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"How did you get here so fast? Do you have a flight artifact?" asked Mouthy, the elderly man who was Garudeer\'s aide. He was well aware of the distance between Felix\'s house and Big Zoot City. It had only been a few days since they departed from his house, so it seemed impossible for Felix to be here without any artifact that could allow him to fly.

"I drove here, obviously," Felix replied.

"Drove? Drove what?"

"A golem."

Mouthy and the three other elderly mages exchanged puzzled glances. They recalled that Felix had a guardian golem at home, but it was supposed to be following one of the student candidates around. Currently, the golem and that student\'s maid were assigned to a dormitory for under-qualified candidates in the eastern district of Big Zoot City.

Garudeer interrupted, changing the subject, "Well, have you finally considered joining the Royal Magi Academy?"

Felix wasn\'t keen on joining any school, but the prospect of free mana crystals intrigued him. He asked, "How many mana crystals will I get if I join the academy?"

Garudeer laughed, "If you manage to get in, we\'ll sponsor you with one hundred 1st-rated mana crystals. The academy will also provide additional crystals based on your performance and grades. Last year, the minimum was 200 mana crystals for a second-circle newcomer. The top student now gets 500, if I recall correctly. Oh, and the pay is monthly."

Felix\'s eyes widened as he calculated how many magic bullets he could create with that kind of scholarship. He started drooling, forgetting all previous concerns. Whether Jane or Valley might be in danger no longer mattered.

"I\'m in!"

"A wise decision! I\'ll assign you a new place to stay and arrange a temporary mentor to guide you. Since you\'re a fire mage, we cannot teach you our breathing method, but we\'ll try to get a nomad mage from the Crimson Desert to instruct you."

"Ah, that. I don\'t need another breathing method. I have mine."

Garudeer grinned while the four elder mages exchanged meaningful looks. They doubted the authenticity of Felix\'s method, having never heard of anyone from the Dragoon Empire mastering such a technique.

Although curious about Felix\'s breathing method, they adhered to the magi code of respecting the privacy of junior mages and chose not to pry into his secrets.

Garudeer, with a slight twitch of his fingertip—a habit he had when adjusting schedules in his mind—came up with a solution. "How about this? Since you don\'t need a mentor for the breathing method, I\'ll assign someone to tutor you for the written exam. As for the practical exam, I\'ll personally guide you."

Hearing that Garudeer would personally mentor Felix, the four elders were surprised and looked at their headmaster in unison.

Mouthy, misunderstanding Garudeer\'s intentions, asked, "Are you planning to take him as your direct disciple?!"

Garudeer snorted, "Do utility spells and common spells require apprenticeship these days?"

"N-No."

"Then there shouldn\'t be any problem with me personally teaching \'common\' spells and general knowledge to a candidate, right?"

"B-But the regulations state you must be impartial, and you cannot accept apprentices..."

According to the rules between the mage towers and the Magi Academy, headmasters serve as judges to help the academy select the best students among the candidates. Preferential treatment is strictly forbidden. Mouthy and his colleagues were concerned that Garudeer\'s decision might violate these rules.

Additionally, the emperor\'s mandate prohibits headmasters from accepting apprentices, as it promotes hierarchy and status disparity among children in a mage tower\'s institution. By volunteering to teach Felix, Garudeer could be seen as bending this rule.

Garudeer retorted, "Nonsense! I AM and will ALWAYS be impartial during the examination period! But outside of that, ANYTHING GOES!"

His subordinates were left speechless.

"Now, child," Garudeer said, ignoring his followers as he stood up and warmly smiled at Felix, "Come with me. I\'ll show you around."

"Okay?" Felix inwardly chuckled at the crowd. Despite their concerns, he found himself liking Garudeer\'s vibe and attitude.

The two men exited the office, and Garudeer led Felix to a secret area behind the main building.

...

They exited through the back door on the seventh floor and arrived at an empty platform that resembled a helicopter pad, but without the H sign. Aside from the platform, there was nothing but clouds.

Felix gulped. This place felt different from the magical stone plaza earlier. With nothing but the empty sky and the ground several thousand feet below, he realized he was standing at the edge of a floating continent.

Garudeer nonchalantly stepped onto the seemingly empty air. As he walked forward, an illusion was dispelled, revealing a bridge connecting two floating continents.

However, the wind was unrelenting. Strong gales hit them, causing Felix to grip the door firmly to maintain his balance, while Garudeer remained unfazed.

"Oh, I forgot," Garudeer chuckled, raising his staff. Walls of wind emerged, pushing the gale upward and away from them. With the wind now blocked, Felix could finally stand upright.

Taking the opportunity, Felix rushed forward, following Garudeer closely. The latter brightly smiled as they crossed to the other side.

Once they arrived, the concealment array reactivated, making the Storm Tower institution\'s floating continent invisible to Felix once more.

Felix scratched his head, puzzled by the concealment magic. But when he thought about his house, he couldn\'t help but smile wryly.

\'I guess there\'s room for improvement. Jessica, when will we have a complete concealment spell like this?\' Felix asked Jessica in his mind.

<Please finish the main quest first. The upgrades come later. Also, the next house upgrade is mobility. You should concentrate on mastering all four skills as soon as possible.>

\'I know.\'

Felix sighed, mentally kicking himself for coming here on impulse. He could have been living a carefree life, continuing his training, but he also remembered how boring that slow life had been.

\'Meh, a little adventure wouldn\'t hurt.\' Felix inwardly inhaled a metaphorical tank of copium, gaslighting himself to be enthusiastic about the new prospects.

Looking around, Felix noticed that the current floating continent was much smaller than the previous one, roughly the size of four football stadiums. Unlike the academy town, this place consisted of a dense jungle, a giant lake, and a straw shack by the lakeside.

Something felt off about this place.

"This will be your new home for the time being," Garudeer laughed, pointing at the straw shack.

Felix raised an eyebrow, "Wait a minute. Something ain\'t right."

"I know what you\'re thinking. But to prepare for a harsh exam, you must get used to a harsh lifestyle first. Warm beds, clean rooms, and servants will ruin your habits and discipline! You must learn how to live alone, relying on general spells."

Garudeer didn\'t waste time and started teaching Felix utility spells that were practical in real life. He walked toward the lake and stepped on its surface.

He could walk on water.

Then, Garudeer pointed at a wet branch floating on the clear water.

Felix followed his gesture, noticing that the lake was as clear as a well-maintained swimming pool. He could see several trout swimming by, bobbing their mouths as if to greet him. The pristine nature made Felix smile.

\'A survival challenge in this environment? This will be easy! Who do you think I am? I am a Floridian! Swamps and nature is my home!\' he thought.

But in the next moment, the serene scene turned into a nightmare. The two trout suddenly grew larger, mutating into 50-foot-long freshwater piranhas. They lunged at Felix, trying to tear him apart.

"WHAT THE FUCK?!"

Reacting quickly, Felix pulled out his favorite shotgun and blasted them. The heads of the giant flying piranhas exploded, their remains falling in front of him.

Garudeer snickered and clapped his hands, "Nice reactions. Well, I think you know how we do things around here."

Garudeer retrieved an item from his spatial storage. With a wave of his hand, a chalkboard materialized from thin air, and he began writing in the local language.

"Let\'s start our class. The first lesson: I want you to chant this three times—\'Looks can be deceiving.\'"

Felix gulped and glanced at the dead fish. He discreetly opened his system map to check his surroundings. As expected, a million red dots surrounded him, but he couldn\'t see where the enemies were.

Garudeer continued, "This place is called the \'Graveyard of the Naive.\' As the name suggests, every creature in this forest and lake is not what it appears to be. Any ant, leaf, or stone could transform into a monster and eat you alive!"

"And what\'s the point of me being here?" Felix asked, glancing around nervously. The corner of his eye caught a tree branch subtly creeping toward him, but it instantly retracted and returned to normal when he looked directly at it.

Garudeer laughed, explaining, "It\'s human nature to rapidly evolve in the face of crisis. I brought you here to stimulate your survival instinct. Without that, you won\'t improve quickly."

"...What?"

"To counter the crisis at hand, you\'ll need to learn a common trick from me. The first trick is... mana manipulation!"

As soon as Garudeer uttered the words, an alligator leaped from the lake and tried to bite him. However, it couldn\'t close its jaws.

A glowing blue stick, wedged between the alligator\'s jaws, barred it from harming Garudeer. The archmage snickered, lightly kicked its mouth, and the monster retreated into the water.

Afterward, Garudeer twirled the glowing stick he had created and explained, "Any mage should be able to manipulate mana to some extent. By expelling your mana outside your body and condensing it, you can create a mana object like this."

"Oh!"

Felix was impressed, eager to learn the skill.

"For starters," Garudeer demonstrated by releasing a stream of blue light from his index fingertip, "Controlling your internal mana and releasing it like this should be your top priority to master. However, you must master it while avoiding being eaten!"

With that, Garudeer vanished, leaving Felix with a final instruction.

"Master it before nightfall, or you won\'t survive!"

"Well, shit," Felix muttered with a poker face, then glanced meaningfully at the lake.

For some reason, this place reminded him of his home state, full of swamps and wild nature. He wondered if his survival experience would help here.

"I guess I can\'t call myself a Floridian if I don\'t pick a fight with an alligator or two..."