Chapter 318 - 297: Test Your Magic Talent

Chapter 318: Chapter 297: Test Your Magic Talent

After putting away the Storage Bag, Lloyd took another look at the lapel pin and hourglass he had received.

The lapel pin wasn’t a Holy Artifact, but rather an extremely high-end piece of Spatial Equipment that could instantly teleport him back to a preset safe zone the moment he was in mortal danger.

It was undoubtedly a good thing, a potential lifesaver.

As for the last item, the Synchronized Hourglass that Dandy had hyped up so much, Lloyd fiddled with it for ages but couldn’t figure out what it was for. ’No new knowledge has popped into my head, either?’

’But Dandy wouldn’t have any reason to lie to me, would he?’

Lloyd thought for a moment, then decided not to overthink it. He would trust his Senior’s advice and keep the hourglass on his person.

With that, he finally finished taking stock of his new items and had formed a basic impression of Mizkatoke.

He pulled out his pocket watch to check the time. It was still a long way off from six in the afternoon, and with nothing else to do, Lloyd decided to take the little kitten and wander around to better familiarize himself with the place.

He left his dorm and started wandering around the dormitory area.

The other luxury dorms seemed to be occupied. He could see signs of life, and some residents were even growing flowers and plants in their gardens.

For example, his next-door neighbor was growing a wide variety of plants in their front garden.

’Except... why does this flower have a gaping, bloody maw? It looks so vicious...’

’And this thing that looks like a sapling... why is every branch as sharp as a spear?’

’And the fruit on this tree... why do I get the feeling it’s watching me?’

As Lloyd drew closer, the plants began to squirm, turning in unison to look at him.

Lloyd’s scalp tingled at the sight. ’Is my neighbor raising Demons?’

But he remembered the "Survival Tips" from the freshman handbook, so he didn’t make a scene, simply shaking his head and backing away.

’Better not to provoke them...’

Next, Lloyd wandered over to another neighbor’s house, just across the road.

This villa looked quite deserted.

But it wasn’t the emptiness of an uninhabited house; it was a desolation that radiated a bone-chilling cold...

The overall atmosphere was bizarre, giving off the feeling that something hardcore was hidden within.

Although on the surface its aesthetic was similar to his own place, Lloyd couldn’t shake the feeling that it wasn’t a home for the living...

It felt more like one of those soul-devouring haunted houses or man-eating mansions from horror movies and thriller novels.

’Why do both of my next-door neighbors seem like they’re hiding some incredible abilities?’

’I was perfectly happy with my dorm a minute ago, but why are my ’neighbors’ like this?’

Lloyd couldn’t help but snark internally. As a mentally sound, normal young man, he felt completely out of sync with their vibe. He shook his head again and again.

’Good thing I’m a commuter and won’t be living here full-time.’

’I’d better go explore somewhere else...’

In the end, Lloyd didn’t finish exploring the luxury dormitory area, partly because he was wary of encountering even more bizarre and dangerous ’neighbors’.

He touched the freshman handbook in his pocket with his inspiration, activating the [Map] function. A complete and detailed map of the school immediately materialized before him.

Strangely, however, the map wasn’t one single, integrated whole. Instead, it was divided into hundreds of separate blocks, each an independent map with no roads connecting it to any other area.

For example, the area Lloyd was currently in was marked on the map as the ’Honors Student Dormitory Area.’ Its road layout was completely self-contained, with no roads leading out.

There was only a single spot marked ’Entrance/Exit’ to allow passage to and from the outside world.

’This... Don’t tell me all these areas are individual Alternate Spaces?’

Lloyd was slightly surprised by this discovery.

’No wonder the Space System seems to hold such a superior status here. Is it because the entire academy makes extensive use of various Space technologies?’

’Let’s keep exploring...’

Following the guidance and navigation of the ’mini-map’ before his eyes, Lloyd found the place marked as the entrance/exit.

It looked like a street-side newsstand, only the shelves held not newspapers and books, but a single, palm-sized Crystal Ball.

When he touched the Crystal Ball with his inspiration, the vast collection of maps popped up before him, allowing him to choose a destination.

’How magical. It’s just like playing a video game.’

Lloyd marveled to himself again, then casually selected the ’Extraordinary System Sector’.

His vision blurred, the scenery around him shifted rapidly, and he soon arrived in a new area.

Lloyd thought for a moment. The best term to describe the aesthetic of this place, he decided, was ’ivory tower’.

The area was vast, dotted with towering, archetypal spires. Each spire corresponded to a discipline—or rather, an Extraordinary System.

This cluster of spire-style buildings invariably reminded Lloyd of his home, the Eighteenth District. ’Did the Eighteenth District deliberately imitate this style, instead of opting for more conventional academic buildings?’

’Was even our ’self-directed learning’ model just a copy?’