Allen and his two companions followed the crowd to the new student reception area.
The line stretched endlessly. Intelligent humanoid species of various appearances were mixed within it. There were many races he had never seen before, giving him the illusion of being on an alien planet for the first time.
A boy barely reaching Allen's waist was loudly complaining about his weapon being temporarily confiscated. Not far away, an apprentice with pitch-black skin—even his teeth were black—was looking around. Allen even spotted intelligent beings with black hair and black eyes, resembling the Asians from his previous life.
Vera followed behind Allen and whispered, "Are they... are they all new students? I thought only people like us could become Wizards." A hint of unease laced her voice.
Colin fared even worse. Keeping his head down, he tried his best not to look at these peculiar "classmates" around him, his hands gripping the hem of his shirt tightly.
"Wizards value souls and talents, not races," Allen replied calmly, his attention mostly focused on observing the composition of the line.
"DSeek, record the external characteristics of all humanoid intelligent beings and establish a preliminary classification archive," he commanded inwardly.
[Task received. Visual scanning and data entry in progress. Seventeen different species preliminarily identified.]
The wait was long, but for Allen, it was an excellent opportunity for observation. He noticed that no matter how bizarre their appearances were, almost every new student wore a similar mix of expressions: longing for the future, nervousness about the unknown, and an unconcealable hint of arrogance. They were geniuses in their respective worlds, now gathered here and standing at the same starting line.
Finally, it was their turn.
Sitting behind the reception desk was not a human, but a Mechanical Body made of brass and crystal. Its crystalline eyes flickered with a soft blue light, and its movements were precise and efficient, without a single wasted motion.
"Identity credential," the Mechanical Body said in an emotionless, metallic synthesized voice.
Allen handed over the badge the Elder Wizard had given him.
A beam of light shot out from the Mechanical Body's crystalline eyes, scanning the badge.
"Allen Wesren. From the Gaia Plane, specially recruited and recommended by the Gate of Truth. Authorization confirmed." As it spoke, it retrieved a pile of items from an adjacent compartment and pushed them in front of Allen. "Your Apprentice Robe, equipped with a Constant Temperature Array. Your dormitory key, Zone A-7, Room 304. Your textbooks, fourteen in total. Your identity card, which records your information and serves as your pass and monetary account within the academy."
The Mechanical Body paused and added, "The afternoon opening ceremony will be held in the public Grand Auditorium. All new students must attend."
Allen took the heavy pile of items, nodded, and stepped aside. Vera and Colin quickly finished their procedures as well, holding similar piles of items, their faces full of bewilderment.
"This... this is so many books," Vera said, struggling slightly while hugging a stack of books almost thicker than her upper body. "Dormitory... where is Zone B-5?"
Colin looked at his key. "Mine is Zone C-3. It seems to be very far from you guys."
Allen pulled out a piece of parchment printed with the academy map from his pile of sundries and glanced over it. "The three of us have been assigned dormitories in different areas. Vera, your Zone B-5 isn't far from me. Colin, your Zone C-3 is near the red high tower." He handed the map to them and pointed at a few marks. "Let's go back to our respective dormitories and settle down first. After the afternoon ceremony, we'll meet up at the entrance of the Central Library to exchange information."
His clear arrangement gave the bewildered duo a sense of direction.
"Okay," Vera nodded vigorously.
"Yeah," Colin replied softly.
The three parted ways and headed toward their respective dormitory zones.
On the way to Zone A-7, Allen witnessed a more authentic side of the academy. Apprentices were hurrying about; many were walking while holding books or crystal boards, reciting in low voices.
A few senior apprentices were gathered by the roadside, fiercely debating something about "the stability issues of Cross-Plane Summoning." Escaping sparks of Magic Power would occasionally burst in the air.
An apprentice sitting on a Magic Carpet zoomed past him like lightning, the resulting wind nearly blowing the books out of his hands.
"Hey! Newbie, watch where you're walking!" the apprentice yelled without turning his head, vanishing around the corner in an instant.
Allen steadied himself and ignored the remark, simply making a mental note of the "traffic rules" of this world. Order here was built on power; the weak needed to learn to yield on their own.
The Zone A-7 dormitory building was an unadorned, black stone high-rise. In the management office on the first floor, a balding old man was slumped over the desk, dozing off.
"Hello, I'm here to collect my supplies." Allen knocked on the desk.
The old man lifted his head impatiently and mumbled, "New student? Hand over your key."
Allen handed it over. The old man glanced at the number on the key, then looked at Allen's face. "Newcomer? Which organization recommended you?"
"Gate of Truth."
Hearing this name, the old apprentice's attitude noticeably shifted. Though still far from welcoming, he at least sat up straight.
"Oh, someone from the Grand Library. Then you're in luck." He took a ledger out of a drawer and made a checkmark on it with a Feather Pen. "According to the agreement, your tuition fee during your time as a junior apprentice—five hundred Low-Level Magic Stones a year—is fully waived. In addition, you get a living allowance of two hundred Low-Level Magic Stones per year."
He retrieved a black card from a cabinet and tapped it against Allen's identity card. "This is your share for the first year. Spend it frugally. Don't think two hundred Magic Stones is a lot; buy two sets of high-grade experimental materials, and it'll be gone. Grab your bedding and toiletries yourself from that room inside. One set per person, don't take extra. And don't bother me unless it's important."
Allen picked up his identity card. There were no visible words or information on it, yet it contained his startup capital for this world. He thanked the man, deposited the fifteen Magic Stones he had exchanged all his worldly possessions for into his identity card, and grabbed his daily necessities before heading to his room.
Room 304 was not large, but it was very tidy. It had a bed, a desk, a chair, and a wardrobe. Allen set his things down and walked to the window. From here, he had a perfect view of a white high tower suspended in the air in the distance. Chains made of light extended from the bottom of the tower into the clouds, mysterious and spectacular.
He did not immerse himself in the scenery for too long. Returning to the desk, he laid out the fourteen textbooks one by one.
*The Essence of Magic Power and Macro Theory*, *Introduction to Plane Science*, *History of Magic*, *Biology of Magical Creatures*, *Introduction to Elements*... Every book was astonishingly thick.
He picked up the top one, *The Essence of Magic Power and Macro Theory*. Flipping to the table of contents, he saw entries like "Aether Theory," "Will Interference Theory," "Entropy Reduction Theory," and "Information Theory."
These titles gave him a strange sense of familiarity. This was not just Magic; this was the physics and philosophy that explained the laws of how the world operated.
"'Information Theory'..." he muttered to himself. If the essence of this universe was information, then Magic was the authority and code to modify that information. How remarkably similar this was to the computer science he had engaged with in his previous life.
[DSeek: High-tier theoretical framework detected. Cross-referencing with the existing knowledge base... Discovered that "Information Theory" shares a base-level logical similarity with Earth's "Simulated Universe Hypothesis." Requesting authorization to establish a specialized analytical model.]
"Authorized," Allen thought.
He then picked up *Introduction to Plane Science*. The illustrations inside depicted the structural diagrams of various Planes, such as the Material Plane, the Elemental Plane, and the Abyss, all floating in the waves of the Sea of Magical Power.
This was no longer a background setting from a game, but a tangible, real interstellar map! Every Plane could signify new rules, new resources, and new civilizations. His soul as a strategy game player was thoroughly ignited at this moment. This knowledge acted as keys, about to open doors to unknown miracles for him one by one. He flipped through the pages hungrily, his brain absorbing this subversive information with unprecedented efficiency.
An unknown amount of time passed before a crisp bell chime interrupted his deep thoughts. An emotionless, synthesized female voice echoed throughout the entire dormitory building:
"Attention all new students. The opening ceremony will be held in the public Grand Auditorium in fifteen minutes. Repeating: all new students must attend. Unexcused absences will be strictly punished."
Only then did Allen realize that the sky outside the window had begun to slant toward evening. He stood up, stretched his somewhat stiff body, and changed into his brand-new Apprentice Robe. The black robe was well-tailored, with the crest of the Seven Towers Alliance embroidered in silver thread on the chest.
He took one last look at the pile of books on the desk representing his future coursework, straightened his collar, and pushed the door open to leave. Dense footsteps already echoed in the corridor. Young and ambitious faces were converging into a single torrent, heading toward the first assembly of their apprentice careers.