After Gregory Blackwell made up his mind, he found himself in a surreal state, as if he had entered a dream while his eyes were still open. Even Shadow Eleven didn't notice anything unusual.
A blurry figure appeared in front of Gregory Blackwell's desk.
Gregory Blackwell bowed slightly and respectfully said, "Supreme Being [Morpheus], you've come."
"I received the message and came to see," Morpheus replied, looking down at the documents without paying much attention to Gregory, and continued, "You want to go to the Abyssal Plane?"
"Yes."
"I permit it, but you cannot leave today."
Morpheus explained, "A major event is about to happen in the next few days, which might lead to significant changes. So, you need to wait a bit. When the time is right, someone will take you to the Abyssal Plane."
Gregory Blackwell nodded, "Okay."
"Before you leave, make a trip to the Tower of Truth and see Apollo."
"Alright."
After speaking, the figure at the desk gradually faded, and Gregory began to return from his dreamlike state.
"Wait, aren't you going to seal my memory?" Gregory Blackwell asked somewhat urgently.
He had managed to uncover Thor's other identity in the Trade Secret Realm from just a stone. Shadow Nine suddenly telling him about the conditions for a second talent awakening—what did that imply? Thor was among his students! This drastically narrowed down the potential suspects!
"Why bother? Do you really think Shadow Nine doesn't know that every time after the sealing, you try to find ways to break it?" Morpheus said, causing Gregory Blackwell to blush and defensively reply, "It's just curiosity! Purely academic curiosity, and for the sake of my intellectual level!"
"Or do you really think you could break Shadow Nine's seal on your own?" Morpheus scoffed, "A Battle Chief couldn't do it, what makes you think you can with your level 60 strength? Save it."
Without Shadow Nine allowing it, even with Gregory Blackwell's deep research into soul magic, he couldn't break his own seal.
The potential Supreme Beings he encountered were all within the Tower of Truth. In other words, Gregory Blackwell only captured the aliases of potential Supreme Beings, and retaining his memory wasn't a big issue.
Just like Maxen Stoneheart. He often met with Thor at Wolf's Den, and Shadow Nine didn't kill him for it.
Hearing 'level 60', Gregory Blackwell became agitated, feeling insulted,
"Come out, let's duel!"
Morpheus had already disappeared.
In the empty office, only Gregory Blackwell's voice echoed, "Come out, let's duel!"
Shadow Eleven: "Professor Gregory, this might not be a good idea. A duel between level 60 and level 980, even if Morpheus gave you an extra head, two hands, and three legs, you still wouldn't stand a chance..."
...
The morning classes came to an end.
Mike was about to ask Cain to join him for lunch when he saw Anderson passing by with a pig on his shoulders and a barbecue grill in hand.
Well, better not disturb Cain...
Mike decided to have lunch with Kaelum, Jessica, and Elena instead. During the meal, Kaelum described the thrilling boss battle from the previous night.
"...Anderson and I sneaked into the ice bone dragon's cave. The whole cave was frozen solid, and we had to break the ice little by little. It sped up a lot when the others found us."
Kaelum, visibly annoyed, slapped his thigh hard, "We were about to break through the ice layer when we got the news that Thor had soloed the boss and conquered it!"
"Fuck! We were so close! I might have met Thor in person!"
Kaelum turned to Elena, "Elena, why do you look so upset?"
Elena replied coolly, "Next time, remember to slap your own leg."
"Sorry, sorry, I got too excited," Kaelum apologized, then shared his regret from last night, "I accidentally earned some extra credits again. Mike, I'm really counting on you now!"
As long as Mike stayed in the summer camp and ranked in the bottom 30%, Kaelum could fail his course and repeat the year, becoming classmates with Thor.
Dreams are full, but reality is harsh. Some dreams are realized before they even begin.
The morning was for theoretical classes, and the afternoon was for combat training.
"Mike, the combat class is divided into two parts," Kaelum explained, "The first part is taught by instructors who have been to the abyss battlefields. They have more strength and experience than us. The second part is one-on-one coaching with me, focusing on your personal situation for intensive training."
Instructor-led class? Mike was curious about what kind of instructor he would get.
Zone C, training gym.
When Mike and the others met their instructor, Jessica was speechless. Her grandfather... how did he end up here as an instructor?
Even after a careful disguise, Blaze Morrow was immediately recognized by Mike through the Eye of Truth.
"Can't deny, I kind of missed this old fox after not seeing him for a day!" Having a peak Battle Chief around certainly boosted Mike's sense of security.
Blaze Morrow shared a lot of combat knowledge and how to handle various emergencies.
Since it was only the first day, he mostly covered basics, which everyone listened to attentively and found very beneficial. After the class, Blaze Morrow left quite pleased with himself.
"I spent a lot of money on this disguise, and it seems to have worked well! It looks like neither Jessica nor that little fox recognized me, lol..."
Then came the one-on-one coaching.
"Mike, I've been thinking about how to help you stay in the summer camp," Kaelum said earnestly, "There are two paths you can choose. One, the traditional wind element mage, which is more supportive and functional. This means your solo combat strength will be weaker initially, but you'll become more valuable later. I took this path myself."
Kaelum was also a wind element mage, among the most talented.
"But what about the second path?"
"The second path is more controversial, known as [Wind Combat Mage]," Kaelum explained, "It maximizes the mobility of the wind element, creating opportunities for high damage output or using close combat combos."
"The most famous Wind Combat Mage was a Battle Lord with SS-grade talent. His innate abilities allowed him to unleash tremendous damage, and combined with the mobility of wind magic, he dominated the battlefield, making enemies tremble at the mere mention of his name."
After highlighting the advantages of [Wind Combat Mage], Kaelum didn't forget to mention the drawbacks, "Although it's powerful initially, once you reach the Battle General tier, the output begins to falter. Wind mages' burst and sustained output can't keep up, no matter how fast you run."
"I studied [Wind Combat Mage] myself and even tried it for a while, but its limitations made me return to traditional wind magic."
Kaelum explained the pros and cons of both paths in detail. From his perspective, choosing [Wind Combat Mage] would be best for Mike, ensuring his strength in the early stages and helping him stay in the summer camp.
Even so, Kaelum left the choice to Mike.
Kaelum sighed, "Ultimately, it's because the wind class isn't strong enough among mages. Fire element mages used to be the most popular, now it's Lightning mages."
Thor initially made a name as a Lightning mage, immediately setting a trend for all mages.
"Let's try Wind Combat Mage," Mike decided, patting Kaelum on the shoulder to encourage him, "Reviving the glory of wind magic is our duty!"
"Well said!" Kaelum scratched his head and chuckled, "The problem is... wind magic never had any glory. Otherwise, we wouldn't have such an oddity as [Wind Combat Mage]."
Mike smiled subtly, "Don't worry, leave it to me."