# Chapter 9: Unchanged
"Ivan! Amira! Stop playing with your dragon, something big is happening!"
Starfall 834, November 3rd, Nissier Snow Mountain, Winterfell Academy.
Frost butterflies danced in the bleak northern wind, the weather growing drier and colder with each passing day. But in the pine forest surrounding the academy, a pair of platinum-haired siblings were crouched on the ground, laughing as they fed a young dragon before them.
Beside the brother sat a large bucket filled with ocean fish, while the sister held several pale blue crystals pulsing with the magical fluctuations of ice and water elements. In front of them, a young dragon measuring about two meters including its tail was greedily swallowing the fish and shrimp the brother tossed, occasionally pausing its chewing to look at the sister with hopeful eyes, waiting for her to toss a crystal.
Feeding a young dragon involved many considerations. The most important was nutritional balance—beyond the basic meat, one needed to periodically supplement mineral-rich magical substances to nurture the young dragon's spellcasting talent. Magic crystals were expensive but undoubtedly the best choice. For the Makarov siblings, who had recently completed many tasks and were flush with funds, this expense was nothing more than a drizzle.
Hearing the voice of their friend not far away, Ivan and Amira both stood up and turned around. In their view, the red-haired girl Karin was jogging over with the dwarf Nick, waving a brand-new notice in her hand. It seemed this so-called big event was this.
"What big event, Karin..." Amira reluctantly patted the young dragon rubbing against her calf, then tossed all the remaining crystals to it. Amid the dragon's joyful howls, she said somewhat discontentedly: "I'm in the middle of deepening my bond with White Frost. If you have something to say, say it quickly. Don't waste time."
White Frost was the young dragon's name. Academy instructors had tested it and discovered that compared to controlling water elements, the young dragon's talent leaned more toward creating freezing low temperatures. Since it was now plump and white, looking quite like a winged seal, it had won the girl's affection.
"I think it just likes the magic crystals in your hand, not you at all." Without hesitation, the red-haired girl undercut her friend. She didn't waste words, directly handing the notice to Ivan, who served as team leader, then said with a mysterious smile: "You two siblings, practically cut off from the world, will never guess what rumors are spreading through the academy right now!"
Hearing this, neither Amira nor Ivan reacted much. They truly hadn't paid much attention to the outside world in the past ten-plus days. After all, walking the dragon... building a bond with a young dragon really took time. Sometimes, just getting the young dragon accustomed to their scent and physical contact required hours of gradual adaptation, and it often required repetition.
"Mid-November, Dean Radcliffe will personally lead the top ten elite student squads to the Ural Plains for a trial."
Before the red-haired girl could speak, Ivan quickly scanned all the content on the notice. He frowned, considering the meaning of this information, then muttered somewhat strangely to himself: "The Lord himself is leading. What kind of trial requires a legendary expert to oversee? And isn't the Ural Plains the place we cleared out demonic beasts half a year ago? What's left there to train on..."
As he spoke, a scene from the past suddenly flashed through the youth's mind—a silver star arcing across the sky, silently falling to the earth, forming a mist covering several kilometers.
Could that be the trial?
"Don't know. Anyway, as the top-ranked squad in points, we'll definitely participate in this trial. So I came specifically to find you two and plan together. We absolutely can't let those 'outsiders' behind us steal our thunder!"
Karin always spoke so directly. The knight's daughter had flames called fighting spirit burning in her eyes. She said through gritted teeth: "Now everyone in the academy is saying that if it weren't for our time advantage, we'd definitely not be a match for those outsiders in pure strength, and we'd never have become the top-scoring squad!"
Hearing this, the other three also furrowed their brows.
The outsiders the red-haired girl spoke of were the thirty-plus young people the Lord had brought back from somewhere over half a year ago. They had all joined the 'Combat Professional Department' of Winterfell Academy, scattered among the Knight Department, Warrior Department, Ranger Department, and other miscellaneous departments.
This wouldn't have been anything special—just Joshua recruiting another batch of students. But surprisingly, these outsiders, who weren't native subjects of Moldavia, were exceptionally powerful. Except for a few geniuses, most of the locals had their thunder stolen. Now, the second-ranked squad in the academy was entirely composed of these outsiders. Their points were right behind Ivan's squad, ready to catch up at any moment. In fact, if Ivan and his team hadn't started doing missions three months earlier, their points might have already been surpassed.
"If we hadn't been taking care of the young dragon recently, how could they have caught up!"
Ivan and Amira were usually calm, but they were still young. Hearing such rumors questioning their strength naturally filled them with anger. As team leader, Ivan immediately decided: "You're right. This time we really need to plan carefully. We have to crush those outsiders' momentum!"
"Tsk, that's not the most important thing. Karin, you're just wasting words. Listen to me!"
This time, it was the dwarf Nick, who had been silent all along, who spoke. Seeing everyone's fighting spirit ignited, he crossed his arms and grinned: "I heard—just heard—that the Lord is planning to take on a few students during this trial!"
"Unlike the academy's collective training, the Lord intends to take on genuine disciples this time!" He announced in his bass voice, so loud that even the pine needles beside them trembled.
"You big mouth!"
This news indeed stunned the Ivan and Amira siblings. Seeing their shocked expressions, Karin glared fiercely at the dwarf. This was supposed to be her trump card information, but Nick had blurted it out.
"But... something's not right!" Although Amira was shocked by the news, she hadn't lost her ability to think. The slender girl felt her feet going numb, so she sat down on the back of the young white dragon, which was still feasting. Frowning, she thought hard: "The Lord is indeed powerful—no, the Lord can be said to be among the most powerful people in this world. Becoming his disciple would certainly be the luckiest thing. However..."
"However, the Dean is a warrior. We're all mages. Even if we became his disciples, it wouldn't do much good." Ivan took over his sister's train of thought. Leaning against a tree with one hand, his expression was unusually serious: "And this isn't ordinary news—since no one has come out to deny it yet, it's probably ninety percent true!"
"Sigh, what do you know." Karin waved her hand impatiently: "Anyway, regardless, we have to compete with those outsiders. They're all combat professionals, so they really might become the Lord's disciples. Even if we have to exhaust all our strength, we can't let them win! Moreover—"
Here, the red-haired girl drew out her tone. She teased: "The Lord also has very powerful mages by his side. Although you might not have noticed, Miss Number 3, who's always beside the Lord, is likely an Ultimate-rank rune mage! I've heard the protective formation covering all of Moldavia's main city was her work. If we take first place, even if the Lord doesn't take us as disciples, getting Miss Number 3 to teach us a thing or two shouldn't be hard, right?"
"True. And honestly, we're only Black Iron-rank mages."
At this, Nick nodded in agreement. The dwarf, whose sturdy frame didn't look at all like a spellcaster, said in a low voice: "If I could become the disciple of a legendary warrior, then being a mage or not wouldn't matter at all. My goal is just to change my destiny, to become stronger. That's all."
Everything that followed was left unspoken.
Changing destiny and wanting to become stronger... What better way to change destiny and become stronger than becoming the disciple of a legendary warrior?
The aura of fighting spirit spread through their silence.
At this moment, in the Lord's Mansion.
Joshua was communicating with Nostradamus through a communication array.
The communication array, due to the greatly increased magical density, occasionally produced some unstable static. But precisely because of this, arrays that previously could only transmit sound, with just a little fine-tuning, could now broadcast images in real-time without any distortion.
The arrival of the Great Magic Tide had brought about an all-around leap in magical technology. Many previously insurmountable technical difficulties were easily solved in the high-concentration magical environment. In the Eastern Plains, news was even being broadcast using real-life magical image projections.
"You're stealing my students! Joshua, since when does a warrior recruit disciples from a mage academy?!"
The warrior looked at the white-haired, furious old mage on the communication array and smiled. Calm and composed, he first took a sip of the sparkling black tea, then said slowly: "Master Nostradamus, Winterfell Academy is no longer a pure mage academy but a professional academy. Besides, this isn't important. I never said that after becoming my disciples, they couldn't continue studying at the academy. You can still teach them if you want."
"You!"
Unlike the completely unconcerned Joshua, the old mage on the other end of the communication array was clearly anxious: "With you spreading news like this, the entire Winterfell Academy will be unsettled. Who can focus on studying magic and seeking truth? Radcliffe, have you become so bored after reaching legendary status that you're itching to take on students because no one will spar with you?!" By this point, Nostradamus laughed in exasperation. He didn't believe the warrior's thoughts were so shallow. There had to be some hidden intention behind this.
But unfortunately, the warrior's thoughts really were that simple. Recalling his past life when he was still a martial arts dojo master, Joshua nodded. He was indeed bored and planned to take on one or two disciples to pass the time. Nostradamus was clever enough to see through it—that wasn't surprising.
But now wasn't the time for idle chatter, so he interrupted the old mage's complaints: "The Empire's situation has been difficult lately."
This statement was so direct and undeniable that Nostradamus frowned and remained silent for a while after hearing it. Soon after, he slowly spoke, his tone serious: "Why do you say that?"
"It's obvious."
Joshua wasn't one to beat around the bush. He stated directly: "The changes brought by the Great Magic Tide aren't limited to magical technology advancements. My territory borders the Black Forest, so I'm very clear about its effect on magical beasts and monsters. Although the Empire isn't like the Far South, covered in forests, large areas of hills and uninhabited dense forests still occupy a significant portion of its territory. Driven by such dense magical energy, even ordinary forests will transform into Black Forests."
"Right now, the Empire's military is contracting, merchant caravans are decreasing, and factories everywhere are being built to mass-produce transport airships, planning to make air transport the mainstay. This clearly indicates they intend to temporarily abandon the increasingly dangerous outskirts, use cities as bases for initial purification and cleanup, and then gradually reopen land trade routes. But this greatly reduces the Imperial center's control over local nobles. Add to that the countless adventurers and professionals across the country who had previously reached their limits but couldn't break through, now breaking through their bottlenecks driven by the magic tide—these suddenly emerging powers are also sources of unrest."
This was indeed the truth. The old mage nodded silently.
The magic tide brought an all-around sublimation to the Mycroft Continent, but this sublimation also brought chaos. The rapidly expanding Black Forest and the endless stream of restless powerhouses were part of this. Remember, there was a saying in the Empire: 'Better to offend a noble than to make an enemy of an adventurer.' Because a noble's power was out in the open—unless it was a life-or-death grudge, they usually followed the rules. With caution, they could be dealt with. But adventurers lived on the edge of life and death, wandering the fringes of lawless zones. They weren't good people by nature. Often, in a fit of rage, they would kill and then flee to distant lands.
Even nobles didn't want to deliberately make enemies of adventurers, because who knew if these people—or their friends and family—might, through exploring ruins or some other stroke of luck, suddenly break through to Gold-rank or even Ultimate-rank? Many noble families had fallen because they acted too recklessly, offending some young adventurer, only to be crushed decades later when that adventurer had grown powerful.
Now, the Great Magic Tide was allowing countless people who couldn't break through to do so. This could be called a blessing for all living beings. But these newly emerged powerhouses were changing the entire Empire's power structure. They also stirred up some ideas in the hearts of nobles whose strength had greatly increased. Combined with the Imperial Royal Family's weakening control over local regions, it was very possible that in a few years, once the situation stabilized, the Empire would see a large number of petty tyrants spring up, undoing years of Emperor Amos's suppression efforts.
"This is just external forces. Right now, Israel must also be troubled by problems within the Imperial family."
Joshua pointed out another issue, but since this was internal Imperial family matters, he didn't elaborate: "The return of Second Prince Di Mo Er has undoubtedly put the First Prince's faction on edge. Even here in the Northern Lands, I can feel the turmoil within the Imperial Capital. The reason you plan to break through next spring is probably to make those in the Empire who have improper thoughts quiet down."
After his analysis, the warrior was about to hear the old mage's response, so he could coordinate with him next year to keep those restless local nobles in line—although he himself was a local noble, legendary experts had privileges. Besides, His Majesty the Emperor and the old mage had always taken care of him, so he naturally wanted to return the favor.
But after a long silence, Nostradamus remained in a state of shock, not responding.
Not only that, Joshua also noticed that the Divine Mechanism siblings standing beside him were equally stunned beyond words. Ying's mouth was hanging open, the silver-haired girl's small mouth now large enough to hold an egg. Lin swallowed hard, his gaze full of disbelief, as if he'd seen a ghost.
Even Number 3, who had been floating near the ceiling above everyone, lost control of her magic and fell. Her magical projection twisted for a moment upon touching the floor before restoring itself to the winged girl's original form—this meant the artificial intelligence had briefly lost control of her projection. Her expression was also subtle and very human-like.
"Truth above all... How can you think so much?!"
After a long while, Nostradamus finally muttered in an incredulous tone: "This old man must be..."
The Divine Mechanism siblings also began whispering: "The master actually thinks about this much... Has he been too bored these days..."
"Yeah, it feels like a completely different person. Unbelievable!"
Number 3 also rose back into the air. From a distance, she looked at the warrior and said softly: "Joshua, you've changed..."
Hmph.
You really think I'm someone who only uses his hands and not his brain? This isn't something hard to understand.
Seeing the reactions of his friends and weapons, the warrior took a deep breath. He shook his head and said solemnly: "Alright, had your fun? I don't usually think about these things because I don't need to, not because I can't. Now, let's get down to business!"
"No, Joshua, I already understand what you mean."
On the other end of the communication array, the old mage, who had been teasing Joshua a bit, stroked his beard. He revealed a wise smile again: "That's enough, Joshua. Thank you for your goodwill."
At this point, Nostradamus's gaze grew distant for a moment, as if recalling some memories from long ago. He sighed softly, then said with utmost seriousness: "You truly haven't changed at all, even after reaching legendary status."
"Nostradamus."
Hearing the old mage's words, Joshua also laughed. He shook his head calmly: "The world may change. People's hearts may change."
"But I will not."