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Link fell silent, an increasingly grim expression overwhelming his face.

Since arriving at the Starry Fortress, nothing had put him at ease.

“How did he die?”

After a moment, Link broke the silence with his question.

Christina shook her head, signaling that she also didn’t know the specifics.

The smoke in the air formed a sentence: “I just received Jimmy’s suicide note and news of his death. I’m not privy to the details.”

“Alright.”

Link nodded, signaling his understanding.

Even after becoming an official wizard, he didn’t have much free time.

He was so engrossed in learning and research that his business took up too much time; there was hardly any time to be spared.

Up to now, apart from his various excursions to different worlds, in the Wizard World Homeland, Link’s movements were confined within the Ravensmouth Special Area.

Forget about exploring the Tudor region or the entire West Coast, he hadn’t even set foot in the Mitchell District.

If he wanted to see more, he’d have to venture out with tradepersons, like Jimmy did.

Thinking of Jimmy, a touch of desolation flashed across Link’s face.

Another one of the five lads who left the Quete Archipelago together had perished.

Only three remained.

Another transient presence in his life was gone.

Link vividly recalled the blissful countenance of Jimmy that evening, when he tilted his head back to enjoy the crumbs that were in his palm.

Such a simple and honest young man he was.

Perhaps the recent sighting of a ruin world, resembling his homeland from his past life, had struck a heavy blow to him, causing emotional waves to ripple once the Mind Closure Technique paused momentarily.

This wasn’t good.

Taking a deep breath, Link adjusted his state of mind again, deciding to put these thoughts aside and focus on the main task at hand — learning and communicating. The rest could wait.

“Peck, are we all set?”

Link turned towards Peck, who looked more confrontational than communicative with the Shadow City Team across from him, leading the 20 apprentices from the College.

“Captain,”

Peck, still fixated on the vice-leader of the Shadow City Team, replied loudly, “We’re ready, but they have an issue.”

“What issue?”

Link’s brows furrowed; he sure did not want any drama.

“Shadow City says we must enter the Ruin world behind them.”

Peck shared the reason for the standoff, emphasizing, “They don’t even wish to enter with us!”

Link turned back to Christina and asked, “What do you think?”

“Go…in…together.”

Christina managed to get a sentence out, then turned to face the Shadow City team and walked away.

Thus, a dispute charged with alluding intentions came to a peaceful closure.

The competitive learning or rather rivalry began the moment they met.

The scramble to be the first to enter the Ruin world was Shadow City apprentice team’s preliminary aggressive attempt.

If you concede once, you may concede a second time, a third time, or countless other times.

That’s how the saying “give them an inch and they’ll take a mile” goes.

Under the leaders’ supervision, both apprentice teams stopped their obstinacy and started preparing for the journey ahead.

On the College side, Lanny Taylor started to execute her responsibilities as captain after consulting with Link and Peck.

She first called the two vice-captains, Luna Colonna and Gillian Clark, over to one side.

To align their thoughts, figure out task distribution, and create a detailed strategy and direction for the team.

Lanny had clearly given this a great deal of thought during the journey to the Starry Fortress.

She planned to divide the eighteen team members into four groups. One for surveillance, a second for reconnaissance, a third for scavenging supplies, and a fourth to cover all the bases.

Vice-captain Luna would lead Groups 1 and 2, whereas Vice-captain Gillian would manage Groups 3 and 4.

Lanny would take charge of coordinating everyone.

This plan met with approval from Luna and Gillian.

Subsequently, the three leaders started implementing the division plan.

They broke down all the existing small groups, reshuffled the team members, and formed four new groups.

Over at Shadow City, they implemented a similar method, with just a few minor differences in the details.

Once the preparations were finished on both sides, it was time to officially kick off the learning exchange.

Link, in tandem with Christina, applied to the Transport Spirit who managed the hub, to use the transportation gate to access the Ruin World.

The Starry Fortress belonged to the entire Wizard World, and any Wizard Organization registered with the Supreme Council could utilize it for a fee.

However, unless officially authorized by the Supreme Council, members of a Wizard Organization could not ‘hang around’ the Starry Fortress, and could only transit through the transport hub.

This was the nature of the application jointly submitted by Ravensmouth College and Shadow City.

Once the Shadow City Team arrived, the Transport Spirit adjusted the teleportation gate’s parameters immediately, but permissions to operate it had yet to be granted.

Upon receiving permission from both Link and Christina, the gate that dimmed once Shadow City arrived began to glow brightly again.

“Prepare! Let’s move out!”

After confirming the teleportation coordinates with the automated Intelligent Puppet arranged by the College, Link signaled the apprentice team.

Everyone put on their containment suits without any delay.

This time, Peck took the lead, and Link covered the rear as twenty-two of them filed into the teleportation gate.

“Move…out.”

On the Shadow City side, Christina gave the order simultaneously, deliberately slowing down her speech to keep pace with Link.

They, too, had their vice-leader leading the way, with Christina bringing up the rear.

Both teams entered the teleportation gate almost simultaneously.

And then came the familiar sensation of spatial dislocation.