A few days had passed since the entrance exam.
In the dormitory, Latin and his sister nervously opened their report cards.
Soon, frowns replaced their faces.
"I guess we didn't pass."
The five sisters looked at each other with similar expressions on their faces.
Meanwhile, Latin was greeted with a congratulatory letter welcoming him to the Moonlight Academy.
However, looking at his sister, Latin smiled wryly.
With hundreds of trillions of individuals, passing was already a miracle.
Hoping for his sisters to also pass is like reaching for the sun.
"You can do it, brother. We are proud of you!" His sister cheered happily.
"Don't even think about not attending the academy because of us!"
"But I told you I would ensure that you would pass..."
"Hmph! Brother needs to be strong and later!"
"That's right, who knows if our husbands will bully us if you're weak!"
His sister jeered, causing him to pause.
"You're already seeing someone?"
His sister was his blood and flesh, and hearing the term 'husband' hurt him more than the result of the entrance exam.
"Uh—of course not, brother!"
"We will be with you forever!"
"Huh, that's good." Latin unknowingly heaved a sigh of relief.
Seeing this, his sisters laughed with a giggle.
"But what will you do? You can't just stay stuck at home, can you?" Latin asked with a frown.
Although the benefits of becoming a student at Moonlight Academy were good, they were not enough for them to share.
Becoming a student at Moonlight Academy automatically advanced you to a class 1 citizen.
With a daily subsidy of 100 crystals, there was no way it could support his and his sisters' training.
He figured he could also work in the academy to earn money.
However, it was still unknown if he could earn enough.
"Don't worry about us, brother. We anticipated this, so we already chose a school."
"A school? Where? In the Arcane Continent?"
As far as he knew, all the schools in the Moonlight Empire were just free education institutions.
Besides teaching, they didn't regulate students whatsoever, much less provide resources.
"No, it's in the Moonlight Empire."
"Furthermore, the school would give you free resources as long as you didn't drop out of the school!"
"A school? What's its name? Could it be a scam?" Latin's worry deepened.
"No, the name of the school is Golden Academy, and it was established by a group of alumni from Moonlight Academy."
With doubts, Latin opened his token and looked through the information of the Golden Academy.
As his sisters said, the school was just established recently.
As of now, it doesn't even have any students.
Their registration time was opposite to that of the Moonlight Academy, aiming to garner more students.
Furthermore, unlike the Moonlight Academy, the entrance test of the Golden Academy was based solely on potential.
Anyone with rank 3 potential was eligible for entry.
As for benefits, they were also generous.
All kinds of special potions, elixirs, weapons, training facilities, etc., were available for free.
The only catch was that the Golden Academy was entirely based on ratings.
Each day, students at the school had various tasks to complete.
Ranging from improving a certain percentage, studying a course in a designated profession, defeating an opponent designated by the school, etc.
Failure to comply meant your rating would decrease.
Once it fell below average, you would be kicked out of the school forever.
"Interesting!" Latin muttered with interest.
This school basically made its whole compound a jungle with all kinds of rules.
All those defeated would be killed, a.k.a. kicked out.
"However, the school seems to be built upon pressure..." Latin thought with worry.
With his sisters' soft character, they probably wouldn't even survive for a month.
Seeing his expression, his sisters understood what he was thinking.
"Don't you dare stop us!"
"This is our chance to catch up to you!"
"Don't think that we are always helpless little girls!"
"That's right! These little girls are also strong!"
"Brother, don't you want us to stay with you forever?" His sisters said softly.
Hearing this, Latin's heart melted as he suddenly realized something.
It's indeed his fault for always babying his sisters.
It might also be the reason his sisters failed the entrance exam of the Moonlight Academy.
They were too soft and coddled that they fell at the slightest touch.
If this continues, maybe in the future, he won't even see his sisters.
Thinking of this, Latin's eyes reddened, and he didn't say anymore.
"Just be safe, and always remember that your brother is here..."
A few months later, at the Golden Academy.
At the entrance, trillions of people who were eligible for entry scrutinized the academy in front of them.
"Do you think the advertisement they put up is true?"
"Free resources? Ha! We can only wish!"
"But you're here nonetheless, so you must believe it!"
Hearing this, the crowd who believed that the Golden Academy was a scam fell silent.
Indeed, although they knew it might be a scam, they came nonetheless.
After failing to attend the Moonlight Academy, they couldn't just give up like that.
With at least rank 3 potential, they had a bright future ahead of them.
Although they could live their lives worry-free, they couldn't accept being merely breeding machines.
They yearned for adventure and amazing discoveries.
Standing at the crossroads of their fate, they would rather believe in some false hope than accept that they were just a passing moment in history.
Tesoro looked at the students with fervor.
"What a huge gold mine!" Tesoro muttered excitedly.
"However, this also costs a lot of money," Zexel said with worry.
Free resources without expecting anything in return were an insane investment.
If they hadn't believed in their friend, they wouldn't even have set foot in this crazy place.
"Tesoro, about the resources, where do we get them?" Javier asked.
They had already dumped all their money into the school.
Construction wasn't costly; what took up most of their budget were various high-tech resources with the specifications from the Moonlight Academy.
Such as the tiered down time chamber, atomic energy measuring device, mana concentrated room, gravity chamber, spirit pressure chamber, virtual compartments, etc.
Worst of all, these devices were all on loan.
If they didn't make money to pay for all of these regularly, they would have to sell themselves.
Thinking of it, Tesoro's three friends couldn't help but shiver.
"We borrow money," Tesoro said like a crazy gambler.
"Damn, we're in a sinking ship!"
"I chose the wrong friend! Help!"
Looking at their expressions, Tesoro only smiled.
After settling down the students who passed their enrollment criteria, Tesoro and his friends went to the bank.
Applying for another loan, the bank teller was stunned.
"A hundred quadrillion crystals?!"
This amount isn't a joke.
It's already equivalent to a trillion crystal merits, which can make a tier 7 advance to tier 8.
Even though the empire was super rich, so much so that it didn't have a place to put its money, not anyone could just borrow money from thin air.
The various high-tech machines that Tesoro and the others borrowed earlier were not a problem.
If they couldn't pay, the empire could just sanction the academy and take back the machines.
However, borrowing cash at such a large amount isn't possible without any collateral.
"Yes, could I speak to someone who can make decisions?"
"This— I'll call my manager quickly," seeing that Tesoro still had some bargaining chips, the bank teller quickly took an intercom and made a call.
Soon, a man came up to them, making Tesoro and the others feel pressure.
"The Empire Bank is really full of dragons and phoenixes."
"Haha, thank you for your compliment."
"How about we continue this discussion in the room?"
Inside the room, they continued their discussion.
Without hiding anything, Tesoro put out his chips to be able to borrow the money.
"A tier 9 treasure? Furthermore, it's an initiate treasure?"
"There really isn't anyone simple who can graduate from the Moonlight Academy."
"Luck can't be obtained without strength," the man said, shaking his head.
"So, can we borrow money?"
"A tier 9 initiate treasure is more than enough as collateral," the man nodded without hesitation.
A tier 9 initiate treasure is sought after even by the Apex Sovereigns.
If not for the Empire's solid rule, he would have robbed the treasure in front of him without a second thought.
Fortunately, after seeing how rich His Majesty is, a mere tier 9 initiate treasure isn't enough for him to act in such disgrace.
Soon after signing a high-tier contract, Tesoro and the others got 100 quadrillion interest-free loans.
This is also one of the benefits of the newly budding Moonlight Empire.
As long as one had enough collateral, they could borrow money in unlimited amounts without any interest.
For Maximus, the development of the empire was the first priority.
For money, he could rely on his transactions in his dimensional shop and reselling resources of the Myriad World Mall.
If not for it being troublesome, he would just build everything beneficial to the Empire.
Unfortunately, it's too inefficient; if he did everything himself, it would be too slow.
The people's competition is what truly drives a civilization to advance.
Maximus just needed everyone to be in line, and he could sit back and relax.