Headmaster: Victor Asteriscus
Academy Points: 2680
Academy Grade: Level 4
Total Acolytes: 915/2000
Total Professors: 1/2
Total Assistant Professors: 4/8
Progression Value: 640/2000
Level 1 Academy Grade: Level-1 Nexus Tower, 1:1 time
Level 2 Academy Grade: Level-1 Nexus Tower, Magic Botanical Garden, 1:1 time
Level 3 Academy Grade: Level-2 Nexus Tower, Magic Botanical Garden, Alchemical Hall, 2:1 time
Level 4 Academy Grade: Level-2 Nexus Tower, Magic Botanical Garden, Alchemical Hall, Artificer Hall, 2:1 time
Level 5 Academy Grade: Level-3 Nexus Tower, Magic Botanical Garden, Alchemical Hall, Artificer Hall, Virtual Combat Chamber, 4:1 time
Level 6 Academy Grade: Level-3 Nexus Tower, Magic Botanical Garden, Alchemical Hall, Artificer Hall, Virtual Combat Chamber, Mystical Dungeon, 4:1 time
…
“Sweet Jesus! The requirements to upgrade to level five are exponentially harder than before...” Victor quickly checked the professors’ detailed requirements, and it appeared that he only needed to recruit one more Elemental Adept rank Magus as a professor, as well as four acolytes for four assistant professors.
But where in the world would he find another official Magus willing to join his academy?
It had to be mentioned that recruiting Roland was already a huge stroke of luck. Expecting lightning to strike twice was optimistic at best; he couldn’t hope to find another Magus on the verge of death willing to stake it all on him. Magi of that caliber were not only rare but often entrenched in their own ambitions or fiercely loyal to the Magus forces behind them. Moreover, even if he did find one, their personality might not be suited for the academy that Victor was running.
In Roland’s case, Victor had lucked out. The old Magus reminded him of his mentor from the Arcane Radiance College — neither a paragon of virtue nor a practitioner of evil. He walked a pragmatic middle ground, driven by their pursuit of truth and survival. But what if an evil Magus were to join the academy? It could bring chaos and incidents, using the players as guinea pigs… But wait, is that really an issue given that the players can resurrect just fine?
Victor shook his head, dismissing the thought. No, an unscrupulous Magus can’t be trusted, and if the academy’s secret were to leak, it could bring disaster.
In any case, even beyond recruiting another Magus, the total acolyte count and progression value points required for the upgrade loomed large. By his estimates, hitting those numbers would take at least two months, assuming smooth operations. But that was very unlikely to be the case. With the undead horde likely to attack at any moment, perhaps maintaining the number of living players itself might be difficult.
“Well, I’ve already instructed Lizbeth to prepare a set of missions for the players once they log back in,” Victor muttered pragmatically. “With any luck, the preparations will mitigate the looming threat and minimize casualties.”
In this regard, Victor even had missions unleash the players’ imagination by giving them the freedom to make traps in a patch of land he designated.
Putting the thought aside, Victor went ahead and opened the System’s interface to place the Artificer Hall. He already had a place in mind, which was located at the southwest quadrant of the academy grounds, near the industrial zone — a perfect location for the new facility.
[Artificer Hall is available to be constructed.]
[Please select a location on the map to place the building.]
Victor tapped the desired spot, and a moment later, the ground shimmered with ethereal light. Within seconds, a large fifteen-meter-tall building arose from the ground. The Artificer Hall was a grand structure, designed in a fusion of Victorian and industrial architecture and adorned with gears and runes, glowing faintly in the night.
Massive arched windows lined the hall’s exterior, allowing glimpses of the interior inside. A large cogwheel-shaped emblem hung above the main entrance, looking like the symbol of the building. The walls, constructed from dark polished stone and reinforced with seamless bands of dark brown metallic alloy looked very sophisticated. On the side, a large garage-like door could be seen.
Victor suspected that the facility could accommodate the construction of a small dirigible. With further upgrades, larger airships might even be possible.
“This place will drive Eleanor wild, and it’s bound to attract the more industrious players,” Victor murmured, amused. It would be interesting to see how they put their creativity to use, transforming raw materials into extraordinary contraptions. However, he didn’t mention the Artificer Hall in the update announcement because he didn’t expect that the academy grade would level up in this short span of time. However, he could reason that it was part of the expansion update.
Upon stepping inside, Victor took in the sight of the Artificer Hall’s interior. Huge furnaces lined the walls, gleaming with runes. Towering shelves for storing materials stretched toward the high ceiling. At one side of the building lay a vast, open chamber with the same garage-like door on the side.
The garage really does resemble the inside of an airplane factory, Victor thought, rubbing his chin.
Aside from all this, there was also an obelisk-like structure, like the one inside the Alchemical Hall, which stood majestically in the center of the building. As Victor touched the stele, a holographic screen materialized before him with a soft chime.
If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.
[Artificer Hall has been activated.]
[You can assign someone as an overseer.]
Victor raised an eyebrow. “Huh, so there’s no overseer here either. Welp, the choice is obvious,” he murmured and immediately assigned Eleanor as the overseer.
[Eleanor has been assigned as the overseer of the Artificer Hall.]
[Her skills and talents in crafting magic tools and artifacts have been enhanced.]
One of the perks of being appointed as an overseer was the enhancement of their related skills and talents based on the System’s building. This held true for Elara, who served as the overseer of the Alchemical Hall — that was why her progress and success rate of concocting new potions was very good.
At that moment, Victor discovered a faint golden inscription on the side of the obelisk. Familiar with this little antic, he let out a snort and stepped closer to read it. Thanks to him having formed his second sigil, he felt no headache that accompanied reading such magic transmissions this time.
“Did you miss me?
“Hehe, I ask that question because leveling up the academy to this grade must’ve taken quite some time. But no worries! I’m confident you’ll get the subsequent ones in no time — I believe in you!
“Anyway, where did we leave off last time? Ah, yes, the spatial-temporal formation that manipulates the flow of time. You see, I’ve refined my calculations further to give you a more accurate estimate of how long it’ll last before it loses all functionalities. Well, I don’t want to be the bearer of bad news, but you probably have less than twenty years left.
“Now, don’t get mad at me. I’m aware that traveling to another dimension would be impossible even for a Sigil Conversion Magus, and I’m certainly not expecting you to become a Nexus Conjurer Magus in such a short span of time. Even a genius like me needed a full century to reach that rank. So, for you? Let’s just say it’ll take much, much longer… Or maybe faster if you luck out with some rewards from the System.
“Oops, I’m rambling again. Anyway, there is another way to fix this issue — one that requires the involvement of the players on Earth. Unfortunately, the exact explanation of how to do it has to wait until next time since my time to impart this message is up.
“Until then! Toodle-oo!”
And just like that, the message was cut abruptly, leaving Victor frozen stupid as he stared at the obelisk.
Really…? Is this person serious? Victor was a bit furious but at the same time amused. The only reason that there was not enough time was that the previous headmaster was wasting precious time with useless remarks and self-boasting before getting to the point, which left the message on a cliffhanger.
Why would someone do that?
But thinking about the exact reason wouldn’t bring him any answer. So instead, Victor turned his attention to the building’s functions.
Magic Tool Blueprints Available for Purchase
- Low-grade magic tools: 10-20 AP each
- Mid-grade magic tools: 30-50 AP each
- High-grade magic tools: 80-100 AP each
So, I can buy magic tool blueprints up to high grade here… and it seems materials are available for purchase as well. Victor considered this briefly. Considering his access to the citadel’s library, blueprints themselves weren’t particularly valuable. Moreover, Eleanor’s creativity and skill allowed her to craft magic tools without relying on blueprints. Only second-rate and third-rate Artificers would need to use blueprints to craft magic tools.
However, there were still certain types of magic tools outside Eleanor’s expertise. Recently, Victor had been wanting to upgrade his acolyte robe to a proper Magus robe, one imbued with enchantments to aid him in battle. Despite scouring the citadel’s library, he hadn’t found anything that met his standards — which should have a good Cosmo affinity. If he upgraded the Artificer Hall, he might gain access to a superior-grade magic tool blueprint for the kind of robe he envisioned.
Looks like I don’t have much of a choice here…
Without hesitation, Victor upgraded the Artificer Hall to level two, expending 1,000 academy points in the process.
[Artificer Hall has leveled up to level 2.]
[Superior-grade magic tools blueprints are now available for purchase.]
The upgrade caused the building to shimmer before expanding further. The enchanted blast furnaces multiplied, the shelves extended to hold more materials, and the central chamber grew even more spacious. It was now large enough to house the Lunaria comfortably, with room to spare for constructing another dirigible of similar size.
Victor’s eyes narrowed as he scrolled through the updated list. Now, the variety of blueprints had doubled, and among them, he found the superior-grade Magus robe blueprint that met his exact specifications. However, its cost was on the steep side, being 300 AP in price — the typical price of a superior-grade magic tool blueprint was 200 AP. After buying the robe blueprint, only 1,380 academy points remained.
He activated the Shadowlink Mark to contact Eleanor. But he quickly realized that it was in the middle of the night, so she was probably asleep—
“WHOA! Victor, is that you? What’s up? Does it have anything to do with the fact that my body started glowing a minute ago?” Framed within the holographic screen was Eleanor’s surprised face, her hair slightly tousled from sleep.
What do you mean your body is glowing…? Despite the question in his head, Victor quickly pieced it together; it must have something to do with assigning her as the overseer.
“Er, yeah…” Victor confirmed while avoiding her gaze as he realized that the glowing effect must have woken her up. “Just step outside your workshop. You’ve got a new place to play around in.”
“Huh? What do you mean by— Wow! How did a workshop this huge just pop up? I swear this was an empty lot before!” Eleanor exclaimed as she seemed to rush toward the new building.
It took her less than ten seconds before she was face to face with Victor. Her eyes immediately lit up as she took in the grand interior. “Whoa! This place is amazing!” She darted from one workstation to the next, running her hands over every surface like a little kid who had just found a new toy.
“Ahem. Eleanor, I’ve got a special project for you.” Victor cut to the chase.
She paused mid-step, turning her head toward him in a rather unnatural way. “Oh? What kind of project?”
“I need you to craft something for me — a new Magus robe.” He handed her the blueprint. “This one should be superior-grade with Cosmo-elemental properties. You can ask the acolytes to help you with the sewing and anything else you may need help with.”
“Why didn’t you say so sooner?” Eleanor’s grin widened as she examined the design. “Leave it to me. I’ll make sure it’s a masterpiece.”
Victor nodded, giving her the materials he had on hand, which included the enchanted fabric he got from gacha. “Good. I trust you won’t let me down.”