Starlight Academy, Dean’s Office.
Kleia’s face was as cold as water, her fingertips unconsciously tapping the polished nanmu desk, gaze fixed on the image projected by the magical communication stone before her.
On the other end of the projection, a bright and unrestrained female face was nearly pressed against the mirror, disregarding all decorum as she slapped the table, erupting into deafening laughter.
“Puhahahaha! Kleia! I have to say, Starlight Academy really is full of talents! Your precious disciple Emma, is she planning to make me laugh to death so I’ll leave her my Silent Moon Chamber of Commerce? How can she be so innocent?! Hahahaha!”
Wendy, President of the Silent Moon Chamber of Commerce, was laughing so hard that tears nearly spilled from her eyes.
“Wen—dy—!” Kleia squeezed out the name through clenched teeth, faint arcs of electricity crackling around her, clearly on the verge of fury. “If you laugh one more time, believe it or not, I’ll blast your lousy dock and your chamber headquarters to smithereens right now?!”
“Oh my, Dean Kleia~” Wendy finally managed to suppress her laughter, wiping the corners of her eyes. “You’re the Empire’s famous Eighth-Tier Grand Archmage, standing at the very top of the pyramid. Can’t you be a bit more sporting?”
She donned a slightly more serious expression, though a trace of amusement still lurked in her eyes.
“Besides, this ‘Temperament Training Program’ for elite students from all the academies was approved by the four academies’ upper echelons, the Royal Family, and the Noble Council. Isn’t the purpose to use us to teach those hothouse flowers what the world outside is really like—the fickleness of the human heart, and ever-changing rules?”
She paused, then couldn’t help but snicker again: “I just didn’t expect that your up-and-coming star in the field of pharmaceutics would be… cough, so adorably pure-minded. But that’s good, too. After this experience, it’ll benefit her growth greatly—better to stumble here than on something truly life-threatening in the future, right?”
These words soothed the anger in Kleia’s chest somewhat, but her face was still dark.
“But, Dean Kleia, business is business.” Wendy’s tone suddenly shifted, a shrewd light in her eyes. “I strictly followed your special instructions and ‘accidentally’ let slip the news of ‘Emma’s misfortune’ to your fourth disciple, that Izar.
What happens next depends on him. If he can’t find a way to get Emma out, that ‘special rescue fee’ you promised to pay personally—don’t you dare leave out a single coin.”
“Rescue? Rescue my foot!” Kleia snorted. “Let those two troublemakers stay at your mine and dig to pay off their debts! A little life experience will do them good!”
Wendy smiled, clearly enjoying the show. “That’s fine with me! As long as I get enough profit, they can do whatever.”
After the communication with Wendy ended, silence returned to the office.
The anger faded from Kleia’s face like the tide, replaced by deep contemplation.
Emma falling for this was well within her expectations.
She was well aware of her disciple’s genius in pharmaceutics, and equally clear about her temperament.
What truly piqued her curiosity now was how Izar would handle the situation.
Izar… This disciple who seemed ordinary, yet always managed to complete tasks perfectly, shrouded in countless mysteries.
This time, faced with an unexpected predicament, could he deliver another surprise?
Kleia picked up her slightly cooled black tea, took a gentle sip, and her eyes filled with both curiosity and anticipation.
At the Silent Moon Dock, Izar naturally had no idea that every move he made had already fallen into the Dean’s “calculations.”
At this moment, his face was grim as he racked his brains, thinking of how to pull that “debt-ridden” senior out of the mire.
“Senior, what should we do now?” Luke, as always, had no ideas of his own and pinned all his hopes on Izar.
Izar attempted to use the magical communication stone to contact Emma, hoping to get the details directly.
However, the stone remained utterly silent—nothing but emptiness.
“Senior, what’s going on?” Luke asked in confusion.
Izar sighed, his tone heavy. “The communication is being jammed. The opponent’s methods are very professional; this isn’t just some ordinary trouble.” That made him even more vigilant.
He stowed the stone away and said to Luke, “Let’s get out of here first.”
“Huh? We’re not going to help Emma anymore?” Luke was flustered.
“Help, of course we’ll help,” Izar said calmly. “But we can’t just charge in blindly. The enemy is in the shadows, we’re out in the open. We need to find a safe place, figure out who we’re dealing with and Emma’s exact situation, then make a plan.”
For some reason, he kept feeling as though an invisible gaze was watching them from the shadows, sending a chill down his spine.
Hopefully, it was just his imagination…
Luke seemed to remember something and suggested, “Senior, why don’t we go directly to that ‘Know-It-All’ vendor? He was the one who told us about Emma, so he must know even more!”
Izar shook his head, exasperated by Luke’s straightforward thinking. “Luke, have you thought about where he gets his information?”
He sneered, patiently explaining, “If we keep asking him for news, we become his news. If someone asks him about us, aren’t we just walking into a trap?”
Luke looked muddled, taking a long time to digest, then exclaimed in admiration, “Senior! You… you’re so meticulous!”
Izar’s mouth twitched. “If you want to compliment me, do it properly, not halfway! I am not meticulous at all!”
He silently decided that someday he needed to give Luke a thorough lesson on “caution.”
In these special times, Izar constantly reminded himself to be vigilant, minimizing potential risks.
He wasn’t like those storybook protagonists, blessed with uncanny luck and sudden awakenings in every crisis.
He was just an ordinary person, hoping for peaceful days—a background character.
The system was indeed his greatest reliance, but Izar understood well that it wasn’t all-powerful.
Years of experience had taught him: the system would only activate under special conditions. First, when he was in danger and different choices could lead to varying degrees of risk. Second… when the system judged that he would die no matter what, it would fall silent and let him face his end.
That was why, deep in his heart, Izar harbored a single ultimate goal—invincibility.
Only when his power eclipsed the whole world could he break free of the system’s “choices,” never again having to tiptoe through life, exhausting his mind at every step.
Following the principle of “hiding in plain sight,” Izar brought Luke to a rowdy, bustling tavern-inn in the dock district.
This was where all sorts of people from every walk of life gathered—a perfect place to gather intel and hide one’s identity.
It was dinnertime, and the tavern was filled with a raucous mix of travelers and sailors. They wore garments of every regional style, crowding around wooden tables, loudly boasting, drinking, and trading tales from their journeys.
Izar and Luke, dressed simply, melted into the crowd without attracting any notice. They found an empty table in the corner and casually ordered some food and ale.
Soon, a conversation among several adventurer-looking folks at the next table caught their attention.
“Did you hear? The advanced magic exam rankings from Moonrise Academy are out!”
“Damn, don’t remind me! I bet a ton of money on Rhea from Moonrise Academy to win. And what happened? She didn’t even compete—she just forfeited to Sara from Starlight Academy! If there’s no rigging here, I’ll eat this table!”
“Brother, I told you—there was inside info that Rhea’s family issues threw her training off, her mentality collapsed, and it’d definitely affect her in the exam. I told you not to bet on her, but you wouldn’t listen.”
“Who could’ve predicted she’d just forfeit? Such an important exam! I thought maybe someone spread fake news to bait the gamblers!”
“You’re just too ‘cautious’… But in any case, after this fifth-tier exam, Moonrise Academy’s Rhea has been completely eclipsed by Starlight Academy’s Sara in the rankings. Looks like Moonrise is going to be under Starlight’s shadow for years to come.”
“Not necessarily! Have you forgotten Moonrise Academy’s newly recruited genius, Lien? High elemental affinity for all elements, and he’s even a magic and martial dual cultivator! Word is, he’s reached the peak of tier three just two years after enrolling. If he’d joined earlier, who knows who would’ve been champion this time!”
“By the way, who took the top spot in the fourth-tier exam?”
“Starlight again! Name’s… Regus! That guy’s a real mystery—nobody at the academy had ever heard of him at tier three. Just a regular student, no special tutoring. But at the fourth-tier exam, he went wild like he was on something, wiped the floor with the other contestants!”
“Wow, champions of both the fourth and fifth tier from Starlight Academy… Looks like the ‘Empire’s Number One Magic Academy’ title is firmly Starlight’s for years to come.”
“Isn’t that to be expected? Their founding dean was the only dragon-slaying hero! If Dean Kleia hadn’t inherited during a time of weakness, how would the other academies have even had a shot at first place?”
Listening to the next table’s chatter, Izar’s brows furrowed tightly beneath his mask.
Regus? Where did this monster pop up from?
Sounded like yet another classic “main character template”!
Izar suddenly felt a wave of exhaustion.
Was it even possible to be a normal NPC at Starlight Academy? Why did it feel like the place was crawling with hidden experts and future stars?!
……