Early the next morning, Man En woke up early, took the academy’s invitation letter, and headed straight for the academy.
Since he had gathered information about the academy in advance, he was still clear on the general rules.
First, this academy does not allow anyone other than students to accompany or provide assistance.
They don’t look at background or wealth. Want to live comfortably? Fine, let your strength speak.
If everything goes smoothly, after one year of enrollment, a final evaluation will be conducted.
After completing examinations in three different dimensions—politics, martial power, and magic—the academy will issue a certificate of completion, which also represents the Empire’s official recognition of the successor’s identity.
That was the simple explanation, but in reality, it wasn’t that simple at all.
Differences in the successors’ backgrounds meant this rule would never be strictly enforced, at least not against those with too much power.
You could see this just by looking at the top-ranked students from previous years.
The final test served to prove that no one received special treatment, saving face for the big shots, while also ensuring that not all talented individuals from humble backgrounds were weeded out.
All in all, ordinary successors who couldn’t handle this rule might not be bad, but those who could stand out were definitely the cream of the crop.
Thinking about it was still pretty brutal.
‘However, I’ll be able to experience it firsthand soon enough.’
Man En said, feeling an inexplicable sense of anticipation welling up in his heart, and his pace unconsciously quickened.
Before long, the black gates of Rickwell Academy came into view, and the number of incoming students began to visibly increase.
As Man En approached, the invitation letter in his hand started to emit a faint purple glow.
A moment later, the letter slipped from his hand and slowly floated in one direction.
‘Is this telling me to follow?’
He looked around. Everyone’s invitation letters were emitting lights of varying colors and brightness. His own was the dimmest and most ordinary of them all.
‘If there’s one thing I’m inferior to them in, it’s probably just my mana. But there’s nothing I can do about it. After all, my current body can’t store mana.’
Man En had already guessed that the invitation letter was most likely a mana detection tool. If they were ranking based on mana quantity, he could already imagine where he would be placed.
‘But that might not be a bad thing. Since the students’ aptitude is poor, the teacher won’t take things too seriously. I’ll just keep a low profile until I get my credentials.’
Things turned out exactly as he expected. He was assigned to the most remote corner, and counting him, there were only five people in that corner.
Everyone else cast looks of contempt or pity at them.
Unlike the other four, who wore mournful expressions, Man En seemed somewhat indifferent.
Even the four people behind him couldn’t understand why he could still be so calm.
“Hey, buddy, we’ve basically been booked for the worst class. Do you not understand the situation?”
This sudden question caught Man En off guard.
“So what? Will putting on a long face change anything?”
“Well…”
The four of them looked at each other, then turned their backs on him one by one, ignoring him.
Soon, the students entered the school in order of their aptitude.
There was no grand welcome ceremony, nor any so-called speech segment.
Based on the ten tiers divided by the invitation letters, the crowd formed ten lines.
Ten teachers, each with a different appearance, collected the invitation letters and led their respective teams back to their classrooms.
And that was it for the enrollment ceremony.
Man En hadn’t expected the enrollment process to be so simple and straightforward, though he did quite like this no-nonsense style.
However, the teacher leading the way seemed a bit strange.
At a rough glance, she was half a head shorter than him. Her face and figure looked like those of a sixteen or seventeen-year-old girl—not stunning, but definitely easy on the eyes.
Her emerald-green hair was mostly covered by an unnaturally large black wizard’s hat.
Based on the settings from the original novel, a mage’s rank could be seen from the color of their hat. For someone this young to have already reached the level of a High Mage, her strength must be considerable.
But her outfit also made Man En involuntarily start imagining—if she crouched down, she could probably cosplay as an oversized traffic cone.
Once that thought crossed his mind, the image refused to leave.
It wasn’t just Man En. Looking at that comically oversized hat on her head, everyone struggled to hold back their laughter. It only subsided when she took off her hat after entering the classroom.
“Starting today, I’ll be in charge of your curriculum. My name is Yi Laisi.”
Yi Laisi… such a familiar name… plus that emerald-green hair…
‘So it’s her! The one who joined the Sophen Faction later in the original novel. Who would have thought she also worked at Rickwell Academy? What a coincidence…’
‘But with her current strength as a High Mage, how did she manage to advance to Grand Magister in just a few years?’
‘Regardless, this is a strong connection. I need to get on her good side.’
While Man En was still thinking, the invitation letter that had been taken away flew back to him.
“I already know your basic information. This invitation letter is the foundation for you to stay at the academy.”
“It contains 100 Points. You can consume Points to exchange for items at the academy.”
“However, there are a few points you need to be aware of.”
“Even if you do nothing, you will consume 5 Points every day.”
“If your Points fall below 50, they will be reset to zero at the start of the next month, and you will be expelled from the academy.”
“How do we earn Points?”
Hearing a student ask from the audience, she simply didn’t bother to explain this time.
The next moment, three students from other classes walked into the classroom as if they hadn’t seen Yi Laisi at all.
“Hand over your Points if you know what’s good for you. It’ll save you from getting beaten!”
“This is the academy! Are you going to cause trouble here?”
As soon as those words were spoken, one of the three walked right up to the speaker.
“What did you just say?”
Man En watched the student who had spoken with cold eyes, already having a good idea of what was coming.
First of all, the fact that Yi Laisi didn’t stop this behavior at least meant the school didn’t oppose it.
This was probably the main way to earn Points.
As for why she didn’t explain…
He looked at the student who had been beaten to the point of being barely conscious, then at Yi Laisi’s calm face, and quickly understood.
‘Probably because she didn’t think an explanation was necessary. In this environment of survival of the fittest, the weakest would be devoured at the earliest opportunity.’
After everyone had handed over their Points, only Man En remained sitting at his desk, treating the three as if they were air.
“Kid, you’re the only one left. What’s this supposed to mean? Scared speechless?”
The three approached Man En, and as those words rang out, a burst of laughter followed.
“Sorry, but I don’t intend to hand over my Points.”
“Is that so? I’m in a good mood today. Swear allegiance to me, and I’ll leave you some Points. You can work with us!”
Hearing this, Man En curled his lips into a smile.
“How boring would that be?”
“No matter how I look at it, taking all three of your Points by myself would be much more interesting.”
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