“Daniel, I feel like if things continue like this, the number of people at our academy will explode,” Isolde said. “The academy used to feel so empty, but now it’s full of people everywhere.”
“Thankfully, the old headmaster had the foresight not to sell off the extra land.”
“Aside from the new freelance practitioners joining, even the students are forming different small groups during their expeditions.”
Daniel asked, “Small groups?”
“Yes, they’ve attracted many young people from outside the academy to follow them,” Isolde explained. “For example, Green has teamed up with a bunch of boys, and they’ve named themselves the Whirlwind Boys.”
“Miss Rose, along with a few close female friends, formed a group called Dead Pink.”
Daniel couldn’t help but laugh at the names these kids had come up with.
Sure enough, they were still just children.
“As long as there’s no malicious competition and these groups help bring in fresh talent, such so-called ‘small groups’ shouldn’t be a problem,” Daniel concluded.
Seeing that Daniel wasn’t opposed, Lady Isolde smiled too.
“Headmaster, although these kids are young, they’ve been doing a pretty good job. For example, Rose’s Dead Pink helped a nearby village last month by driving off a mercenary group that attempted to raid them.”
“This has made their reputation even more well-known.”
“Everyone’s saying that the students from Crossbridge Academy are all good kids.”
Hearing about Rose’s achievements gave Daniel a sense of pride.
He knew that with Rose’s determination and resilience, it was only a matter of time before she made a name for herself.
“Daniel, the students are doing great, and the opening of the Mistriver Realm is approaching. Are you planning to send them to participate this time?” asked Rowan, the head of the Academic Affairs Office.
The Mistriver Realm opens once every fifty years.
The opening time isn’t fixed, but it usually happens around the second week of July.
The realm is a vast forest. The outskirts contain many magical herbs and natural mana stones, while deeper inside, spell beasts can be found.
Some have even stumbled into the heart of the forest, discovering massive footprints and, nearby, four-star alchemical materials.
The last time the realm opened, Crossbridge Academy was at its peak.
Daniel’s father led a group of elite students and, despite being ambushed by the other two families, managed to secure a large amount of treasures!
Those materials were exchanged for mana stones, which had sustained the academy for so long.
“This time, we will participate,” Daniel said, already forming a list in his mind. “We’ll hold an internal academy tournament, and the top twenty students will be able to enter the realm.”
“Understood!”
While the realm had great rewards, it was also extremely dangerous.
Sending in students who weren’t strong enough would be sending them to their deaths.
Daniel wasn’t about to let the promising young talents he had painstakingly cultivated die in such a place.
Seeing Isolde’s smiling face, Daniel was struck by a thought and tossed her three large bags of mana stones.
“This is the budget for preparing to enter the realm and for academy shopping during this period,” Daniel said. “Same rule as always—you have to spend it all.”
Lady Isolde’s smile vanished instantly.
She frowned, deep in thought about what she could possibly buy to spend the entire budget.
“By the way, Daniel, this came from Lady Claire of Dragonscale Bank.” Rowan brought in several magical storage boxes. “She said it’s the agreed-upon supplies.”
The boxes were filled to the brim with carefully selected items.
Even while Daniel had been holed up, Lady Claire had kept sending things on time.
Particularly, the last three boxes contained items for which Daniel hadn’t even paid yet, suggesting that Claire had used some kind of privilege to send them before payment.
“Does Lady Claire trust me that much?” Daniel glanced at the bill. “Is she not afraid I’ll just refuse to pay or run away?”
All the items together were worth nearly 3.7 trillion mana stones.
Daniel instructed Isolde to store the materials properly. Most of them would be added to the list of exchangeable items in the Crossbridge Treasure Vault.
“Send this crystal to Lady Claire,” Daniel said, handing over a crystal filled with mana stones. “The payment is inside, and she knows the password to unlock it.”
“Understood.” Rowan carefully put away the crystal.
The sheer amount of wealth made him uneasy.
Just as he was about to leave, another matter came to his mind.
“Daniel, last month a mercenary squad came to see you. They claimed to be the Ragtag Mercenary Squad and said you had saved them once.”
“Yes,” Daniel nodded.
He vaguely remembered the incident.
Just as he was about to tell Rowan to arrange for the squad to join the academy’s security team, Daniel had a new idea.
Genesis was ready.
It was the perfect time to find someone to test it.
The Ragtag Mercenary Squad was of average strength, but their tenacity made them ideal candidates to try out the new training manual.
He instructed Rowan to summon the members of the Ragtag Mercenary Squad.
“Daniel!” The group, dressed in fresh new clothes, immediately saluted when they saw Daniel.
They carried the academy badge, having successfully joined.
The benefits of Crossbridge Academy had far exceeded their expectations—not only did they receive mana stones each month, but all their daily necessities were provided for free.
They had never imagined living a life where they could sleep under expensive magical blankets.
This deepened their gratitude toward Daniel.
“No need to be so tense. Introduce yourselves,” Daniel said. “I remember your leader is a knight named Kent.”
“Yes!” Kent stepped forward and introduced the squad members. “This is my sister Cheryl, the priest in our squad.”
“Mage Lily, assassin Lucy, and hunter Maston.”
Daniel glanced at them.
“Your strength has improved a bit since I last saw you. Kent is now mid-tier bronze, Maston is low-tier bronze, and the rest of you are still tier-iron, correct?”
The squad members nodded in unison, their respect for Daniel deepening.
For their headmaster to gauge their levels with just a glance, he must be far beyond their abilities.
Daniel spoke directly, “I’ve developed a new training manual, and I need someone to be the first to try it.”
“The new manual isn’t dangerous, but since no one has used it before, it’s natural for you to be concerned. I won’t force you if you’re unwilling.”
“If you agree, I can promise that I’ll invest resources into your training and help your entire team reach tier-gold in a short time.”
The group exchanged looks, stunned.
They hadn’t expected this to be why Daniel had summoned them.
As the leader, Kent’s mind raced with thoughts.
A new training manual meant unknown risks. If they failed, the best-case scenario would be severe injury, leaving them unable to progress for the rest of their lives. The worst-case scenario would be death.
Even if they succeeded, there was no guarantee that the new manual would be stronger than their current training methods.
For a moment, everyone remained silent, filled with unease.
“Daniel, may I ask something?” Kent cautiously spoke. “If we refuse, will we be expelled from the academy?”
“Of course not,” Daniel smiled. “There’s no problem if you refuse. I can find others to try it. I chose you because, during the battle with the turtle spell beast, you showed remarkable resilience.”
“The new manual requires such resilience during the rest phases, or it will likely fail.”
He was upfront with them.
He simply found this group of young people likable and wanted to give them an opportunity.
Even so, the members of the mercenary squad found themselves caught in a dilemma.
They didn’t dare to agree lightly—this was a life-changing decision.
Daniel didn’t rush them.
He needed their wholehearted consent.
After a brief silence, the assassin Lucy suddenly stepped forward.
She looked Daniel in the eyes and said earnestly, “Daniel, with your strength, I trust that you wouldn’t deceive us.”
“I’m willing to help you test this new manual.”
“Good.” Daniel had a deep impression of this assassin girl. Back then, she had been willing to sacrifice herself to buy time for her comrades to escape.
With such character, she deserved to be the first to train using Genesis.