Talia's Professional Judgment

Most of the time, they quietly watched the scenery outside the window on their own.

Without moving.

The unfamiliar yet beautiful sights flashed into view at high speed, then vanished in an instant.

After a full day on the train, it was now noon of the second day.

Lanchi rested his chin on one hand, shifting his gaze from the flowing-painting-like scenery outside to the clock on the train.

As sparse buildings and ranches resembling the outskirts of a city gradually appeared, Lanchi felt they were not far from their destination.

"By the way, Tata, what do you think Shadow Worlds are like?"

Seemingly finally tired of the scenery, he turned and asked Talia a question.

As the highest-difficulty random dungeon he had known of that had yet to be fully explored, Lanchi had likewise found plenty of information about "Shadow Worlds" in this world's books.

Yet the mysterious "Shadow Worlds" were far more complicated than he had understood. In this real world, they had become countless dangerous dungeons.

And Ikelite Magic Academy, which he was about to attend, had originally been founded with the goal of "cultivating talents capable of conquering Shadow Worlds."

The Entrance Examination would naturally be related to them as well.

"Ignoring a Shadow World or failing to conquer it can trigger a natural disaster somewhere in the world, but clearing one grants power and wealth."

Without shifting her gaze, Talia answered simply.

Before she had agreed to become Lanchi's teacher, no matter how much he asked about Magic Cards, this was always how she responded.

Lanchi nodded at her words and did not intend to press further.

Just as the books had said.

To the people of this world, Shadow Worlds were like a double-edged sword.

Clearing a Shadow World brought abundant rewards, including core materials for crafting Magic Cards, as well as naturally formed Magic Cards far more powerful than those made by human hands.

But failure to conquer one could trigger a natural disaster somewhere in the world. If left unattended, the Shadow World would automatically close after a certain time limit, likewise allowing the disaster to consume the Real World.

Thus, every nation and major force in the world was doing everything it could to cultivate talents skilled at conquering Shadow Worlds.

"Shadow Worlds... can appear without warning at fixed or random entrances in this world. They are projections of fragments of this world's history or the history of other worlds."

Talia added another sentence.

Perhaps out of a teacher's sense of duty, whenever the topic involved Magic Cards, she would answer a little more. Only a little.

Still, the two of them had already grown accustomed to this way of conversing, always stopping at just the right point.

"I see..."

Lanchi muttered thoughtfully.

The books in the Border Library recorded that Shadow Worlds would gradually open at regular intervals, endlessly numerous, with timelines and worldviews that could all differ. Some were easy and simple, while others were exceptionally perilous.

And after entering a Shadow World, people would receive entirely unpredictable new identities to play out fragments of history.

As a result, no weapons, outfits, or ordinary magical tools could be brought into a Shadow World.

Except for Magic Cards bound to the soul.

That was why Magic Cards had become the mainstream tools of this era. They provided indispensable help when conquering Shadow Worlds.

Looking at it this way, Shadow Worlds and Magic Cards truly shared an inseparable causal relationship. The materials for Magic Cards had to come from Shadow Worlds, yet only with Magic Cards could people of the Real World clear Shadow Worlds more easily.

I really wonder how the ancient beings of the pioneering era managed to clear those hellish dungeons without Magic Cards when Shadow Worlds first appeared...

"We've arrived."

Talia's voice, like a drop of water falling onto ice, interrupted Lanchi's thoughts.

He turned his head and saw that the scenery beyond the window had slowly come to a stop. It was a station whose roof was built from Ochre Red bricks.

The soaring towers at either end made the entire structure appear solemn and magnificent. Its interior was lavishly decorated, with marble pillars, murals, and stained-glass windows all displaying the weight of history.

Unlike the South Wantina Border City-State, this royal city called Ikelite retained an abundance of historical elements amid its grandeur and prosperity.

Without further hesitation, Lanchi took his suitcase down from the luggage rack and left the train with Talia.

After walking through the Station Hall level of Iketerite Central Station, the clamor gradually faded behind them.

Lanchi and Talia arrived at the edge of a broad square, where they boarded a small sightseeing carriage and began a new journey through the city.

The afternoon sunlight spilled over the carriage, swaying gently with a sense of leisure and ease.

From afar, they could see tulips and Calla Lilies clustered together in the Royal Botanical Garden, plants of every color spreading like misty gauze amid lush greenery.

Hoofbeats echoed along the ancient cobblestone streets, and the wheels hummed as they rolled. Even while reclining against his seat, Lanchi could take in Ikelite's distinctive architectural style along the way: magnificent buildings, Brick Red walls, Spired Eaves, and exquisite ancient carvings.

The carriage passed beside winding canals. With the breeze, ripples spread across the water, reflecting willow branches lightly brushing the surface.

"Once we get to the academy, want to look around together?"

Lanchi turned his head and asked Talia beside him.

"What do you think?"

Talia replied with a question to Lanchi's seemingly friendly but actually shameless invitation.

Since she had to protect Lanchi, she did not really have a choice. Even after three months, she still had no idea who the person trying to kill Lanchi might be.

She only knew that Lanchi had been telling the truth when he said, "Someone wants to kill me."

Along the way, the carriage passed an ancient stone bridge. Its weathered beige stone bricks bore witness to the passage of time. Beneath it, canal water gently lapped against the bridge piers with peaceful splashes, while overhead, a flock of seagulls circled through the sky, soaring freely.

"Can't be helped. Going to the academy today is very important to me."

Lanchi closed his eyes and spread his hands.

Unlike the Alchemy Institute and Magic Engineering Institute, the Knight Institute and Sage Institute actually began the first part of their assessment upon application.

That was the attribute test.

If one's attribute growth potential was too poor, one might be barred directly from taking the formal examination.

Since both the Knight Institute and Sage Institute aimed to cultivate rare talents capable of conquering high-level Shadow Worlds, and since entering a Shadow World meant not only that challengers themselves could face grave danger, but also that their companions' survival and the Real World's protection from encroaching disasters were at stake, the Entrance Examinations for these two institutes had strict requirements for candidates' combat aptitude.

After passing the first-stage attribute test, the formal examination—the second stage—would use artificially simulated Shadow Worlds to assess a student's practical response abilities. The third-stage Final Assessment would be a functional combat test arranged by the institute.

After thoroughly researching the academy, Lanchi had ultimately changed his intended institute from the Alchemy Institute to the Sage Institute, which specialized in practical magical combat.

Because his innate attribute tendencies and occupational affinity gave him no possibility of becoming a physical-combat professional, he had little hope of passing the Knight Institute's first stage.

"..."

Talia said nothing more.

She knew Lanchi's itinerary and arrangements well, and he had also told her about the format of the examinations he would soon face.

Yet based on the experience she had accumulated over her long life as a Long-lived Species, traveling through the demon realm and numerous human nations, she still did not know what sort of combat profession Lanchi ought to be classified as.

She would leave that headache to Iketerite Academy.

In any case, she would not be the one suffering for it.