72: Academic promotion

"What do you mean 'is it me'? What are you talking about?"

Ronan felt that if the New Lord continued to shake him, his brains would be scrambled.

"Is it you? Did you write that latest Academic Paper?!"

The New Lord stared intently at his facial expressions, as if trying to determine if Ronan was lying based on micro-expressions.

"What paper? You saw me just get back..."

Ronan turned to Savage Stone and said, "Big guy, if you ever need anything in the future, you can come find me. I live at 761..."

"Except for outdoor missions," he added. "Also, you shouldn't take private assignments. They're unreliable."

"I know, thank you, Black Day." Savage Stone nodded in thanks.

Black Day always gave him a strange sense of familiarity, as if they had once fought side-by-side.

Seeing Savage Stone leave, the New Lord, who had just let go, immediately grabbed him again.

"Don't try to argue. I've seen the books you borrowed, all about spiritual and fear aspects."

"You must be 'Black Without Night in Day'!" the New Lord declared confidently.

"Alright, that is indeed my pen name." Ronan spread his hands and asked,

"What happened? Why are you exposing my identity as soon as you show up?"

"It really is you! Oh my god!"

The New Lord was so excited his face turned red.

"Don't you know, your paper has become incredibly popular in the Academy! Even the President commented on your new magic!"

"President?" This should be the head of the Arcane Arts Society's Moonless City branch, equivalent to an Adventurers Guild Administrator.

"Yes, the President said, 'This is an alternative innovation that distinguishes itself from the Fear Spell,' and greatly praised your paper."

The New Lord beamed with pride, but Ronan was calm. He was more concerned about tangible benefits.

"Then... my academic rank is...?"

"By special approval from the President, you are the first student in the past five years to achieve a skip in rank."

"Congratulations, you are now a Level 2 student," the New Lord congratulated with a smile.

Darsi at the registration desk had already prepared the corresponding supplies for a Level 2 student, mainly a tailor-made green-collared robe.

"Lord Black Day, congratulations on your promotion to Level 2 student. Your Academy benefits have increased. You can check the detailed welfare regulations corresponding to academic ranks."

Darsi neatly placed a stack of documents and the green-collared robe in front of Ronan.

"What benefits?" Ronan's eyes lit up.

He hadn't earned any money from this private assignment, which meant he had worked for nothing... but if the Academy gave him promotion benefits, it would be as good as not losing out.

"Your published papers will be reviewed faster, you will have the right to free creation, and you can also access the third-floor area..."

Can't there be some material support? Even some points would be good... Ronan sighed helplessly and turned to look at the New Lord.

"Is there a way to make money without going out?"

He was currently short on money to buy materials; Spiritual Fear would only achieve its best effect after being permanently enchanted.

The New Lord thought for a moment and asked, "Do you want to buy materials for research?"

"Something like that." Ronan nodded.

"Then it depends on what you need. If it's not enough, I can lend you some."

The New Lord smiled confidently, "Although my monthly living expenses are limited, I can still help with this small favor."

"By the way, what materials do you need?"

"Uh, let me think..." Ronan recalled the materials needed for the permanent enchantment process.

"A Heart-Eater's Heart, Moon Soul Grass Root, Aurora Stone, and the most common..."

Upon hearing this, the New Lord immediately felt a bit pressured by the cost, but could barely bear it. "Quite a lot..."

"I need three of each of the above."

One for trial and error, one for tolerance, one for perfection.

Reasonable.

"…"

"I'll recommend a good place to you, where you can't even finish robbing the money."

"There's such a place?"

"Elf Commercial Bank Moonless City Branch."

Ronan pondered for a long time and asked, "How's the security there?"

"No, you're actually thinking of robbing a bank?" The New Lord was shocked. Didn't he understand what an exaggerated metaphor was?

"If I don't get any income soon, I feel like I'm close to it."

He now realized that not only did becoming a transcendent cost a lot of money, but conducting experiments and research was an absolute money pit.

"Why don't you consider writing something to earn some points?" the New Lord suggested.

"Papers can earn points?" Ronan didn't remember that benefit.

"Papers are only used to improve academic rank. I'm talking about other things, like the kind of emotionally rich literary works Mayer loves to read..."

The New Lord raised his eyebrows, a sly grin on his face. It seemed he and Mayer were kindred spirits.

"Specifically?" Ronan could tell from his expression that it wasn't exactly positive content.

"You know, although students come from various races, they also have their own emotions and thoughts, not just cold, hard academic research machines."

"At such times, some interesting travelogues or storybooks become everyone's emotional outlet."

The New Lord chuckled, "Everyone has different preferences, but best-selling works can still earn a lot of points."

Ronan understood. This was just the Differentworld version of novels.

"You are now a Level 2 student with the right to free creation. You can give it a try, just to pass the time when you're idle," the New Lord suggested again.

Then, he looked around, lowering his voice,

"Actually, I'm serializing one myself... although I haven't earned much... but how can art be measured by points!"

At this point, the two of them had walked back to their residence. The New Lord stood at the door of 762, looking shifty-eyed as he asked,

"Do you want to appreciate the early works of a future literary master?"

"Alright, bring it over, I'll take a look."

Soon after, the New Lord came to his door with his magnum opus.

Ronan had initially thought he would write something unhealthy, but after reading it, he found that wasn't the case.

It was a poignant love story about a princess and a prince who overcame many hardships to finally be together.

"How is it?"

Seeing Ronan finish reading and put down the manuscript, the New Lord immediately asked eagerly.

The content was vague, illogical, and full of flowery rhetoric, completely nonsensical... Ronan resisted the urge to tell the truth and evaluated, "It's alright."

Sometimes the truth hurts too much and requires a bit of tact.

"You have some taste, haha!" The New Lord, having received affirmation, immediately beamed with joy.

"Did your magnum opus earn any points?" Ronan asked curiously.

"Of course it did!" The New Lord said proudly.

"To be honest, my pen name is also quite well-known in the Academy, and I've earned a lot of points with this work."

Hmm?

Ronan was surprised. A work of this quality could actually earn points?

He reread the New Lord's short story carefully.

Aside from the somewhat distinctive pen name 'Tyrant', the rest of the content was truly like chewing wax.

This level of writing can earn points?

Then if I just copy a novel from my previous life, wouldn't it be a direct dimensional strike?

"Why did you choose another pen name?" Ronan asked, suppressing his inner impulse.

"You don't understand this. The pen name for Academic Papers can't really hide your true identity."

"But the pen name for free creation, well, not everyone can know that."

The New Lord explained slowly, "Don't underestimate this pen name. There was once an author who wrote a messy plot and was found at his residence by an Arcane Apprentice, who held a knife to his head and made him change it back."

"It's just a literary work, not Arcane Arts. How could it be so popular?"

Ronan felt that there weren't many people in the Arcane Arts Society, so where would so many readers come from?

"The Academy also plays the role of a leader in the entire Moonless City's cultural and entertainment industry. Core content like papers and Arcane Arts only circulates internally, but these kinds of generalized entertainment literary works are extremely popular on the market," the New Lord explained.

"Good works can not only circulate among various major factions, but also make the upper-class people of Moonless City flock to them."

Ronan hadn't expected novels in this differentworld to have such a large market, and his idea of becoming a plagiarist to earn points became even firmer.

"From now on, you'll follow me. I'll teach you some of my writing tips, and I guarantee you'll live a good life."

"Don't even mention it, after reading your magnum opus, I'm bursting with inspiration and want to start writing right away."

Ronan said, looking for paper and pen in the room.

"No problem, just write. If you have any questions, I'll help you correct them!" The New Lord thumped his chest, making a guarantee.

Although this scene felt strangely familiar, he did find Ronan more and more pleasing to the eye, wishing he could treat him as a confidant.

To be inspired so quickly by his magnum opus, the other party's comprehension, if not extraordinarily gifted, could certainly be considered promising for the future.

Ronan found paper and pen, took a deep breath, and wrote the first line on the paper:

"Dou Qi, three segments!"