NOVPUBThe Magic Engineering College was filled with clear, streamline designs and a sense of geometric lines. The expansive windows allowed the morning light to shine freely into the office, and during brief moments of silence, one could sense the movement of the clouds outside even without looking up.
"Professor, could you please tell me how I might be of help?"
Lanci looked at Professor Bolao with confusion.
His gaze clearly carried a tinge of worry, but it was evident that his concern stemmed from a sense of responsibility, as well as his sincere love for the school.
"Our school has indeed fallen a bit short of its reputation recently, sliding down the rankings among the Southern Continent Colleges these past two years."
Professor Bolao sighed,
"Accordingly, the pressure from both inside and outside has increased a lot."
Ichrite Academy did not just belong to the Hutton Kingdom but was also officially recognized and a top-tier institution directly under both the South Continent Shadow World Management Association and the South Continental Kingdom Union Council. With the many powers and conveniences it enjoyed, it also had to meet certain benchmarks to ensure it could deliver effective results in support of the associations.
Their current situation was—
The initially appointed new dean and chancellor of the Magic Engineering College, Duke Migaya, had gone missing; the Dean of the Sage Academy was overburdened with multiple roles; the Dean of Knight College had retired and was rehired; and the Dean of the Alchemy College was in prison.
Now, the school could only say that Professor Bolao was somewhat reliable.
"The truth is, I don’t really want to manage the Magic Engineering College. At my age, I’ve already retired. It’s just that apart from Migaya, there’s no one in the Hutton Kingdom who can take over my work. The Hutton Kingdom needs my magic engineering research and technical support, and the research institute is also on campus, so I mostly stay at the school."
Professor Bolao spoke of the school’s current situation.
"So, our school’s benchmarks might not meet this year’s goals?"
Lanci probably understood the problem that was currently bothering Professor Bolao.
"Looking at the first half of the year, it’s not enough. We must buckle down in the second half. With a bit more effort, it should be solvable. But if the other departments don’t meet their benchmarks, the Magic Engineering College will have to make up for it."
Professor Bolao answered.
As a comprehensive institution, Ichrite excelled not only in conquering the Shadow World but also in magic engineering research and various departments’ administrative work—Magic Engineering College, as always, was very stable.
Leaving aside the current state of the Alchemy College, for this year, the Knight College and the Sage Academy had seen a decrease in the number of fourth-year and part-time students over the past two years, leading to fewer high-order Shadow World clearance records; there was a bit of a gap developing.
"Uh, so, since Lanci has become a Platinum Level Card Maker, does that count as part of the benchmarks?"
Hyperion raised the question beside Lanci.
"Unfortunately, you are Sage Academy students and do not have Magic Engineering College training records. Therefore, even though Lanci has achieved Platinum Level, he doesn’t earn points for the Magic Engineering College from the Joint Council."
Professor Bolao, sitting opposite, shook his head. This was exactly the reason he had said earlier that Lanci almost helped him.
This rule was mainly to prevent some colleges from recruiting established Cardmakers to boost their scores. Hence, without a proper training record, one would not be considered a product of that school’s teaching.
Producing a Platinum Level Card Maker scores high points. Lanci could have brought a sizable windfall of points to the Magic Engineering College, but unfortunately, he chose the Sage Academy upon enrollment. Just like Migaya had chosen the Knight College years before, Bolao could only sigh at their unique thinking.
"However, since Lanci wasn’t nurtured by us, it’s only fair that we don’t get the points. It’s just missing out on this advantage,"
Professor Bolao seemed quite open-minded about it, spreading his hands,
"Really, the one who’s being targeted at the school is Loren. The temperamental and eccentric Dean Sphintos of the Knight College is not someone the nobility dares to provoke. But since Loren is young and good-natured, dirty tricks seem particularly effective against him. You know what I mean?"
Professor Bolao looked at Lanci, returning to the main topic.
"Indeed, sometimes the despicable like to provoke the upright. Even though Dean Loren possesses the strongest martial ability, in most cases, he can’t resolve issues with force, nor can he win people over with martial virtue."
Lanci, resting his chin on his hand, couldn’t help but worry about Loren.
Seeing Lanci’s concern for Loren, Hyperion also started to worry about Loren.
"Lately, Loren has actually faced a lot of criticism, viewed as neglecting his duties despite his personal strength. Not only do the nobility within the kingdom attempt to impeach him, but the international voices are not too favorable either."
Professor Bolao continued to speak.
Dean Loren faced pressure when he allowed Vice President Asina, who had rejected further study to become a chef, to leave.
Many domestic nobles felt that Loren had ruined a once-in-a-generation prodigy who could have become an Eighth-order Strongman, dismissing her choice to become a chef as both absurd and selfish.
Internationally, opinions were mixed, with no shortage of suspicion and jealousy directed at Great Priest Loren. Reports frequently smearing him and making mountains out of molehills were common, branding him an incompetent in the field of education and someone whose pride couldn’t tolerate anyone stronger than him.
Such reports were numerous.
Last year, Lanci, who had begun to make a name for himself, slapped these detractors in the face by helping Loren, silencing them for a short time, only to disappear for half a year, blending in with the crowd.
Loren then faced renewed criticism, and rumblings began anew.
"I see,"
Lanci nodded, frowning.
He hadn’t realized it had to do with him, too.
The position of Dean of the Sage Academy was one of considerable power, as seen when Lanci and Hyperion faced external attempts to influence their impartial entrance exams. It was hard to imagine how much more difficult Hyperion’s admission and safety in school would be if Loren were replaced by a scheming and selfish noble.
"However, regarding your disappearance, there wasn’t much fuss about it within the Hutton Kingdom, because as long as you become a Platinum Level Card Maker for the Hutton Kingdom, Shadow World ranks and Orders don’t matter anymore."
Professor Bolao felt that with Asina’s impending graduation, the Hutton nobility would not miss the opportunity to take away Loren’s position as Dean of the Sage Academy.
If the Sage Academy was about to have a new dean chosen by the nobility in the second half of the year, then it would indeed become a serious headache for Professor Bolao.
At least Loren wouldn’t cause trouble. He took his work seriously and was responsible, trustworthy, and morally upright, far better than those seeking to exploit their power for personal gain.
"Then I must prove it for Dean Loren, he’s an outstanding dean."
Lanci seemed to have made up his mind and assured Professor Bolao.
Let’s not talk about the international troubles Loren has been facing all this time.
Just looking at the cause-and-effect relationship where Loren insists on helping Senior Asina protect her dream, and then Senior Asina cooks every day to feed Tata, Lanci felt that it was his responsibility and obligation to help solve Loren’s current problems.
"What are you planning to do?"
Professor Bolao looked at Lanci in surprise, not expecting Lanci to be so enthusiastic; the kid really loved Loren.
"Professor Bolao, could you help me get a special promotion letter for a challenger, considering me as fifth-order when challenging the Shadow World?"
Lanci requested from Professor Bolao.
Professor Bolao not only had the highest authority in the school but also had deep connections with the Southern Continent Card Maker’s Association and the South Continent Shadow World Management Association.
"...Are you thinking of tackling a seventh-order Shadow World?"
Lanci was currently fourth-order, Hyperion was fifth-order. If Lanci wanted to be considered as fifth-order, there was only one possibility: he intended to find a seventh-order teammate to lead them into a higher difficulty Shadow World.
After all, according to the regulations of the South Continent Shadow World Management Association, when teaming up to challenge a Shadow World, the order difference within the same team could only be two orders.
Sometimes, some exceptionally outstanding individuals, who wanted to keep up with higher-order teams, could get a special letter to be considered as one order higher under the protection of significant figures.
"Yes, I want to take a cat with me."
Lanci confirmed.
That way, he and Hyperion could team up with the seventh-order Cat Boss, and there was a certain chance of encountering a seventh-order in the next Shadow World.
"..."
Professor Bolao fell silent.
He believed that a clever kid like Lanci understood the risks involved.
The Shadow World of seventh-order and sixth-order would undergo a qualitative change, just like the gap between a seventh-order and a sixth-order themselves.
Normally, the highest possible opponent that could appear in the Shadow World was two orders higher, capping at ninth-order.
For example, in the fifth-order Shadow World Sanctuary Evil Banquet, which Lanci and Hyperion were challenging, normally, after passing mechanisms, they would need to defeat sixth-order enemies. However, if the mechanisms failed and the Shadow World entered a berserk state, the highest potential enemy they could face would be seventh-order.
Therefore, the biggest problem with seventh-order and eighth-order Shadow Worlds is the theoretical possibility of encountering ninth-order characters.
Ninth-order is the domain of deities and has been the dominating force in any era.
They might be allies or, more likely, enemies, and it might even be hard to distinguish their stance from the mission of the Shadow World.
Any clearance of a seventh-order or higher Shadow World, irrespective of extinguishing a catastrophe, is in itself of vital historical value.
Whether it’s the history of this world or another, both bear academic significance for study and research. 𝓷𝓸𝓿𝓅𝓊𝓫.𝒸ℴ𝓶
As for the ninth-order Shadow World, it is an end-of-the-world level, and its era might be just a few years before the arrival of a cataclysmic period where even ninth-order strongmen find survival challenging.
Typically, one appears once every century.
This century’s ninth-order Shadow World is already underway.
The cost is that over several years, all contemporary ninth-order strongmen will be forcibly summoned.
Therefore, in today’s North and South Continent, eighth-order bishops are the supreme strongmen.
"I can get it for you, but you need to think carefully. If you fail, I’m not worried about any responsibility, but Dean Loren will certainly be beyond redemption."
Professor Bolao tapped his knuckles on the table and, for the first time, looked at Lanci earnestly as he spoke.
The clearance of a seventh-order Shadow World would, in itself, be a very high mark for the school, and could solve many problems for Bolao.
It’s just that if Loren learned that Lanci, a student who was about to move up to second grade, entered a seventh-order Shadow World, he might get stunned.
If something went wrong, Loren would be responsible, and during the process in the Shadow World, as the primary responsible person, Loren could face comprehensive pressure from the entire Kingdom Joint Council.
Of course.
If Lanci succeeded.
Everything would be reversed.
It would become a process of doubting Loren, understanding Loren, and rallying around Loren.
Moreover, many people would turn red with jealousy, thinking that Loren was training a secret weapon, not lending them any face, and striking their faces with force, and Loren’s attraction would rise again.
"I must dispel these doubts about Dean Loren."
Lanci assured Professor Bolao with great enthusiasm.
"..."
Hyperion looked anxiously at Lanci with a bit of fear.
Besides fearing the seventh-order Shadow World she might encounter, she was also worried that with the century’s cold winter approaching, Dean Loren might have to put on some extra clothes.
