Ernst's New Life

February 8, 9992, Yulan Calendar.

Outside the main gate of Ernst Institute, carriages formed a long dragon, and youths accompanied by their families waited to complete their enrollment procedures. I stood in the queue, looking up at that imposing gate—a fifty-meter-wide entrance topped with a crescent-shaped structure covered in magical runes, shimmering with a pale golden luster under the sunlight.

The number one magic academy on the continent, I mused to myself. It's certainly impressive.

"Hey, you in front, what are you daydreaming for?"

A urging voice came from behind. I turned around to see a boy half a head shorter than me glaring at me, with a kind-looking old man standing beside him.

"Sorry." I stepped aside to let the boy pass first.

As he walked past me, he looked back at me, then grinned: "My name is Reynolds, from the O'Brien Empire. You?"

"Aikesi Yan, Fenlai Kingdom."

"Fenlai Kingdom?" Reynolds' eyes lit up. "Then it must be very close for you to come from home? I had to travel for a whole year!"

A year.

I recalled the description of Reynolds in the original work—as a young noble from the O'Brien Empire, traveling across the east side of the Magical Beast Mountain Range to reach Ernst indeed takes about a year.

"It took me half a day," I answered honestly.

Reynolds' expression froze.

The line for enrollment moved quickly. When it was my turn, I handed over my admission letter and proof of identity, then followed instructions to the testing area for a re-check—to prevent impersonation.

I placed my hand on the crystal ball.

A fiery red light flared, even more dazzling than during the first test. I could feel the Fallen Heart Flame within my body trembling slightly, as if responding to this surge of fire-element energy.

"Fire element, super grade," the tester reported the data flatly, then added, "Spiritual energy, twenty times that of peers, superior grade."

The admissions officer nearby nodded and stamped the form.

"Linley Baruch." A familiar name sounded from behind.

I turned around and met Linley's gaze. He was wearing a gray linen robe and carrying a small parcel, with a tiny bulge on his shoulder—Bebe was hiding there. Beside him stood a sturdy middle-aged man, likely Hillman.

"We meet again." I smiled at him.

Linley nodded, a flash of surprise in his eyes as if he were trying to recall who I was.

"The day of the test, at the Radiant Church," I reminded him. "Aikesi Yan."

"I remember." Linley offered a polite smile. "The one with fire element super grade."

We chatted briefly; he went to complete his enrollment while I waited nearby with my dormitory key. When his data was announced, the tester's voice rose an octave: "Earth element, wind element, super grade; spiritual energy, eighteen times that of peers, superior grade."

I looked at him, thinking silently: This is the protagonist. Even without Doehring, his innate talent is top-tier.

"Dormitory 1987." I showed my key to Linley. "What about you?"

Linley took a look and pulled out his own key: "The same."

Reynolds had finished his procedures by then and leaned over to look at our keys, then exclaimed in surprise: "I'm 1987 too! The three of us are roommates!"

A coincidence of fate.

Or rather, something I had deliberately orchestrated. When enrolling, I had specifically chosen to be in the same batch as Linley. In the original work, Dormitory 1987 housed four people: Yale, George, Reynolds, and Linley. Now that there was one extra person, I wondered how things would change.

The dormitory area was even larger than I had imagined. Rows of individual houses were arranged neatly, numbered starting from 0001, with one hundred units per row. We ran to the 20th row before finding 1901, then ran a bit further east, finally seeing the 1987 doorplate while panting for breath.

"Phew... I'm exhausted..." Reynolds leaned on his knees, gasping.

I looked back at him. This kid was panting after just a few steps; his physical fitness was truly poor.

"Tired already?" Linley was also a bit surprised.

Reynolds rolled his eyes and was about to speak when a crisp voice came from the courtyard: "Put it over there! Yes, set the trunk down! Gently, gently, if you break it, you can't afford to pay for it!"

The three of us walked inside out of curiosity.

A youth dressed in flamboyant clothing, half a head taller than Linley, was directing several burly men to move items. When he saw us, his eyes lit up, and he ran over in two or three strides: "Haha! You must be my roommates! I've been waiting so long for you to arrive!"

"My name is Yale, from the Holy Union!" He reached out his hand enthusiastically.

I shook it: "Aikesi Yan, Fenlai Kingdom."

"Linley Baruch, Fenlai Kingdom," Linley also introduced himself.

"Reynolds, O'Brien Empire!" Reynolds puffed out his chest.

Yale's eyes brightened even more when he heard "O'Brien Empire": "Good man! Coming from so far away, I admire that! Come, come, come inside and sit, don't stand at the door!"

His enthusiasm caught the three of us off guard. The courtyard was piled with various items, and several servants were tidying up. Yale directed them to continue working while he pulled us into the living room.

Four chairs were already set up in the living room, with fruit and snacks on the table.

"I knew roommates would arrive today, so I prepared in advance!" Yale said proudly. "Come, come, let's eat and chat. We'll be brothers for the next few decades!"

A few decades.

I repeated the phrase in my heart. The rule at Ernst Institute is that one must reach a sixth-rank mage to graduate; for those with good talent, it takes over a decade, and for those with less, a few decades is quite normal.

"How old are you?" Reynolds asked Yale.

"Ten years old. How about you?"

"Eight years old."

"Linley? What about you?"

"Nine years old," Linley replied.

Yale looked at me next.

"Nine years old," I said.

"That's perfect, I'm the oldest!" Yale slapped his thigh. "From now on, I'm the eldest brother, and you guys are the second, third, and fourth—wait, there are four of us now, how do we rank?"

"Rank by age, obviously," Reynolds said nonchalantly. "You're ten, the oldest. Linley is nine, I'm nine, and Aikesi Yan is nine—"

"No, no, no." Yale waved his hand. "You three are the same age, how do we rank? Should we go by who enrolled first? Or by strength?"

"Let's go by birth month," George's voice came from the doorway.

We turned to look. A boy who looked much more composed walked in, followed by several servants carrying luggage.

"My name is George, ten years old, from the Yulan Empire." He smiled. "I heard you guys arguing about the ranking at the door just now. Ranking by birth month is the fairest."

"You're ten too?" Yale's eyes lit up. "Then we're the same age! What month were you born?"

"September."

"I'm March!" Yale was overjoyed. "I'm older than you!"

George couldn't help but laugh. "So the ranking is based on who's older?"

"Of course!" Yale said righteously. "Wait, no... then how do we rank the three nine-year-olds?"

Four pairs of eyes turned toward me, Linley, and Reynolds.

"I was born in March," Reynolds reported first.

"I'm November," Linley said.

"I'm August," I said.

And so the final ranking was set: Yale (ten years, three months) was the eldest, George (ten years, nine months) was the second, Aikesi Yan (nine years, eight months) was the third, Linley (nine years, eleven months) was the fourth, and Reynolds (nine years, three months) was the youngest, the fifth.

"Number five!" Yale grabbed Reynolds by the neck. "From now on, you're the youngest, so any dirty or tiring work is yours!"

"Why!" Reynolds struggled and shouted.

I sat to the side watching this scene, the corners of my mouth curling upward involuntarily.

This is Dormitory 1987. In the original story, the bond between the four brothers runs through the entire book. Now that there's an extra me, I don't know how things will change. But at this moment, watching them make such a ruckus, I felt a sudden stir in my heart—

Before I transmigrated, I was a programmer who worked overtime until late every night, with few friends and almost zero social life. Now that I suddenly have four peers to live and study with, this warm feeling... is actually quite nice.

"Third brother, what are you thinking about?" Yale leaned over, holding a plate of snacks. "Eat up, don't be polite, I brought all of these."

I took a snack and tasted it. It tasted good, sweet but not cloying; it must be high-quality stuff.

"Thanks, eldest brother."

"Just call me Yale!" He waved his hand generously. "Forget about eldest or second, we're all brothers from now on!"

Just then, there was a sudden commotion inside Linley's clothes.

"Squeak—"

A tiny black head poked out, two dark, round eyes curiously surveying the surroundings.

Bebe.

"What is that!" Reynolds was the first to shout, his eyes wide.

Bebe was startled by the shout and shrank back halfway, then poked its head out again and bared its teeth at Reynolds, seemingly expressing its dissatisfaction.

"My partner, Bebe." Linley brought Bebe out and placed it on his shoulder. The little Shadow Mouse sat obediently, though those eyes were still vigilantly scanning us.

"A magical beast, a Shadow Mouse!" Yale leaned in, surprised. "Linley, you tamed a magical beast?"

"You could say that." Linley smiled without further explanation.

I looked at Bebe, sighing inwardly.

"Third brother, what are you staring at it for?" Reynolds leaned over.

"Nothing." I withdrew my gaze, picked up a piece of snack from the plate, and tentatively offered it to Bebe. "Want some?"

Bebe tilted its head to look at me, not moving.

"It's shy around strangers," Linley said. "But it'll be fine once it gets to know you. It likes roasted meat the most."

I took the snack back and took a bite myself. Bebe stared at the snack for two seconds, then turned its head away, looking as if it were saying, "I don't care for that anyway."

"It's got personality," I laughed.

George spoke up at this moment: "I asked around when I was registering for enrollment just now. The hundred students in this batch all have very high talent. There's one named Dixie, a dual-element mage whose spiritual power is sixty-eight times that of his peers."

Sixty-eight times.

This number made even me gasp. Dixie, the number one genius in the original story, reached a fifth-rank mage by the age of twelve. His younger sister, Delia, is one of Linley's close confidantes.

"Sixty-eight times?" Reynolds' mouth hung wide open. "Is he even human?"

Yale, however, seemed indifferent. "What's the point of high talent if you don't put in the effort? You'll still be a failure. My spiritual energy is only average, yet here I am, aren't I?"

"How did you get in?" Reynolds asked curiously.

"Pulled some strings, obviously." Yale admitted it without a care. "My family has some connections with the Radiant Church; a little grease in the right palms and I was in."

George and I exchanged a glance and both chuckled.

This Yale—his personality was truly... refreshingly candid.

"Right, Third Brother, how's your talent?" Yale suddenly asked me.

"Fire-style superior grade, spiritual energy twenty times," I said.

"Twenty times!" Reynolds cried out again. "Are you all monsters? My spiritual energy is only thirty-two times!"

"Thirty-two times is superior grade, isn't it?" George said.

"What good is superior grade? Linley is dual-element superior grade at eighteen times, you're fire-style superior grade at twenty times, and Dixie is at sixty-eight times. How am I supposed to compete with you lot?" Reynolds pouted.

Linley smiled and patted his shoulder. "Talent isn't everything; effort is the key."

I nodded in agreement.

No matter how good your talent is, it's all for naught without hard work. Linley's growth from a small-town boy into a Dragonblood Warrior wasn't due to talent, but over a decade of grueling, daily cultivation.

"Alright, alright, enough with the sentimentality." Yale stood up. "We just arrived today, so let's get familiar with the institute. Dinner is on me tonight—at the Wald Hotel!"

"Do you even have money?" Reynolds looked at him skeptically.

Yale pulled a golden card from his robes and gave it a flick. "A magic crystal card from the Four Kingdoms Gold Bank. There's at least tens of thousands of gold coins in here—enough to keep us fed for years."

Tens of thousands of gold coins.

I did the math in my head. Even though the Akes Family is wealthy, my annual allowance is only five hundred gold coins. This Yale, throwing around tens of thousands without a blink—the young master of the Dawson Chamber of Commerce really is on another level.

By dusk, the five of us were walking along the tree-lined paths of the Ernst Institute. The setting sun filtered through the gaps in the leaves, casting mottled shadows on the ground. In the distance stood ancient buildings, while nearby, students walked in groups, occasionally interrupted by upperclassmen flying overhead on magical beasts.

"So this is Ernst," Reynolds sighed.

"We'll be spending the next few decades here," George said.

"Decades, so be it. As long as I have my brothers, what is there to fear?" Yale draped an arm around my shoulder and another around Linley's. "Third Brother, Fourth Brother, from now on, the five of us are family!"

Linley smiled without a word, but his eyes held a warmth.

Feeling the weight on my shoulders, my heart suddenly felt complicated.

Having transmigrated into this dangerous world, I had originally intended to keep a low profile and live a safe, quiet life. But now, having inexplicably gained four brothers and become "Third Brother," this feeling of being accepted...

It wasn't half bad.

"The Wald Hotel is here!" Yale pointed to a three-story building ahead. "Tonight, we don't stop until we're drunk!"

"You're eight years old, what kind of drinking are you doing?" George retorted.

"Fruit juice works too! It's the atmosphere that matters!"

We walked into the hotel, laughing.

Back at the dormitory that night, the five of us huddled in the courtyard, chatting until late. Yale recounted his romantic escapades back home, Reynolds bragged about the sights he'd seen on his journey, and George shared gossip from the Imperial Magic Academy. Linley chimed in occasionally, sharing interesting anecdotes from his small town.

I leaned back in my chair, listening to their voices and watching the stars in the night sky.

Bebe crawled out from Linley's robes at some point, lying by a rock in the corner of the courtyard, watching us with those dark, bead-like eyes.

[Ding-- Current scene detected: Staying with the original protagonist.]

[Hidden check-in condition triggered. Would you like to check in?]

The system's voice rang out suddenly.

I was stunned for a moment, then whispered in my heart: Check in.

[Check-in successful.]

[Reward obtained: Fire-style Magic Insights (Cultivation notes of a Saint-level Fire Magus, including detailed explanations of Tier 1-9 fire magic and principles of certain forbidden spells).]

I took a deep breath, suppressing the surge of excitement in my heart.

Fire-style magic insights—the cultivation notes of a Saint-level Magus. This meant that starting tomorrow, my cultivation speed in fire magic would far exceed anyone else of my level.

"Third Brother, what are you spacing out for?" Yale's voice drifted over.

"It's nothing." I pulled myself back to reality and looked at them. "Keep going, where were we?"

"We were talking about the waterfall behind the academy!" Reynolds said eagerly. "How about we go check it out tomorrow?"

"Sounds good."

I agreed with a smile, my gaze sweeping over Linley, over Bebe, and over these four friends I had only known for a day, yet who already felt like family.