Different Paths of Growth

Time flew by. November quietly came and went, and December was already more than halfway over. Less than half a month remained until the New Year.

Inside the little house where Lynn lived in Blackstone Town.

"Whew, good thing I reacted in time. Otherwise, Mother would've come into the room and discovered my clone." Lynn carried the quilt outside and spread it across the yard to bask in the sunlight. Remembering what had happened that morning, he couldn't help feeling a little shaken.

"The year's almost over, and the town is gradually getting livelier. If I wait a few more days for my clone to break through to the third level as a warrior before leaving, it'll be hard to get him out of town." As Lynn patted the quilt, he kept an eye on the town through the doorway.

With the New Year approaching, the number of people in town was visibly increasing, which gave Lynn another reason to worry.

As time passed, most of the day went by. Late that night, in an ordinary courtyard in Blackstone Town, a faint "click" sounded. The tightly shut gate opened a crack from the inside, and a small head poked out. It was Lynn's talent clone, Xiao Yan.

"No one's around. Now's my chance."

Under the hazy moonlight, Xiao Yan slipped out of the courtyard. Like a thief, he crept along the wall and cautiously made his way toward the edge of town.

"Who's there?" On the other side, the gate opening roused Leo from a deep sleep. He rushed out without even taking the time to put on his clothes.

Lynn, who had prepared for this, came out of the room carrying a bundle of firewood. "Father, it's me. We were running low on firewood, so I went to get some from the shed outside."

"Oh." Seeing that it was Lynn, the wary Leo immediately relaxed. "Don't stay up too late cultivating. Get some rest." He muttered the words and turned back into his room.

The Imperial Capital Magic Academy lay twenty miles north of Roland City, the capital of the Roland Empire, in the Holy Volcano Mountain Range. Funded by the Roland Empire's Imperial Family, it had taken twenty years to build. Its grounds were so vast that they covered more than a dozen peaks, large and small, in the range.

Because of this, people joked, "The Imperial Capital Magic Academy wasn't built in the Holy Volcano Mountain Range. The Holy Volcano Mountain Range grew inside the Imperial Capital Magic Academy."

The Imperial Capital Magic Academy had every kind of service establishment, including bars, shopping centers, restaurants, and even entertainment venues. It was entirely self-sufficient.

"What a sight!" Lynn exclaimed as he stood at the foot of the Holy Volcano Mountain Range.

It was hard to imagine that an academy's entrance could be formed by two mountains towering a hundred meters high. Even the six characters spelling out "Imperial Capital Magic Academy" had been arranged from rocks on the mountainside. The sight was majestic and imposing.

The entrance was fairly busy at the moment. A line of staff members stood ready to process applications, and quite a few youths were queuing with their test certificates. Lynn joined them, holding the certificate the black-robed priest had given him.

The Imperial Capital Magic Academy had strict admission requirements. Only those whose elemental affinity and mental strength were both at least high-grade qualified to enter.

However, with a certificate from the Church of Light, the process went quickly. Before long, it was Lynn's turn.

The old man in charge of admissions casually took Lynn's test certificate. Then his eyes suddenly widened, and he looked up at Lynn in surprise.

"Lynn, age eight. Mental strength thirty-seven times that of his peers—superior grade. Fire Element affinity—superior grade."

"Does anyone know that boy? Which family is he from?"

"...I can't believe we have another super-grade genius this year besides Kasa. The Imperial Capital Magic Academy really is worthy of its reputation as a cradle of geniuses."

The well-connected nobles in the crowd already wanted to befriend Lynn. They began asking around to learn where he came from.

Perhaps because of Lynn's talent, the bald old man treated him much more warmly than the other successful applicants. His earlier coldness gone, he smiled as he placed Lynn's student ID and dormitory key in his hands.

"Lynn, I'm Drock, a third-year Fire Element magic instructor at the Imperial Capital Magic Academy. I'm a seventh-level Fire Element mage. If you have any questions about cultivation, you can come to me."

"Thank you, Professor Drock." Lynn smiled and scratched his head.

A quarter of an hour later, at the entrance to the Imperial Capital Magic Academy, Leo watched Lynn finish registering and nodded in relief.

"I'll head back now. Study hard here and try to graduate early."

Lynn nodded and watched Leo leave, until his figure disappeared from view.

"Goodbye, Father."

Only after entering the Holy Volcano Mountain Range did Lynn truly find himself inside the Imperial Capital Magic Academy. Trees shaded the grounds, and the lakes, stone bridges, and fantastical academy buildings all left him awestruck.

"This is what a rich history looks like. Just this one academy is almost as big as Winter City, the largest city in Lucas Province." Lynn walked along, marveling at the sights, and soon reached the residential area.

Key number—9527

Like the Ernst Academy Lin Lei had attended in the original story, the Imperial Capital Magic Academy's dormitories housed four students, with each unit having its own courtyard. As far as the eye could see, countless apartments with private courtyards were scattered across the two mountain peaks.

"9527, 9527..." Lynn repeated his dorm number to himself as he passed one apartment after another, eventually stopping beside one halfway up the mountain.

Meanwhile, ten thousand miles away from Lynn, Xiao Yan had traveled day and night for nearly two months. He had now left the territory of the Roland Empire entirely.

After camping outdoors and braving the elements all along the way, Xiao Yan's clothes were worn and tattered. His face was caked with dust and grime, and his unruly hair clung to his cheeks with sweat.

From the mountainside, Xiao Yan looked down at the towering Gothic buildings in the distance. Their spires gleamed silver in the sunlight, and the streets below teemed with people and passing carriages.

Among the countless buildings, Xiao Yan immediately noticed a white church on the edge of the city. A statue of an eight-winged angel towered before it, marking it as a branch church of the main-city level—a rare sight across the entire continent.

Only the branch churches in the capitals of the great empires and the headquarters of the Church of Light ranked higher.

"This must be Starfire City, the capital of the Starfire Kingdom." After confirming that the city had a branch church of the Church of Light, Xiao Yan knew he had finally reached his destination.

The Starfire Kingdom lay in central Azeron Continent and belonged to the sphere of influence of the Zhongyuan Empire. It was naturally at odds with the Roland Empire.

Xiao Yan had journeyed thousands of miles to get here for two reasons. First, he didn't want to come into contact with his original body too soon. Second, he wanted to play it safe. With his original body and his clone growing up in the territories of two opposing powers, he'd have another option if anything went wrong on either side.

"My original body entered a magic academy, so this clone will attend a warrior academy. Surely no academy would turn away an eight-year-old third-level warrior." Xiao Yan chuckled as he rubbed his nose.