Bountiful Reward

The first thing Adam did when he opened his eyes was to immediately touch his neck in panic. After confirming that his neck was still intact, he breathed a sigh of relief. "Phew! That simulation felt too real!"

Before he was ejected, the hyenas had thoroughly surrounded him and pinned him to the ground. The last thing Adam saw was a ravenous hyena ruthlessly biting down on his throat.

Adam wiped the sweat off of his face and slowly stood up. He looked around and saw that all the mats were empty. The hundreds of students were standing and silently looking at him like he was some sort of monster.

Suddenly, Professor Godfrey's gentle voice broke the silence. "Congratulations, Adam. You were able to last 7 minutes and 18 seconds. You are now officially ranked first among the first-year students!"

There was a wide round of applause not just from the students but also from the professors. Even Lisa, aloof as she was, had to acknowledge Adam's fighting skills. She also clapped, albeit for only two seconds.

The only people who weren't applauding were Jeffrey and his entourage.

After the applause died down, Adam looked at the headmistress and replied respectfully, "Thank you, professor. May I ask a question?"

"Go ahead," replied Professor Godfrey with a smile.

"In the history of the academy's entrance examination, what's the longest a student has lasted inside the illusion formation?" Adam asked expectantly.

"7 minutes and 45 seconds." Professor Godfrey stated. "You, Adam, are in third place if we are to consider the results of all the combat tests since the inception of the academy."

There was a collective gasp heard from all the students. They were stunned!

To come in third place while taking into account all the combat assessments...

What did that mean? It was simply shocking. One had to know that Clover Academy had been established in Moon City for hundreds of years. In fact, the academy had been there even before the Nightingale Kingdom was founded!

After the commotion had died down and Adam had stepped off the mat and taken his place among the new students, Professor Godfrey once again congratulated everyone.

"Now that the rankings are out, you may all proceed to the dormitories. But before that, you must complete your registration at the academy's administrative building.

"Your seniors will guide you through the process. Tomorrow will be orientation where senior students and some faculty members will introduce you to the various places in the academy.

"And finally two days later, your classes will officially begin. Study hard and train diligently. You are the future of Clover Academy!"

After another round of cheering, all the new students excitedly left the auditorium and followed the final-year students into the administrative building.

The registration didn't take much time. The students had to fill in some additional personal information and pay a fee of 10 platinum pieces for the first academic year. The academy was very strict about the enrollment fee, they would not accept anything other than platinum coins.

After all the paperwork was done, each student was handed a wooden trunk and then assigned to their dorm rooms.

Within an hour, all the new students had reached their respective dormitories. The boys' residential building was on the east side of campus, and the girls' was on the west side.

At the administrative building, Adam and Edward had already decided to become roommates. Each student was going to be assigned a random roommate anyway, so the two decided to stay together since they were already acquainted with each other.

On the third floor of the boys' residential building, Adam and Edward stood in front of dorm 52A with excited looks. Adam placed the large trunk on the floor and then unlocked the door.

The two entered the dorm and looked at the room's layout with bright eyes. Edward had grown up in opulence so he wasn't impressed that much, but the same couldn't be said about Adam.

"Whoa! This is where we're gonna stay for the next year? Amazing!" Adam marveled.

The academy's dorm was very spacious, to say the least. Upon entering the dorm, the two were greeted by a large living room. An exquisite crystal chandelier hung from the ceiling that illuminated every part of the dorm.

The floor was carpeted with excellent quality rug. There was a set of couches and a small round table that was aesthetically pleasing to look at.

To the left of the living room was the bathroom. It had a marble-tiled bathtub and a lavatory within a small cubicle. There was also a sink, full-length mirror, and shelves to keep towels and other toiletries.

Twin bunk beds were situated on the right side of the living room. There were also two closets beside the bunk beds. And finally, directly across the living room was a small area that would serve as the study room.

"Not bad." Edward inspected the dorm and then lazily lay on the bed. "I call dibs on the bottom bed, hehe."

Adam rolled his eyes and thought inwardly, You're too fat to climb to the top bed anyway.

After keeping his belongings, Adam sat on the couch in the living room and finally had the chance to look at the contents of the wooden trunk. Edward also did the same.

Upon opening the trunk, the first thing that came into view was the academy's uniform which was the olive-colored cloak that Adam had seen the the senior students wearing. This was also the same cloak that Magus Alex and the others had been wearing.

Seeing the four-leaf clover insignia on the cloak, Adam got emotional. He put on the cloak and posed heroically. "Hehehe." He continued laughing foolishly from time to time.

After posing a bit more in his brand-new cloak, Adam sat back down and checked through the other contents of the trunk. There were two thick books. The first one was titled, 'Introduction to Arcane Magic.' The second book was titled, 'Basics of Spell-casting.'

Apart from these two books, there was another book from which Adam could feel a mysterious aura. It was made of a black hard cover and had strange geometric patterns inscribed on top.

"Edward, you know what this is?" He asked curiously.

"Hmm?" Edward who was flipping through one of the books, looked over and replied, "Oh, that. That's a grimoire. It's made of special materials, making its pages practically endless. It's what magi use to write down their spell models and other important notes."

"Ah, I see." Adam nodded in understanding. He opened the grimoire, its pages were blank. He played around with it for a few moments and then kept it aside. All that was left inside the trunk was a small leather box, a flask, and a scroll.

Adam picked up the leather box and opened it. Inside it were two items kept on a fine silk cloth. One was a transparent crystal vial and the other was a crystal ball.

Seeing this, Adam's eyes lit up. This was his reward for coming in first place in the student rankings!

According to one of the faculty members at the administrative building, the liquid inside the crystal vial was called Body Cleansing Essence Oil. This liquid effectively removed the impurities present inside one's body. At the same time, it also restructured the body, strengthening it immensely.

It was an extremely rare medicine and very expensive, to say the least.

The crystal ball, on the other hand, contained knowledge of the Rank 1 spell, Eldritch Beam! This ranged spell had one of the most devastating attacks among Rank 1 spells. Its market price was 15 platinum pieces!

He carefully placed these two items back inside the leather box. Now, only two items remained - the flask and the scroll.

Out of all the items inside the trunk, these two had the most value. Adam reached out to grab them with trembling hands, excitement and anticipation evident in his eyes.

After all…

These two items would directly help him become a Magus!