Chapter 771: New Teaching Models and the Compromised Freshman Competition
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 771: New Teaching Models and the Compromised Freshman Competition
As the new semester began, the brand-new teaching models didn't just draw in the freshmen—who were just beginning to touch the transcendent world and feel the thrill of wielding extraordinary power—but also left many upperclassmen watching with envy, lamenting that they had been born too early.
The promotion of [Transcendent Knowledge] Fragments was gradually spreading across the entire academy. Meanwhile, the laboratory responsible for "planting" these seeds was under immense pressure to provide a massive quantity of them in a short period.
However, following the friction between the Witch Academy and other transcendent academies, the school-wide rollout of the seeds actually accelerated. This was thanks to the suspension of cooperation between the various transcendent academies; otherwise, this batch of seeds would have been distributed to them as part of their partnership agreements.
For the upperclassmen, the only consolation as the new semester opened was that the Omni-Link Arena did not disappoint. Meeting their expectations, it launched a new competitive mode based on the Power Network.
In truth, many students were hesitant to try this new mode, a hesitation born from a lack of confidence in their own strength. It wasn't until the Arena put up slogans like "The weak arm themselves with power; the strong master it" that the fires of enthusiasm were truly stoked.
Of course, debuting alongside this slogan were tournaments hosted unilaterally by the Arena, as well as tiered Ladder Rankings.
As the saying goes: where there are rankings, there is war!
Furthermore, these were official rankings from the Arena. While not every student chose to compete there, the rankings served as a general reflection of one's standing within the academy.
Consequently, the competitive mode centered on the Power Network within the Arena had already branched off into its own entirely new competitive category. Matches that didn't count toward Ladder Rankings but still utilized the Power Network were also included in this category.
This new confrontation mode and its ranking system would take a long time to stabilize. For the upperclassmen who had nothing better to do and loved to pick fights, it meant they finally had a dedicated place to battle.
Against this backdrop, the freshmen welcomed their own Freshman Competition.
Although the freshmen enjoyed a brand-new curriculum experience that previous seniors had never tasted, their Freshman Competition was far less "hot" than in previous years.
In the past—even just last year—the Freshman Competition was an event that could make the entire academy cheer. But this year, it had collided with the Arena’s grand events, making the "petty squabbles" between freshmen seem insignificant by comparison.
It was primarily a matter of contrast.
Regarding this, the Freshman Department Head expressed that the Arena’s behavior was "fucking bullshit." Couldn't they have waited until the customary Freshman Competition was over before launching their event?
However, while the Arena was technically managed by student clubs, a change of this magnitude could never have happened without the academy's approval.
She had raised objections, but... many Witches felt that since the academy had adopted a new model, the Freshman Competition should return to its essence.
The freshmen had only been enrolled for a few days and had little experience in mastering transcendent power. Therefore, the significance of such a competition couldn't compare to the competitive weight of the Arena...
This wave of opposition nearly branded Barnier, the Freshman Department Head, as a "traditionalist." One had to remember that she was the Witch leading the freshman classes at the forefront of the academy's reforms!
How could she be a traditionalist?
Yet, she had to admit that the Freshman Competition did lack a certain sense of purpose.
Furthermore, her original idea had been to mobilize the entire grade to participate. Even if it was just a "one-and-done" first-round exit, she wanted every student to have the chance to participate, breaking the old rule where only designated Class Monitors could compete.
But since the Arena wouldn't cooperate, her idea remained just an idea, unable to be put into practice.
And besides the Arena, did the Witch Academy have no other place that could accommodate so many students for a competition?
No... there were many.
The Freshman Competition had originally chosen the Arena because it could hold many spectators and the number of participants was small—only Class Monitors.
There were plenty of venues that could hold more people: the training grounds used for practical combat courses, the free testing grounds in the teaching area, and so on.
These places needed to accommodate multiple classes for lessons and multiple groups for sparring simultaneously. Thus, some training grounds included underground areas, making their total spatial volume far larger than the Arena. Their vertical depth was also perfectly suited for the needs of three-dimensional combat.
The only problem was that such places couldn't accommodate an audience.
If the Freshman Competition were held in such a place, it would truly become nothing more than the freshman grade's internal amusement.
But... as the Freshman Department Head, Barnier ultimately chose to compromise.
She desperately wanted her students to show their faces in the academy; she wanted more students to pay attention to the freshmen's performance. But that was merely her own wishful thinking.
In previous years, the Freshman Competition had brought the academy more disappointment than anything else.
As for last year... last year was a fluke involving a Luck Script, a Child of Destiny, and a freak of nature who transcended the script entirely.
Add to that the other transcendent academies coming to join the fun, turning the confrontation into a multi-school exchange competition.
Last year was a miracle that could not be replicated.
And this year... she really needed to face reality.
The Power Network model wasn't suited for the Witch Academy to go out and seek exchanges with other transcendent academies. Even if there were to be an exchange, the other party would have to come to the Witch Academy.
But the other academies had just provoked the Witches, and the relationship was delicate; it was unlikely to thaw anytime soon.
So, in the end, Barnier placed the Freshman Competition in the training grounds. As for the classes that were supposed to be held there... they would have to make way. If that training ground wasn't available, there were others. If the training grounds didn't work, weren't there testing grounds?
It was just a course; how could it be that inconvenient?
If the Freshman Competition could tolerate being held there, couldn't the classes be moved elsewhere?
However, Barnier did manage to secure permission for a full-perspective livestream provided by the Root Network. Although there would be no spectators cheering for them on-site, the internet would suffice.
Moreover, since every freshman was participating, the freshmen themselves were the audience for this competition.
Returning the competition to its original meaning—letting freshmen cheer for freshmen and planting the seeds of longing for transcendent power in their hearts—was its true purpose.
Of course, the main reason Barnier helplessly chose this traditional internal confrontation mode was... she hadn't been able to keep the clones she had extorted—no, borrowed—from Xiao Han.
As the saying goes, plans can't keep up with changes. After freshman enrollment was completed, those hundred-plus Xiao Han clones caught the eyes of many Witches.
Ultimately, those clones were taken by the Arena... they became the vital gatekeepers for the Arena's Power Network Ladder Rankings and the official testing opponents for player placement matches.
After all, Xiao Han's mastery of the Power Network had been witnessed by everyone during the previous final exam hunt. Since the clones could only use the Power Network, they served as an excellent benchmark for strength.
Naturally, Barnier hadn't become the Freshman Department Head by being a pushover. Although the Xiao Han clones were borrowed—leaving her with only a few—she had made them pay the price by solving the problem of the prize pool for this year's Freshman Competition.
In previous years, the rewards weren't particularly lavish. Because the number of participants was small, the academy provided them, supplemented by various transcendent materials obtained from the periodic clearing of Ley Line Stagnation.
But this year's freshmen were using the Root Network, not the old Ley Line Network. While this relieved the Ley Line Stagnation, it also meant the competition lost a major source of prizes.
While Witches could exploit Ley Line resources through other means, the number of freshmen participating this time was the entire student body!
The base number of rewards required was enormous.
At the very least, every freshman should receive a participation prize as an incentive; otherwise, their passion would be ground down to nothing.
It could be said that as the head of the first generation of academy reforms, Barnier was truly carrying the banner of trial and error. The main issue was that everything had happened too hastily, leaving little time for planning.
But as compensation, she had abandoned her plan to use the Xiao Han clones to bring "despair" to the freshmen in exchange for a vast quantity of tournament prizes.
Furthermore, she planned to pull a major stunt during this Freshman Competition.
She was going to take the final winners of the Freshman Competition and throw them directly into the Arena's Power Network Ladder Rankings!
This was her revenge.
After all... no one in the Arena would be able to stomach being defeated by a freshman who had only been in school for a few days!
When the time came, she would personally provide additional incentives: for every senior defeated, a reward would be given! No upper limit!
She was going to give those people a taste of provocation and humiliation from the freshmen.
She truly wanted to prove that freshmen could show their brilliance at the academy level.
But that depended on the freshmen being capable.
Even if they only had a "one-and-done" run in the Ladder Rankings... at least they would have shown their faces, wouldn't they?
But the chance to show one's face wasn't for everyone. That opportunity would be the slots decided by the Freshman Competition.
When the time came, she would let the remaining Xiao Han clones turn up the heat on them so they could adapt.
The students recruited by the Witch Academy would always include children naturally suited for battle.
Did anyone truly think that under the coverage of the College Entrance Exam Luck Allocation Ritual, this form of selection was meant to choose problem-solving machines who only knew how to take exams?
Such people would only be eliminated by Luck even faster.
* * *
The Laboratory.
Many days had passed since the start of the semester. The passion of the Arena and the Freshman Competition felt as though they had nothing to do with me.
Even though I was well aware that my clones were being snatched back and forth, I didn't mind.
In the end, they were just clones. Being able to contribute to the Witch Academy was their value. I only kept them around because it would have been a waste to simply destroy them.
However, speaking of the progress here in the lab, it was actually quite moving.
Over these days, Tan Han had gradually begun to understand what Self-Generated Mana truly was and what we had sacrificed for it. At the very beginning, Tan Han actually felt a hint of resistance.
This highlighted the gap in perspective between someone like Tan Han and "old hands" like Yi Rui.
Yi Rui and the others were already seasoned veterans.
Tan Han, however, still expressed understanding and respect for the act of trifling with life and death. As for acceptance... she hadn't actually experienced true death many times. Although she had experienced Resurrection Spells, she still held a heart of awe toward death.
I actually admired Tan Han's mindset. Everyone should hold death in awe. However, my understanding of death was different from hers, which was one of the reasons for our difference in perspective.
But by the time Tan Han joined the lab, we had already moved past the stage that required constant dying.
Tan Han only needed to undergo the Witchification Reshaping Rebirth Art to step through the threshold of the Witchification Body Cultivation Method.
Subsequently, she would need to learn techniques such as the "Self-Generated Mana Shaping Ritual" and the "Witchification Ritual War Dance."
The ultimate purpose of learning these techniques was simply to achieve "Self-Generated Mana." In this process, there were also many undeveloped fields.
"Body-Manifested Spell-Type Body Arts" was the most basic application of the Witchification Body Cultivation Method.
Perhaps the Witchification Body Cultivation system wasn't just for birthing the physical talent of Self-Generated Mana.
Even after that talent was born, the Witchification Body Cultivation Method still had a reason to exist. To the cultivation method, Self-Generated Mana was more like a milestone platform.
It provided a way for Prospective Witches to obtain Self-Generated Mana ahead of time, and it gave Prospective Witches—and even Transcendent Witches—who already possessed Self-Generated Mana a path to study this transcendent system.
As for how far this path could go... that depended on how much I could perfect it.
Because the entire "Witchification Body Cultivation Method" was a feedback loop built upon my own understanding of the Self-Generated Mana physical talent.
And this aligned with my original intention of wanting to understand Self-Generated Mana more deeply.
For others, once they cultivated Self-Generated Mana through the Witchification Body Cultivation Method, there might be no point in continuing. But only I knew that if I could understand Self-Generated Mana more deeply, I could give the Witchification Body Cultivation Method a higher level of meaning at any time.
But it was too early to talk about that.
After all, one must eat one's meal bite by bite.
During this time, I was delving into the racial concepts and bloodline information of the Witch race, using myself as the case study for observation.
The so-called "Witchification" was essentially a process of reconstructing and architecting the deep essence of life through "Mana" and techniques I didn't yet understand. The reason this architectural process was passive was that these "unknown techniques" were built upon the level of life itself.
Only when one reached a "Transcendent life level" was the moment the complete "Witch Racial Concept" and "Bloodline Information" finished their reconstruction of the life essence.
Self-Generated Mana was a product "incubated" under this racial concept. Therefore, the "Witchification Body Cultivation Method" was truly one of the foundations of the Witch race; after all, it was built upon the Witch racial concept.
This was the first time I had felt its importance so viscerally. Previously, it had only been a guess; now, its status was directly proven.
My "Witchification Body Cultivation Method" borrowed a Mana Source, making it a secondary architecture improved upon the "Mana Source Body Cultivation Method." This was equivalent to pre-architecting the "Self-Generated Mana" that normally fell under the Witch race's "incubation" concept.
With the support of this theoretical framework, it proved that obtaining "Self-Generated Mana" early provided clear evidence that it could accelerate a person's promotion to a Transcendent Witch.
To some extent, this could even replace the role of a "Witch Project" in the promotion to Transcendent Witch. After all, Self-Generated Mana itself was a concept strongly linked to the Great Witch Project and numerous sub-projects.
However, a Witch who promoted to Transcendent this way would likely only achieve minor success in the field of Witchification Body Cultivation, as that was the foundation of her promotion.
But... that didn't matter. No matter how mediocre a Transcendent Witch might be, she was still a Transcendent Witch.
There were many mediocre Transcendent Witches, but true geniuses would not be bound by such constraints. Self-Generated Mana merely lowered the floor for entering the Transcendent realm; it did not lower the ceiling a Witch could reach.