After reaching the maximum level, my "soft rice system" finally arrived.

As the dean of the magic academy, if Nicot dislikes this new student, his academy life will likely be very difficult.

However, the nobles did not point this out.

After all, adding flowers to brocade is never as good as providing charcoal in the snow.

Once this freshman named Edmund is truly being bullied and struggling in the academy, it will be much easier to lend him a hand and gain his favor, or even bring him onto your side.

As if finally blessed by Lady Luck, Dean Nicot was not slapped in the face at lightning speed again this time.

The top floor of the Magic Tower —

After mechanically reciting a few lines, the Lord of Fear proceeded with the usual boss battle sequence.

The dark mist swirled around Ciel before slowly solidifying into a solid form.

The people in the VIP seats looked over and saw a muscular man dressed in knight's armor wielding a knight's sword.

Before him stood magnificent buildings, and with each swing of his longsword by the man formed from black mist, a crimson sword aura was unleashed.

Wherever the sword energy passed, buildings turned to dust. Those buildings, tens of meters high, crumbled under his blows and were reduced to ruins in an instant.

"The knight he imagined must be somewhere between the sixth and seventh rank to be able to smash a house with a single blow."

"Sure enough, although this freshman is exceptionally talented, he is still lacking in knowledge and imagination."

"Seventh-rank knight commanders are not uncommon in the capital."

"This is the difference between nobles and commoners; even with amazing talent, his limited vision restricts his development."

"If he hadn't received our help, he probably would never have been able to imagine the splendor of a powerful figure in his entire life."

Many nobles offered their opinions.

Dean Nicol also breathed a sigh of relief, finally avoiding further embarrassment.

He glanced at the remaining number of people in the illusion and was about to announce the end of the illusion trial when he suddenly noticed that the scene in the light screen had abruptly changed.

The perspective widens in an instant.

Only then did everyone realize with astonishment that the knight and the ruins of the building he had destroyed, which had been shown on the screen earlier, were only a tiny part of the picture.

This is a magnificent city. Although it cannot compare with the capital of the Aran Empire, it is still a large city in the Western Continent.

Above the city, dark and ferocious dragon wings obscured the entire sky.

This was a colossal black dragon, its crimson-black scales reflecting a clear, cool luster. A torrent of scorching magical energy surged from its mouth, engulfing nearly half the city.

Even through the light screen, the people in the VIP seats seemed to feel the overwhelming dragon's might.

This is not a sub-dragon species that a fifth-tier transcendent could defeat before, but a pure-blooded black dragon!

There are many sub-dragon species on the Western Continent. The weakest can be defeated by a fourth or fifth-level superhuman, while some sub-dragons with high blood purity are incredibly powerful and look almost identical to the giant dragons in people's minds.

However, pure-blooded dragons and sub-dragons, though seemingly only one word apart, are worlds apart.

Every adult pureblood dragon is a true legendary monster!

Only a true legend possesses such power to destroy a city.

Many distinguished guests stood up in astonishment, and even Duke Brunstad, who had remained silent until now, looked at the light screen with some confusion.

Pure-blooded dragons are extremely rare in the Western Continent, and many factions even believe that they have been completely extinct there.

Even though Duke Brunstad, as a vampire prince, could only confirm through the vampire intelligence network that pure-blooded dragons still existed in the Western Continent, he had never seen one in person.

Why is this student named Edmund able to imagine such realistic dragons?

Did he once face a pure-blooded dragon?

……

In the VIP section, only Tevez remained calmly seated.

According to a rumor circulating only among the upper echelons of the Black Tower, the Black Tower's master, Vimers, once signed an equal pact with a pure-blooded black dragon.

Of course, the reason why rumors are rumors is because even the higher-ups have not seen the black dragon with their own eyes.

However, if we were to name the contract partner within the Black Tower most likely to have seen Vimers—

So, apart from Her Majesty Vemes's only direct disciple, the youngest legend in the history of the Black Tower, there was naturally no other option.

"Niggut, you're really no good. I've always treated you well, but I never expected you to try to drag me down with you this time."

"Fortunately, I am well-versed in His Majesty Charles's works, which allowed me to escape unscathed."

Tevez praised himself for his cleverness.

He leisurely picked up his cup and blew on the tea leaves inside.

This is a new trend that has recently become popular in the Black Tower. It was inspired by a statement made by His Highness Charles at a high-level meeting of the Black Tower: "Only those melee brutes drink alcohol. We, as scholars, should drink tea to be worthy of our status."

So everyone in Heita went to the Golden Deer Chamber of Commerce to buy tea, along with tea sets and tea ceremony training services. The Golden Deer Chamber of Commerce's branch in Heita was packed with people and made a fortune.

It is said that during this period, His Highness Charles would smile whenever he saw someone drinking tea in the Black Tower, and would often enthusiastically offer a few pointers on arcane magic, for reasons unknown.

Chapter Eighteen: Come on, let's have some tea first.

For a moment, the huge arena fell silent.

Whether they are freshmen who have just emerged from the illusion, mentors responsible for maintaining the illusion's operation, upperclassmen who have come to join in the fun, or distinguished guests who have come to witness the ceremony, it doesn't matter.

Everyone's gaze was fixed on the black dragon within the light screen, which was breathing out fiery dragon breath.

For most of the people present, this was the first time in their lives they had witnessed the majesty of a legend.

What's more, this is a pureblooded dragon that only exists in the legends and books of bards.

At this moment, countless young people made a wish in their hearts to become dragon knights one day.

Countless noblewomen began to fantasize about being abducted by a dragon and embarking on a forbidden love affair between a princess and a dragon.

The nobles in the VIP seats also observed very carefully.

After all, the most popular targets for human powerhouses in the Western Continent to provoke are dragons.

You could just grab any retired old man drinking and bragging in an adventurer's tavern, and in his own stories, he'd be a dragon-slaying hero bathed in dragon's blood.

The truth is that he was lucky when he was young and killed a large lizard whose ancestors had some connection to dragons for eighteen generations.

Now that they have the opportunity to witness the magnificence of the dragon firsthand, these nobles will naturally not miss the chance to add to their conversation at future noble banquets.

Who knows, he might be able to hook up with a few beautiful and wealthy women through this?

On the other side, Dean Nicot nervously wiped the beads of sweat that kept sliding down his forehead.

Clearly, the other party was not the ordinary civilian freshman he had imagined.

He looked up and found that Tevez had silently moved to the deepest part of the VIP section, where he was comfortably drinking a cup of tea with a look of enjoyment on his face, completely ignoring his pleading look.

However, before Dean Nicot could take any further action...

The next moment, the image on the light screen fluctuated again.

The already magnificent, war-movie-like perspective was suddenly pulled back again.

The once magnificent city and the black dragon were rapidly shrinking.

Soon, the magnificent city was reduced to a tiny black dot.

The images within the light screen continued to shift and zoom out, revealing maps of kingdoms across the western continent.

The mountain ranges stretching for tens of thousands of miles and the surging rivers are all visible in the light screen.

The fleeting images within the light screen were still flashing rapidly, not yet finished.

boom--

The gray-black mist suddenly began to boil and change uncontrollably, as if it were about to explode at any moment.

puff-

Dean Nicot's face turned pale, and a trickle of blood spilled from the corner of his mouth.

Although the Illusionary Realm Trials are built based on magic arrays and various rare materials, functions similar to the Seven Deadly Sins Trials and the Cycle of Despair at the final tower still require the mental energy of the magic academy's instructors to maintain their operation.

Normally, it's just creating an illusion. No matter how realistic or detailed the illusion is, it doesn't have any real combat capability.

Even if it were an illusion of a legendary powerhouse, it wouldn't be difficult for several sixth- or seventh-ring mentors to materialize it using their spiritual power combined with the magic power within the energy-accumulating array.

However, there are always exceptions.

At this moment, the illusion that the black mist was trying to manifest was far more complex and information-rich than Dean Nicot and the mental capacity of the several magic academy instructors could bear, causing them all to suffer a backlash from their mental energy.

In the center of the arena, the magical light of the illusion array would sometimes shine and sometimes go out.

Inside the magic array, the magical power contained within the numerous energy-storing crystals surged and roared like a volcano, as if it were about to erupt at any moment.

The spiritual power of the high-ranking mages is the core and hub of the entire illusion. Once their spiritual power becomes unsustainable, the entire trial illusion will fall apart.

Not only will the few newcomers still trapped in the illusion suffer severe damage, but due to the rampage and loss of control of many energy-accumulating arrays, it is very likely that it will eventually evolve into a magical tide, which could potentially level the entire arena along with the audience.

This time, even the cardinal who had been leisurely watching the show couldn't sit still anymore.

He stood up, grasped the cross on his chest, and pale golden light gathered on his chest.

However, just as the cardinal was about to cast a defensive spell to protect the panicked crowd in the arena, he found that his actions had been interrupted.