My setting is above yours!

Chapter 86: New Course "Magic Class," First Experience with Flowing Light and Shadow (5k5)

However, despite this.

Ron, however, was not unprepared and immediately put his idea into practice with [Tracing Light and Shadow].

After all, according to the Dimensional Update Manual, Ron can directly enter the world using his current personal panel, and can start over if he loses his ability to move...

However, when using the Dimensional Update Manual to enter another era, time in the current era will be frozen regardless of anything else. The flow of time will always follow Ron's consciousness, and it seems that only the era in which his consciousness exists has the power to flow time.

In other words, no matter when you use it, you have an unlimited number of chances to use it again.

However, there is only one problem—

If the settings on your personal panel are worn out during the [Flowing Light and Shadow] process, you'll have to wait patiently for the settings to regain their durability and be repaired, just like when you normally travel between two eras, before you can use them again.

In other words... now that Ron's [Vector Manipulation] and [Illusion Dissolution] are almost completely damaged, he has absolutely no trump cards left to use if he enters.

'We should wait a bit longer...'

Ron pondered for a moment, then couldn't help but sigh.

If only the durability settings could be refreshed after entering... then he could overcome skill with brute force, start over infinitely, and rely on unlimited [Illusion Dissolution], [Vector Manipulation], and [Omniscient Domain - Pseudo] to fight against the Silver Knight.

Unfortunately, according to the Dimensional Update Manual, everything seems to be able to be changed or altered by its power, but the only thing that cannot be changed at will is Ron's settings.

If it is damaged, it must return to the era in which it was set and repair it using the basic settings and environment of that era.

However, Ron's idea of ​​focusing on a single time travel, damaging the system within it, returning to reality to repair it, and then going back in to fight the Silver Knight again isn't quite feasible—

The reason is simple: there wasn't enough time.

'October 5th... According to the information gleaned from the version update PV, October 5th will be the day everything is beyond repair, the Lv.5s scatter and flee, and the [mysterious] gates open!'

'And now, it's September 25th, leaving me with at most ten days—no, that's not right, maybe not even ten days!'

Ron suddenly remembered what Leonard had said in the version's promotional video.

Leonard said a massive void has erupted in District D... Although his timeline is vague, it's possible that the void is less than a week away from erupting!

Although some voids may have already erupted in the outer city, according to the version PV, these small voids have been mostly resolved by the [Magicians' Association]. Only the large void in D area will cause an irreparable disaster.

'Before everything is beyond repair, I must stop that mysterious person from ascending to the divine position of [Mystery]...'

'However, even if we're in a hurry, we still need to be prepared to some extent—at least until we've fixed 10% of the issues and have some usable methods before trying anything.'

'At least this way, if we find any opportunities, we won't be afraid of lacking the skills to seize them...'

Ron seemed to be deep in thought, and he made a plan in his mind.

The distance will be repaired to a barely usable state, restoring about 10% of its durability. Ron will have to wait at least half a day.

But it's only half a day... Although time is tight, there is still half a day to prepare.

'Perfect timing, while I'm fixing the settings for half a day, let's see what kind of impact this worldline anchoring has had...'

With these thoughts in mind, Ron pretended to be nonchalant as before, went to the cafeteria to find An Hui, who had lost her appetite, and hurried off to class while munching on two steamed buns.

Computational skills class.

Jia Qian: "Classmates, this is our [Tian Ting Media]'s newly developed top-of-the-line computing power enhancement device. No matter how much you use it, it won't overload when your personal computing power increases..."

Math class.

Moen Intelligence: [This course is for third-year university students. Access to this course requires advanced learning privileges, costing 1500 credits per session (SVIP customers only)]

Augmented Reality Course.

Ge Tai: "Hey, Ron, your personal reality has improved again? This superpower potential can't be wasted. Come on, let me give you a hand and see if you can improve it a little more..."

……

After half a day of lessons, Ron had a sudden realization and roughly analyzed how his actions in the "Potion Era" would cause the Dimensional Update Manual to anchor itself to a new world line, and how reality would change.

—At least, almost all of his interpersonal relationships remained unchanged, and everything he experienced seemed to remain the same.

He tested many people and found that their relationships with him were no different from before the change in the world line, which proved that the change in the world line had not affected Ron's past when he lived in Ideal City.

After briefly browsing through various log records and subtly probing Ms. Irina, Ron discovered that nothing had changed about his college entrance exam. Ms. Irina still had him sign a confidentiality agreement with An Hui as usual and recounted the "hollow" incident.

The ideal city government's countermeasure to the "emptiness" is still to release information to a certain extent during the college entrance examination, preparing to gradually relax control over information...

It seems that even if there are significant impacts and changes after the Dimensional Update Manual anchors a new world line, these effects will only begin when Ron returns to Ideal City, starting from the present moment when Ron is based.

For example... this thin layer of gray fog.

Ron looked at everything in front of him, thin and misty, with a complicated expression.

What he initially misted in the morning, if viewed in the version's promotional video, would clearly be the effect of "mystery" on the present world...

This gray fog started after Ron's return and only appeared late last night, which is enough to prove that even if the god [Mystery] wanted to have an impact on the present world, he would have to wait for Ron to return to Ideal City and for time in this era to begin to move forward.

Everything, at least in Ron's memory, remained unchanged, as if everything he had experienced was fixed, unalterable even by the power of a god.

Only the number "▆" – added to the world by the mysterious god – has been there since some unknown time, altering and influencing reality.

'That's a good thing, at least it's not the worst-case scenario...'

Ron sighed, feeling somewhat relieved about the reality of the situation.

In this light, at least because he anchors his worldline and alters the world, everything I experience in reality won't change accordingly, turning me into a rootless drifter...

—In that case, he can unleash his full potential and try to change everything that happened in the past.

After all... at most, it's just like now, facing enemies that might appear in the future!

As Ron was thinking this, he suddenly noticed that the clock in the classroom seemed to have stopped for a moment.

The world seemed to have been cut off by a frame; the 404 error code, like a silhouette inserted into this moment, suddenly appeared at the front of the classroom before the end of get out of class, informing all the students:
"Students, the afternoon classes have been completely changed. There is a new course that you must start learning now."

“Everyone… no matter what you’re doing, you must be in the classroom during the first period of the afternoon and finish the first period.”

Complete overhaul? New curriculum?

Everyone exchanged bewildered glances, except for Ron, who suddenly remembered what Leonard had said in the version's promotional video...

"Principal, why do all students have to attend this class, and why can't they ask for leave?"

One student stood up with a frown, clearly unhappy.
"I have things to do this afternoon..."

But before he could finish speaking, [Pointer] 404 gave him a cold look, no longer as languid as before, but decisive and stern, interrupting him:

"Everyone has to take this class... Even if they are dying or in a coma in the ICU, they have to wear a virtual reality headset and use holographic projection to attend school!"
"Students who don't come will have at least 1,000 credit points deducted. Being ten minutes late will add another 1,000 credit points. Think carefully about whether you have enough credits to lose..."

Upon hearing this, the student who was initially unhappy immediately lost his temper and obediently sat down.

After all, as the president of Moen University, 404 has unlimited power within the university—deducting your credits is a piece of cake for her.
A thousand credits are enough to ask Prometheus for computational privileges, attempt to construct an "ability formula," and obtain a bachelor's degree...

A group of freshmen, almost all of whom are striving towards the goal of "graduation", are certainly not willing to lose so many credits on such an unimportant matter.

Another student timidly raised their hand and cautiously asked:

"Principal... what exactly is this lesson that's so important?"

404 glanced at him, his tone softening, and said:
"A... magic lesson."

It really was magic!
Upon hearing this, Ron immediately confirmed what he had in mind.

'The ideal city government has begun to push magicians out of the shadows and into the open... Unexpectedly, this method of bringing them into the open is to directly offer magic classes and teach students magic!'

To be honest, this was a desperate measure by the Moen City government because of the impending return of the "mystery" and the impending destruction of Ideal City...

But for Ron, it was undoubtedly a great thing. You see, he had always wanted to enter the world of magicians and uncover their secrets.

But he was always afraid that he wouldn't be able to keep the truth hidden. After all, the matter of magicians seemed to be related to the deepest secrets of Ideal City. Many important figures were obviously magicians, and Ron was reluctant to take the risk of investigating...

But now, because of the impending [mystery], the magicians have emerged from the shadows of Ideal City, giving Ron a chance to understand them!

For Ron, this meant more than just learning about the secrets of the Ideal City…

Most importantly, after he legally learned the techniques of magic, everything related to the [Potion Sequence] could be disguised as magic and used openly in the Ideal City!
At that time, Ron, with his dual professions of [Potion Mastery] and [Superpower]...

I'm afraid I could find a place in either the ideal city on the surface or the magic world.

Later, when he obtains some magical item and completes Prometheus's experiment of seeking knowledge, he will also have an excuse to shift the blame by "relying on magic"...

Thinking of this, Ron couldn't help but feel a surge of joy.

But people's joys and sorrows are not shared. The other students looked at the 404 error code with confusion and doubt.

"Magic class...do we do magic tricks?"

"Why does our school offer this kind of course... and why is it mandatory?"

"No, not just our school... I have friends who study at [United University] and [Tian Ting University], and I just asked them, and they said they want to take this magic class too!"

"It's really baffling..."

Listening to the students' noise, [Pointer] 404 waved his hand, seemingly a little tired:
"Although you may not understand, you will understand after class this afternoon."

"I still need to inform the other students... See you this afternoon if you have a chance."

After she finished speaking, it was as if a frame of the world had been removed, disappearing as if erased by an eraser.

Seeing the methods used to create 404 errors, Ron couldn't help but have a thought, and he immediately recalled the scene he had seen in the version PV.

'That Lv.5 Elise, who wielded the power of Athena, also disappeared using a similar method... Oh right, Leonard used it before too!'

'Could it be... that this is a special technique shared by all Level 5s?'

Ron was somewhat puzzled, but then he remembered the three missing spots around the round table in the version's promotional video, and a sense of urgency crept into his heart:

'Although I don't know why, only nine of the eleven Lv.5 slots were filled, leaving two empty slots, but if there were really three slots, it would obviously give us more opportunities to become Lv.5 in the future...'

'I wonder what those two AI sectors' "Knowledge Experiments" are all about...'

However, becoming a Level 5 is something to think about for now and put aside for the time being—before resolving the crisis of the [mysterious] return, thinking about the future is just wishful thinking.

Half a day has passed, and the settings have been repaired to 10% durability. It's time to try out [Flowing Light and Shadow]...

With this thought in mind, Ron took advantage of his lunch break to return to his dormitory.

Because [Flowing Light and Shadow] can only be accessed through the personal panel, he wasn't carrying any items. He simply took a deep breath to calm himself down before clicking on the Dimensional Update Manual's screen...

[Feature "[Flowing Light and Shadow]" is now enabled.]

[Selected main story save file: [Version 3.172] Evening Bell Castle Main Story - Drama: Dragon Quest, added to the world...]

Ron's vision went black for a moment, then dim light appeared, and he smelled a damp, fishy odor.

The familiar prison appeared before him. Because [Illusion Dissolve] wasn't enabled, everything around him was extremely bloody; the limb prison was revealing its grotesque appearance to Ron—

But this wasn't Ron's first time entering the "Potion Era".

Now, even without superpowers, he is still a "medium" of the [Death] Sequence Seven... a superhuman capable of easily breaking through the Limb Prison!
Ron glanced at his poor, lifeless cellmate and couldn't help but feel a pang of emotion.

'This guy... he's one of the origins of my journey to the extraordinary.'

But Ron wasn't going to waste any time in the cell. He forcefully pried open the bronze shackles binding his ankles, tossed them aside, and got up to walk toward the corpse...

But at that moment, a voice that was clearly weak rang out.

"You... are from another orthodox church, right?"

Ron paused slightly, turned his head to look in the direction from which the sound came, and saw a familiar, thin figure. His expression became somewhat subtle.

'This is... Kurt?'

'We didn't have a chance to rescue him before, but this time...'

'If we can rescue Kurt, we might be able to avoid the Silver Knight's influence and send him as a messenger to the Fog City to see if he can summon truly legitimate help.'

'Furthermore, as the only person in the [Society of Truth] who seems to have no connection to the Silver Knight for the time being, perhaps we can find some useful information from him.'

'But this time I can't pretend to be an angelic chosen one; I need a suitable disguise…'

With this in mind, Ron immediately devised a plan to disguise himself.

He deliberately made a cold expression and lowered his voice:

I have no obligation to inform you.

"Oh, of course, that's your prerogative, and I have no intention of probing further."

"It's just that I've been locked up in the Scorched Earth Sanctuary's prison for too long, and I've seen too many fellow inmates torn to pieces by these monsters. I've rarely seen anyone like you..."

He watched Ron stroll leisurely through the cell, seemingly unafraid of anything, and after a long pause, he finally managed to utter a sentence:
"Uh...it's really rare to see a prisoner as carefree as you."

However, he regretted it as soon as he said it.

Because Ron wasn't just strolling around leisurely—he was so arrogant that he treated the Limb Prison like his own living room, wandering around aimlessly!

He was clearly approaching the corpse, rubbing his chin and looking it over, seemingly completely unaware of the danger!

Seeing this, Kurt desperately wanted to rush out and grab Ron, but he was chained to the spot:
"Brother, you'd better stay away from that corpse... stay away!"

"I've finally managed to calm it down these past two days. As long as I hide when it revives tonight, I won't be discovered. If you wake it up now, we're both doomed!"

Everything's ruined? All because of a corpse?
What are you babbling about? Did you even ask my ignorant servant?
Ron smirked, said nothing, and continued walking toward the corpse.

Soon, the corpse, sensing the presence of a living person, became aroused, its eyes glowing red, and it stood up, baring its teeth and claws.

Upon seeing this scene, Kurt was immediately horrified:
"You've already woken him up... Back off, back off quickly! Hide behind the wall, maybe we brothers can live a couple more days—"

But before he could finish speaking, Ron immediately activated the [Ignorant Servant] ability.

The next moment, the corpse that had been so ferocious and wanted to tear Ron to pieces suddenly knelt down at Ron's feet, as if it wanted to kiss Ron's shoes with its rotting lips, only to be kicked away in disgust.

Kurt was stunned by what he saw.

What happened?
At this moment, Ron's voice came faintly:

"I had no obligation to answer your question, but your kindness touched me... I can answer it now."

As he spoke, he smiled at Kurt, snapped his fingers, and the deep green necromantic fire ignited the bloody cage in front of him.

Kicked away by Ron, the husk rolled to the side and immediately became like a mad dog, ignoring the burning of the necromantic fire, tearing the scorched cage to shreds. An unimaginable fawning appeared on its rotting face as it knelt down and waited for Ron to come out of the cage.

"My name is Ron, a clergyman of the [Church of the Lost]..."

"The purpose of this trip is to investigate the Fire Chasing Ritual of the Scorched Earth Sanctuary."

Ron walked up to Kurt's cell, and facing Kurt's wide-eyed, bewildered expression, he chuckled and said:
"I guess you know something about this, and you're about to tell me... right?"

But, at this time.

What Ron failed to notice was that, in Kurt's eyes, a phantom eye made of gray mist suddenly opened.

At this moment, that eye was darting around, looking at Ron with great interest...

(End of this chapter)