My physics masters couldn't possibly be grand mages.

Einstein stood before the blackboard, surrounded by scattered draft papers. Behind him, the computer screen displayed densely packed calculation sheets.

"Char, do you really think that colossal structure was formed naturally?"

Char paused for a moment. He had seen that thing before—it couldn't possibly be a creation of nature.

"Perhaps we can make an assumption now."

Einstein stared at the blackboard in front of him, his eyes flashing.

"That thing might have been left behind by some ancient civilization. They created it from the cosmic rules they discovered. But it's not used to 'teach' knowledge; it directly gives you the 'results.'"

"Like a tool?"

"Yes. Precisely because it is a tool, it actually has a certain degree of universality. You don't need to understand the underlying logic; you can understand it through experience and natural language."

That's why it's "visualization" rather than "deduction".

Xia nodded. "According to the meditation method, it would take at least several decades to inscribe all the runes of truth. One needs to reach the sixth rank to fully understand them."

"I haven't actually broken them down completely. There are still many parts that I can't formalize. Because that belongs to a deeper level of 'truth'."

Even so, I still managed to successfully inscribe these twenty-four Truth Runes.

If they were from an ancient civilization, it would be even faster.

"They probably didn't expect this world to regress technologically," Xia chuckled. "In their time, understanding all runes was probably just a basic requirement."

"Am I considered a sixth-tier player now?"

Xia was taken aback for a moment, then quickly pulled out the "Meditation Techniques" from his storage space. "You currently have twenty-four runes, which should surpass the average first-tier magic power. However, the standard for second-tier and above is not just the number of runes, but also the ability to construct a structure using runes. There are also some other complex things."

"Then I must be only first-order," Einstein said. "I don't know any configurations."

"Can you create the configuration yourself now?"

Einstein shook his head. "It requires trial and error. I don't know what effect these runes will produce when combined."

Char touched his chin.

It would be great to see other people's well-prepared experiences...

But now, the only place he can access systematic magical knowledge is the Tower of Truth.

Wait a minute—he remembered what he'd seen when he passed the Ministry of Magic on his way to school.

His eyes lit up.

"I think we can try a different approach to enter the Tower of Truth."

Einstein tilted his head...

..........

The Ministry of Magic is a department directly under the Tower of Truth, primarily responsible for handling local magical matters. Every university that partners with the Tower of Truth has a Ministry of Magic, so Imperial College London is no exception.

Located on the left side of the school, it is an old stone building, a typical Gothic Revival style building.

Char and Einstein barely rested and entered the building early in the morning.

The interior of the building is much more spacious than it appears from the outside.

At the end of the three-story corridor is a double oak door.

A job posting was displayed on the door.

Push open the door.

Behind the door was a spacious, circular office. The dome was high, and the four walls were lined with bookshelves that reached the ceiling.

A middle-aged man was sitting behind the desk.

He wore a dark blue robe with silver runes embroidered on the hem. A pair of thin-rimmed glasses perched on his nose, and he was writing something with his head down.

On one corner of the table was an identification card that read: Deputy Minister of Magic: Howard von.

He seemed to have noticed the person who had come, but he did not look up.

"If you're registering as a magician, go to the left and get a form. If you're inquiring about the admission results for the Tower of Truth, you can leave without a letter of introduction."

His voice wasn't loud, but it resonated clearly in the rotunda.

"The enrollment quota for Imperial College London has already been submitted and will not be changed due to any other reasons."

Char took a step forward.

"Please forgive our intrusion. But we are not here to study..."

Char turned to the side, revealing Einstein standing quietly behind him.

"I'm here for a job interview."

Howard paused for a moment.

He finally raised his head.

His gaze swept over Char—young, handsome, and without much magical energy fluctuation—before settling on Einstein.

Howard sized him up for two seconds.

Magical fluctuations around the third rank.

An elderly person in their fifties or sixties who only has three ranks has reached the end of their life.

He looked away and continued writing.

"We do not accept low-level mages."

Char didn't move.

He simply turned slightly to the side, giving up more space.

Einstein did not answer.

He simply raised his hand.

Very slowly. Very casually. Like an old man wiggling his fingers.

A point of light from a rune appeared in the air—the rune was revealed, which meant that a mage had a complete understanding of the rune.

That was the first rune Char learned, representing "energy release" and "conversion".

Next is the second rune representing "flow".

Then came the third and the fourth.

In fact, Howard's expression didn't change much until the sixth one.

But as he counted the sixth and ninth, his expression began to turn serious.

When the sixteenth rune appeared, he stood up from his seat with such a large movement that his chair moved back half an inch.

But what made his pupils shrink was that the appearance of these runes was far from over.

The eighteenth... the twenty-second, the twenty-third...

Howard no longer remembered that he was breathing.

Those points of light were reflected in his pupils.

Twenty-three runes surrounded the old man, slowly rotating like a galaxy in the making.

Then.....

The twenty-fourth one!

The last rune lit up at Einstein's fingertip, forming a perfect circle around him, as if responding to the truth of the world and subtly resonating with the rules around him.

The books in the room turned on their own without any wind, their pages rustling as they flipped.

Howard opened his mouth slightly, as if he wanted to say something, but his throat became inexplicably dry, and he couldn't utter a word.

He gripped the edge of the table, his fingers turning white from the force.

"you……"

His voice was hoarse. He cleared his throat and tried again.

"you……"

Einstein did not speak.

He simply raised his other hand slightly and flicked it lightly.

The twenty-four beams of light went out simultaneously.

The pages stopped turning, and the strange phenomenon of the twenty-four runes appearing simultaneously also ceased.

Business as usual.

It was as if nothing had happened.

Einstein put his hand back in his coat pocket, tilted his head slightly, and looked at Howard.

There was no pride, no boasting in those grey-blue eyes—only a faint, almost bored calm.

It's as if they're saying, "That's all. Is there anything else you'd like to see?"

Howard's Adam's apple bobbed.

He opened his mouth, but no sound came out. He opened his mouth again, and finally managed to squeeze out a sentence.

"Please... have a seat."

He raised his still slightly trembling hand and waved it at the empty space in front of him.

The ground rose up.

Two stone chairs rose from the ground, with soft cushions automatically forming on their backs. Fine runic patterns appeared on the surface of the stone chairs.

He walked around the desk, quickly went to the two chairs, stood there, and bowed slightly.

The coldness on her face was gone.

Instead, an expression of fear, awe, and ecstasy appeared.

A sixth-order archmage.

There are only a handful of sixth-tier archmages in the entire Tower of Truth!

They came to us on their own initiative.

In his office.

"Please sit down, please sit down." He said it twice. "What...what would you like to drink? Tea? Coffee? We also have red wine imported from Tudor..."

Xia glanced at him.

He knew that his plan was already more than half successful.

Low-level mages cannot sense the magical power possessed by high-level mages.

His mastery of twenty-four runes is enough to prove that he is a sixth-tier mage—because even if he isn't now, he certainly will be in the future.

Of course, he also had to thank Allen for letting him know that those at the fifth rank or above could be rated as "professors" within the Tower of Truth.

Moreover, professors do not have rigid teaching requirements, and they have a relatively high degree of freedom.

He was gambling. He was gambling that Howard wouldn't dare question a sixth-order archmage, gambling that no one would ask Einstein to demonstrate the configuration anytime soon, and gambling that they could acquire enough knowledge before the lie was exposed.

If I lose the bet, I can just retreat back to 2072.

Traveling through human history has a cooldown period and cannot change the established course of history.

However, there are no restrictions on traveling between 2072 and the magical world.

The former is "time travel", while the latter is "space travel"—two completely different mechanisms.

If they win the bet, they will be able to unlock the door to this world's magical system.

He didn't say anything, but simply helped Einstein sit down on the stone bench.

Howard's gaze shifted back and forth between the two of them, finally settling on Einstein.

"Sir, may I ask you...?"

"Albert Einstein," the old man said.

He hadn't heard of the name before, but that was normal; magicians of this caliber were usually very mysterious.

"Your Excellency Einstein," he repeated, as if savoring the words, "where...are you from? If I may ask, it seems you are...not very well known in Tudor and the Bauhinia?"

Einstein glanced at him, then spoke calmly.

"A very far place."

Howard paused for a moment.

"Very far...how far?"

Einstein did not answer.

He simply turned his head slightly to look out the window.

Outside the window is the tree-lined path of Imperial College London, with sunlight filtering through the leaves and onto the lawn.

"So far..." Einstein said slowly, "that it requires crossing the boundaries of time and space..."

Howard remained silent.

He didn't quite understand what that sentence meant. But he knew one thing.

This is not a question he can ask.

He took a deep breath, straightened his robe, and sat down opposite the two men.

The expression on his face had completely changed to professional enthusiasm.

"Sir," he said, "let's talk about the terms of service."