Palos Magic School, Main Campus Elders' Hall

With dark circles under his eyes and a zombie-like gait, Karien climbed the stairs to the third floor, holding a thick stack of papers. He knocked on the door of the office of Elder Ellison B.

"Come in!"

Inside the office, Elder Ellison, a man in his early sixties with neatly combed hair, took off his gold-framed reading glasses and looked up at Karien.

"What's with that defeated look?"

Karien barely managed to open his eyes and weakly replied, "It's nothing... just didn't sleep well the past couple of days..."

Holding the thick stack of papers in both hands, Karien turned towards the bookshelf in the office and said, "Elder Ellison, this is a ten-thousand-word self-reflection."

"I'm over here!"

Ellison tapped the desk a few times with his fingers, frowning. "Just leave it on the desk. You pulled an all-nighter last night, didn't you?"

"Well..." Karien turned right but faced the wall as he continued, "Elder Ellison, I deeply reflect on my previous inappropriate..."

"Alright, this matter is settled."

Ellison could tell that Karien was in a poor state, and after a moment's hesitation, he added, "I've already consulted with the school board, and at least until the assessment results come out, Red Leaf Academy will not be closed, so you don't need to worry too much."

He mistakenly thought Karien's condition was due to the looming closure of Red Leaf Academy, causing him so much distress. After all, Karien had fallen ill just a week and a half ago.

Ellison thought it would be inhumane to push for the closure of Red Leaf Academy at this time and decided to give them three more months to adapt to the situation.

"Also... many things can't be avoided just by force of will. No matter the outcome, don't blame yourself. You've already worked hard enough!"

These words made Karien feel a little more awake. He found Ellison’s position and sincerely said, "Thank you, Elder Ellison. But until the very last moment, no one can know the result. Maybe you can look forward to Red Leaf Academy's performance in the graduation assessment."

Ellison sighed inwardly. He thought to himself, How can Karien still hold such naive thoughts?

"Alright, I understand. Go back and get some rest. I don’t have a bed here for you to lie down on."

"I’ll head back then. Wishing you good health, Elder Ellison."

Karien forced himself to stay awake as he pressed his hand to his chest in a gesture of respect and weakly left the Elder's office.

As he turned a corner in the third-floor hallway, his body swayed, and he almost lost his balance.

At that moment, a tall man with short golden hair, who was walking around the corner, quickly reached out and steadied him.

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It was Wills, a mid-level teacher from Night Academy.

"Are you alright?"

"I'm fine, I'm fine, thank you!" Karien struggled to stand, half-closed his eyes, and nodded gratefully at Wills before using his finger to prop open his eyelids and slowly walked out of the administrative building.

Wills, with his golden hair and tall, sturdy build, watched Karien leave. After a moment, he realized the listless, gray-haired man was Karien from Red Leaf Academy.

Recalling how Karien had "suggested" things in his class last time, Wills hesitated for a moment, wondering whether he should go after him and apologize for his earlier disrespect.

But before he could decide, Karien had already walked too far.

Maybe next time...

Wills mumbled to himself, holding a form, and knocked on Elder Ellison's office door.

"Come in!"

Ellison, looking up from Karien’s self-reflection, said, "Oh, it's you, Wills. What can I do for you?"

"Elder Ellison, I'd like to apply for the main campus' simulation battlefield for a practical training session with my students." Wills handed him his application form.

Ellison put down Karien’s self-reflection and picked up the form. Nodding, he said, "Night Academy's students are all quite good. I didn’t expect so many of them to participate in the assessment this year... Alright, but be sure to ensure safety during the practical training."

As he spoke, he signed the application form.

At that moment, Wills caught a glimpse of Karien's self-reflection from the corner of his eye. After a moment's hesitation, he said, "Elder Ellison... about Karien..."

"Oh, he came to submit his self-reflection. Don't worry, he won't repeat what happened a few days ago."

Ellison continued, "I hope you can understand him more. Karien isn’t a bad person by nature. The issue is that the news about Red Leaf Academy possibly closing got to him, and it clouded his judgment."

Wills shook his head. "I’m not blaming him. In fact, what he said in my class that day really gave me a lot of insight. I’m just curious... about his situation."

"Karien’s situation?"

Ellison, who had just stamped the form, paused for a moment before suddenly smiling and asking, "Do you know about Gallon Research Institute?"

"Of course, it’s one of the three major magic research institutes in Durant Kingdom." Wills spoke respectfully.

Ellison handed the form back to Wills with a smile and said, "Don’t let Karien’s lack of a magic master title fool you. He actually worked as a research assistant at Gallon Research Institute for three years."

Wills' pupils widened in shock. The hand holding the form froze in midair.

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Exhausted, Karien sent his students off for self-study and then returned to his dormitory to collapse into bed.

After staying up for two consecutive nights, he felt like his body had been completely drained.

It wasn’t until the afternoon that a knock on the door woke him up.

Holding his aching head, Karien opened the door to find Jack, a student with dark skin and a kind face, standing there.

"Teacher, there’s a group of people wandering around our academy saying they’re going to tear down Red Leaf Academy!" Jack said anxiously.

Karien’s mind started to clear up a little as he asked, "Where are they?"

"They’re near the teaching building right now!"

Karien quickly threw on his coat and rushed out the door. Jack followed closely behind, helping him close the door.

Red Leaf Academy wasn’t very big, and Karien quickly reached the teaching building in just a few minutes.

He saw six people, dressed differently, holding a map and seemingly planning something as they pointed at the three-story teaching building.

"Once we tear this down, we can clear a bigger area to build the simulation battlefield. It'll be perfect."

A tall man with a brown beard circled a spot on the map with his finger.

"That won’t work!" A woman standing next to him, with exaggerated proportions and wearing black-framed glasses, pushed them up with her finger and spoke in a mature, charming voice, "Adrian, Red Leaf Academy is so small. If you build a simulation battlefield, where will the other academies build their things?"

Adrian, the brown-bearded man, looked at her and smiled with a low voice. "Jessica, the battlefield won’t be just for us from Red Iron Academy. Once it’s built, all the academies will be able to use it. It’ll benefit everyone."

"Don’t kid yourself." Jessica, the bespectacled woman, didn’t seem bothered by Adrian’s bold gaze. She snorted and added, "Not every academy’s students are as combative as yours. Our Violet Academy needs a herb-growing garden, not a battlefield. We don’t need a large one, just enough space to grow some basic herbs for the identification class."

Hearing their conversation, Karien walked closer and cleared his throat. "Ahem, it seems you’re having a lively discussion. I wonder if I could join in?"