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Translator: AnubisTL
Time flowed relentlessly onward. A year and a half later, Noren Academy No. 147 welcomed another cohort of freshmen.
Jieming remained seated behind his desolate Alchemy School recruitment platform, and the outcome remained unchangedâzero recruits.
He had grown accustomed to this solitude, even beginning to suspect that this "leisure" might be the greatest hidden benefit of his role as a mentor.
Five more years passed. As Jieming immersed himself in a deduction concerning the stability of energy transmission networks and their compatibility with planar laws, the distinctive hum of an encrypted communicator interrupted his train of thought.
A light screen materialized, projecting the stern yet composed face of Dean Avery Knight.
"Jieming," the dean began without preamble, "prepare yourself. In six months, the academy's inaugural graduation trial for apprentices will commence. Your participation in the preparatory work is required."
"graduation trial?" Jieming asked, slightly surprised. "Our new academy is adopting this too?"
To Jieming's knowledge, the Noren Academy under the Noren Workshop had never employed graduation trial. Wizard apprentices who completed their ten-year curriculum were typically sent directly to the frontlines of the planar battlefield. Survival alone constituted graduation.
By the time his cohort arrived, the graduation trial had been established as a screening process.
He immediately thought deeper: "After the trial, will the qualified candidates also participate in the Noren Workshop's 'elite selection,' just like the other Noren Academies?"
"Of course," Dean Avery confirmed. "The procedures and proportions will remain consistent with established practice. Only one-tenth of the top performers will qualify for the subsequent selection rounds."
Over years of refinement, the Noren Workshop's affiliated academies had developed a mature and efficient system for the graduation trial.
First, they would select a small plane with a low energy level and manageable risks, preemptively eliminating any high-level threats beyond the apprentices' capabilities.
Then, the apprentices would be sent into this plane to participate in a simplified version of a "planar war," serving as both their final academy examination and a practical combat simulation.
"Regarding the trial venue," Dean Avery continued, "I will select a suitable plane from my personal collection. I'll prioritize planes with low energy levels and relatively benign environments, then deploy domesticated servant races as 'opponents' whose strength matches the apprentices' capabilities."
Jieming nodded in agreement. The proposed process was indeed highly efficient.
Dean Avery Knight's approach was far more cost-effective than searching the void for a naturally occurring low-energy plane and conquering it.
Moreover, Dean Avery Knight's private plane had well-established infrastructure, making spatial projection and monitoring much more convenient.
Otherwise, they would end up like Jieming's cohort, wasting vast amounts of extra energy and resources just to complete a single graduation trial.
But Jieming immediately thought of a critical issue, his expression darkening with concern. "Dean, what about the safety measures for the trial? When I took the trial at Noren Academy No. 13, high-rank alchemist mass-produced life-saving rings imbued with the spatial teleportation art. With my current alchemy skills, I doubt I can independently refine such a large quantity of high-level artifacts."
After all, Jieming was only a second-tier wizard at this point. While he possessed some knowledge of space, replicating the conditions of his graduation trial was simply impossible.
Dean Avery seemed to have anticipated this concern. "Don't worry. These standardized life-saving items can be mass-purchased through internal workshop channels. It's been a long time since your cohort graduated, and the workshops have already established a complete sales system for such things."
"Your primary responsibility is to ensure the stable operation of the trial broadcast and monitoring system. We need clear, real-time observation of each apprentice's performance during the trial. This is crucial for evaluating their progress and responding to emergencies."
Hearing this, Jieming immediately breathed a sigh of relief.
Such broadcast systems typically consist of complex detection orbs, information flow transmission hubs, and large-scale projection arrays.
If his task was simply to maintain and ensure the system's proper functioning, it was well within his capabilities.
He immediately assured the dean with confidence, "Dean, rest assured. Leave the broadcast system to meâthere won't be any issues!"
With his main mission settled, Jieming's thoughts drifted to more distant concerns.
He recalled the sudden, unified reform across all academies under the Noren Workshop, which had led to the introduction of the graduation trial. The reason behind this change remained shrouded in mysteryâa rumor about potential actions by the Star Ring Federation.
"Dean," Jieming couldn't help but ask, "regarding that 'rumor' that prompted us to establish the graduation trial... there hasn't been much follow-up activity since then, has there? What about the Star Ring Federation...?"
Dean Avery cast a deep, penetrating gaze at Jieming, neither confirming nor denying his question. He replied calmly, "For wizards of your innate talent and potential, such an event, if it were to occur, might not be a calamity but rather an opportunity. As for why there has been no significant development thus far..."
He paused, adopting the detached perspective of a high-rank wizard who sees across vast stretches of time, and explained:
"You must understand that, from the perspective of high-rank wizardsâespecially those who shape the course of civilizationsâunless it involves an immediate life-or-death crisis, a major strategic initiative with far-reaching implications is considered 'swift action' if it gradually takes shape and yields results within a few millennia."
"Conversely," the dean's tone shifted, carrying a hint of warning, "if such an event were to escalate rapidly and progress quickly, it would likely mean that wizard civilization is facing an unimaginable threat, forcing us to respond hastily."
"The current situation, with its gradual progress through gentle, long-term measures like reforming the education system, suggests that this is likely a far-sighted plan orchestrated by some eighth-tier or even a ninth-tier great wizard, based on their glimpses into the future's destiny. We still have ample time to prepare and grow."
Jieming felt somewhat reassured by these words, but another question immediately arose: "Then, Dean, where will weâthe students of Elosia Academy who have passed the graduation trial and subsequent elite selectionâultimately go?"
After all, Ellosia Plane's academy itself had been founded upon the foundation laid by the exceptional wizards who had passed the initial selection process years ago.
Based on his understanding of the situation, he continued, "As far as I know, for many years, wizards graduating from various academies and passing the selection process have continued to pour into the Elosia Plane in a steady stream..."
This was a crucial reason why the Elosia Plane's planar transformation and construction efforts were progressing at such an astonishing pace.
Otherwise, even setting aside the massive manpower required for planar transformation and the vast number of mentors needed to establish the academy, the sheer number of wizard lords required to maintain control over such an expansive territory would be astronomical.
Even so, Noren Academy in the Elosia Plane still seemed remarkably immature compared to other academies.
In the wizard civilization, the distribution of wizards from high-rank to low-tier did not follow the traditional pyramid structure. Instead, it resembled a pear shape.
The largest numbers were undoubtedly first-tier and second-tier wizards, but the subsequent third-tier wizards were fewer in number than fourth-tier and fifth-tier wizards.
This was because by the time wizards reached the fourth tier, ordinary planar wars no longer posed a significant threat to them. Over years of accumulation, the total number of fourth-tier and fifth-tier wizards eventually surpassed that of third-tier wizards.
These mid-level wizards formed the backbone of the wizard civilization.
For example, at Noren Academy No. 13, where Jieming had once studied, the mentors were almost exclusively wizards of this caliber.
Only with sixth-tier wizards did the numbers begin to decline again due to the extreme difficulty of advancement.
In the Elosia Plane, however, the vast majority of wizards remained at the first-tier and second-tier levels, including many of the mentors.
Dean Avery nodded slightly and revealed the answer: "The workshop's high-ranking officials have already made a decision. The framework for the Elosia Plane Cluster has been largely completed, and Noren Academy No. 147 has also been established and is operating smoothly."
"Therefore, from now on, new blood who pass the talent trial will primarily be sent to new, undeveloped plane clusters to oversee the establishment and construction of the next Noren Academy."
(End of the Chapter)
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