Don't confiscate my identity as a human race

Through the experience of two entrance exams, Lanci found that he seemed to possess a decent potential for being a Shadow World Challenger.

He could hardly wait to kick off his career as a Challenger.

"Do you know up to what level students in this school can achieve?"

Lanci asked curiously.

"If a student from Ichrite can reach the Gold level, it's already very remarkable. As for the Platinum Level... only those in the fourth grade and the fixed-timers have that."

Hyperion thought for a while, before replying somewhat uneasily,

"Those kinds of people don't really need to stay in the academy any longer. They can leave at any time."

If she could reach that level, even without her father's protection or the status of a Duke, she wouldn't fear those who wanted to harm her.

Unfortunately, she didn't believe that she had the talent to reach that level like the few at the top of the academy, those monsters.

"Fixed-timers?"

Lanci turned his head in confusion to look at Hyperion.

He understood what the fourth grade was, but he didn't know that this academy also had "fixed-timer" students.

"Generally speaking, students could apply for graduation by their third year, and they'll also be granted a substantial number of Challenger points, or be recommended for employment positions in various associations."

"Each year, a few exceptional students choose to follow their favorite professors in the academy for additional years of study, possibly staying to study for several years. These are uniformly referred to as the 'fourth-grade students'."

"'Fixed-timer' refers to a small number of Challengers who already have extensive Shadow World experience and undertake part-time studies at our school. We are what you would call 'full-time' students."

Hyperion patiently explained to Lanci.

Unbeknownst to them, during their conversation, they had already reached the last step of the long staircase.

"I see, thank you for your answer!"

Lanci thanked Hyperion with a smile for her thoughtful answer.

Just a few more steps forward.

What came into view was a giant open glass wall, offering a complete view of the beautiful campus, including flowers, trees, buildings, and lawns. Everything was simply stunning.

In front of them, the suspended platform also forked off.

"See you when school starts, I'm going over there to meet a friend."

Lanci stopped and pointed towards the terrace, bidding goodbye to Hyperion.

He was heading in the direction of the terrace area on the first floor, towards his Demon Race master Talia who was waiting for him.

Compared to Talia, who never spoke more than ten words at once, having a normal conversation with Hyperion was much more relaxing for Lanci. Indeed, girls who couldn't get married even after a few hundred years must have their own issues.

"Goodbye."

Hyperion nodded in response.

With that, their shadows diverged, moving in two different directions.

...

Three days later, early morning.

South Crayney, south of the Hutton Kingdom.

Because there were continuous mountain ranges separating the two kingdoms, even when a large amount of goods were transported from the southern border of Hutton to the northern border of South Crayney, it was more convenient to travel east by sea.

Many of the northern cities of the South Crayney were built on mountains. The towering buildings complemented the undulating terrain, and you could even see classic architecture surrounded by the blue sky and white clouds.

Granville City, the capital of a northern border territory of South Crayney, was one of the most prosperous cities in the north. It was backed by towering mountains to the north, and faced the sea to the east, with its dock always bustling.

The upper pillar layer of Granville City, a northern border town, was suspended and built between several intersecting peaks; the buildings were mainly classical in style, colored in deep grey or beige. The climate was warm and bright, the air was filled with the scent of flowers and subtle music, and the streets were wide and clean, with a lot of well-dressed merchants, knights, and priests everywhere.

At this moment, within this city's "Wilford Chamber of Commerce" building, in the fourth floor room with a door plate embedded with the words "Director's Office".

A middle-aged man sat in the comfortable chair behind his office desk, putting on his glasses, and started to flip through the Hutton Times from two days ago.

He was none other than the chairman of the Wilford Chamber of Commerce, and Lanci's father — Noe Wilford.

As the Wilford Chamber of Commerce holds essential trade channels between two countries, it wasn't challenging to get newspapers distributed throughout the Hutton Kingdom. The only issue was that sometimes there might be a two or three days delay, and other times, delays of seven or eight days were not uncommon due to merchant ship circulation.

"Let's see what news we have recently."

Noe leisurely browsed the Hutton Kingdom newspaper he had just received.

He didn't read it every day. Occasionally, after he was busy with his work, and had some spare time, he would get the latest Hutton newspaper from his workers and read the news.

[A teenager from the Holy Education Society, kicked out of the team by his companions, metamorphosed into a Casanova and won over all their mothers. When his companions were full of remorse and prepared to line up to apologize, he sent all their mothers to jail, stating that he was underage.]

[A man from the Nanwantian Border, out of resentment against his boss due to overwork, discovered his boss was allergic to healing potion. Consequently, he used his hands soaked in the healing potion to beat his boss. Surprisingly, the boss didn't have an allergic reaction but was severely injured. After being detained for a month, the man sued the potion manufacturer claiming that they had produced fake healing potions after his release. The man has currently received 650 pounds in compensation from the manufacturer.]

Noe flicked the pages while shaking his head, suppressing a laugh.

The Hutton Kingdom was a wondrous place.

Sometimes, its laws were frequently modified because they never had such laws and regulations before and had to add new ones based on unusual crime situations.

The Hutton Times, in some cases, were even more entertaining than a common jestbook.

And so, Noe was flipping the newspaper, enjoying his rare leisure time.

Beautiful oil paintings and embroidery hung on the wall of the chairman's office with soft carpets spread on the floor. The beautiful view of the sea of clouds from the window made the leisurely Noe feel very comfortable.

Soon, he found a report about Capital City Ekrite —

[During the annual Ichrite Magic Academy-Sage Academy entrance exam, a serious accident occurred...]

[Viscount Firat Swensson, the examiner, has been rescued and is no longer in critical condition.]

[It appears the Artificial Shadow World still requires many safety improvements.]

"Wonder who is the unlucky student who seriously injured the examiner. Whoever raised such a thing really has karma."

Noe chuckled maliciously and sighed.

His son, Lanci's mediocrity has its advantages, at least he can't cause such a disaster.

Communication Magic is expensive, especially its permit and multiple station building requirements for international use. Noe seldom contacted his home in the Nanwantina of South Hutton Kingdom unless it's urgent.

As for whether Lanci passed the exam, Noe had no need to ask.

He naturally expected him to mess up the Alchemy College entrance exam and come back home disheartened.

Noe had already instructed his butler, Hans, to cut off Lanci's funding once he returned home crestfallen, making this useless fool suffer a bit!

He'll see if Lanci has grown a bit when he next returns to Nanwantina.

Continuing to read, the news was not over yet.

[During the exam, there was once a malfunction in the Artificial Shadow World terminal, suspected to be due to a candidate's abnormal operation. According to an interview with Professor Bolao of the Ichrite Academy's Magic Engineering College, he said that this emergency repair has already cost the Magic Engineering College a loss of at least 8000 Southern Kingdom United Currency...]

In the picture surrounded by the text on the newspaper, there was a gritting-teeth artisan elder.

Although he seemed to suppress his anger in front of the camera, he couldn't hide his murderous glare.

[...correspondent Lavisseir reporting for you.]

Finally, it was over.

Noe shook his head and closed the newspaper.

"Heh, what a talent, even capable of damaging the exam terminal. If the Magic Engineering College sues him, I'm afraid his family is in trouble."

Afer reading today's Hutton joke, Noe felt completely satisfied.

He hoped for more sensational news next time.