Sunlight filtered through the green leaves, falling on the stone steps of the Sage Academy's ancient tower library.

On the nearby road, only a few early risers hurried past in the dawn light. A gentle breeze brought a mixture of floral and ink fragrances.

"By the way, what would Shadow World challenges be like if I joined a team?" Lanqi asked casually, not rushing to agree to join any team.

Since first-year students weren't allowed to challenge the Shadow World alone, Lanqi couldn't participate in matchmaking by himself.

After entering the Void Gate, the Shadow World would automatically match the appropriate difficulty based on the comprehensive situation of the challengers' ranks.

When teams weren't full, they would often be matched with other challengers entering from Void Gates around the world.

"Silver-level second and third-year students will lead you to challenge the Shadow World. With your comprehension, you should quickly become familiar with and adapt to actual combat in the Shadow World," Vivian answered Lanqi's question.

As they saw the important landmark of the Sage Academy library, they knew they had entered the Sage Academy's territory.

Gold-level registered challengers were almost exclusively third-year students, and none below fifth rank.

Regardless of practicality, such challengers were prohibited by regulation from teaming up with second-rank Lanqi.

The Shadow World Management Association of the Southern Continent stipulated that, for the safety of all challengers, it was forbidden for challengers with a rank difference of more than 2 to team up and drastically increase the difficulty.

So even if Lanqi joined a team, at most he would be led and guided by experienced fourth-rank silver-level senior students.

"So I basically just need to follow orders and play a good support role?"

"The answer is yes."

"Please let me think about it a bit more."

Although Lanqi's response was very polite,

Vivian knew this meant refusal.

Often, the rewards for clearing a Shadow World were related to the achievements made throughout the Shadow World, as well as the final individual evaluation.

If one coasted through the Shadow World, the rewards wouldn't actually be much, and the challenger promotion points awarded by the Southern Continent Shadow World Management Association after review wouldn't be high.

But generally speaking, newcomers should be thankful just to successfully clear it.

Let alone obtaining an extremely high personal evaluation during the clearance calculation, unless an emperor descended to wreak havoc in the Shadow World.

Vivian had a thought.

"Do you want to command personally?" she asked, somewhat uncertainly.

Lanqi shouldn't be that arrogant, right?

Even if some teams had the command tower role filled by a support position, they would absolutely never let a newcomer command.

After all, challenging the Shadow World was a life-and-death matter for the whole team!

"Not at all, I'm not very good at commanding many people," Lanqi hurriedly denied.

"You must be cautious when challenging the Shadow World, it's far more dangerous than you imagine! Especially for newcomers like you, never be overconfident, learn and observe well first," Vivian advised seriously. She felt that Lanqi didn't seem to realize the dangers of the Shadow World at all.

"If after comprehensive consideration, you think our team is not bad, you can come to me directly. Also, there are some teams with strong abilities but very poor character, you need to be careful," Vivian said, not rushing to recruit Lanqi.

After all, there would be many teams for Lanqi to compare and choose from, and she didn't want Lanqi to settle for joining them.

Without realizing it, Lanqi and Vivian had arrived at a tall red brick building resembling a manor hotel.

"Alright, thank you, Princess Vivian," Lanqi said with a smile as he passed through the automatically rotating glass door of the Sage Academy dormitory building.

From the current situation, it seemed some people in the school were already interested in him. Whether he joined a team or not, his Shadow World challenges would receive quite a bit of attention.

According to regulations, registered challengers participating in the Shadow World must carry the official [Shadow World Recording Program] magic card from the Southern Continent Shadow World Management Association.

It would be able to record in real-time all the situations and information of challengers during their Shadow World challenges. It was also the most important basis for various research societies to review and analyze Shadow World information.

At the same time, only by carrying it could the Shadow World Management Association calculate promotion points for registered challengers after the Shadow World ended.

But most crucially, the [Shadow World Recording Program] had a live broadcast function similar to that installed in the [Artificial Shadow World Startup Terminal]!

For example, as an official partner of the Shadow World Management Association, the internal publicity department of Icerite Academy's Magic Engineering Department could broadcast some student challenges that were particularly educational or popular on the magic screens throughout the school in real-time from the backend.

As long as Lanqi's popularity was high enough, he was very likely to be caught by the faculty of the Magic Engineering Department!

I don't want to be publicly executed, Lanqi thought worriedly. The response to his second round test [Winter Concealment Flame] didn't seem very good last time.

Lost in thought, a fresh breeze blew in his face, accompanied by light music.

Walking into the Sage Academy dormitory, one could see platinum chandeliers hanging in the lobby, shining like bright stars illuminating the entire space.

The lobby on the first floor had sofas and coffee tables for students to sit and rest at any time. Even though it was still morning, there were already students drinking tea or chatting on the sofas, looking relaxed and happy.

They didn't pay much attention to Lanqi and Vivian. For them, new students moving in these days was already a common sight.

Lanqi and Vivian walked across the antique carpet on the floor and came to the reception desk in the lobby.

The administrator looked up at them.

"Moving into the dormitory starting today?" the administrator, wearing an Icerite Academy work badge, asked Lanqi and Vivian with a smile.

"Yes."

If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it's taken without permission from the author. Report it.

"The boys' dormitory is in the left building, and the girls' dormitory is in the right building. The building behind is the cafeteria. Rooms are assigned on a first-come, first-served basis. You two are the earliest students to register for the boys' and girls' dormitories, so you can choose the rooms you like. Currently, there are vacancies on every floor."

The administrator explained with a smile. Since the previous graduating third-year students had all moved out, the dormitories they originally occupied were now empty.

"Then I'll choose the second floor. See you later," Vivian immediately decided.

She then took the key handed over by the administrator and turned to leave.

"Goodbye," Lanqi waved.

He felt that although Princess Vivian seemed proud and sharp, she wasn't a difficult person to talk to. She was indeed sincere when responding to others.

Lanqi hesitated, also thinking that the second floor of the boys' dormitory would be a good choice.

It was convenient to go up and down stairs, and unlike the first floor, it wasn't damp or noisy with people coming and going.

"Let me add some additional information. The first floor also has a few rooms besides the lobby, but since the first floor has always been unpopular, the school later renovated the long-vacant rooms by combining them two by two. Therefore, the space in the first-floor dormitories is twice as large as other floors," the administrator said somewhat helplessly.

Just now, the princess had decisively asked for the second floor without giving him a chance to recommend, and he didn't dare to dwell on it with the princess.

He really didn't know how this black-haired, green-eyed young man could be so calm in front of the princess.

"In that case, I'll live on the first floor," Lanqi replied amiably.

He felt that the dormitory administrator also seemed to hope someone would live on the first floor.

"Alright, here's the key to room 101," the administrator said with a smile, handing Lanqi a silver key inscribed with magical patterns.

Even though they recommended the first-floor rooms like this every year, they weren't always able to get takers.

This year, the first student had chosen the first floor, which made the administrator quite happy.

"Thank you. May I ask where the fire safety equipment is?" Lanqi asked politely after taking the key.

"!?"

Although the administrator knew Lanqi had asked a very benign question,

It was the first time he had encountered a student whose first question upon moving into the dormitory was about fire safety.

It made him feel somewhat inexplicably afraid!

There was a brief silence at the reception desk on the first floor of the Sage Academy dormitory.

The administrator looked Lanqi up and down.

Lanqi tilted his head, his eyes innocent and confused.

"Ahem."

Soon, the administrator cleared his throat lightly.

This student looked gentle, respectful, frugal, and modest in every way. He shouldn't be a dangerous person.

"Of course, student. Our school attaches great importance to student safety, and fire prevention is undoubtedly a key point. The entire dormitory building has fully complied with and implemented all fire safety regulations and building standards of the Hutton Kingdom..."

With professional dedication, the administrator began explaining to Lanqi the locations of emergency exits and fire safety equipment in the dormitory building.

Lanqi listened attentively, nodding from time to time.

This made the administrator feel even more afraid...

"Student, perhaps my question is a bit intrusive, but you haven't brought any dangerous items, have you?" the administrator asked after explaining Lanqi's questions in detail.

"No, please rest assured," Lanqi guaranteed confidently.

Hearing this, the administrator thought it must be so.

The dormitory was equipped with the latest automatic security inspection equipment from the Magic Engineering Department. Flammable and explosive materials simply couldn't be brought into the dormitory.

So after saying goodbye to the administrator, Lanqi happily took his key to find his room.

He had tried not to bring too much luggage from the South Vantina border region, planning to purchase things after moving into the dormitory in the capital.

Including card-making tools and so on.

So if the dormitory could be as spacious as possible, it would be perfect to set aside an area as a studio and card-making workshop.

This was also one of the reasons he tended to choose the first floor.

Additionally, failure always permeates card-making from beginning to end. This is card-making.

Talia now teases Lanqi as a "card-exploding master."

So if he were to practice card-making in the dormitory, the first floor should be the safest, right?

Lanqi thought.

After walking a few steps, he found room 101 in the corridor adjacent to the lobby.

Inserting the key into the lock, turning it, and opening the solid wood door with a crisp sound, the entrance hall came into view. A large European classical style coat rack and shoe cabinet conveniently stored coats and shoes.

The entire entrance was simple, practical, and elegant. Lanqi passed through the entrance and came to the spacious living room, which was the main area of the dormitory.

The living room had a comfortable sofa, a matching coffee table, and a magic screen fixed to the wall.

The cushions and throws on the sofa were all warm colors, with a vintage floor lamp standing nearby. Sunlight shone on various brown wooden furniture, making the entire space soft and cozy.

It didn't take Lanqi long to figure out the structure of his new home. The living room connected to four spaces: a bedroom with an en-suite bathroom, a balcony, a study, and a mostly empty room that looked like a giant storage room, which could probably be freely remodeled and arranged according to students' needs.

Although the room was a bit oversized, if the space were too cramped, it would likely draw complaints from students.

As he was thinking, there was a knock on Lanqi's dormitory door.

Opening the door, he found it was staff from the student service center delivering the luggage he had left there.

Next,

The organization work went very smoothly, and was roughly arranged by noon.

The furniture was complete, and the storage space was very full and reasonable, which was the most satisfying part.

Lanqi sat on the sofa, leisurely flipping through the "Southern Continent Card Makers Association Registration Charter," waiting for lunchtime.

This was the first step for him, Lanqi, to become a world-renowned card-making master.

The minimum requirement to apply for registered card maker was third rank, able to make three types of magic cards including [Summon Cards], [Spell Cards], and [Summon Cards].

Lanqi still needed to hone his card-making skills for a while longer.

And quickly raise himself to third rank.

Then he could try to take the card maker exam at the Icerite branch of the Southern Continent Card Makers Association in the capital.

Only by becoming a registered card maker and obtaining certification could one receive patent protection.

As well as avoid many cumbersome authentication and guarantee steps and some handling fees, and efficiently sell under one's own name on the official trading platform of the Card Makers Association.

"I directly got the iron-level registered challenger status for the Shadow World without taking the exam, I wonder if I can..." Lanqi muttered as he flipped through the pages of the book in his hand.

The registered card maker exam, also known as the grading exam.

The levels also used the same seven levels as the Shadow World Management Association: iron, copper, silver, gold, platinum, magic crystal, and master.

And the registration exam would determine the initial level based on the card maker's potential.

Generally speaking, being able to pass and be graded as iron was already a great success. Of course, there were also super-potential card makers with extremely strong potential who performed excellently and were directly graded as copper or silver.

Silver-level card makers were already very impressive.

It was said that even gold-level card makers were extremely rare in this school, and there were far fewer gold-level card makers in the entire Southern Continent than gold-level challengers.

"Sigh, my craftsmanship is still too unstable," Lanqi sighed as he closed the book in his hand.

Although he had independently made two purple rare quality magic cards, [Basic Etiquette] and [Friendly Communication],

In the past few months, he had only made these two cards and a few blue precious quality first-rank cards.

The rest of the error treatment series magic cards were all bought from the association, fortunately these cards were sold at base price and weren't expensive.

"Anyway, let's go to the real Shadow World first! I can't even take the card maker exam until I reach third rank."

Lanqi was always optimistic and wouldn't worry about things beyond tomorrow.

As the saying goes, drink today's wine today, tomorrow is another day!

Card making isn't something you can master overnight.

All he needed to know right now was—

His brand new Icerite campus life was about to begin!