“……!?”

Adams, standing to the side, was once again dumbfounded by Lan Qi.

As expected of a student taught by a scum like Lauren, with such smooth talk, it wouldn't be a problem to appease a dozen fiancées at the same time!

Originally, Adams found it hard to imagine how Lauren navigated through that level of a shura field, but after seeing Lan Qi, Adams believed it.

"So, student Adams, our bet has been witnessed by Knight Commander Juliana, now please choose the content of the competition, I will agree to any type of challenge."

Lan Qi said with a smile, holding the cat, as if he had just made a casual phone call.

"…Okay!"

Lan Qi's description of the bet was indeed without flaw; Adams had nothing to refute.

After a moment of silence, Adams simply agreed to it without further ado.

"Then Lan Qi, even if I have a reason to win, I won't specifically choose a competition method that gives me an advantage. I will defeat you fair and square, so that you will be convinced of your loss."

Adams declared.

"I look forward to it."

Lan Qi was still elegant, seemingly not concerned with winning or losing.

Or perhaps this posture represented that no matter what challenge Adams proposed, he would be the one to win.

Adams nodded; Lan Qi had finally taken it seriously, as he had hoped to see.

"We will compete in a project that both of us are good at: challenging the Shadow World. We will use the endless mode of the artificial Shadow World, lock the levels to Tier 2, and disable magic cards, for a pure contest of intellect and willpower."

Adams pointed at Lan Qi and said.

Accompanied by a small discussion in the conference room, the other senior students and teachers quickly understood which Shadow World Adams was talking about.

He must be referring to the Tier 2 artificial Shadow World [Desperate Bone-Chilling Cage], an ultimate test of human survival will.

Because it was very famous and often used for practice, everyone knew something about this Shadow World, and it had a very high degree of random variation, so there was no issue of fairness.

But with this Shadow World, others couldn't say whether Lan Qi or Adams would win.

"No problem, how about we meet in the atrium on the seventh floor of the Learning and Education Building in an hour?"

Lan Qi asked.

Even with the permission of the school and the support of the Magic Engineering Institute, it would still take some time to activate the artificial Shadow World activation terminal located in the seventh-floor atrium.

"Okay, see you in an hour."

Adams left the Sage Academy conference room as if victory was already in his grasp.

A rare opportunity was right in front of him; even when he first arrived at Ekletra, he had never imagined such a perfect situation.

His eyes were now full of fighting spirit, and he didn't hide his arrogance, determined to give the Sage Academy a lesson today.

…

In Ekletra's autumn, strong winds swept through the entire campus, the airflow whistling between the buildings, swirling up leaves into a dance in the air, as if a storm was about to come.

Those golden and red autumn leaves, driven by the wind, left the branches and fluttered down, some carried by the wind through the old clock tower, deepening the accumulation of time, bringing the signal of late autumn.

The clock tower looked even more solemn in the wind; it stood there silently, letting the wind blow and the hands turn.

The students' coats on the road were rustling in the wind, but their eyes were still firm, resisting the wind, and walking forward in groups of two or three.

"Why go to the classroom, hurry up and watch the show."

"If you're late, there won't be any space in Gellar Memorial Square."

In the midst of the wind, many students were spreading the word that there would be a special program to watch later—

Adams, the top third-year student of the melee combat department of the Royal Academy of Aloran, would be having a derby with Lan Qi, the representative student of the Sage Academy!

In addition to the best public viewing location, the open-air giant screen on Gellar Memorial Square that would not stop broadcasting twenty-four hours a day, the school also had many independent team activity rooms equipped with magic screens, where you could also watch indoors.

In an independent magical engineering laboratory in the Magic Engineering Institute, the lights on the ceiling shone evenly like stars in every corner, and magic screens were embedded in the circular walls, displaying various campus information.

Many students from the Magic Engineering Institute were concentrating on their research in front of the workbenches scattered around, and at this time, some newly arrived students were discussing the big event of the academy today.

"Lan Qi may not win this time, don't be too optimistic, even Frey may not be able to win against Adams in this survival Shadow World."

"It's more interesting when there's suspense! Tsk tsk, did you hear about the bet between Lan Qi and Adams? If he loses, I can't imagine how explosive the program effect would be."

"I'm afraid it's Dean Lauren who will explode."

"…"

Karen, a second-year gold-ranked card maker from the Royal Academy of Aloran, who was giving a tour in the distance, sighed helplessly when she heard the news.

"Senior Adams is messing around again."

Then a smile appeared on her lips, twirling her light-colored hair, and looked at Prince Einol, who was giving her a tour, with those green, glittering eyes.

"His Highness Einol, you are calm and steady, worthy of the trust and admiration of the junior students."

"Haha, not at all."

Prince Einol himself had great admiration for Karen, a talented gold-ranked card maker who was even younger than him, and couldn't help but smile from the bottom of his heart when he heard her constant praise.

"…"

Sophia looked away, as if to avoid seeing what bothered her.

Originally, everyone in the Magic Engineering Institute thought that this genius card maker girl from the Kingdom of Aloran would be an arrogant person.

Unexpectedly, she was not only talented, but also humble and friendly, and soon gained the unanimous recognition and love of the Magic Engineering Institute.

Sophia also knew that Karen was a very naive and lovely girl.

But she just felt that Karen had been getting a little too close to Prince Einol these past two days.

Sophia had been holding back and not expressing anything; last time at the Card Maker Association, she had made a ridiculous joke because of her strong possessiveness towards Einol.

"…"

As Sophia was distracted thinking, the subtle changes in expression on her face seemed to be noticed by Karen unintentionally.

"Student Sophia, I'm sorry, I got too close to your classmate Einol again, you won't misunderstand, will you?"

Karen said with concern to Sophia, slightly covering her lips with worry.

"He's not mine!"

Sophia, who came back to her senses in an instant, was clearly a little irritable, unable to hide the emotions she had been suppressing for two days.

"…"

Karen, after being scolded by Sophia, gradually lowered her eyes and "ummed" a little aggrievedly.

"Sophia, classmate Karen didn't mean any harm."

Einol quickly said to Sophia.

If they bullied Karen for no reason, it would make the entire Ekletra Academy look very petty.

"Sorry…"

Sophia quickly calmed down and drooped her head.

Gradually aggrieved and sour feelings permeated Sophia's heart, as if blocking her throat and preventing her from organizing any words.

She felt that if she continued like this, she might have to see a psychologist.

Or maybe there was a love master who could help her.

…

The gradually thinning sunlight shone through the large windows onto the wooden furniture in the store. This was a popular café in the center of Ekletra, located in a former printing factory, and the editorial department of the Horton Times was upstairs.

The store was full of morning bustle, with all kinds of people briefly intersecting here. The soft sounds of coffee cups clinking, conversations, and background music were intertwined in the air, forming a relaxed urban life scene.

Next to a long table sat several students from the Royal Academy of Aloran, leisurely enjoying brunch.

One student was carefully sipping a latte, with an intricately drawn latte art pattern floating on the cup, while the student next to him was enjoying a bagel with avocado, fried egg, and fresh tomatoes.

They chatted from time to time, and at other times immersed themselves in the newspapers and periodicals in their hands. Here, they could easily switch between studying and relaxing, making people feel that this was not just a breakfast shop, but more like their second campus.

"There's news again today."

"Quickly invite Senior Louisviel, we need to let the whole school know about this news within an hour!"

At the long table, one of the figures from the Royal Academy of Aloran, who was enjoying the food comfortably, after hearing the students from Ekletra who had just entered the restaurant talking about Lan Qi and Adams having a Shadow World competition.

He thought for a moment and put down the fork in his hand.

The time when Lan Qi would enter the artificial Shadow World…

That must be the best time to make a move and get rid of the Duchess.

Recommending a friend's book~

(End of this chapter)