In front of Simon was a towering compound that looked like what one would expect a futuristic utopia to be! The compound was filled with countless complex geometric shapes, appearing both elaborate, yet deceivingly simple. At the same time, glass and greenery were very prominent throughout the compound, giving it a transparent and friendly feel.

There must have been at least 100 floors and thousands of rooms in this sprawling compound!

‘As expected of a famed research team,’ he thought, impressed. Such a majestic compound was not something commonly seen at all.

“This is the main compound for the Research School. Here, there are nearly 2500 scholars and 70 professors.” The receptionist beckoned to the large compound as they walked forwards. “Each professor teaching here was at one point, close to joining the team, if not having been on the research team before. You can rest assured in their depth of knowledge; the reputation of the Veracity team is not unfounded, after all.”

Simon nodded in acknowledgement; this information was all within his expectations.

“Well, what about the schedule of the courses? In what form will the lessons be?” he asked curiously.

She seemed to ponder for a moment, before replying. “Actually, this is somewhat of an open secret, but you will soon learn of it anyway, so there's no harm in telling you.”

“In truth, the research courses are mainly carried out in virtual reality. As the Veracity team has a rather special relationship with Gamer’s Truth, they were given a truly exemplary virtual workspace. I had the privilege to enter it once and wow…” She sighed in awe at the memory of the experience.

“Scholars could easily get lost in such a wondrous place. In fact, even I, a receptionist, found it hard to extricate myself from such an area.” she said with a bittersweet smile.

“Oh? It doesn’t seem bad!” Simon chuckled. He for one, could definitely imagine the benefits of having a virtual workspace made by the famed Gamer’s Truth…

After all, with the capabilities of the number one company in the world, there was no need to even run many experiments in reality, as a virtual space could simulate even the impossible with ease!

A virtual haven for scholars and researchers; a place where one’s imagination could be brought to light… most likely, only the labs of the top research teams could compare to such a location.

“Not bad? I’m afraid that doesn’t suffice to describe it.” She shook her head. “You will only understand when you experience it... It’s just that kind of experience!”

“I’ll take your word for it then.” he chuckled lightly. At the very least, the receptionist did not seem like one to boast lightly.

By now, they had finally reached the main pedestrian gate of the compound. There were guards watching over the occasional arrivals, who scanned cards to pass through smaller gates.

The receptionist promptly handed him a card, which he used to pass the gate.

‘My first step into the Research School.’ Simon thought earnestly. Now, he felt like a young scholar once again.

Upon stepping through the gates, he was met with a massive hall with a glass roof, which allowed streams of sunlight to shine down from the sky. There were not many people wandering through the hall, but the level of majesty and spaciousness of this place could not be understated.

“This is called the Column Hall, most areas of the compound branch out from here, and this is easily the most central location.” The receptionist beckoned towards the many halls that were branching away, before walking forwards again. “Follow me, I’ll bring you to where you need to be.”

“Alright.” Simon promptly nodded and followed.

Soon enough, they reached the center of the hall and subsequently, the center of the entire compound, where a towering elevator resided.

This elevator seemingly shot into the clouds, which could be seen through the glass roof. Around this elevator were thick supports in a mesmerising pattern, and atop of it all was a colossal tower.

Indeed, there sat a breathtaking structure in the middle of the compound! This tower was easily one of the most eye-catching landmarks in the city, and Simon had long since noticed it from when he was in the plane.

‘Not bad!’ Simon couldn’t help but think, whilst entering the spacious and transparent elevator. The view inside was certainly worthy of awe.

They then quickly shot upwards at an ungodly speed.

…

When they finally arrived at the top of the tower, the elevator opened up into a spacious room, which branched out to four sections.

The receptionist led him to one of the four rooms and said to him in a hushed tone, “This is the office of Headmaster Donato. He is much more influential than normal people could imagine. When you talk with him, you definitely have to be very careful! This is the extent of how much I can help you, I’ll be going now.”

Simon gratefully nodded. “Thank you for all of the help.”

But at the same time, he felt like it wasn’t right for them to not know each other's names after talking so much, so he quickly asked, “My name is Simon Ji, may I ask for yours?”

At this, she smiled mysteriously. “This is something that you don’t have to know.” she then chuckled lightly. “If you make it far enough in your journey, and if fate wills it, we may meet again someday. “

Poof!

And then, she disappeared in thin air. Just a moment later, there were no signs that another person was once standing in the room.

-----

In the deepest reaches above a certain vast sky, in a mysterious location…

A massive throne with a similarly massive figure was seated at the end of a hall. He was currently sipping on wine and eating fruit, while gazing out to the distance, lost in thought.

Suddenly, a lithe figure appeared out of thin air in front of the throne.

If Simon were here, he would be incomparably shocked. Not only because of the massive throne and hall, but also because the figure that appeared out of nowhere was actually his receptionist! Not only that, but she was now exuding an overbearing and majestic aura, completely at odds with her previous mundane one.

A thundering chuckle suddenly boomed throughout the hall. “Why must you play around with these ants? I have to admit though, when I saw your act, even I was convinced.” The man on the throne was rather amused when he saw the ‘receptionist’ return.

“Hehe, well, the whispers of fate called me to that world. They said that if I were a receptionist for a day, I would meet someone rather interesting! I simply couldn’t satiate my curiosity, and indeed it was true. There’s an indiscernible quality about him; even I was intrigued!” the woman said in an ethereal voice.

“Mm well, there’s no need for us to worry about matters pertaining to that place. You simply get distracted too easily.” The towering man waved his hand, which brought forth a plethora of mysterious pieces of metal, each easily the size of a boulder. “Now that you’re back, let’s continue with the preparations.”

“Yes, we should.” she agreed.

-----

‘Are you serious? Was I hallucinating or...’ Simon was rather shocked after seeing the ‘receptionist’ disappear in thin air. There were only two possibilities for such a situation, after all.

One, was that he was hallucinating or under some sort of illusion. That would be horrifying… After all, with a physique of a mage and an extremely deep well of knowledge and experience, for him not to notice such a thing would mean that the illusion or hallucination was extremely powerful and complex.

But in truth, this was not the scariest possibility.

The other, more daunting possibility… was that she was an unfathomably powerful mage - one so powerful that he hadn’t even realized that she was one.

It has to be known that mages generally emanate an aura of might. Although some stronger mages could suppress their aura to the point of being undetectable… it was absolutely impossible to suppress the aura of a magical spell unless there was an overwhelming difference in mastery!

Without question, she had been acted upon via magic to suddenly disappear. For him to sense nothing after the act was truly hard to believe - but it was likely the truth, as it was not easy to tamper with a mage and reveal no hints of it.

‘What the hell man…’ Simon scratched his head. It was a truly strange occurrence.

At the very least, it did not seem that anyone was acting upon him with malicious intent. Thus, in the face of such a mystery, he could only secretly investigate and pretend that such an event had never happened.

He sighed. It really was not pleasant being besieged with so many unsolvable mysteries! But at the very least, that also meant that there were secrets to learn.

After calming himself down, he then went up to the headmaster’s office, preparing himself to knock.

‘I wonder… What is the Headmaster like?’

However, before he was able to, a deep and elderly voice suddenly sounded in his head.

“Ah, I’ve been expecting you. Come in, the door is unlocked!”

‘What?!’ Simon’s expression immediately tightened. After all, he was very familiar with such voices in his head...

No, he was not crazy - rather, such voices came about when mages sent a mana projection to another, carrying with it one’s voice. Such a technique was actually considerably advanced. Generally, only the most talented of first star core mages would know of such a technique, and it was only standard among third star core mages...

‘Could he actually be at the second or third star core?’ Simon shivered in trepidation. If the people here were already at the second star core… That would be horrifying!

Still, he pushed the door open and walked in with a heart full of nervousness and determination.

“Welcome to my office.” An elderly man smiled and waved amiably at him when he came in.

This man seemed gentle and harmless at first glance. Though, within his gaze, there lay a hidden sharpness that was tough to discern.

The office that he had just entered was, truthfully, more like a laboratory than an office. There were many trinkets, devices, and papers lying about. From many of these trinkets, he could even detect the flow of mana, which shocked him greatly.

“Greetings sir, my name is Simon.” he immediately said, not daring to be disrespectful. For all he knew, this old man could definitely be a monster in disguise.

Headmaster Donato chuckled upon seeing his solemn expression. “No need to be so serious, take a seat! In truth, your new status is not one whit inferior to mine.”

“Is it?” Simon was startled. He was told that Headmaster Donato held an exalted position. How was his position equivalent to his? “Sir, please educate me, I really am ignorant of the happenings of the Veracity team.”

Donato slowly nodded, saying, “First I’ll give you a bigger picture. Then I’ll get down to the specifics. After all, you indeed need an explanation.”

He cleared his throat and continued, “From what Twila told me, you have at least the power of an Advanced Mage and the insight level of at least a Master mage. For reference, I am a Basic Mage with the insight level of a Master mage, so your strength is not bad.”

“As for why our statuses are equal, you are still young and full of potential, while I am an old man who relied on outside means to progress. You even got further than I without support and saved Twila’s account. Of course your status wouldn’t be low!”

“However, I have rendered many merits and am a rather prominent researcher. Hence my position still being on par with yours.”

His expression grew serious as he continued, “However, you mustn’t be overconfident! The Veracity team has many more members who are close to your level, and even some above your level. Though your status is equal to mine, I am in actuality very low on the ladder; it isn’t much to be proud about.”

‘What?!’ Simon was once again startled. ‘How is this possible? How could there be so many mages stronger than me?’

This shattered his entire perception of this world. Although he suspected that there may have been other mages, he didn’t expect the reality to be this extreme…

‘The workings of fate are truly inscrutable and mysterious. I knew it wasn’t going to be this easy!’ he sighed inwardly… Fate really played him like a fool.

What he was experiencing was no break - it was a deadly tribulation!

Simon let out a resigned laugh, saying quite honestly, “I thought that I was one of the only ones. Alas, the roots of the Veracity team are actually this deep. I have to say, I’m impressed!”

“Haha, no need to be modest.” Donato laughed, not denying the statement. “You’re impressive in your own right. You even achieved the number one island without any backers... I have to say, you’re really something!”

“Thank you for your praise.” He said with a resigned chuckle.

Actually, he had the foundations of knowledge of an entire life as a mage. What he had achieved so far was not exactly that impressive, considering his circumstances… He truly wasn’t being modest, but he couldn’t exactly explain that either.

Simon then took this chance to ask a question that he was itching to ask. “Pardon my manners, but I really have to know… How did you fellows advance so fast in the ways of magic?”

This was a question that had been troubling him for a while. In his opinion, it was worth risking the question!

Donato frowned for a moment, before replying, “In truth, not even I know the full reason. This matter has many complexities, and someone as lowly as me couldn’t possibly know everything.”

“Still, I know certain aspects of it.” He admitted with a nod while stroking his beard contemplatively.

He then sighed as he began narrating a tale. “From what I know, the knowledge of magic has been with the elites of humanity since ancient times. However, since mana was not present in the atmosphere, no one could practice magic easily.”

“Still, there were certain artifacts that had mana within them. And though they were impossible to use, it was feasible to learn from them!” He picked up a plate engraved with strange inscriptions and began playing with it in his hands.

“From these artifacts, certain pieces of information could be gained. Throughout many generations, the information compiled only grew deeper. And thus, humanity gained a high level of theoretical magical knowledge.”

“As technology progressed - most notably in the last few hundred years, our analytical and thinking abilities have only improved. Thus, we managed to gain a lot from them, resulting in our relative mastery!”

“The Gamer’s Truth company then used some unfathomable methods to conjure a world with mana - Island Ascension Online, and of course, as partners, we were ready for it. As for how we managed to achieve such rapid breakthroughs, well, you’ll see soon.” he chuckled mysteriously.

“Now that I’ve explained…” His gaze suddenly grew sharp. “What I want to know is, how have you learned about magic, and advanced so far in it at that?”