Ikerite Magic Academy, Learning and Education Building.
This building served as a multidisciplinary facility catering to the educational needs of a vast student body. Its layout broke away from traditional isolated towers, incorporating expansive horizontal layouts that gave the wide structure ample room for study and collaborative activities.
Clusters of interior walls broke down the massive complex into refined spaces. Many of the corridors, courtyards, suspended beams, terraces, and staircases had been designed with modern artistic flair into canyons, wooded mountain paths, natural habitats, cliffs, and open-air amphitheaters, creating an indoor landscape that felt almost miraculous.
Fourth floor, Magic Engineering Research Division.
A specialized tiered lecture hall was designed to resemble a massive artificial valley. Elements of forests and mountains mingled with natural light streaming through skylights, forming a fresh, unique learning environment.
Inside this spacious hall, the tiered rows of seating stretched upward and were already nearly packed.
Unlike the mandatory courses for the School of Sages, which were split into smaller classes, this course—General Magic Genealogy—was mandatory for students of both the School of Sages and the School of Magic Engineering.
Consequently, students from both schools were brought together for large-scale lectures.
In the back row of the lecture hall, Lanqi and Hyperion still had a few empty seats around them on all sides.
Over the past few days, rumors had begun circulating across campus regarding the "Royal Capital Bully Trio"—
The fiercest attack dogs the student council had ever seen! On their very first deployment, they had completely demolished the clubhouse of the Soul of the Fighter, infuriating the honest Senior Cervini so much that she chased them in a murderous, red-faced fury before finally bursting into tears.
"As expected of a half-demon and a Lanqi... They seem even less human in person than in the Shadow World..."
Many freshmen from the School of Magic Engineering who were seeing the pair in the flesh for the first time marveled in awe, whispering under their breath.
In the back row, on the seats fashioned from natural tree stumps,
Hyperion was studying as diligently as always.
Rarer still, Lanqi showed no trace of his usual listlessness.
He furrowed his brows and focused with utter concentration, listening intently to the lecture.
This was the only required course across all disciplines that did not torment Lanqi, as it dealt almost entirely with key theoretical principles of magic and magic engineering without requiring any practical spellcasting.
The instructor was also someone he and Hyperion were quite familiar with—Teacher Teresa, the exceptionally gentle instructor who had coordinated their third round of entrance exams.
Teacher Teresa, standing at the front of the hall, seemed poised to cover a crucial point.
Lanqi even straightened his posture in anticipation.
"There are thirty-two Original Slates in this world. Each stands at the pinnacle of epic magic cards, corresponding to the very zenith of a particular type of magic."
"Yet unlike normal epic cards that fade into the sands of time, an Original Slate can be passed down for eternity!"
Standing behind a semicircular gray wooden podium, Teacher Teresa spoke in a clear, captivating voice. She raised an arm, gesturing toward the image of a slate and its appraisal details projected on the magical display screen.
[Original Slate - Wind]
[Category: Equipment Card]
[Quality: Orange Epic]
[Tier: 5]
[Passive Effect: The Original Slate cannot be destroyed. Only living beings of the mortal realm may soulbind it, up to a maximum of one slate. Comprehensively empowers all wind-attribute magic, martial arts, equipment, and summons. The slate is unbound upon the soulbound bearer's death.]
[Note: All things in this world will ultimately find new life; the wind shall forever sweep across this land.]
The rotating three-dimensional projection depicted a slender, compact ancient carved relief slab. Its streamlined edges and faint magical conduits seemed to whisper tales of tens of millions of years. The stone held a warm, lustrous texture, its colors deepened and enriched by the passage of ages.
Across intricate, mysterious runes, faint spirals drifted like trails left by the Milky Way traversing the night sky—resplendent yet elusive, seemingly harboring an ancient power and wisdom that could never be erased, even by the annihilation of the world.
"The slate shown here is the 'Original Slate - Wind,' held by Mr. Loren, Great Prelate of the Church of the Goddess of Fate. It appears both divine in origin and like a relic left by ancient sages, bearing noticeable traces of magic engineering modifications."
Teacher Teresa continued,
"And for the magic artificers of the School of Magic Engineering, merely observing the original slate in person can yield profound insights into the crafting of that category of magic items."
The moment her words fell, it was like dropping a stone into a quiet pool, setting off a wave of murmurs throughout the lecture hall.
Teacher Teresa smiled serenely from the podium, opening her thermos to take a sip of water to moisten her throat.
The classroom's open, expansive design easily lent itself to a seminar-style forum.
Students could freely voice their questions and thoughts, engaging in active dialogue with their instructor.
Teacher Teresa knew that a course like this required sparking the students' curiosity and granting them time to discuss freely, rather than subjecting them to continuous, one-way lecturing.
Below the podium, chatter rippled between adjacent students.
"No wonder the School of Magic Engineering has a graduation assignment about seeking out a slate bearer on the continent just for a chance to observe one!"
"Some seniors looking for a shortcut just run straight to the School of Sages to beg Dean Loren to let them observe his Original Slate - Wind!"
However, as a guardian powerhouse of the Hutton Kingdom who concurrently held the solemn office of Great Prelate in the Church of the Goddess of Fate, Dean Loren was hardly an idle man.
He would never casually bring out an indispensable magic card like an exhibition piece just for students to study.
In response, Loren would assign interested students important public-service missions for the Hutton Kingdom or tasks for the Church of the Goddess of Fate.
Only if a student completed the trial would he grant them an opportunity to observe the slate as a reward.
Occasionally, magic artificer students and even faculty from allied nations and partner academies came to visit Dean Loren, and he presented them with the same fair conditions.
When approached by genuine seekers of knowledge, accommodating figures from friendly allied nations generally offered similar opportunities, setting trials comparable to Loren's.
Of course, there were also slate bearers who were reclusive, cold, or entirely unreasonable, paying no heed to ordinary visitors whatsoever.
"Just having a single Original Slate makes someone a revered, sought-after titan. I want one too... By the way, Hyperion, do you know of any Original Slate bearers besides Dean Loren?"
Lanqi gave a wistful sigh and smiled at Hyperion beside him.
The two of them frequently chatted like this during their free time. Outside of classes, they would also visit Frey; the student council room made for an expansive, peaceful retreat.
However,
Lanqi's words seemed to strike a sorrowful chord within Hyperion.
A fleeting shadow of grief passed through her eyes, and she looked away.
As if determined to keep Lanqi from noticing,
she simply lowered her head and nodded.
Chapter 102