Inside the Dean's office of the School of Sages at Ikerite Academy.
The walls were an elegant dark gray, complemented by high-grade dark wood furniture that lent the room an understated, dignified atmosphere. Along the wall stood a row of bookcases designed with layered depth, packed with classic treatises on magic engineering, academic reports, and research journals.
A small meeting area occupied one corner of the office, furnished with a low circular conference table and a few comfortable chairs, typically used for brief meetings or informal discussions with students and faculty.
Large, bright windows overlooked a fine view of the campus, especially the School of Sages' courtyard and the distant Ancient Tower Library. Ample natural light poured in, making the entire office feel even more spacious and airy.
Behind his broad wooden desk, Loren sat absorbed in the documents before him.
The tumultuous semester had finally drawn to a close.
As dean, he had only a few overall wrap-up tasks left to handle.
Looking at the report card, which showed Lanqi absent from every single exam while Hyperion scored near-perfect marks across the board, Loren felt a lump in his throat. How on earth had these two ended up hanging out together?
Previously in the royal capital, virtually everyone agreed that the duke's daughter fell far short of her father, Duke Mikhail, having inherited none of his prodigious talent. But now, in Loren's eyes, that wasn't the case at all. Her talent was astonishing—she could actually keep Lanqi in check.
Loren didn't dare imagine what kind of chaos the School of Sages would have suffered under an unrestrained Lanqi if she hadn't been there to capture his attention.
At the thought of Lanqi, followed by the Aloran Kingdom students still languishing in the hospital, and then Juliana telling him to just wait and see, Loren's head throbbed with a sharp pain.
Suddenly, the doorbell rang.
"Come in," Loren said, shaking off his thoughts and looking toward the door.
The office door slowly swung open, and two students entered holding documents. Both wore casual everyday clothes today, looking relaxed and at ease.
"Lanqi, Hyperion, do you have holiday plans?" Loren's eyes immediately fell on the papers in Lanqi's hands, which appeared to be an application form.
"Yes. All the other formalities have already been completed at the Student Service Center; we only need your approval," Lanqi answered.
"Let me see your materials." Loren took the dossier Lanqi handed over and began reading it carefully. "'Visiting Slate Bearers'… I'm pleased to see you both so dedicated."
Although Lanqi and Hyperion had not chosen the standard graduation project for the School of Sages, opting instead for one shared with the School of Magic Engineering, Loren was not surprised to see Lanqi tackle this topic.
Because the School of Sages and the School of Magic Engineering shared the mandatory course General Magic Genealogy, students in the School of Sages gifted in magic engineering were permitted to select such a project. Sometimes, students from the School of Magic Engineering who took on this topic would even enlist bodyguards from the School of Sages to accompany them for protection.
This project could take a very long time just in travel alone, and the disposition of the target was impossible to predict, making its overall difficulty hard to gauge.
There were no restrictions on which powerhouse one visited; the academic value of the graduation project was judged entirely by the visit results and report submitted once the students returned.
Lanqi was an exceptional magic artificer, and broadening his horizons was only right.
"Lanqi, Hyperion, this project isn't just an academy initiative; it's governed by agreements with the Magic Tower Society as well. Once signed, whatever findings you submit for evaluation upon your return will be made public by the Magic Tower. Are you aware of this?" Loren raised his eyes and asked.
Years ago, visiting slate bearers had begun as a spontaneous pursuit among outstanding student artificers in the Southern Continent. Over time, it developed into a graduation project option for the School of Magic Engineering, and many institutions and factions across the Southern Continent had similar high-level assignments.
Eventually standardized by the Magic Tower Society, it established an accepted, conventional framework.
First, when choosing a target, the optimal route was to seek out a powerhouse in an allied nation of the Southern Continent. There was virtually no risk of being turned away; at most, the powerhouse might assign a difficult task, and the safety factor was very high.
Next was heading to powerful non-allied nations in the Southern Continent, such as the distant Canberra Kingdom, or traveling south along the sea route into the territory of the Creti Empire. Securing an audience with a powerhouse there was difficult to begin with, and they might not even bother giving students the time of day.
The most perilous option was venturing into a hazardous territory like the Northern Continent, long isolated from the south, to seek out leaders of major factions. Southern continental rules held no sway there; if one lacked sufficient strength, they could easily be killed at any moment.
Setting aside the slates held by the five bishops in the Northern Continent, as well as those possessed by races like the elves, demons, beastmen, dragons, and witch spirits, the only known human-held slates realistically open to visitation were the Church of the Goddess of Fate's [Original Slate - Healing] and the southern coast's colossal empire, the Protos Empire's [Original Slate - Undead] and [Original Slate - Light].
Regardless of which slate was ultimately visited, the final results would be assessed by the Magic Tower Society for academic merit and commended. Students who made outstanding scholarly contributions would even receive public commendations across all Magic Tower branches throughout the Southern Continent.
In the three-plus months since Lanqi had risen to prominence, he had become quite the topic of discussion within Ikerite, the royal capital of Hutton. Yet across the wider Southern Continent, aside from a few individuals who kept an eye on him, he possessed nothing that could truly be called renown.
If Lanqi could achieve something noteworthy through this project, he might gain a measure of international academic prestige, which would in turn aid his upcoming Platinum-rank review.
Only by officially becoming a Platinum-rank card maker could Lanqi truly be considered somewhat renowned across this vast continent.
"No problem. Contributing to the progress of magic engineering is our bounden duty," Lanqi answered earnestly.
Loren nodded at his words. He was more than willing to support anything that could help add another Platinum-rank card maker to the Hutton Kingdom.
"Are you leaving today? The break just started; why not rest for a couple of days first?" he asked, looking at Lanqi and Hyperion.
"Yes, we've already bought the tickets." Hyperion noticed that a long-absent smile had finally surfaced on Loren's face. It was plain to see that despite his polite words of concern for his students, deep down he probably couldn't wait for Lanqi to leave and restore peace and quiet to Ikerite Academy.
"Time is quite tight. Traveling between the Northern and Southern Continents will take us more than two months just on the road," Lanqi answered honestly, looking quite reluctant to leave Ikerite Academy.
"The Northern Continent, eh? The Northern Continent is good…" Loren muttered to himself as he signed their application forms.
"By the way," Loren said, putting down his pen after signing. He looked up at Lanqi with evident interest. "Which powerhouse do you intend to visit?"
Hearing that Lanqi was leaving the Hutton Kingdom for a while put Loren in a thoroughly wonderful mood. If one had to describe it, it felt as though the New Year's festival in the royal capital were arriving tomorrow.
Since Lanqi's destination was the Northern Continent, there was no chance he was going to visit Juliana. That lifted an immense weight from Loren's mind.
Lanqi and Hyperion exchanged a glance.
In this moment, silence spoke louder than words.
Hyperion felt a headache coming on; supporting Lanqi was truly exhausting.
"Let's keep it a secret for now. When I return, I'll give you a pleasant surprise, Dean," Lanqi said after a moment's thought, looking at Loren.
Chapter 233