Chapter 3

After Elisa sat in the most active area of the elements in the mage tower and began her daily meditation, Xi Wei let out a sigh of relief.

Recently, the little girl was no longer as clueless as when she first started learning magic. She had more and more questions about magic, which made Xi Wei, who had only recently started learning, struggle to keep up. Moreover, Elisa's ability to understand and apply new concepts amazed Xi Wei. If this continued, in one or two months, he might have nothing left to teach her.

However, she was his student, and the little girl was quite well-behaved and likable. Xi Wei genuinely felt happy for her. If he really had to leave after eleven months, the girl could probably make her own way in the world.

Xi Wei looked deeply at Elisa, who was sitting quietly on a cushion with her legs crossed, and a smile appeared on his face.

Then he focused his attention on the tattoo on the back of his hand.

As his mental energy slowly seeped in, his consciousness once again entered a mysterious space.

The first thing that appeared was the ultimate goal given to Xi Wei by the magic academy system: to create the world's top magic academy.

However, due to the time constraint, this goal was impossible to achieve.

Although Xi Wei had considered infiltrating other magic academies and trying to usurp the position of dean, he ultimately abandoned this idea.

As long as it was a magic academy that ranked in the world, the dean would definitely be at the level of a grand mage or higher. His meager skills would be no different from seeking death if he tried to usurp the position.

And those unknown small academies... well, even if he succeeded in taking over, turning it into the world's top academy would not be a short-term task. At least a year would be impossible.

Moreover, what exactly is the world's top magic academy? Is it the best school facilities, the best faculty, the most students, the best reputation, or some other criteria?

Without a clear direction, what could he do?

"A purely ridiculous goal..." Xi Wei sighed.

As the ultimate goal disappeared, several panels appeared. However, part of them seemed to be locked, and Xi Wei could currently only see the academy resources, magic books, and trial gate panels.

Academy resources were divided into eight categories: stone, wood, metal, leather, gems, money, magic potions, and alchemical materials. Except for gems, which had an initial value of 10, all other resource items had an initial value of 100.

Xi Wei believed these resources were used to build the academy, but unfortunately, he could not find the construction option anywhere on the panel.

Additionally, Xi Wei discovered that the money option could be exchanged for real currency, with 1 point of money resource equaling one silver coin.

Considering that the luxurious lunch Elisa brought him, which was already quite lavish for ordinary villagers, only required about twenty copper coins, 100 silver coins were a huge temptation for Xi Wei.

However, he wisely checked the reverse exchange rate and found that 1 point of money resource required one gold coin...

Damn, it's a hundred times less! This isn't just a matter of being a swindler! Fortunately, I was smart enough to ask in advance and didn't fall for it!

In any case, the option to exchange money resources for cash could only be put aside for now, and the other resources were also just for viewing and couldn't be used. Even if Xi Wei was reluctant, he had to put aside the academy resources panel and look at the magic book panel.

The magic book, in simple terms, was like a skill tree in a game. Xi Wei could only open the first page of the thick book. The first page had about a dozen skills, but except for the magic missile, all others were grayed out. And before he found the skill points, these skills could only be viewed...

Finally, there was the trial gate. The trial gate panel looked like a map filled with dense red dots. Among the red dots, there was only one green dot, which stood out prominently. Selecting a red dot would not cause any changes, but selecting the green dot would display "Night Forest · Outer Area."

During the month he was injured, Xi Wei tried to select this green dot countless times, but apart from the name appearing, there was only a bright red prompt: "Weak, unable to open the trial gate."

Originally, Xi Wei had prepared himself for the same result, but today something new happened.

The bright red prompt had disappeared, replaced by an "Enter/Cancel" option.

"What..." The sudden change left Xi Wei stunned.

Could it be that the academy system, which he had thought was just a defective item, could finally be used after a month of being only for viewing?

After a moment of hesitation, Xi Wei looked up at Elisa, who was still meditating, and with a deep breath, he selected the "Enter" option.

The next moment, the world around him turned black, and when he came to, he found himself no longer in the familiar mage tower but sitting in an open small tent.

"What... happened?"

Xi Wei looked around in surprise. The small tent blocked the view behind, but the front was completely open.

In front of the tent was a small clearing, in the center of which a bonfire burned brightly. On either side of the bonfire were a blue and a red large box, and beyond the clearing was a dark and deep primeval forest.

He then noticed that his clothes had changed from the black mage robe to the coarse linen clothes that male villagers often wore in summer. The bandages on his body had also disappeared. If it weren't for the scar left by the arrow porcupine on his chest, he would have thought he had somehow ended up in another place.

As he touched the finely crafted linen clothes, which had no visible seams, some information suddenly appeared in his mind.

[Villager's Coarse Linen Set (Common)]

[Armor / Temporary Item]

[Defense: 0~0]

[Set Bonus: Gathering LV1]

"What? Equipment? Am I playing some third-rate game..." Xi Wei muttered, half-laughing, half-crying.

But then a light bulb went off in his head.

"Game... Could it be that the so-called trial gate is a game dungeon?"

He walked out of the tent and looked behind it. There was a vast white fog.

He cautiously approached the white fog and reached out his hand, but before it touched the fog, he felt a hard surface, like a wall.

"Barrier?" Xi Wei took two steps back and carefully examined the fog.

If this was really a dungeon, then the area covered by the fog should be outside the dungeon, and the barrier he touched should be the one separating the dungeon from the outside fog.

Realizing this, Xi Wei no longer focused on the fog but turned his attention to the forest.

If this was a dungeon, there should be some reward for completing it, right?

He had a feeling that his only chance of survival might be hidden in this dungeon!