be one of the three pillars that support the Wizard World?”

The student took a deep breath.

The teacher smiled, shook his head, and continued walking around the ’Anonymous’ floor mirror with the young wizard, while patiently explaining:

”The hardest bounds to define in the world are between reality and illusion. Sometimes it’s difficult to tell whether you are in reality or in an illusion.”

”Just like time.”

”For high-tier wizards, time does not exist; it is merely a method of measurement, no different essentially than kilograms, meters, or money.”

”But for low-tier wizards, time is very real; they believe that time is always passing, eternally unchanged, day and night... so Albert would say, ’The distinction between past, present, and future is nothing, but a stubbornly persistent illusion’...”

Zheng Qing knew of Albert; he was a genius wizard from the twentieth century. In Professor Yao’s Philosophy of Magic class, he introduced the wizard’s achievements to the students. His three papers ”The Four-Dimensional Attribute of Magic,” ”The New Measurement Method for Time Duration,” and ”Upward Dimensions” laid the foundation for modern dimensional theory, and made a significant contribution to the birth of the first forbidden spell.

The reason for his particular attention to this great wizard was not because of the forbidden spells or because the professor mentioned it in class, but because this Albert had an even more prominent name in the Mortal World, Einstein.

It is said that this great wizard is still staying in a laboratory in Alpha Fortress; Zheng Qing has always looked forward to getting his autograph.

The teacher’s hand on the young man’s shoulder tensed slightly, signaling him not to be distracted, then summarized the lengthy discussion he had just given:

”...So you see, time seems eternal. And to eternity, time looks like you look at other people. Nothing special.”

This evaluation sounded calm and objective, simply illustrating the distinction between illusion and reality.

But Zheng Qing couldn’t fully understand.

He could only deeply comprehend the gap between low-tier and high-tier wizards from the teacher’s description. The gap was terrifyingly huge.

A single ’time’ separated everything.

He could hardly imagine what kind of perspective the teacher was using now as he held him and lectured.

Like a gardener sitting in front of a pot, humming a tune while watering a seed?

Or like a mischievous child, balancing an ant on his fingertip, telling it about his dream from yesterday?

The teacher’s hand on the young man’s shoulder tightened again, signaling him not to wander.

Zheng Qing immediately flipped open his notebook and began copying down what the teacher had just said. Since he couldn’t control his thoughts, he forced himself to concentrate.

The teacher did not stop the warlock’s action.

Instead, he paused, slowed down his speech:

”...Today, I brought you to ’Mirror Pavilion’ to let you directly experience the subtle difference between reality and illusion. To let you be perplexed, then escape from the confusion.”

”As the saying goes, ’He who knows is not puzzled.’”

”Before we entered the mirror, I asked you for your impression of the school, and you described it as ’chaotic’. Very fitting, but not precise. To be more accurate, you are just perplexed by the current chaos in the school. Unsure of which side to stand on, which side to support, or what to do.”

Zheng Qing nodded vigorously.

The teacher’s summary further deepened his previous feelings.

”Still the same phrase... ’He who knows is not puzzled.’” After saying this, the teacher paused for a few seconds, seemingly wanting the young man to highlight these four words, then continued:

”Here, we first need to clarify a concept, what is ’He who knows’?”

”Simply put, ’He who knows’ is a wise person, a smart person, someone who knows ’the way’. You possess a seed of ’Order’, which in a way, makes you also someone who knows ’the way’.”

”Still taking ’Order’ as an example—Alpha Academy’s justice and freedom need order to maintain; Jiuyou Academy’s fairness and equality need order to sustain; Atlas’s faith needs order to participate; Starry Sky Academy’s arena, even more so, needs order as adjudication.”

”From a trickster born in the North District pulling a bunch of fresh flowers out of a hat, knowing this action will consume their magic power, not feeling puzzled by this simple move.”

”To the outcasts in the depths of the Starry Sky, before stepping onto the starry path, they know how their future should proceed. They would not be confined to this narrow world, sitting and acting like a jester.”

”It must be pointed out that ’He who knows’ is not ’Omniscient.’”

”They can also make mistakes, err... as well as improve.”

”If you reach my level, you could see the colorful, eye-catching patches above the vault of heaven—those are the gifts from the pioneers to this world. They are using their wisdom and efforts to bridge the gap between wizards and the world.”

”For example, the ’Othello’s Balance’ and ’Silence Theory’ you are now familiar with are essentially a ’patch’. The Heavenly Dao is indifferent; the world actually does not care whether wizards fight to the death, break the world, or destroy the commoners.”

”But we care.”

”Knowing this, you wouldn’t be puzzled by these two theories anymore.”