At night, on the terrace:
"Let's see what this Core Student status is all about," Maximus muttered.
Earlier, when he woke up from the trial, he noticed this prompt.
However, because he was busy tending to his family, he only glanced at it.
[Core Student Status: Privileges
99.9 percent discount
Free building pass
Exclusive Domain
Rule Exception
...]
Looking at the seemingly endless list of privileges, it took him a while to read it thoroughly.
"This... Awesome," Maximus unconsciously muttered.
Basically, the Core Student status is the freest person in the academy.
You can essentially do whatever you want at your discretion.
"With this, I have more confidence in the auction," Maximus muttered, gazing intently at the 99.9 percent discount.
This seems to be similar to the discount for the official students and special students, but it's not.
While official students get a 90 percent discount, and special students get a 99 percent discount.
This discount is only usable in the institute exchange list and building usage.
For Core students, the 99.9 percent discount is valid throughout all of the Arcane Continent.
Essentially, the institute will reimburse the students for their purchases regardless.
This is equivalent to increasing the value of his money a thousandfold.
Of course, he can't sell the items he bought using the discount, but he can freely give them to anyone.
"It's really generous..."
"All the suffering I've gone through was worth it," Maximus muttered, reflecting on his trial experience.
Regarding the free building pass, it's straightforward – he can use any building free of charge.
It may seem somewhat useless, but it is not.
The elemental pool that he had visited with his family earlier was only a low-tier one that cost 10 credits without the discount.
Meanwhile, the top-grade elemental lake house costs 10 million credits per visit.
Which is equivalent to 100 billion low-grade crystals.
Of course, that's only for Maximus, he still needed to pay if he wished to bring others with him.
As for the Exclusive Domain, it's equivalent to having a city building permit.
With it, he can legally claim any plot of land and use it for anything he wants.
"This should be the foundation of those old guilds," Maximus thought.
Although it's not as secure as a city built by the officials, you can do anything you want with it.
"Just in time for my Shadow Hunters Guild."
As for the rule exception, with his status, he can do whatever he wants regardless of various restrictions.
Such as various resources only available to higher tiers,
Being exempted from mandatory missions, mandatory attendance, etc.
Anyway, as long as it does not pertain to life and death, he is free to do whatever he wants.
As for the other privileges, they're not as important as the ones mentioned above.
Satisfied with the privileges of a Core Student, he joined his wives in the bedroom.
...
The next day, Maximus woke up feeling refreshed.
"Good morning," he greeted.
"Good morning, husband," they muttered lazily.
Last night was truly wild; if it weren't for his pent-up stress, he wouldn't have won the 8v1 battle.
"What's your plan for today? Are you going to the Celestial Ascent Path?"
"Yes, we want to catch up to you."
"Husband is so strong, we wouldn't want to be left behind."
"Hmm, you don't have to worry too much. I'm still me regardless."
"We know, but we still want to work hard."
"Then I'll wait for you to catch up," he said with a smile.
After they got ready, his wives headed to their destination, while his children went to school.
"Now, what should I do?" Maximus asked himself.
"I should apply for my guild first," Maximus thought after some consideration.
As for his empire, there wasn't much to do; it was progressing smoothly.
The shop in Silverleaf Floating City was running normally, providing him with 500 million crystals monthly.
Regarding training, he was too lazy.
After all, he had just finished the trial and was still jet-lagged.
...
In the Origin Arcana Institute Tower.
Looking at the tallest tower in the City of Arcana or even the world, Maximus couldn't help but sigh.
Upon entering, he saw a different world within.
"What is this?" Maximus unconsciously muttered.
This level of magnificence couldn't be achieved through spatial manipulation alone.
"A new student?" a passerby asked.
"Yes."
"You must be surprised by what's inside."
"Indeed, the interior seems like a whole world."
"You're right. Each floor of this tower is a small world," the passerby nodded.
"As expected," Maximus nodded in appreciation.
"Well, then I'll be off," the passerby said.
"Hmm."
As he gazed at the entire world contained within, Maximus found himself unsure of where to go for a moment.
"So, where do I need to go?" Maximus muttered.
However, before anyone could answer his question, the token in his storage suddenly teleported outside.
"What—"
The token suddenly lit up as the surrounding mana enveloped it.
This phenomenon also caught the attention of others in the room.
"What is that?"
"Could it be the birth of some treasure?"
"Idiot, this is the Origin Arcana Tower. How could a treasure be born here?"
"It seems like a token upgrade," a professor stated, having observed the situation.
"A token upgrade?"
"Isn't a token upgrade just about unlocking some functions?"
"No, as you know, the token you're holding is a part of a Tier 9 treasure."
"As long as you have a Special Student status, the token will upgrade to Tier 7 treasure."
"This grants it an automatic protection function and various auxiliary features not available to others."
"However, the commotion this is causing is quite big."
"Could it be?!" The professor stopped himself before continuing.
Based on his guess, this might be a Core Student token upgrade.
This rare event only occurs a few times every million years.
Although the Core Student status is not a secret.
It's not something he can casually mention; doing so might offend the other party.
Without another thought, the professor hurriedly left the situation.
Maximus watched as his token floated and became surrounded by surging mana.
After a while, the event subsided, and he heaved a sigh of relief.
What Maximus didn't notice was that the people around him disappeared as if they had been teleported.
The spirit of the tower had already noticed the commotion happening on the first floor and initiated the necessary procedures.
"Oh, another core student," the spirit of the tower muttered without much emotion.
The spirit of the tower then placed a barrier around Maximus and left to manage the other important floors.
"What happened?" Maximus muttered, looking at the descending token.
"Hello, host. I'm the fairy spirit of the token," a childish voice sounded.
"Spirit? A Tier 9 treasure?" Maximus asked.
As far as he knew, except for special circumstances, only Tier 9 treasures could give birth to spirits.
"Yes, host. I'm a Tier 9 treasure."
"Oh, are you still connected to the main server?" Maximus inquired.
His concern was that this Tier 9 Token was just an enhanced tracker placed on him.
"I have already become an independent private server for you, host."
"Whether it's connecting to the main server or others, you can do it at your own discretion."
"Oh, that's nice," Maximus nodded, though he didn't believe a thing about it.
"System scan," Maximus secretly ordered.
[Scanning complete...]
"Huh, something?" the little fairy muttered as if sensing a hint of intrusion.
Nothing could be hidden from the system scan.
The only issue is that others can detect it too if they are strong enough.
Fortunately, this fairy spirit was just a newborn, making it easy to deceive.
"There's nothing here. Come, tell me about the additional functions you have,"
Maximus changed the topic as he read what the system had scanned about the fairy spirit.
"Ah, first, except for the virtual functions it previously had, there are now various dimensional virtual worlds available."
"Hmm, is this a function that only official students can get?"
"Yes, that's correct, host."
"It seems you forgot to upgrade your token when you became an official student, so you didn't have access to these dimensional worlds previously."
"No, I was just too lazy to do it," Maximus excused himself.
He had indeed forgotten about such a thing.
These virtual worlds are where official students practice and compete with each other.
Similar to the Golden Gate trial earlier, here you can access all of that.
Of course, that's only for official students.
Seekers must first hone themselves and pass the trial.
"Oh, the second function is a bunch of useful auxiliary function."
"Like the world map – it shows the real-time situation of the mapped area."
"Of course, no peeking, host..." the little fairy teased.
"Hmm, this is amazing too."
Maximus certainly wouldn't use it for peeking as this mischievous little fairy suggested.
However, it would certainly be useful when he wants to locate treasures in the wilderness.
"There's also a search function that works in conjunction with the world map."
"Anyway, there are many auxiliary functions – you can check them later."
"Besides software updates, there are also hardware updates."
Then the little fairy explained each of its functions...
This content is taken from fr(e)ewebn(o)vel.𝓬𝓸𝓶