Chapter 528 – Imperial Magic Academy

Chapter 528 – Imperial Magic Academy

The hotpot restaurant that Vasida and the others had wanted to open had already been beaten to the punch by someone else!

They’d even opened a snack street. Just from the smell alone, Mo Lan could tell—these were authentic Earth delicacies produced from her Book of Cards.

She even saw with her own eyes that a vendor at the entrance of the snack street had a Dawn Society magic light screen floating before them.

Bold as brass, they pulled a card from the magic light screen and materialized it into food.

Though it was set to privacy mode so others couldn’t see it, nothing could be hidden from her—the master of the Book of Cards.

Mo Lan couldn’t hold back any longer. She pulled out a {Camera Card}, materialized it into a camera, and snapped two photos—one of the snack street and one of the hotpot restaurant beside it.

The experience-sharing sessions along the way had been quite effective. Her disguised Dawn Society identity had already reached Level 1 Dawnbreak Scholar, which meant she was qualified to purchase {Camera Cards}. Pulling one out wouldn’t blow her cover.

Since she was already taking photos, she couldn’t leave out Etherlance’s night scenery and the tower forest that remained brilliantly lit even after dark.

Mo Lan transformed into a photography enthusiast, weaving through the streets and alleys of Etherlance, not returning to the inn until late at night.

That very evening, she summoned the golden bird and sent letter boxes stuffed with photographs to Vasida, Sylph, and Lilith. On top, of course, were the photos of the “Blazing Hot Hotpot” restaurant.

She even resisted the urge to reveal the hotpot restaurant news ahead of time in their four-person group chat on the Communication Card, only mentioning that she’d sent them some photos of Etherlance.

Lilith, Vasida, and Sylph were all still en route to their respective destinations. Occasionally they would stop at towns they encountered along the way, drink a transformation potion, disguise themselves as mage travelers of various appearances, and enter the towns to check for any Dawn Society news.

But most of the time, they were traveling.

The group chat was filled with them sharing where they’d gotten to, and what strange, interesting, or upsetting things they’d seen.

Scrolling through the group messages, Mo Lan felt like she was reading a travel journal.

With that thought, Mo Lan made a suggestion:

【Moira: Let’s save copies of all our group chat records! When we’ve traveled all across Valen, we can compile them into a 《Sorceress Travelogue》, complete with photos!】

【Vasida: How did you know I’ve been taking photos too! All the photos I’ve taken so far could probably be assembled into a dark cuisine photo album.】

She ate wherever she went.

【Moira: Who doesn’t know you! Photography maniac! Lilith and Sylph have been taking photos too, right? What have you been photographing?】

【Lilith: I took my flying carpet up into the air and captured aerial views of every town I passed through. The only problem is I can’t fly too close—a lot of towns have no-fly magic circles…】

【Moira: That’s the spirit!】

【Sylph: I’ve been photographing mountains, forests, and wilderness. Landscape shots.】

【Moira: Then between all of us, we’ve got the perfect combination!】

……

In the early hours of the morning, the letter boxes Mo Lan had sent via the golden bird reached their hands.

Vasida erupted with piercing shrieks in the group chat.

【Vasida: HOT! POT! RESTAURANT!】

【Vasida: Etherlance already has a hotpot restaurant?!】

【Vasida: Don’t tell me the Dragons have hotpot restaurants too! I was planning to use hotpot to befriend the Dragons!】

【Moira: There are quite a few mages on Delicacy Island… You could write to Iris and ask.】

【Vasida: ……】

【Lilith: Etherlance’s nights are actually this lively? No wonder it’s called the City That Never Sleeps.】

【Moira: The streets are still bustling even now! Apparently, after many Etherlance mages pull countless all-nighters researching magic, they’ll suddenly appear in the city to binge eat, so Etherlance has quite a lot of good food. Add in the Dawn Society’s infiltration, and there’s even more.】

【Vasida: ……】

She regretted it now. The route to the Dragon islands passed through Etherlance after all—if she’d known, she wouldn’t have played it cool and left so quickly.

【Sylph: The tower forest is truly spectacular! It looks even more imposing than the Millennium Giant Trees.】

【Moira: I know, right! Worthy of being the product of humanity’s finest Alchemy.】

When she’d first laid eyes on it, she’d instinctively been reminded of the skyscrapers from her previous life.

But in truth, any random Peak level mage’s Mage Tower in Valen was taller and grander than the tallest building on Earth.

*

One week later—enrollment day at the Imperial Magic Academy.

The enrollment sites were spread across various plazas within the tower forest.

Mo Lan passed through tower after tower until she found Academy Plaza No. 1.

This was the plaza closest to the outer edge of the tower forest. Everyone still in the introductory stage registered here for the enrollment tests, and the ancient mage class enrollment point was here as well.

Those who could meet the Imperial Magic Academy’s enrollment requirements while still in the introductory stage all had elemental affinity and initial psychic power scores above 80—super geniuses who’d been escorted all the way here by their respective nations the moment they took a magic aptitude test.

Every one of them had the potential to surpass the Peak level and become one of the most powerful beings in all of Valen.

Each country might only discover one or two such individuals per year—sometimes none at all.

Yet the Imperial Magic Academy still reserved a dedicated enrollment plaza just for them.

While the other enrollment sites were packed with long, winding queues, the registration tents for each magic discipline at Academy Plaza No. 1 were deserted.

Mo Lan had arrived relatively late. The plaza was sparsely populated with barely anyone around, though a sizable crowd had gathered around its perimeter—escorts, attendants, and other chaperones, by the looks of it.

At each enrollment plaza, no one other than applicants and the Academy’s enrollment officials could freely enter.

When someone who was obviously a child approached, these people would clear a path.

But Mo Lan, an adult mage, didn’t receive such courteous treatment.

She had no choice but to release a hint of the psychic power that only an advanced mage would possess, intimidating these people who’d mistaken her for another spectator, before she could smoothly enter Academy Plaza No. 1.

Standing among a group of seven- and eight-year-olds who weren’t even mages yet—little sprouts, the lot of them—she stuck out like a sore thumb.

Mo Lan pretended not to notice, her gaze sweeping across the various registration tents.

The Imperial Magic Academy was divided into different branches based on magic specialization, and each branch’s enrollment point was in a different tent.

The red tent belonged to the Fire Elemental Branch, the aqua-blue tent to the Water Elemental Branch…

It wasn’t until she spotted a pale gold tent bearing the sign “Psychic Branch” that she nearly lost her composure.

Though she’d known about it beforehand, every time she saw the abbreviated name of the Psychic Magic Branch, it still felt weird to her.

Valen had no psychiatric hospitals, so apart from her, nobody would make that unfortunate association.

Finally, she spotted a small gray tent tucked away in a corner, with a sign beside it reading “Ancient Mage Class.”

If you didn’t look carefully, you’d mistake this dusty little tent for the storage closet of the neighboring Alchemy Branch!

So far, not a single child had gone over there to register.

Mo Lan immediately headed straight for that tent.