Ten years passed in the blink of an eye, and the Elosia Plane’s Noren Academy No. 147 finally welcomed its historic opening day.
The academy’s grand gates, forged from enchanted metal and star sand, towered into the clouds, radiating an aura of knowledge and power.
Jie Ming, along with several other wizards temporarily assigned to maintain order, hovered silently in midair above the gates.
Below, a group of children arrived from all directions, lining up to enter the academy.
Their faces brimmed with anticipation and wonder, representing the first seeds of hope for the Elosia Plane.
However, looking at the sparse procession, Jie Ming couldn’t help but shake his head inwardly, letting out a soft sigh.
“Too few…”
He roughly estimated that the total number of apprentices reporting was likely under three hundred.
Compared to the bustling scenes at Noren Academy No. 13, where thousands of apprentices flooded in each enrollment cycle, this was strikingly quiet.
But it was understandable.The humans of the Elosia Plane had only been guided and genetically enhanced by the wizard civilization for a few hundred years, their foundation still shallow.
To reach the talent explosion of a mature plane would likely require thousands of years of continuous accumulation and evolution.
After all the new students were guided to designated areas for aptitude verification and registration, Jie Ming slowly descended to the expansive Black Stone Plaza at the academy’s center.
By now, recruitment platforms for various wizard factions had been set up around the plaza, their colorful banners and faction emblems swaying gently in the breeze.
Jie Ming’s gaze swept over them, noting that the number of factions here was far fewer than at Noren No. 13.
The logistics factions had only seven or eight platforms, while the combat factions, though better represented, numbered only a few dozen.
As Dean Avery Knight had said, this newly established Noren Academy was critically short of instructors.
He strolled to the platform marked “Alchemy Technique.”
It was modestly arranged: a long table, a few chairs, and the triangular flask and six-pointed star emblem of the Alchemy faction.
Mimicking the impassive demeanor of his mentor Clark, Jie Ming sat at the head, retrieving a thick, ancient-looking magic book from his storage space. He spread it open on the table, adopting a reading posture.
But his mind was far from the book’s obscure runes.
“What should I teach in the first lesson?” His thoughts drifted, tinged with the irrepressible excitement and slight nervousness of being a teacher for the first time.
“Should I follow Mentor’s example, starting with a demonstration of basic Alchemy Technique, explaining material properties and energy ratios, and concluding with a ‘failed alchemy accident scene’ to etch the importance of rules and safety into their minds?”
“Or… try a different approach? Start with an alchemy puzzle that requires unconventional thinking to spark their curiosity and instill the charm of logic, planting the seed of rigor through enjoyment?”
Jie Ming had to admit, standing in the role of an educator for the first time, he felt a surge of eager passion, even beginning to meticulously plan his teaching syllabus and classroom interactions.
However, all his plans and expectations soon fell flat.
The recruitment process lasted an entire day.
As the sunset’s glow bathed the plaza in warm gold, other faction platforms had recorded a few names, with combat factions being particularly popular.
Yet, Jie Ming’s Alchemy faction platform remained completely empty.
Not a single young figure left their name on his registration sheet, even as the wizard assistants began packing up and announced the end of this enrollment cycle.
Jie Ming closed the book he’d barely flipped through, staring at the blank list. He was momentarily dumbfounded.
Then, a wry smile crept onto his lips.
He understood.
The reason was obvious.
The contract terms for logistics factions versus combat factions—whether in initial resource allocation or perceived prospects—differed vastly.
For these young people, newly introduced to the wizard world and brimming with dreams, the combat factions’ promises of “mastering elements, soaring through the skies, and exploring endless planes” held far more immediate allure than the Alchemy faction’s “dedicated research, material analysis, and miracle creation.”
Apprentices who could see through to the long-term value and core importance of logistics factions through their own wisdom were rare indeed.
Even at Noren No. 13, most students choosing logistics factions did so under parental guidance from wizard families, not their own insight.
That none of these three hundred new students turned out to be such “wise ones” wasn’t surprising.
Recalling his earlier enthusiasm for planning lessons, Jie Ming couldn’t help but laugh at himself.
“So be it,” he said, standing and tidying the table and chairs. “No students means peace and quiet. I still get the benefits, plus plenty of free time for research—not a bad deal.”
He thought his teaching duties were over, leaving him to enjoy the extended rest period in peace.
But Jie Ming had underestimated the academy’s tasks.
A few days into his leisurely days, a formal task notice from the dean’s office arrived at his laboratory.
Dean Avery Knight had personally assigned him to a significant long-term project—the transformation and integration of the Elosia Plane Cluster.
Elosia was chosen as the new academy’s site precisely because high-ranking wizards of Noren Workshop saw it as a high-potential large-scale plane cluster.
The main plane, hosting Noren Academy, bore the responsibility of nurturing the civilization’s future foundation, needing to support and sustain a growing population with sufficient resources and environment.
The best way to expand the plane and enhance its resource abundance was to gradually integrate nearby smaller planes—either naturally suitable or modified to be so—with the main plane.
This was a grand project, a core component of Noren Workshop’s long-term investment in the region.
Jie Ming’s role was as an assistant, participating in this massive endeavor.
The project was led by Dean Avery Knight himself, alongside several high-ranking wizards.
Jie Ming was primarily responsible for executing tasks like plane environment surveys, laying basic arrays, and guiding energy flows—essentially “grunt work.”
Checking the list of assigned wizards, he noticed a significant number, with a notably high proportion of logistics faction members.
While such a large-scale project, involving adjustments to plane rules and energy system construction, was a stage for logistics wizards to shine, Jie Ming suspected the real reason for so many logistics wizards was simply that none of them had recruited students.