High School of Demon Hunting

Chapter 2809: Chapter 1030: Compatibility

Resonance has two meanings.

First, the phenomenon of sounds being produced at the same frequency.

Second, the occurrence of similar emotions or feelings triggered by someone else’s emotions.

Just by looking at this nameplate, Zheng Qing couldn’t imagine what the room behind the door would look like—would it be a row of bronze chimes hanging on a rack, waiting for him to strike them to see which sound resonates best with him? Or perhaps behind the door stands an alchemy puppet, with Alex observing whether Zheng Qing gradually becomes identical to it upon meeting. Or maybe behind the door is a rolling ocean storm, where he needs to sit on a dark rock and use resonance to calm the waves?

Just as he was lost in thought.

The bald, dark-skinned wizard had already grasped the doorknob and verified the identity.

But before opening the door, he finally turned to glance at Zheng Qing.

”Although wizards are not forbidden to bring any items into the resonance room, I need to remind you that pets or magic items can interfere with the resonance test—or what we refer to as a ’match test’.”

Alex shot a glance, devoid of any emotion, at the little green snake hanging from Zheng Qing’s ear, unsure whether it was alive or not: ”...In fact, during the test, the ’purer’ the state of the wizard, the easier it is to achieve resonance. I advise you to remove all external and unnecessary items.”

Zheng Qing blinked and touched the grey cloth bag on his belt.

”What do you mean by... external and unnecessary items?” His tone was somewhat hesitant.

”Clothes, shoes, socks, accessories.”

The dark-skinned wizard’s tone was indifferent—Zheng Qingyuan thought giving up the grey cloth bag and the little green dragon was already the limit—but Alex’s reply was evidently more radical than he imagined: ”...If I were you, I would also shave off all hair, as it can react with magical energy in the air, affecting the resonance test.”

Take off clothes?

Besides turning into a cat, Zheng Qing had never stripped in front of a strange wizard!

Without almost any hesitation, he declined the bald guy’s suggestion while realizing why this guy’s head was so smooth.

”No thanks,” he shook his head politely, since he didn’t have much confidence in this project recommended by Thomas, nor did he plan to exert much effort on it: ”...Just a simple test is enough.”

He has a lot of worries now.

He doesn’t want to add more.

”Are you sure?” The dark-skinned wizard was evidently a bit surprised by the young man’s answer, paused for a moment, then reaffirmed.

”I’m sure.” This time, Zheng Qing’s response was quicker and more resolute.

”Alright,” Alex shrugged, pushed up his glasses like Xiao Xiao, and showed a regrettable expression with his thick lips slightly pursed downward: ”...If you’re sure.”

He opened the door.

Contrary to Zheng Qing’s imagination, there were no bronze bells, alchemy puppets, or roaring seas behind the door. Just a small dark room, square in shape, with walls, ceiling, and floor covered with a layer of black, seemingly leather-like material, soft to step on and warm to touch.

In the center of the room sat a cubed pedestal, resembling a scaled-down version of the room.

”Sit on it.”

Alex pointed to the cubic pedestal, speaking concisely.

Only then did Zheng Qing realize it was a chair.

”Just sit directly?”

He circled around the pedestal, and realizing Alex seemed about to leave the room, he cautiously asked, ”Excuse me, how should I sit? Which direction should I face?”

The dark-skinned wizard had already grabbed the doorknob.

Upon hearing, he glanced back at the young man: ”Sit however you like, no requirements, it’s up to you, even laying down if you’re comfortable... We will observe this test from another location.”

”What’s the test procedure?”

”You’ll know once you sit.”

Bam!

The resonance room’s door shut heavily with the dark-skinned wizard’s departure.

The room immediately fell into darkness.

The little green snake on his ear stayed still, while Zheng Qing resisted the urge to pull out the Law book, to throw out a few ’Little Star’, and fumbled in the dark, holding onto the pedestal to sit down.

Sitting properly.

However, out of habitual consideration, he took where the door was as ’back’, facing away from the door, hands on knees, back straight, trying to clear his mind of distractions.

Buzz!

The darkness in the room lasted only a few seconds.

A naturally glowing ring suddenly appeared in front of Zheng Qing, a few feet away, floating mid-air. He didn’t see any magical traces or anything like fireflies, the ring seemingly appeared out of thin air.

He couldn’t help but reach out to touch it.

But before he raised his arm, the ring twisted violently—like a startled, tail-biting snake, every segment out of control.

He was instantly frozen, the degree of distortion in the ring slightly lessened, though still incomparable to its initial smoothness. In fact, the closed loop floating before him now had completely lost its ’round’ shape, morphing into a wave-like irregular curve.

Resonance room.

The name flashed again in Zheng Qing’s mind.

His heart suddenly filled with some speculation—if the initial circle was the benchmark for judging resonance, then this wave-like irregular loop represented poor resonance, and the closer it gets to a perfect circle, the higher the resonance should be.

To verify this speculation, he raised his hand and took off the little green dragon from his ear.

According to Alex’s prior statement, such external objects heavily interfere with resonance testing. As expected, once he tossed the little snake into the room’s corner, the degree of twist in the luminous circle in front of him immediately decreased several levels, the frequency of its wave undulation also widened.

Zheng Qing took a deep breath, bowed his head, lowered his gaze, began to gather his mind and adjust his breathing, while the ring calmed more as his concentration continued to deepen, edging towards an ellipse shape, though reaching a certain stage, even with Zheng Qing maintaining meditation, the ring ceased further change.

He gently exhaled, removing clutter from his chest. He took off the grey cloth bag attached to his belt, put it aside.

The distortion of the ring lessened a bit more.

Then came the bead bracelet, furry dragon bracelet, jade pendant, shoes, socks, belt, outer robe—minutes ago, Zheng Qing was confidently adamant about not undressing—now, he soon had only the inner garment left—those who’ve experienced positive feedback interactions understand well.

Finally, the ring in front of him had almost reverted to its original shape, yet Zheng Qing was still dissatisfied, feeling clearly that the circle wasn’t perfect yet, with potential for further refinement. He sat quietly on the stone pedestal, silently staring at the ring, continuing to gather his concentration.

This state lasted for a while.

Maybe just a few seconds.

Or maybe a few minutes.

As Zheng Qing focused his mind, attempting to draw it closer to a more perfect shape.

Very suddenly.

The ring vanished.

Immediately, a gentle and calm voice resonated within the small room—

”Test result: Resonance degree sixty percent.”

”Match result: Passed!”