In the bustling heart of Iketerite Academy stood a massive building, towering proudly above its surroundings.
It was the center of the entire campus, surrounded by the districts belonging to the Four Great Departments.
The academy's classical and modern buildings all possessed their own unique charm, but they seemed slightly inferior beside the enormous structure at the center.
That was not merely because of its immense size, but also because its presence was utterly different from everything around it.
Compared with the Gothic and Renaissance buildings that exuded an air of history, this place looked more like a military fortress.
Its walls were deep blue and hard as iron. Powerful layers of barrier spells covered the surrounding area, encircling the building in gentle golden light and forming visible magical shields.
For the students, merely sensing its presence from afar felt like an invisible pressure weighing down on them.
Only those with proper identification could enter the building through its sole main passage, after passing through several security checks.
Numerous members of the Royal Knights Order, clad in luxurious armor, patrolled around the barrier.
They were not ordinary academy guards, but elite knights dispatched by the Hutton Kingdom. Anyone who dared force their way inside would surely never return.
The reason for all this was that inside the building stood a Void Gate leading to the Shadow World.
To prevent cultists and criminals from entering the Shadow World, all Void Gates permanently located on the Southern Continent were placed under the highest level of protection and control by the Shadow World Management Association and the Southern Continent United Council.
There were five large Void Gates in the Hutton Kingdom, where Lanchi lived. One of them was located inside Ikelite Magic Academy.
Or rather, the academy had originally been built around this gate, becoming a major research and study center that gathered high-level combatants.
At this hour, when the sun was about to set,
Ikelite Academy was covered in the color of molten gold, forming a tranquil yet dreamlike painting.
Lanchi and Hughberlian passed through the building's security checks together. Their shadows stretched long behind them, lying straight across the broad road.
At last, they stepped inside the building.
In the vast space before them stood only an incomparably enormous Void Gate.
Its appearance was strange and mysterious, yet beautiful like a work of art by the Creator. Its frame was made of a meteorite-like material, its surface smooth as a mirror, and its edges flowed with a gleam resembling liquid starlight. Its colors constantly shifted between black-purple and silvery white.
A dim purple radiance flowed across the entire gate, like the deepest light in the Night Sky. It flickered incessantly, appearing and disappearing, mysterious and unpredictable, as if countless stars were slowly revolving within a vortex.
"What should we call our team?"
Hughberlian looked at the final security checkpoint and its work desk, as well as the empty venue, and asked Lanchi.
They only needed to register their Challenger Licenses here and have the staff check that they were wearing their Shadow World Recording Programs before proceeding to the Void Gate ahead to begin the matching challenge.
If they wanted to use a "Team-Up Card" for a team challenge, they also needed to register the team's name.
The "Team-Up Card" was another tool Magic Card, whose full name was Shadow World Synergy Program.
Lanchi thought about it and decided that they could just fill in whatever they wanted.
They might as well choose a name based on the characteristics they had shown after forming a team.
"Put down 'Civilized Exemplar Squad.'"
Lanchi answered.
Hughberlian opened her mouth as if she wanted to say something, but in the end, she nodded.
She had a lot of complaints she could have voiced, but decided to let it go.
Whatever. I'll just let him be happy...
Next, the two of them handed their respective licenses and two tool Magic Cards each to the checkpoint counter, waiting for the staff to process their registrations.
"Once you enter the Void Gate, the Shadow World will automatically begin matching you with a suitable existing Shadow World. This isn't something humans can control. Once you enter the matching state, don't casually leave the Void Gate, or you may be separated. You understand, right?"
As the uniformed staff member registered them with a magical instrument, he noticed that both of their challenge counts were zero and gave them a brief explanation of the basic precautions.
"Understood."
Both of them nodded.
"There will also be challengers from other terminals across the various parts of the world matching at the same time. Since the two of you are low-ranked, you generally won't have to wait long."
The staff member stared at the crystal screen of the magical instrument as he operated it, continuing to explain the common circumstances to them.
Even though Lanchi and Hughberlian already knew this information, they still listened attentively.
In the real Shadow World, lower-tier challengers were more likely to match successfully. After all, low-tier Shadow Worlds appeared frequently and existed in large numbers.
High-tier Shadow Worlds, on the other hand, appeared relatively rarely. Even when challengers were willing to fight, sometimes there simply were no Shadow Worlds available for them to challenge.
As for when the association detected a Tier 7 or higher Calamity-Level Shadow World, the Southern Continent United Council would issue warnings to the various nations. Multiple countries would then begin negotiations and dispatch the most powerful and suitable challengers and teams.
The higher the level of the Shadow World, the more severe the disasters caused by failure.
If the Real World erosion caused by failing a Tier 2 or Tier 3 Shadow World was merely a minor disturbance, then failure in a Shadow World above Tier 7 would bring about a genuine large-scale calamity.
That was why every country and faction treated high-tier Shadow Worlds with extreme caution.
It was also why challengers of high-level Shadow Worlds possessed such lofty status.
They held a voice not only in their own kingdoms, but even in the Southern Continent United Council!
As for making a fixed group of challengers enter the same Shadow World, there were two methods.
One was for top-tier challengers. Since there were so few of them, there were also very few Shadow Worlds suitable for them. As long as they entered at the same time, they would basically be matched together.
The other, more reliable method was to carry a "Team-Up Card"—
Shadow World Synergy Program
Category: Spell Card
Quality: White Common
Attribute: Link
Tier: 1
Passive Effect: Matches the bearer with companions carrying a Synergy Program bearing the same number into the same Shadow World.
Note: No. 891852279 Team-Up Card
This was the Team-Up Card that Lanchi and Hughberlian had purchased from the work counter at the entrance.
It had been jointly issued by the Southern Continent Shadow World Management Association and the Card Maker Association. It was a team-up tool card processed and replicated from the natural team-forming function cards born from the Shadow World.
Generally, the more people there were on a team, the more difficult it was to match into a Shadow World, and the longer they had to wait. It also increased the difficulty by a certain amount compared with challenging alone.
However, if there were only two people on the team, the side effects were minimal.
"All right. When you come back, let me read your Shadow World Recording Programs once more. Then you can retrieve your Challenger Licenses and leave."
The staff member returned their tool Magic Cards, and the gate in front of them opened.
He waved his hand, indicating that they could enter.
Lanchi and Hughberlian accepted their tool Magic Cards and thanked him before walking toward the Void Gate.
They walked several hundred steps without saying anything, eventually arriving before the Void Gate.
"Are you ready?"
Lanchi turned his head and smiled at Hughberlian.
"Of course."
Hughberlian nodded as well.
Completely different from the gates manufactured by Artificial Shadow World terminals, a true Void Gate was a bottomless black hole. Merely approaching it created an invisible pulling force, as if it wanted to draw the visitor's soul into this endless world of the unknown.
Lanchi did not hesitate. He walked straight forward and stepped inside as if passing through a sheet of water.
In an instant, sound, sight, consciousness, and even time vanished.
All he could sense was the universe's breathing, endless stars, and an unfathomable void.
It was as if two worlds were weaving together, taking shape as they leaned against each other. After everything was overturned and reversed, they finally arrived in an entirely new world.
A story where shadow and reality intertwined—today, it had been unraveled once more.
I'm recommending a friend's book~ The protagonist transmigrates into the body of Sentinel Prime, but instead of becoming the leader of the High Council, he launches an uprising in southern Cybertron. Right now, the Cybertronian civil war is underway.
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