It took Toby a while but he finally understand everything on his status screen, as the system explained. And his reaction was one to behold.
Beside his rather out of place name, everything else held deeper meaning.
The system's mechanical voice walked him through every detail, one line at a time. It took a while for everything to sink in, but when it did, his expression shifted from confused… to fascinated… to outright disturbed.
"So basically," he muttered, "I'm the headmaster of the first and greatest interdimensional school ever built, but I'm still a weak-ass scrub with the combat power of a dead squirrel?"
[Affirmative.]
Toby exhaled hard and wiped his face. "Well, at least we're being honest about it."
His eyes went back to the status screen.
[Cultivation Speed: Extremely Low]
That one hurt the most.
[Your cultivation path—the Absolute Path—is built for flawlessness, not speed. Any progress you make will surpass others in quality, but not in time.]
"Which means I'm not going to get anywhere unless I do what this whole setup is built for… take in students."
[Correct. The Absolute Path is designed to progress through comprehension, perfect knowledge acquisition, and absolute stability. Each time a student gains insight, the system will grant you complete and optimized understanding of the knowledge.]
"So I must babysit genius-level weirdos from across dimensions… and I get smarter every time they read a book?"
[Accurate.]
Toby paced across the polished obsidian floor beneath him, the faint reflections of the Origin School's towering ceiling flickering across its surface.
His brain buzzed. He was used to systems giving strength, stats, loot. But this was something else entirely.
He wasn't a hero. He wasn't a fighter. He was… a librarian overlord?
[Knowledge Sync], [Knowledge Relay], [Library Mapping]—these weren't combat skills.
They were infrastructure. Power by proxy. He could become unstoppable, sure—but only through his students.
"No grinding, no leveling, no cheat items," he muttered. "Just raw, world-breaking intelligence… if I play my cards right."
He squinted at the screen again.
[Genesis Pool Access: Unlimited]
"Wait, explain this one again. It says I have unlimited access—but I can't use it?"
[The Genesis Pool only responds to registered students. Host is the administrator, and therefore not considered a user.]
"Of course not," Toby muttered dryly. "Would've been too easy."
[However, you may assign Genesis Pool usage quotas to students. Default quota per student is five. This may be increased based on merit, loyalty, or future system upgrades.]
That caught his attention.
"So not only do I raise these kids, I ration out divine body upgrades like candy?"
[That analogy is… technically correct.]
Toby exhaled and rubbed his temples. This was too much. Too weird. Too huge.
But it was also the coolest damn thing he'd ever been part of.
He turned toward the spiral tower across the atrium—the Library of All Realms. Its runed walls pulsed with energy, books floating around it like celestial satellites.
He didn't need to fight. He didn't need to punch monsters.
He just needed to gather the smartest, wildest talents the universe had to offer…
…and make them his students.
He'd give them knowledge. He'd give them transformation. In return, they'd give him comprehension. Power. Growth.
And in time, he'd build something bigger than any sect, kingdom, or empire.
He wasn't a cultivator. He was the origin of cultivators.
He stood straighter, eyes gleaming with a renewed spark.
"Alright. Enough standing around."
He clenched his fist.
"System, I'm ready to see the first five worlds."
[Selection Gate protocol initializing.]
[Compiling five potential worlds for student recruitment…]
[Estimated time to generation: 90 seconds.]
Toby cracked his knuckles and smirked.
He was very curious to see what kind of students fate throws his way.
...
[World generation complete.]
[Displaying potential worlds.]
In front of Toby, five floating panels materialized in the air—each one shimmering like a window into another universe.
Lines of text scrolled beneath them, full of details. He took a slow breath, stepping closer as the system narrated each one.
---
World Name: Crimson Sky Realm
Type: Low-tier Cultivation World
Current Era: End of the Decline Cycle
Spiritual Density: Low
Heavenly Dao Stability: Fractured
Dominant Powers: Ancient Sects, Wandering Clans, Ghost Cultivators
Potential Students: Moderate-to-High latent talent, suppressed by flawed cultivation paths
Threat Level: Low
Comment: High chance of discovering hidden gems with broken foundations or crippled roots.
Toby rubbed his chin, reading the world's information.
"Sounds like a world full of wasted potential. Easy first pick… but maybe too safe. Let's see others first."
---
World Name: Shatterdust Earth
Type: Mid-tier Post-Apocalyptic World
Current Era: 3rd Year of the Rift Collapse
Energy Composition: Corrupted Essence, Mutated Qi, Artificial Mana
Dominant Forces: Survivor Zones, Mutant Lords, Psionic Warlords
Potential Students: Unstable talents with strong psychic adaptability and combat instincts
Threat Level: Medium-High
Comment: Potential students may have damaged minds or unstable bodies—high risk, high reward.
"A psychic mutant with PTSD? Tempting, but I'd rather not die before we even start," Toby muttered.
---
World Name: Aetherlight Grid
Type: Mid-tier Magitek Civilization
Current Era: Arcane Revolution
Energy Type: Refined Mana + Tech-Integrated Essence
Dominant Forces: Techno-Mages, Arc-Engine Guilds, AI Cults
Potential Students: High IQ talents with affinity for spelltech fusion and arcane logic
Threat Level: Moderate
Comment: Students may possess foundational knowledge in magic, programming, or scientific theory. Ideal for hybrid knowledge relay boosts.
"Okay… that sounds like a walking headache. But a spell-hacking nerd could be insane with the right books."
---
World Name: Faevale Nexus
Type: High-Fantasy Wildland
Current Era: Eternal Spring
Energy Type: Pure Nature Essence, Chaos Magic
Dominant Forces: Faerie Courts, Beast Kings, World Trees
Potential Students: Spirit-based talents, high elemental affinity, unpredictable behaviors
Threat Level: Variable
Comment: High potential for rare abilities, but emotional instability and chaotic minds common.
Toby narrowed his eyes. "Right. Let's maybe not bring home a deranged dryad on Day One."
---
World Name: Ironvault Spiral
Type: Low-Tier Artificial World
Current Era: Cycle 47, AI Stewardship
Energy Composition: Null-mana, Tech Essence, Soul Simulation
Dominant Powers: Virtual Sects, Memory Hackers, Quantum Cults
Potential Students: Digitally evolved lifeforms, code-based souls, potential for multi-core processing
Threat Level: Unknown
Comment: Unstable laws. Reality partially simulated. Successor candidates to hyper-intelligence paths exist.
"What the actual hell is this? Cyber monks from the Matrix?"
---
Toby crossed his arms, staring at all five panels. They slowly rotated around him, glowing softly.
Each world was a gamble. One was safe. One was chaotic. Another? Straight-up weird. But each had the possibility to bring him his first true student—the person who would set the foundation for everything to come.
"I only get one pick," he muttered, tapping his chin. "No take-backs."
He looked once more at the Crimson Sky Realm, then glanced at Aetherlight Grid, where magic and logic danced together.
The apocalypse world gave him a chill. The Faevale one? No way. And Ironvault felt like a glitch waiting to happen.
But…
Toby grinned.
"I'll start simple. Let's go with the broken cultivation world. If I'm going to build the strongest school in all realities… I'll start by saving someone the rest of their world already gave up on."
[Selection confirmed: Crimson Sky Realm.]
[Opening Selection Gate…]
Toby watched as the massive golden gate he had walked through, called the Selection Gate, hummed with power, glowing brighter by the second.
He exhaled slowly.
"Fate, please be kind."