It wasn’t until he had seen Isabella back to her residence and returned to his own place alone that Landon collapsed onto his bed.
Out of habit, he opened his status panel to take a look.
This had almost become his nightly routine.
[Remaining Settlement Cycle: Six Days]
‘There’s still so long to go.’
Ailundun sighed helplessly.
He was particularly looking forward to this cycle’s reward.
Although the last cycle’s process had been relatively short, six days still felt like an eternity.
Still, he had finally been admitted into the Weierdun Empire Academy and had even managed to gain the favor of Her Highness the Princess.
No matter how you looked at it, the reward level this time shouldn’t be bad.
It seemed he could only try to scrounge up rewards from other places to fill the emptiness of this waiting period.
He wondered if the Magitech Institute had any unique reward mechanisms for outstanding students like himself.
He’d have to find the Dean of the Magitech Institute and ask properly later.
Come to think of it.
When he passed by the Magitech Institute earlier, he should have just gone up and asked.
Speaking of which, it had been a long time since he’d seen Professor Fuke.
‘Forget it, asking in a few days is the same.’
—
A few days later.
The comprehensive assessment and evaluation for the new students of the Weierdun Empire Academy finally concluded.
First, Principal Paerwa gave a speech in the Central Square about the successful completion of the examinations.
Then, the deans of the various institutes respectively awarded their own institute’s badges to the students.
Students who received the badges officially became members of that institute.
Following that, the deans of each institute gave their unique award ceremony speeches, encouraging the students of their institutes to be diligent and earnest in their future studies.
This quickly became the hottest topic in the Weierdun region.
It especially caught the attention of those news agencies.
The annual enrollment situation was a segment that all major newspapers and periodicals had to review and comment on, as it signified the future talent pipeline for the Weierdun Empire, the hub for the empire’s talent cultivation.
Even the Princess of the Weierdun Empire, Isabella Greville, was among this year’s new students, which always sparked immense discussion and buzz.
Because the examination results, for certain reasons, had not been fully disclosed to the public, many outstanding students could only be discovered by these news organizations themselves, based on the preserved recordings from the Secret Realm.
To publish and secure the headline for this news cycle, scholars from many news agencies worked through the night, contacting internal personnel of the Weierdun Empire Academy, trying to obtain the recordings of this examination.
According to past practice, outstanding candidates or interesting incidents among the new students often became the headlines of these news publications.
And so.
These news agency scholars tirelessly sifted through the recordings, hoping to find some interesting headline material.
Until one news agency unearthed a particularly interesting recording.
It was of Her Highness the Princess’s team, facing off against an examiner named Lami’er.
This examiner specialized in some Concealment and Amplification Magic, and his strength had reached a terrifying fourth tier.
By all logic, Her Highness the Princess’s team should have been no match.
Yet, contrary to expectations, this examiner was actually defeated by the Princess’s team.
The reason turned out to be a highly distinctive Magic Engineer.
This highly impactful topic immediately caught that newspaper’s attention.
To generate heat and discussion, that newspaper resorted to extremely exaggerated embellishments.
They described in detail how Lami’er, as a disgrace to mages, was defeated by a Magic Engineer using dirty tactics.
Among the idle populace in Weierdun, without concrete evidence, most didn’t believe the authenticity of this news and scoffed at it.
Thus, a highly persuasive narrative was born.
“Examiner Lami’er, out of deference to Her Highness the Princess’s status, deliberately went easy and allowed himself to be thrashed by the Magic Engineer, becoming a disgrace within the Weierdun Empire Academy’s teaching staff.”
Thanks to Ailundun.
Lami’er became somewhat famous within Weierdun’s teaching circles, becoming the butt of many jokes over meals.
—
As for Ailundun.
His campus life was finally about to begin.
That day, he got up early, put on the Magitech Institute’s unique emblem.
The emblem’s shape was distinctive, featuring a cross-shaped holy radiance in the form of a Magic Engineering Tool in the center.
According to the Dean of the Magitech Institute, this was a Magic Engineering Tool forged by Terwin, an outstanding graduate from the first class of the Weierdun Empire Academy.
Its effect was very unique—it could instantly make one feel genuine joy from the heart.
No matter how much one had once despised the world, even to the point of wanting to jump off a building, or even those extremely evil criminals, as long as this effect was applied, they would inevitably marvel at the beauty of the human world.
This profoundly meaningful effect immediately caught the attention of the contemporary King of Weierdun, who awarded Terwin a Royal Medal in recognition of the Magic Engineering Tool he had forged.
The principal of the Weierdun Empire Academy at that time was also moved by Terwin’s philosophy.
Back and forth.
Terwin’s unique philosophy was preserved by Weierdun and became the institute’s emblem.
Hoping that everyone could feel beauty because of Magic Engineering Tools… not fear encountering them.
When the time came.
Ailundun headed early towards the dormitory area.
The dorms were located in the southern part of the academy, close to the teaching buildings and not hard to find.
He walked south along the winding river and finally arrived near the dormitories.
The scenery around the dorms was quite nice, with much higher greenery coverage than near the teaching buildings.
According to the procedure, he first needed to find an administrator to figure out which dormitory building he was assigned to.
He looked up, thinking he had come very early, but there were already quite a few students gathered nearby.
‘Looks like I’ll have to queue up for a bit.’
When it was finally his turn, he was greeted by a kind-looking administrator who smiled and handed Ailundun a set of keys.
“Hello, these are your dorm room keys. Your room is in the Qingshui Building. Once you get there and complete the check-in, someone will tell you your exact room location.”
Ailundun felt a bit disappointed.
He couldn’t choose his room himself; it was randomly assigned.
“Is there anything else?”
The administrator asked with a smile.
“No, that’s all.”
Ailundun smiled and nodded, then headed towards his assigned dormitory building.
Each dormitory building was marked with its name, and each name was quite distinctive, so students wouldn’t get lost trying to find them.
He found the head of his dormitory building, inquired about his room, and then went straight to it.
The Weierdun Empire Academy truly lived up to being the best academy.
The rooms were basically all singles.
Especially for the scarce Magic Engineers, there were even vacant rooms with no one assigned.
Of course, there were also double rooms, but those were mainly in the Sage Institute or the Knight Institute.
After he finished moving in with his large and small bags, cleaned the dust from his room, moved the bed to a spot with better sunlight, and arranged his belongings…
Looking at the room that had become clean and tidy again, his mood improved considerably.
He then locked the door, closed the windows, and turned on the room’s light.
His field of vision instantly became bright.