Ugly or Pretty?

Feng Hei Lang yawned as she awoke. She rubbed her eyes with her paws. 'Hmm...? What time is it...'

She stretched and opened the window. Light instantly filled the room, blinding her. Feng Hei Lang jumped back in surprise. 'EEK! SO BRIGHT!' She covered her eyes until the adjusted to the light.

Feng Hei Lang peeked outside to see that the sun was about to rise. Her eyes widened in panic. 'Oh no! Class starts right away at sunrise!' She grabbed Xing, who let an annoyed noise.

She decided the fastest method was to travel there using [Shadow Manipulation.] Feng Hei Lang ran up the stairs to the dormitories. 'The higher I go, the farther I can see! I just have to travel high enough so that I can see the courtyard from here!'

She paused for a second, panting. 'There are so many stairs, I wonder if I am high enough!'

Feng Hei Lang peeked out the window and saw that the courtyard was in her view. She pumped a paw in excitement. 'Yes! I made it!' She took a deep breath and melted into her shadow.

Then, Feng Hei Lang reappeared in the courtyard. There were already most of the foxes there and Instructor Le Yi was standing in front of the class in human form. She tapped her fingers along her sleeves annoyedly. "You're not late...unfortunately."

Feng Hei Lang narrowed her eyes. 'Unfortunately? It's like you WANT us to be late!' She watched as Kang Lei entered the class, all tired and droopy. He sat next to Feng Hei Lang and almost fell asleep.

She frowned and punched him lightly with her paw. "Hey, you good?" He yawned. "Do you think I'm good? Most of the students stayed up last night doing commissions to earn more tallies..."

Feng Hei Lang tilted her head. "Commissions? There are commissions?"

He chuckled. "Why am I even surprised at this point? Of course there are commissions. How else would students earn tallies? You were lucky you got challenged by Tian Si and earned a free two hundred. We only get twenty-five tallies from doing a single commission..."

Instructor Le Yi cleared her throat. "Any fox who enters after this will now be considered tardy."

Instantly, at that moment, Tian Si entered the classroom, his fur matted and dirty. Instructor Le Yi pointed her finger towards him. "Late! Minus fifty tallies. I heard you're in the negatives now!"

A holographic number appeared above Tian Si when she said "minus fifty tallies."

[-50]

[Total: -75]

He groaned in pain and collapsed onto the floor, completely exhausted.

Feng Hei Lang raised her eyebrows in surprise. "He's in the negatives? That's possible?"

Kang Lei laughed. "Yeah. He probably had negative seventy-five after versing you because he needed to make a new medallion. Then, Tian Si would have earned fifty by commissions, then lost the fifty by being tardy. That's unfortunate..."

Feng Hei Lang giggled. "Guess he will have a hard time now!"

Kang Lei poked her. "Worry about yourself first! I know you have to feed Xing too, along with the fact that you're a Bronze Rank."

She rolled her eyes. "Yes, sir. I got that, sir."

He nudged her even harder for that and she giggled again.

Instructor Le Yi clapped her hands and a holographic screen appeared in front of them. "Okay, so everybody is here now. Today, we'll be talking about the basic technique that all foxes have to learn when they come to Hu Li University. And this is the ability to shift to human form at will."

Mei Wang raised her paw at that. "Instructor Le Yi, can't we do that if we reach the Epic Beast Level?"

Instructor Le Yi nodded. "Yes, that is correct. However, that takes a very long time, and without a human form, we cannot visit human cities for commissions, herbs, and other materials."

She lifted up a scroll. "Every one of you here will get this scroll today. You must master it by tomorrow, or seventy-five tallies will be deducted. That is all for class today."

Wo Xiao raised her paw. "Instructor, is that really all for class today? Just mastering this technique?"

Instructor Le Yi nodded. "Yes, and what do you mean is that all? This technique will take time to master. How about this. If anyone in this class can master this in two hours, I will grant them twenty-five tallies."

The foxes all nodded eagerly. A scroll floated to each of them and Feng Hei Lang plucked it out of midair. In the scroll, there were characters and a picture of a human with fox ears and a fox tail.

She turned the scroll upside-down, trying to make sense of the symbols. 'This is impossible! They look like scribbles!'

After an hour, a bright flash of light filled the courtyard. Every fox turned to see a beautiful human with fox ears and tail standing up. She had light red hair that complimented her pale complexion. Her eyes shimmered like jewels as she looked around.

Instructor Le Yi clapped her hands. "Good job, Mei Wang! I should have expected this! It only took you an hour! Plus twenty-five tallies."

Mei Wang nodded and sat back down. "Thank you, Instructor Le Yi."

The male foxes' jaw dropped at the sight of this. That beauty was Mei Wang?!

Feng Hei Lang gritted her teeth and stared more intently at the scroll. She heard a beep and turned to see a screen pop up.

[Would you like to learn Human Form Part One for 5 Comprehension Coins?]

She started grinning. 'Yes! I forgot that I had this little cheat system...' She clicked on "Yes" and instantly, a bright flash filled the courtyard once more.