NOVEL NEXT Chapter 4: Tour of the Academy
The tour of the academy ended shorter than expected, as there was only one building — the one Victor named “The Headmaster’s Building.” While it was of significant size, encompassing several floors, it had different areas serving specific functions. Among these was the prestigious Headmaster’s Office, and adjacent to it were several well-equipped meeting rooms. Near the entrance, the reception area was reminiscent of a regal ballroom. Additionally, there were auxiliary spaces for storage and other administrative functions.
The interior was well-furnished. Mana lamps and chandeliers adorned the walls and ceilings, casting a warm, enchanting glow throughout the spacious rooms. Richly decorated tapestries depicting scenes of ancient magical battles adorned the walls, while intricate magical symbols were etched into the marble floors. Victor found it weird that no one had come and robbed this place clean while it had been left unattended.
One thing that caught Victor off guard was the location of the cuboid structure. When he had first arrived he had instinctively ended up in the building’s basement, where the only entrance was a hidden door concealed at the rear of the Headmaster’s Office — sealed by high-level magic that no Initiate Attunement acolytes such as himself could hope to break. So, he found it curious that he had ended up there.
While bewildered, Lizbeth, with a voice laced with a hint of mystery, explained, “The previous headmaster has meticulously arranged everything. Even your arrival, on the brink of death, was part of their grand design.”
Her words left Victor even more perplexed, wondering about the true intentions and motives of his enigmatic predecessor. Whomever this previous headmaster was, they must’ve been a very powerful Magus.
“What’s the first headmaster’s name?” Victor was more curious than ever, so he couldn’t help but ask.
“As I have said before, I don’t know. It’s possible my memories of them were intentionally erased.” Lizbeth shrugged her shoulders.
“Forget it… Asking you is like asking a rubber duck for the meaning of life.” Victor was slightly disappointed but not discouraged. He had only recently assumed the position of the headmaster; as the mission progressed, he suspected that the secrets hidden here would gradually be revealed to him.
“How rude!” Lizbeth puffed out her cheeks and kicked his shoulder. “Well, at least this rubber duck knows how to float!”
At last, Victor ambled outside the building. So far this tour had yet to reveal to him where the players would be summoned. Intrigued, he asked Lizbeth, who was still sitting on his shoulder. “Are there more facilities in this academy? While the Headmaster’s Building is grand, it’s lacking many essential components one would expect for an academy, if you catch my drift.”
He thought back to the Arcane Radiance College where he had studied, which had all sorts of departments specializing in many fields, like the Department of Potioneering, Department of Herbology, Department of Spellcraft, Department of Enchantments, Department of Magical Creatures, and so on. At present, this academy only had a single building, the Headmaster’s Building. It felt… incomplete…
“If you’re feeling disappointed by the lack of facilities, then there’s something you should understand: Not everything in this world comes for free,” Lizbeth explained, gesturing vaguely around her before continuing. “However, there is a way to unlock more facilities; you can check the System to get some information.”
“Should we go back to the basement?” Victor suggested, unable to hold his interest.
“Nope, there’s no need to backtrack and access the System through the Nexus Beacon. In fact, you can do it remotely right from here.”
Ah, so that’s the name of the cuboid thingy. “How do I do that?”
“Check your wrist,” instructed Lizbeth, to which Victor quickly complied by pulling up his right coat sleeve, but he saw nothing. “No, the other one,” Lizbeth corrected.
“O-Oh.” Victor checked his left wrist and noticed a black, bracelet-like mark. “Huh? Is this some kind of sigil pattern? No… it’s not as complex as that…”
Victor wore a long coat with his family’s crest mark under his robe, so he had never noticed any anomalies on his body, nor had he felt anything out of the ordinary. But the appearance of a strange tattoo-like pattern on his wrist was the least of his concerns at the moment. Still, he couldn’t help but wonder if this mark served a more nefarious purpose — perhaps it could act as a failsafe and ensure his demise should the academy ever be destroyed.
“Now, try to inject some of your infused mana into the Master Shadowlink Mark.”
Victor cast off the suspicion for now, and abided her command, channeling infused mana into the mark. All of a sudden, the black mark shone, and a holographic screen identical to the one projected by the Nexus Beacon appeared before his eyes. This seemed to be the main tab of the System, as it was named “Academy Status.”
Academy Name: -
Headmaster: Victor Asteriscus
Academy Points: 100
Academy Grade: Level 1
Total Acolytes: 0/100
Progression Value: 0/100
Neat, Victor thought as he searched for more information by fiddling with the screen. He soon found another page.
Level 1 Academy Grade: Level-1 Nexus Tower, 1:1 time
Level 2 Academy Grade: Level-1 Nexus Tower, Magic Botanical Garden, 1:1 time
Level 3 Academy Grade: Level-2 Nexus Tower, Magic Botanical Garden, Alchemical Hall, 2:1 time
…
“Hrm, I guess the only way to add more facilities is through the System…” Victor mused, stroking his chin.
“Or you can unleash your creativity and build them yourself, Master,” Lizbeth added to his statement.
“Riight… Easier said than done.”
That said, in order to gather “progression value,” Victor could only rely on the arrival of players to aid him in developing the academy. Maybe there would be specialized missions designed for them, offering opportunities to increase it.
“Say,” Victor began, scratching his head, “it says here that this academy should have a level-1 Nexus Tower. Where would that be?”
“Surprise, surprise!” Lizbeth grinned mischievously. “It’s actually right in front of you — just one hundred meters away, to be exact.”
“Seriously?!” Victor’s eyes widened in disbelief.
In the pitch-black darkness of the night, devoid of any moonlight save for faint stars in the sky, it was practically impossible to see further than twenty meters ahead. Consequently, Victor didn’t realize that there was another building so close. Still, with his extraordinary perception, how had he missed such a conspicuous landmark?
Lizbeth nodded enthusiastically. “Yep! Follow me, and I'll show you. Prepare to be amazed!” She then launched from Victor’s shoulder and flew into the darkness. The fairy was like a lamp glowing in the nighttime to guide his way.
Victor snapped his fingers, and a faint white light lit up around him. Being a third-stage Initiate Attunement acolyte, manipulating energy particles for daily activities was simple for him. And thus, he trailed Lizbeth’s fleeting figure.
A hundred meters away, he was met by an imposing structure of purplish-black stone, gleaming like polished obsidian. It rose like a towering spire, reaching a height of at least fifteen meters. No wonder that Victor had missed it earlier — its color seamlessly blended with the darkness of the night, and he could sense that it had the ability to absorb mana from the surrounding air. He couldn’t help but feel perplexed, as he was certain this structure hadn’t been here during the first time he came.
“Whoa! Is this the Nexus Tower? Is it connected to the astral space?” Victor looked up at the towering structure, his mouth agape.
“Bingo! One hundred for you! However, it’s not used for long-distance travel to other planes. Y’see, this is the very reason that people from your old world can be summoned. The Nexus Tower acts as the gateway between dimensions.”
“I see…” Victor’s mind raced with the implications.
He entered the structure and marveled at what he found inside. Chambers with tanks that resembled cryogenic pods or clone vats lined the walls. There were ten in total. In the center of the structure was a pool filled with ethereal energy, the likes of which Victor had never seen before. After all, he was only an Initiate Attunement acolyte, and the travel between astral space was limited for Nexus Temporal Magi and above.
“This is insane!” The structure alone could fetch tens of thousands of intermediate-grade mana crystals. Selling it to a high-ranking Magus would make Victor wealthy beyond imagination. Nevertheless, the transaction between Magi had to be done with equal strength; otherwise, revealing something so valuable to someone of higher power could result in his own demise.
“What’s that?” Victor pointed at a peculiar machine resembling a crematorium, except this one was magical.
“That’s an essence converter. To make biological matter, especially extraordinary life forms like Magi, you will need the essence of other similarly extraordinary life forms, and that thing extracts just that… Of course, it can also extract ordinary life forms.”
For now, on the digital screen of the essence converter, there was the number “10.” It seemed that one point corresponded to one body.
“Interesting!” Victor grinned in anticipation. He couldn’t wait to fill it up so that they could summon more players to join their cause. “About the players, do we have an estimate of how long it will take for the incubation process?”
“Twenty-four hours. As soon as those players receive the gaming capsules and put their bodies inside, the capsules will scan them and send their data here.”
“Huh? Would they have the same bodies they had on Earth?” If the other party is an elderly person or a child, that may be fatal… Victor made a mental note to meticulously screen players to avoid such accidents
“You can customize the settings as you see fit. At the moment, these pods are configured to generate human bodies corresponding to the inhabitants of this world and are adjusted to fit the setting, meaning they will all have youthful bodies.”
“I think I have the perfect approach to this,” Victor said, deciding on a setting. He believed that to integrate with the inhabitants of this world effectively, they needed to embrace the local customs, embodying the adage “When in Rome, do as the Romans do.” However, he was mindful of not altering the players’ races or appearances too drastically. His solution was to create a harmonious blend of their original features with those of the local populace.
In Seraphia, the human population predominantly displayed Caucasian traits and was often characterized by vibrant hair and eye colors. Yet, it was not uncommon to see some with Asian features, particularly in certain regions. The diversity was further enriched by the presence of humanoid races, descendants of those from different planes and worlds. This rich collection of cultures and races in Seraphia was a legacy of past Magi, who had brought these varied peoples to this world, thus creating a vibrant and diverse society.
“Hrm, it would be convenient if they could instantly grasp the language of this world.”
The use of magic in this world might not depend on a specific language; however, it would still make things much easier if these players could understand the native language, considering it’s the one he had learned magic from.
“It’s certainly possible. But due to time and device constraints, only one language can be implanted.”
“Better than nothing. Go ahead and implant the most common language, ‘Seraphian,’ into their minds.”
“As you wish, Master.” Lizbeth gave him a salute and giggled.
Originally, Victor had concerns that language would pose a significant barrier, but it turned out that wouldn’t be the case. Later on, he could open up the game for people in other countries once he figured out a few remaining details, such as different time zones.
With the arrival of the first batch of players still more than twenty-four hours away, Victor found himself twiddling his thumbs while contemplating the tasks that lay ahead. Gathering the necessary tools and provisions for their arrival seemed like a logical step here. Otherwise, he would be putting the cart before the horse. It just so happened that there was a village on the outskirts of the Thornwood Forest.
The problem was, he had to be careful of those bastards — his past comrades. There was no guarantee that he wouldn’t cross paths with them there. He would have to check the situation first before making a move to establish contact with the locals.
For now, considering that it was hours before daybreak, he decided to indulge in a well-deserved rest and practice his meditation technique to kill time. Luckily for him, the academy attracted mana and was saturated with it, making it a suitable environment for practicing his meditation techniques.
