Chapter 2

Yunluo Li 9992, February 8. This book is originally published on Tiantian Kan Xiaoshuo, ultra-convenient, ttks. tw awaits your reading, offering you error-free chapters and non-disordered reading experience.

Outside the main gate of Ernst Institute, carriages formed a long line; boys arrived with their families to complete enrollment procedures. I stood in the queue, looking up at the grand gate—fifty meters wide, topped with a crescent-shaped structure covered in Magic Runes, shimmering with a pale golden glow under the sunlight.

"The number one magic academy on the continent." I silently murmured, "Truly impressive."

"Hey, guy in front, what're you staring at?"

A voice urged me from behind. I turned to see a boy half a head shorter than me glaring at me, beside him stood a kind-looking old man.

"Sorry." I stepped aside to let the boy pass.

As he walked past me, he turned back and glanced at me, then grinned: "I'm Leinuo, from O'Brien Empire. What about you?"

"Aikesi Yan, Fenlai Kingdom."

"Fenlai Kingdom?" Leinuo's eyes lit up. "So you're from close by? I traveled for a whole year!"

A year.

I recalled the original novel's description of Leinuo—the noble youth of O'Brien Empire, crossing the eastern side of the Magical Beast Mountain Range to reach Ernst—it indeed took about a year.

"I took half a day." I answered honestly.

Leinuo's expression froze.

The enrollment queue moved quickly. When it was my turn, I handed in my acceptance letter and identity documents, then followed instructions to the testing area for a second verification—to prevent impersonation.

I placed my hand on the crystal ball.

A crimson glow ignited, brighter than during my first test. I felt the Falling Heart Flame within me tremble slightly, as if responding to the flame energy.

"Fire Element Super Grade," the tester announced flatly, then added, "Spiritual power, twenty times that of peers, Upper Grade."

The enrollment officer beside him nodded and stamped the form.

"Linlei Baluke." A familiar name echoed behind me.

I turned and met Linlei's gaze. He wore a simple gray linen tunic, carried a small pack, and a slight bulge rested on his shoulder—Beibei was hidden there. Beside him stood a burly middle-aged man, presumably Xierman.

"Again," I smiled at him.

Linlei nodded, a flicker of surprise in his eyes, as if trying to recall who I was.

"The testing day. The Church of Light." I reminded him. "Aikesi Yan."

"I remember." Linlei offered a polite smile. "The one with Fire Element Super Grade."

We exchanged a few words. He completed enrollment; I waited beside him holding my dorm key. When his results were announced, the tester's voice rose slightly: "Earth Element Super Grade, Wind Element Super Grade, spiritual power eighteen times that of peers, Upper Grade."

I watched him, thinking silently: This is the protagonist. Even without Delin, his innate talent is top-tier.

"Dorm 1987." I showed Linlei my key. "What about you?"

Linlei glanced at it, then pulled out his own key: "Same."

Leinuo finished his paperwork and came over to look at our keys, then exclaimed in delight: "I'm 1987 too! We're roommates!"

A coincidence of fate.

Or rather, my deliberate doing. Earlier during enrollment, I specifically chose to join Linlei's batch. In the original novel, dorm 1987 housed four: Yelu, Qiaozhi, Leinuo, Linlei. Now there's one more—me. I wonder how things will change.

The dormitory area was even larger than I imagined. Rows of single-door courtyard houses stood neatly aligned, numbered from 0001 onward, one hundred per row. We ran to the 20th row, found 1901, then dashed eastward further, finally catching sight of the 1987 sign, breathless.

"Pant… exhausted me…" Leinuo leaned on his knees, gasping.

I turned to look at him. This kid was out of breath after a few steps—his physical condition was truly poor.

"Already tired?" Linlei was also surprised.

Leinuo rolled his eyes, about to speak, when a crisp voice came from inside the courtyard: "Put it there! Yes, set the crate down! Gentle, gentle—you'll never pay for the damage if you break it!"

The three of us curiously walked in.

A boy, dressed elaborately and half a head taller than Linlei, was directing several strong men moving belongings. Seeing us, his eyes lit up instantly; he rushed over three strides at a time: "Hah! You're my roommates! Been waiting forever!"

"I'm Yelu, from the Holy Union!" He enthusiastically extended his hand.

I shook it: "Aikesi Yan, Fenlai Kingdom."

"Linlei Baluke, Fenlai Kingdom." Linlei introduced himself.

"Leinuo, O'Brien Empire!" Leinuo puffed out his chest.

Yelu's eyes brightened further at "O'Brien Empire": "Wow! Came all the way from that far? Impressive! Come in, come in, sit down, don't stand at the door!"

His enthusiasm caught us off guard. The courtyard was piled with belongings, and several servants were organizing them. Yelu directed them to keep working, then pulled us into the parlor.

Four chairs were already arranged in the parlor; a table held fruit and pastries.

"I knew today someone would arrive—I prepared this in advance!" Yelu beamed. "Come, eat and chat—we'll be brothers for decades!"

Decades.

I silently repeated the word. Ernst Institute's rule required graduation only after reaching Level Six Mage; even the gifted took over a decade, and the less talented often needed decades.

"How old are you?" Leinuo asked Yelu.

"Ten. You?"

"Eight."

"Linlei? You?"

"Nine." Linlei answered.

Yelu turned to me.

"Nine." I said.

"Perfect! I'm the oldest!" Yelu slapped his thigh. "I'll be the big brother, you three are second, third, fourth—wait, now there are four of us. How do we rank?"

"By age," Leinuo shrugged. "You're ten, oldest. Linlei's nine, I'm nine, Aikesi's nine—"

"No, no." Yelu waved his hand. "You three are the same age. How do we order? By enrollment order? Or by strength?"

"By birthday," came a voice from the doorway.

We turned. A more composed boy entered, followed by several servants carrying belongings.

"I'm George, ten years old, from the Yulan Empire," he smiled. "I just heard you guys lining up at the door—birthdays are the fairest way."

"You're ten too?" Yelu's eyes lit up. "Then we're the same age! What month?"

"September."

"I'm March!" Yelu was ecstatic. "I'm older than you!"

George laughed in exasperation. "So the ranking is based on who's older?"

"Of course!" Yelu said confidently. "Wait—that's not right… how come those three nine-year-olds are ranked ahead?"

All four pairs of eyes turned to me, Linlei, and Leinuo.

"I was born in March," Leinuo spoke first.

"I'm November," Linlei said.

"I'm August," I said.

Thus the final ranking was settled: Yelu (ten, March) was the eldest, George (ten, September) second, Aikesi Yan (nine, August) third, Linlei (nine, November) fourth, and Leinuo (nine, March) the youngest, fifth.

"Fifth!" Yelu grabbed Leinuo's neck in a bear hug. "From now on, you're the littlest—dirty, hard jobs are all yours!"

"Why?!" Leinuo struggled and shouted.

I sat beside them, watching, unable to suppress a smile.

This was Dorm 1987. In the original novel, the four brothers' bond ran through the entire book. Now that I'm here, I wonder how it'll change. But right now, watching them roughhouse, something inside me stirred—

Before I crossed over, I was a programmer working late every night, with almost no friends, zero social life. Now suddenly, I had four peers living and studying together—this warmth… it was nice.

"Third, what're you thinking about?" Yelu leaned over, holding a plate of pastries. "Eat, don't be shy—they're all mine."

I took the pastry, took a bite. Delicious—not too sweet, clearly high quality.

"Thank you, boss."

"Just call me Yelu!" he waved his hand generously. "No more 'eldest,' 'second'—we're brothers now!"

At that moment, something stirred inside Linlei's clothes.

"Squeak—"

A tiny black head poked out, two glossy black eyes curiously scanning the surroundings.

Beibei.

"What's that?!" Leinuo shouted first, eyes wide.

Beibei startled back halfway, then popped out again, baring its teeth at Leinuo as if annoyed.

"My companion, Beibei," Linlei pulled it out and placed it on his shoulder. The little Ying Shu sat obediently, though its eyes still scanned us warily.

"A beast—Ying Shu!" Yelu leaned in, astonished. "Linlei, you tamed a beast?"

"You could say that," Linlei smiled, offering no further explanation.

I stared at Beibei, silently amazed.

"Third, why're you staring at it?" Leinuo leaned over.

"Nothing," I said, pulling back my gaze, picking up a pastry from the plate, and offering it tentatively to Beibei. "Want some?"

Beibei tilted its head at me, unmoving.

"It's shy," Linlei said. "But once it gets used to you, it's fine—it loves roasted meat."

I pulled the pastry back, bit into it myself. Beibei stared at the pastry for two seconds, then turned its head away, clearly acting uninterested.

"Has character," I laughed.

George spoke up: "When I registered, I asked around. All hundred of this year's students have high talent. One named Dixie is a dual-element Mage, with mental strength sixty-eight times that of his peers."

Sixty-eight times.

The number made me gasp. Dixie—the original novel's first genius—reached Level 5 Mage at twelve. His sister Diliya was one of Linlei's romantic interests.

"Sixty-eight times?!" Leinuo's mouth hung open. "Is he even human?"

Yelu, however, seemed unfazed. "High talent means nothing if you don't work hard. My mental strength's average, yet I got in."

"How'd you get in?" Leinuo asked curiously.

"Through back doors," Yelu admitted casually. "My family has ties to the Radiant Church. A little bribery, and I'm in."

George and I exchanged glances and laughed.

This Yelu—his personality was truly… refreshingly charming.

"By the way, Third, what's your talent?" Yelu suddenly asked me.

"Fire Element Super Grade, mental strength twenty times," I said.

"Twenty times?!" Leinuo shouted again. "Are you all insane? My mental strength's only thirty-two times!"

"Thirty-two times is Super Grade, right?" George said.

"What's Super Grade worth? Linlei's dual-element Super Grade at eighteen times, you're Fire Element Super Grade at twenty, Dixie's at sixty-eight—how do I compete?" Leinuo pouted.

Linlei patted his shoulder and smiled. "Talent isn't everything—effort is what matters."

I nodded in agreement.

No matter how great your talent, without effort, it's wasted. Linlei rose from a small-town boy to a Dragonblood Warrior—not through talent, but through years of relentless cultivation.

"Alright, enough musing," Yelu stood up. "We just arrived—let's tour the institute. Tonight, I'm treating you all to Huadeli Hotel!"

"You have money?" Leinuo eyed him skeptically.

Yelu pulled out a golden card and waved it. "Magic Crystal Card—Golden Bank of the Four Nations. There's at least tens of thousands of gold coins in there—enough to feed us for years."

Tens of thousands of gold coins.

I silently calculated. The Aikes Clan was wealthy, but my annual allowance was only five hundred gold coins. This Yelu—spending tens of thousands—no wonder the Dawson Chamber of Commerce's heir was different.

In the evening, the five of us walked along the shaded path of the Ensite Institute. Sunset filtered through the leaves, casting dappled light on the ground. Ancient buildings loomed in the distance; students walked in pairs nearby; occasionally, senior students flew overhead on mounted beasts.

"This is Ensite," Leinuo sighed.

"We'll be spending decades here from now on," Qiaozhi said.

"Decades are decades — with brothers around, what's there to fear?" Yelu threw an arm around my shoulder, then around Linlei's. "Third brother, fourth brother, from now on the five of us are family!"

Linlei smiled without speaking, but warmth shone in his eyes.

I felt the weight on my shoulder, and a sudden, complicated feeling stirred in my chest.

After transmigrating into this dangerous world, I had only wanted to keep a low profile, develop quietly, and live a stable life. But now, out of nowhere I had four brothers, out of nowhere I'd become "third brother" — this feeling of being accepted…

…was actually pretty nice.

"We've arrived at Huadeli Hotel!" Yelu pointed at a three-story building ahead. "Tonight we drink till we drop!"

"You're eight years old — what are you drinking?" Qiaozhi quipped.

"Fruit juice works too! It's the atmosphere that matters!"

We walked into the hotel, laughing.

When we returned to the dormitory at night, the five of us squeezed into the courtyard to chat, talking late into the night. Yelu told of his romantic escapades at home, Leinuo boasted about the sights he'd seen on the road, Qiaozhi shared gossip from the Imperial Academy of Magic, and Linlei occasionally chimed in with little anecdotes from his town.

I leaned back in my chair, listening to their voices, watching the stars in the night sky.

Beibei had at some point wriggled out of Linlei's arms and was now crouched by a stone in the corner of the courtyard, sizing us up with those big, dark, shiny eyes.

【Ding — Current scene detected: sharing quarters with the novel's protagonist.】

【Hidden sign-in condition triggered? Sign in?】

The System's voice rang out suddenly.

I froze for a beat, then silently recited in my heart: Sign in.

【Sign-in successful.】

【Reward obtained: Fire Magic Insights (cultivation notes of a Saint Domain Fire Archmage, containing detailed explanations of Level 1 through Level 9 fire magic and the principles of certain forbidden spells).】

I drew a deep breath and suppressed the surge of joy in my heart.

Fire Magic Insights — cultivation notes of a Saint Domain Magus. This meant that, starting tomorrow, my cultivation speed in fire magic would far surpass anyone of the same level.

"Third brother, what are you spacing out for?" Yelu's voice came drifting over.

"Nothing." I pulled my thoughts back and looked at them. "Keep chatting — where were we just now?"

"We were talking about the waterfall behind the academy!" Leinuo jumped in. "How about we go check it out tomorrow?"

"Sure."

I agreed with a smile, my gaze sweeping past Linlei, past Beibei, past these four friends I'd known for only a day yet already felt like family.