On the Eleven Great Plains—
“Uh… weren’t artificial Shadow Realms supposed to be safe?”
Lance stared at Flat, who was lying motionless in the distance, and murmured to himself, a bit worried.
Maybe he’d gone too far.
Lance had originally planned that the more Huberian provoked Flat, the more rage she stirred up, the higher their chances of winning.
But… he’d never tested this strategy before.
He wasn’t sure how furious Flat needed to get before [Poet of Great Love] would push him past his breaking point and make him so angry that he simply… stopped being angry.
So Lance had only asked Huberian to stall as much as possible—just to be safe.
He hadn’t expected [Poet of Great Love] to be this terrifying.
【Warning: Examiner Flat has sustained severe cardiovascular damage beyond the protection protocols of the Artificial Shadow Realm. Emergency extraction measures will be taken…】As a system notification flashed across the sky of the Shadow Realm, Flat’s body was suddenly teleported away.
At the same time, inside the exam hall—
Professor Theresa, who was in charge of monitoring the exam, was so frantic that she was clutching her hands and stomping her feet.
After checking Flat’s condition, she immediately contacted the medical team at the Alchemical Institute, and they were already rushing over with a stretcher.
Most healing spells were more effective on external injuries.
Some high-level magic could handle minor internal issues—
But a cerebral hemorrhage? Yeah, no. That was beyond her skill set.
Flat needed a specialist to perform emergency surgery.
“Lance… I can’t believe I was worried about Flat giving you a hard time…”
Theresa covered her face as she muttered, her voice filled with defeat.
Turns out, she’d worried about the wrong person.
She no longer had any words to describe this young man who had looked her in the eyes during enrollment and calmly declared himself a White Mage.
Just imagining Lance actually joining the Sage Institute’s healing mage division made Theresa feel like the school’s entire reputation was about to collapse.
Lance alone might redefine the meaning of "healing mage."
In fact, his name would go down in the entire history of healing magic.
Inside the Sage Institute’s meeting room, the atmosphere was usually neat and dignified.
Long tables surrounded a massive circular magic screen at the center.
Elegant crystal chandeliers hung from the ceiling, and the finely polished neutral-tone walls gave the room a bright and comfortable ambiance.
But right now—
The room was in complete chaos.
“Just got the latest update from the exam site—Flat got a brain hemorrhage thanks to Lance.”
“This kid’s magic deck is a newborn monster!”
“If you let him get inside your head, you’re done for. He’ll make you lose control of yourself instantly.”
“But let’s be honest—if you were in Flat’s position, could you guarantee that you wouldn’t snap?”
“……”
Everyone understood the logic.
But even now, knowing that Lance’s strategy was a blatant mental trap—
If any of them actually had to fight him, could they really say they wouldn’t fall for it?
Lance even had one more hidden Tier 1 spell card that he hadn’t played yet.
Who knew if it was another mental nuke? And who knew what other psychological torture methods Lance would come up with in the future?!
"If you’re his opponent, you either kill him outright… or if you get stalled by him or his teammates, you must keep your emotions completely under control until you take him down."
Vice Dean Roan calmly analyzed the battle, reviewing the match.
With [Poet of Great Love] as Lance’s core trump card, his opponents weren’t just at risk of “anger.”
Emotions like fear, sorrow, and even joy could be just as fatal.
It was clear that Lance excelled at manipulating emotions, pushing his enemies into extreme states—until they collapsed like an avalanche.
“One typically only sees this level of psychological warfare used by the most ruthless demons during the Demon Clan’s Holy War of Annihilation.”
Watching the battle replay, a professor couldn’t help but sigh.
“Maybe we should… check his citizenship records again.”
Another professor hesitantly suggested.
Vice Dean Roan shook his head.
“No need to disrespect a student like that. His race was already verified during enrollment.”
“In fact, even demons wouldn’t dare use this kind of card recklessly. A demon’s own desires are also their weakness. If amplified tenfold, it would backfire on them.”
“Unless the wielder has a mind as calm as still water, even they wouldn’t be immune to its effects.”
Roan let out a deep sigh.
It was obvious—
Lance was that kind of person.
His mindset was frighteningly optimistic and unshakable.
No matter what situation he was in—he never wavered.
The professors in the room helplessly nodded.
Even though Lance was only Tier 2, it was already impossible to evaluate his true strength.
One thing was certain—
No one wanted to face Lance when he fully matured.
His lower limit was basically zero, but his upper limit was terrifyingly high.
For example, despite the exam’s increased difficulty, Lance and Huberian not only passed, but also defeated the examiner, achieving a special clear condition—guaranteeing them a top-tier score.
Roan also knew—Huberian wasn’t even the best possible partner for Lance.
If Lance ever found a truly perfect teammate—
It would be an absolute nightmare.
With that unsettling thought, Roan took off his glasses and began flipping through the Knight Institute’s freshman roster.
When his gaze landed on one particular page, he took a sharp breath.
This year, it seemed their academy had recruited a pair of absolute disasters…
Inside Phantom Canyon, after seeing the exam completion notification, Lance finally let out a sigh of relief.
At least he hadn’t broken the Artificial Shadow Realm Terminal this time.
But this system definitely had safety issues—
They claimed "no real danger," but wasn’t this proof to the contrary?!
The Magic Engineering Institute should probably thank him for identifying such a major flaw.
“I’m heading out first.”
In the distance, Huberian, exhausted, waved at Lance before exiting the exam environment.
Unlike Lance, who was completely unscathed, she had taken a lot of damage and needed to leave to recover.
Lance nodded in her direction—
Then glanced at his Epic-tier summon—[Poet of Great Love].
He couldn’t leave the Shadow Realm just yet.
He needed to recall all his magic cards before passing through the Void Gate.
Lance’s gaze lingered on the succubus-like summon, whose appearance bore an uncanny resemblance to Talia.
He chuckled and shook his head.
Back when he had worked with Talia to create [The Lamenting Verses], it had been his job to illustrate the card.
To make it perfect, he had naturally chosen the style he was best at—
Directly copying Talia’s appearance for the summon’s design.
And since Talia herself had been the main Card Crafter behind this project, the bond between her and the card was extraordinarily deep.
This unintentional synergy had elevated the summon’s compatibility to an absurd level.
Even though Talia had been furious and shocked when she found out—
In the end, she forced herself to tolerate it.
After all—
Destroying this soon-to-be legendary masterpiece would have been a crime.
And the astronomical crafting fee Lance had promised her… certainly helped.