109. Silent but Broken
After browsing through the 'Calamity God' file, Li Aozi remained silent for a long time.
The content... it was simply too shocking.
So shocking that even though he was in a safe and private environment, Li Aozi did not dare utter a single word from it.
He paced around his room for a while, unable to resist pondering a question:
"For ordinary people, between narrative-level civilizations and [Society], which one is ultimately more cruel?"
If the contents of the file were entirely true, then judging by the records of the 'Calamity God Incident,' narrative-level civilizations and [Society] were exactly alike.
But Li Aozi quickly shook his head.
This question had no value.
Even if the answer was that narrative-level civilizations were more evil than [Society], so what?
Were you planning on betraying Star Abyss?
"Anthropomorphizing civilization and believing in either absolute good or evil is nothing more than a prejudice against collectives, and it overestimates the superiority of individuals."
After carefully reading through the files, Li Aozi chose to destroy them directly, leaving no trace.
Such information, which is detrimental to Star Abyss civilization, should only be declassified after a few million years. Revealing it now would seriously affect people's determination to fight against [Society].
"A [high intelligence] attribute means seeing too much truth, and those too smart for their own good might just defect to [Society] after reading this."
The current enemy of Star Abyss was [Society]. As for the narrative-level civilizations, they were now the main force resisting [Society].
Choosing between the two, what should one pick?
The answer is, for most people, there isn't a choice. Those who do have a choice are usually the elites within civilization.
The Life Commune failed to understand this principle.
They only saw that both narrative-level and [Society] were 'bad,' but ignored the fact that the current fragile order was also the result of narrative-level civilizations' efforts to maintain it.
When a person is lowly, they don't even have the right to be a double agent.
So, the Life Commune disbanded.
Mr. Liuer was willing to give the password to Li Aozi, probably because after their conflict, he had come to understand this.
"Strength, influence, the path."
Li Aozi took a deep breath.
Although strength can't solve all problems, only strength is an unchanging truth.
"If there's a chance, I must establish my own faction."
Having made up his mind, Li Aozi stopped thinking about the issue. Tomorrow morning was the opening ceremony, followed by the course selection for the first year.
He took a bath, added a small meal, trying to forget these unpleasant pieces of information, and went to bed early.
.....
At dawn, fog began to spread, covering the campus.
The castle of the Magic Application Academy stood amidst this atmosphere, its refined and ancient decoration made it seem like an elegant maidservant, waiting, poised, to welcome every aspiring student.
Li Aozi woke up early, had breakfast, and headed to the castle gate to meet Hobbs and Lucite. The damage from the previous incident had already been repaired.
The passing students were still discussing the deeds of the dragon titan Diaran. In their mouths, the 'Golden Princess' had already become the most dazzling jewel among the freshmen.
"How enviable, to have such an excellent bloodline, born already at the finishing line," Lucite, upon hearing the others' conversation, sighed sincerely.
"Bloodline determines the baseline, the path determines the future." Li Aozi was dismissive.
He did have the qualifications to say this.
Any bloodline in his hands could be altered through a colonized body, to the point where even the original parent would fail to recognize it.
"True, the path is the equalizer. Even if your parents are royalty, they can't climb the path on your behalf." Lucite, with his simple thoughts, was soon full of fighting spirit again.
"Hmm, it's true that the path is equal for everyone, but for those in narrative-level civilizations, it's a bit more equal than for others."
Hobbs, seemingly having had a bad night's sleep, was in a grumpy mood. He yawned and drank red date milk, trying to replenish his energy.
"To be fair, it's already pretty equal."
Li Aozi thought to himself: Thankfully, they haven't seen Azure Star, where most people can't even reach Alpha rank.
From an interstellar civilization's perspective, it was a life unworthy of mention.
One could say that happiness is always relative.
Arriving at the chapel, the three found seats and began listening to the opening ceremony.
As a civilization renowned for materialism, the chapel's design was very industrial, utilizing a lot of silver and blue radiating bars, giving the feeling of being inside a spaceship. Soon, a graceful woman of the Tower tribe in a blue coat walked onto the podium.
"Welcome to White Candle Interstellar University."
The woman, wearing pink diamond earrings, exuded the aura of a mature lady. Though her expression was gentle, the hall quieted down as soon as she spoke:
"My name is Nastisha Dantine, dean of the Magic Application Academy, and also head of the Workshop Association here at the school. I'm not very good at speeches, so I'll keep it brief."
"First of all, you needn't show me respect. In this school, students have a high degree of autonomy. Those you should respect are the teachers and workshop leaders, who will impart knowledge and guide your paths; also, our logistics staff, who make your lives easier so that you may focus solely on learning..."
"Secondly, regardless of your nationality, which star you came from, or what language you speak, the fact that you are here means one thing: you are the elite of your communities. As individuals chosen from among many, you must remember your responsibilities at all times. You must bring what you learn here back to benefit those who supported you."
"Third, I hope you respect each other, becoming outstanding mages who value reason, revere magic, and spread materialist beliefs. This, however, means you will bear a burden far heavier than that of ordinary university students, and face fiercer competition."
"In this school, aside from basic living guarantees, everything else: advanced courses, alchemical equipment, quantum magic brains, biological labs, half-plane explorations, even daily transactions, must be obtained through credit points. Our teaching staff will release tasks regularly, and as long as you complete them on time, you will earn credits."
The dean spoke plainly, far from the gentleness of her appearance. Her gaze swept across the hall, and even students from noble backgrounds dared not meet her eyes.
She continued:
"Additionally, this school does not forbid personal duels, but we strictly prohibit murder. As long as it's not fatal, endangering public safety, or disrupting teaching order, White Candle Star will not pursue you. For minor criminal offenses, we will not expel you either, but it will impact your academic progress. If you don't want to pay tuition until retirement without making any progress, then it's best to abide by the rules and regulations."
"The workshop system is the greatest institution of the Crystal Tower civilization. Here at White Candle Interstellar University, it is the only school among Trevila's thirteen prestigious schools that has no restrictions on background or race. As long as you accumulate enough credits, you can join any workshop. No matter what kind of history or flaws you have, joining a workshop allows you to start over."
Hearing this, there was a commotion among the students, though they remained silent.
'Exactly like that...' Hobbs sent a message to their group chat: 'This is what makes this school unique among Trevila's thirteen prestigious institutions. Dinas are useless here. Credits are the real currency. Be careful. Just because this is an interstellar university doesn't mean the death or injury rates will be lower...'
Lucite remained calm, as it was not uncommon for the ferocious Silus Catfish tribe to get into a fight on their way to school.
"Can't you exchange money for credits?" Li Aozi asked.
"Money? Forget Dinas, even Ann Gold is no use here."
Li Aozi's face suddenly twisted in disbelief.
As a [Star Echoe], he couldn't study extraordinary knowledge, so his plan was simply to learn a few magical skills, pass his time, get his diploma, and move on to narrative-level civilizations.
After the Vanlenkov incident, all his privileges were revoked, and the Ministry of Education was still trying to erase his honors to protect his privacy.
Now that the school didn't accept Dinas for credits, it seemed like even his last advantage of 'being rich' had evaporated.
"Lastly, I must remind everyone: The oldest graduate in the school's history completed his credits and graduated at the age of 127. He was the son of the President of the Coral Federation."
The dean smiled gently:
"That is all for my speech. I wish you all success in your studies."
Applause broke out, but the students already felt rivalries emerging among them.
From now on, family background, wealth, and status would be downplayed.
Almost instantly, all students began looking down at their freshman handbooks.
"Every student is a competitor. For freshmen, if you fail to get into a good workshop before sophomore year, then graduation becomes a distant dream."
Lucite said seriously:
"We must work hard to earn credits. The minimum requirement to pass freshman year is 5,000 credits, and one general education course only provides 50. Even if you finish all 20 general courses, you still only get 1,000 credits."
"Wait, there are 64 elective courses, each with eight hours of class time, totaling 21 days, but electives only give 30 credits each. If you complete them all, that's still less than 3,000 credits."
Hobbs chewed on his pen, realizing the severity of the problem:
"Then the remaining 2,000 credits must be earned through club activities and campus tasks? How long will that take? If we barely reach 5,000 credits, we'll only get into the worst workshops."
"No, it's even worse than that."
Li Aozi glanced at the student handbook:
"White Candle Interstellar University only has six workshops, and each only takes 100 students. There are 1,200 freshmen this year, and if your scores aren't high enough, you'll be competing again with the next year's freshmen."
Credits were everything.
"So, even upperclassmen from the previous year are our competition?" Hobbs frowned.
"We're screwed." Lucite looked miserable: "I should've opted for Civil Engineering instead."
Li Aozi looked ahead, and new information was projected on his retina:
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[You've triggered the career mission - "Academic Success"]
[Type]: Career/Training
[Deadline]: One natural year
[Mission Difficulty]: Abandon
(Note: 'Abandon' means give up! This type of mission, while not life-threatening, is worse than death for some people. It's easier than a regular A-level mission but also more challenging.)
[Description]:
"Welcome to the university, even though you're facing ultra-college-level despair."
You're someone who climbed out of a pile of corpses, yet now must face a group of ambitious and competitive living peers; this is no easy feat.
You've wielded swords, slicing through enemies effortlessly, but now you must hold a pen, take exams, and study, and can't kill your classmates even if you want to - it's infuriating.
You're someone who dies when you overthink, but now you have to study harder than anyone to understand the rules and exams, or you'll be eliminated
Once, you sacrificed your head, that weak spot, for your life and strength.
Now, how will you learn new things?
[Completion Conditions]:
A. "Passing Triumph" - Successfully complete the first-year curriculum without failing any courses. The mission will then be updated;
Reward: Specialty • [Basic Chanting Mastery]
B. "Academic Pursuit" - For the exploration of magic and truth, humanity has never ceased. Before the end of the first year, master at least three spells.
Reward: Skill • "Worldview: Materialism"
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Li Aozi lowered his colonized head, falling into deep thought.
[Perhaps, the most unexpected place to fail might just be the one with the least chance of failure.]
Now, he had to seriously think about how he could possibly graduate.
It's the beginning of the month, give me votes, I'll update.