Chapter 11: Forum and External Exploration Team 6500
The world brewed a storm amidst calm, like the surging currents beneath a gentle sea surface. But whether it was the gods in the heavens awaiting the opportune moment, or the many great figures on the ground busy with the future of the entire world, the ordinary lives of common people had to go on. They enjoyed the rare true peace that the Mycroft Continent had not seen for thousands of years and marveled at the rapid changes around them.
Year 837 of the Era of Falling Stars, February 1st, Moldavia, six in the morning.
Priest opened his eyes and rose from the warm bed in less than a second. He dressed neatly and efficiently, made his bed, and then went to the bathroom on the second floor to wash up.
This was a two-story detached villa. Although it was not large in area, it had all the necessary facilities, including a balcony and a backyard. After washing up, Priest began his daily morning exercise in the backyard. After completing five sets of full-body exercises, the time came to around seven o'clock. Priest returned indoors, took a quick shower to freshen up, and then the scar-faced young man seriously put on an apron and chef's hat, beginning to prepare breakfast for himself and his sister.
"Brittany, get up and eat. Don't lie in bed."
"Oh, okay, big brother."
A soft voice came from the bedroom on the second floor. Soon after, Priest could hear rustling sounds from the room. Not long after, a little girl with gray hair stumbled out of the room, half-asleep, and walked into the bathroom.
The 'Universal Academy' established in the new district of Moldavia was nominally an independent institution directly under the Lord's Manor, receiving dual funding from the Moldavian government and the Imperial government. Its sole purpose was to provide basic universal education to all young children in the territory under the age of fourteen. This policy had been successfully implemented for nearly three years under the empire's pressure. If continued, it might eliminate eighty percent of illiteracy within twenty years and cultivate a large number of qualified adult laborers with basic knowledge.
Priest's sister Brittany naturally met the admission criteria for the Universal Academy. So every morning, the man would escort his sister to the academy before its eight-thirty class time. Today was no exception. After breakfast, Priest accompanied his sister to school and handed her over to a gentle elven teacher.
"I entrust her to you."
"It's my duty."
Coincidentally, the rune factory where Priest worked was near the academy, so he could always arrive at his workplace before the factory's morning shift started at nine o'clock. But starting today, Priest no longer needed to go to the rune liquor factory.
Because he had now become a member of Winterfell's 'Champion Academy'.
"Trainee 'Priest Omeni', the Champion Academy entrance ceremony will begin promptly at ten-twenty on February 1st, Year 837 of the Era of Falling Stars. It is currently eight-thirty-seven in the morning. Please plan your schedule accordingly."
Accompanied by a faint mental fluctuation, Priest, who had just left the Universal Academy not long ago, suddenly shuddered. A mechanical, emotionless synthesized voice appeared in his mind. In response, Priest nodded and looked at his right wrist: "So, there's still time... but it's better to go early."
Embedded in the wrist guard on Priest's right hand was a strange azure-blue gem. The center of this gem flickered with a mesmerizing light, drawing one's gaze. This was the information terminal representing the identity of a Winterfell trainee, which had been delivered to him not long ago.
To avoid attracting attention, Priest covered the gem tightly with a thick layer of cowhide. This did not affect the terminal's function. The voice he had just heard was a reminder function Priest had set himself, to prevent him from forgetting important matters.
"Speaking of which, this information terminal really has many functions."
Walking on the road to the Champion Academy, Priest couldn't help but marvel inwardly: "Timed reminders, recording, magical photography, memos... it can even detect the temperature of the oil pan when I fry eggs and give a detailed curve of fire element concentration changes..."
For Priest, who had almost never come into contact with magical items before, the wonder of the information terminal was beyond his imagination. This gem, directly connected to his mind, combined several practical functions. The former caravan guard felt that if he had had such a thing during his wilderness travels, many originally difficult situations would have become much easier—just being able to accurately determine the time was already an impressive function, let alone detecting wind direction and forecasting the weather, which was outright cheating.
Of course, Priest had no idea that a certain legendary expert proficient in runes had used his own strongest artifact as the prototype to construct the original model of the information terminal. Although various functions had been cut and simplified due to issues of materials, craftsmanship, and popularity, what remained was still far beyond what ordinary magical items could achieve.
The withered yellow leaves on the roadside trees rustled down. In another month or two, spring would arrive. These leaves, which had supported through an entire winter, would all fall, and new buds would soon appear. Walking along such a road, passing by many hurried pedestrians, Priest finally arrived at the main gate of the Champion Academy, located in the southern district of New Moldavia.
The Champion Academy was a massive complex of buildings, with its main entrance beneath a tall, sturdy castle. A squad of knights in gray mana armor patrolled around the academy, keeping idle people away. After displaying his information terminal, Priest was allowed to pass and entered the castle.
At this time, there were not many people in the Champion Academy. Most formal members were out training or completing tasks, and new trainees wouldn't come this early either. Priest looked at the few new trainees in the castle hall and felt no desire to strike up a conversation. So after a moment, he found a place to sit down, closed his eyes, and connected his mind to the information terminal.
"Log in to the academy forum."
Since he had nothing to do anyway, he might as well check if there were any new messages on the forum.
His mind kept sinking, eventually seeming to connect to some vast network. Priest immediately felt a simple text board appear before his eyes. The background seemed to be a white sheet of paper laid on an iron plate, with several lines of text in various fonts and colors spreading downward from top to bottom.
'Winterfell Academy Forum' was the comprehensive forum for Winterfell Academy and its affiliated branches. On the first day he received the information terminal, he had been guided into the forum by a mana-armored knight and familiarized himself with its usage.
At first glance, Priest immediately saw a post pinned at the top in large red font. The title read: "The Ultimate Essence Realm is truly terrifying! A twelve-year-old girl from the First Squad single-handedly killed a Gold-rank magical beast in the depths of the icefield!"
Priest was momentarily stunned. "A twelve-year-old girl? And she killed a Gold-rank magical beast? And the location is deep in the icefield? There are many magical beasts there; how did she get there?"
At first, Priest was a bit puzzled, but he quickly realized: what other method was there besides fighting her way through? This was a forum for a professional academy. Every poster was a being with supernatural power, not to be underestimated.
"She's only a bit older than my sister... Such a young girl is already this strong. I can't slack off either!"
Priest silently resolved himself and left a comment under the post.
'The original poster can go deep into the icefield alone—truly powerful. I will also take you as my goal and strive to reach this level!' — Priest Omeni
To be honest, Priest only realized several days after receiving the information terminal that forum names didn't have to be real names; they could be chosen freely according to one's preference... But it was too late now. The name Priest Omeni had already become his forum name. To change it, he would have to wait three months.
Soon, Priest felt that the forum... their dormitories hadn't been arranged yet, but they would be confirmed by six in the evening. However, these dormitories were only provided for outsiders whose residences were not in New Moldavia City. Local trainees with houses were not considered, so this had nothing to do with Priest.
And the underground part, upon seeing it, left Priest utterly shocked.
"This... what is this?!"
He widened his eyes and muttered to himself, because what appeared before Priest was a vast underground forest!
"This is a special training forest artificially cultivated by the academy... It is said that part of the tree species comes from some special abyssal source, called what? Writhing Wood? Hmph, besides that, it also has some characteristics of the Black Forest, and quite a few magical beasts inhabit it."
The lead instructor said this, shaking his head with apparent dissatisfaction: "These artificially cultivated magical beasts are still too weak. They don't provide much training effect. They're only somewhat useful for giving you new trainees some practical combat lessons."
—No, just the abyssal tree species and the Black Forest are terrifying enough, okay?! And you planted these things underground in the city?!
Although Priest was initially shocked by the Champion Academy's audacity, after thinking it over, he nodded in understanding—after all, no matter how vicious the abyssal demons or the Black Forest were, they couldn't be worse than the local lord. According to the news in the Mage Weekly, their lord had already visited the abyss several times and even nearly killed a Demon Lord. A mere abyssal tree and Black Forest would probably be wiped out with a single breath from him.
Nowadays, the Mage Weekly had become a common publication spread across the entire continent. Both commoners and mages bought it to learn about the big news in the world. Priest didn't usually like reading it, but his friend Dahl loved it. To have something to talk about, Priest started reading it too.
The campus tour took about three hours. Everyone visited the final stop, and also went to the underground cafeteria to try the Champion Academy's magical beast cuisine—many people were eating magical beast meat for the first time and were as amazed as if they had discovered a new continent. Magical beast meat containing mana could greatly enhance the physical fitness of combat professionals and also speed up the cultivation of battle qi in the future. Unlike most people who didn't care much about such things, Priest would occasionally buy some magical beast meat with his money to cook at home, laying a good foundation for himself and his sister Brittany.
He didn't matter to himself, but his sister's future was far more important than his. That was Priest's true thought.
After the campus tour, it was free time. Classes for new trainees would start next week, and this week was for them to familiarize themselves with the campus buildings. Priest originally planned to wander around the campus, but to his surprise, one of the two instructors, the female one, found him.
"Priest Omeni?"
This capable woman, who called herself Ellie and had burn scars on her face, squinted as she sized him up. Her tone was flat but carried a hint of envy: "Second place in the comprehensive entrance test ranking... You indeed have the aura of someone who has experienced life and death, completely different from those ordinary trainees."
"Instructor Ellie?!"
Priest quickly stepped forward. He knew very well that this instructor in the academy uniform was a Gold-rank powerhouse! Ellie Damia, the Blood-Boiling Eagle, a former top-tier mercenary in the empire's western mountainous region, quite famous in the caravan guard circle. Her most notable achievement was using her unique Blood-Boiling Battle Qi to single-handedly wipe out the 'Ogre' bandit group, which had a total of one hundred and twelve members and had plagued the mountains for twenty years.
Back when he was still a caravan guard, Priest had heard of her name, but he didn't know when she had joined Winterfell Academy and become an instructor.
"It's nothing. It's just that your luck, little one, is too good. It makes me a bit envious."
Instructor Ellie didn't say much. She simply took out her information terminal and sent a private message to Priest. After doing this, she continued to look at Priest with a slightly envious gaze and said softly, "Listen, don't tell anyone about this... Hmph, even if you did, others probably wouldn't believe it."
"Anyway, in two hours, the dean wants to see you."
Priest, who hadn't quite processed this yet, subconsciously checked the private message in his information terminal. The words 'External Exploration Team Member Application Form' were prominently displayed below 'New Message'.
It wasn't until Ellie had already left, walking away without looking back, that the scar-faced young man finally snapped out of it.
"Wait—the dean you mentioned... could it be?!"
He cut himself off mid-sentence, remembering Ellie's warning. Soon after, a faint voice, as if coming from afar, echoed in the man's ears.
"Perhaps. Who knows."