Reborn as the General's Useless Daughter-Chapter 280: A summon from the Principal

After handing the inscriptions to the appraiser, Zora returned to the academy.

Those were only the simplest fire inscriptions. She had no illusion about selling them for a sky-high price.

What she really wanted was feedback.

She wanted to know how the weapon would change once someone actually used her inscription. As long as the buyer was from Heavenly City, she believed some whispers would eventually drift back to her ears.

Back in her dormitory, Zora slipped straight into a closed cycle of cultivation and inscription practice.

She poured all her mental strength into drawing inscriptions.

When her mind became exhausted and empty, she switched to cultivating spiritual power.

Once her mental strength recovered, she picked up the inscription brush again.

This way, round and round she went, like a quietly turning wheel.

Each time her mental energy ran dry, her face would grow pale, and her thoughts would feel hollow, as if a soft wind had swept everything clean. Yet in that emptiness, something new was taking root.

Her mental strength was growing.

Zora soon realized this with faint surprise. Her mental power was already far stronger than that of ordinary Spirit Warriors, so improving it had always been painfully slow. Now, however, this exhausting cycle of drawing and recovery was tempering it like steel on a whetstone.

That discovery only made her more relentless.

Day after day, she practiced the same inscription over and over. It was not the effect she cared about anymore. What she wanted was the feeling, the rhythm, the invisible thread that connected her mind to the inscription lines.

Alchemy and inscriptions were indeed similar, yet different.

A potion concocter faced new challenges with every new formula. Even if a potion was successfully concocted once, the next attempt could still fail. Inscriptions, however, were different. Once an inscriptionist truly understood the structure and flow of an inscription, the success rate would soar.

Master the core, and everything else follows.

That was why the early stage of inscription was so brutally hard, and why so many people never made it past that invisible wall.

Three days later, Heavenly Auction House sent her the payment of 150,000 gold coins.

When Zora looked at the amount, her eyes brightened. Even such a basic fire inscription had fetched a very high price. The market for inscriptions was far hotter than she had imagined.

There was only one disappointment, though.

The buyer was not from Heavenly City. He had taken the inscription and left immediately, leaving no trail behind. Zora had hoped to hear firsthand how the inscription performed in battle.

With a soft sigh, she accepted reality. If she wanted to see the effect, she would have to test it herself.

That meant buying a weapon.

Her Glazed Sword was out of the question.

That blade was special. When she had obtained it in the ruins, she had only left a faint imprint of her aura on it. It had not truly acknowledged her yet. A weapon of that level possessed its own spirit. Until it fully accepted its master, its true power would remain sealed.

And if she ever inscribed it, it would have to be with something worthy of it.

Using her current beginner inscriptions on the Glazed Sword would be nothing short of an insult.

Zora lowered her gaze to the sword at her side. It lay quietly, yet she could feel a subtle, distant connection between them, like two stars slowly drifting toward the same orbit.

"One day," she murmured softly, "we’ll truly belong to each other."

Zora had inherited Celia’s legacy in the ruins, and that legendary powerhouse had been astonishingly generous to her.

Not only had Celia passed down exquisite martial techniques, but she had even personally helped Zora deal with the Glazed Sword.

For someone of Celia’s level, the sword had been her companion for countless years. Her spiritual imprint was carved deep into every inch of it. If Zora had tried to erase that mark by herself, it would have taken an absurd amount of time.

In her previous life, it would have been easy.

But in this body, with this cultivation, it was like trying to grind down a mountain with bare hands.

Thanks to Celia’s help, however, that old imprint was wiped clean. The sword was now free to accept a new master. Zora could already feel it responding to her more and more smoothly, as if a quiet understanding was slowly taking shape between them.

One day, it would become a weapon truly worthy of her.

Knock. Knock.

Zora put away the inscription tools and went to open the door.

Reesa stood outside, her expression a mix of relief and disbelief. "Zora, just how long have you been in seclusion? You’re scaring people!"

Since Zora had returned to the academy, she had barely stepped out. Reesa did not need to guess what she was doing. With Zora’s personality, it could only be cultivation.

But this time, it was a little too extreme.

"You haven’t come out at all these days," Reesa continued. "I was really worried, you know."

Baldwin, who stood beside her, nodded in agreement. "We were too. If we didn’t occasionally hear movement from your room, Reesa and I would’ve thought you’d fainted inside."

Some Spirit Warriors could remain in seclusion for years or even decades, but with Zora’s current level, staying shut in for so long was still unusual.

Zora laughed softly. To her, the time had flown by in a blink. When she was focused, the world outside simply ceased to exist.

"Did you come looking for me for something?" she asked.

Reesa nodded. "The principal has summoned all the students of the special enrollment class. He asked us to go to his office. It seems he has something important to announce."

"I see." Zora understood at once. When the principal called them, it was never for something trivial.

"Oh, right, I almost forgot," Reesa added, "Senior Raphael and the others came by to look for you while you were in seclusion. Everyone was worried you were at a critical stage, so no one dared disturb you. I only knocked today because I finally heard you moving around."

She clicked her tongue. "Zora, you’re really too fierce. I always thought Alaric Von Seraph was a cultivation maniac, but you’re not any gentler."

A hint of apology appeared in Zora’s eyes as she said to both of them. "Sorry for making you worry."

"It’s fine as long as you’re okay." Reesa smiled brightly. "Go get ready. Let’s head to the principal’s office."

Zora nodded. "Alright."

By the time Zora finished tidying up and stepped out of her dormitory, she found that Raphael, Alaric Von Seraph, Tiffany, and the others were already waiting outside, as if they had agreed to gather there just for her.

"All of you are here?" Zora smiled.

Seeing her, everyone’s expressions relaxed, but the concern in their eyes was still impossible to hide.

"Zora, you’ve been in seclusion for so long," Tiffany said as he walked up to her, his youthful face full of worry. "We were really afraid something had happened to you."

Zora waved her hand lightly. "It’s nothing. Once I get focused, I lose track of time. I didn’t even realize I’d stayed inside that long."

Everyone paused for a moment, then exchanged helpless smiles.

They were already used to Zora being hardworking, but this kind of closed-door intensity was still a little shocking.

They had also heard from Reesa that Prince Kael was not in the academy, that he had gone back to Heaven’s Gate for something important. With his identity now revealed, no one doubted that the matters he dealt with were anything but simple.

And Guinvere...

Just thinking about that name made the atmosphere feel heavier.

Before they leave the ruins, Guinvere had made her attitude painfully clear. Being caught between Zora and Prince Kael was never going to be easy. Even though Reesa had brushed it off back then, seeing Zora shut herself away so completely made everyone quietly draw the same conclusion.

Her retreat was not just about cultivation.

Tiffany gently tugged Zora’s sleeve. "As long as you’re fine, that’s what matters. Let’s go to the principal’s office first."

Reesa nodded. "Yeah. If we keep him waiting, he’ll start scolding people again."

The group set off together.

Zora walked among them, but she could not shake the feeling that something was slightly off. Everyone was being extra careful with her, and extra gentle. She could not quite put her finger on it, but she felt it all the same.