Chương 174: The Old Man's Scheme

Chapter 174 The Old Man's Scheme (Seeking Monthly Tickets~) 【Qiming Square】is the largest open-air lecture hall in the Magic Academy.

Inside the open-air circular plaza, there were rows of seats on stepped platforms that extended upwards. At this time, many students were arriving from the surrounding area.

They sat in small groups on the steps, waiting for the lecture to begin.

The very center of the circular plaza.

Frillie stood on the podium.

Behind her was a [magic signboard] formed from pale blue magic.

Two elderly men who looked like teachers were giving Frillie some instructions.

Frillie listened with a helpless expression.

(Three people ≡) Xia En and the others found a place to sit down.

Around them, many students were whispering and talking amongst themselves.

Everyone is very interested in the legendary mage, Frillian.

Xia En listened intently.

People's focus was varied; some were even seeing elves for the first time and were flipping through textbooks, trying to compare Frillie's elven characteristics.

Philon and Shutark stared wide-eyed at the large number of students around them.

The two little ones sat upright, as if they themselves had become one of them.

After a while, there was a "buzzing" sound.

A surge of magical energy swept over.

Frillie's voice was amplified by the [Sound Amplification] magic, reaching the ears of every student.

"Hello everyone, I'm Frillian—" The students, who had been whispering, suddenly fell silent.

Frillie paused briefly before introducing the content of her lecture for the day.

Just like when she lectured Philon, Frilian's voice was calm and her explanations were engaging.

She started by classifying common demon races, explaining the choice of combat methods and key points for defense when encountering different demon races.

It differs slightly from the content of the textbook.

Frillian's writing is entirely based on practical application, complete with magic demonstrations, and contains not a single superfluous word.

The students listened quietly.

At first, only a few people were taking notes.

Before people even realized it, more and more people started taking notes.

Shane looked at Frillian on the podium.

Suddenly I realized that this guy might be good material to be a teacher.

Previously, during a visit to Aize by the Central Kingdoms.

Aize once asked Philon privately, "Was Frillian a good teacher?"

At that time, Aize had a fight with Shutark, which led to the boy running away from home. As a result, he began to doubt himself, wondering if he was a good mentor and if his teaching methods were problematic.

He wanted to know how Frilian, who was a master for the first time, did it.

Philon noticed Aize's unease.

The young girl was very perceptive and shared her feelings: "I always thought that Lady Frilian took me as her apprentice because of Mr. Haita's request, and that she herself probably didn't feel anything about it."

"Until shortly after the journey began—"

"My first birthday after we left [Shutral]."

"Back then, Lady Frilian and Mr. Shane carefully selected a gift for me. They usually seemed to have no interest in these little things, but—I don't know what they were thinking, they actually put so much thought into what I liked—"

"Even now, I still don't know what she thinks about taking me as her disciple, but the fact that she's willing to put in the effort is enough."

Through Philon's account, Aize sensed Frilian's transformation and finally understood why Shutark had resorted to running away from home to cause trouble—as a mentor, he should indeed consider his student's feelings more.

Frillian, standing in the center of the podium, was still demonstrating magical spells to the students.

Every now and then, students would raise their hands and ask questions.

She listened attentively, answering even the simplest questions one by one. When a student was inspired and applied the knowledge to other situations, she would generously praise them. The students blushed with embarrassment, but the joy in their eyes was evident to everyone.

Xia En smiled.

Although she's a slow learner, she's surprisingly a good teacher.

In the school's reception room.

Lairn, Gennau, and Zanze stood in front of a map.

Gennau was a cold-faced middle-aged man wearing the uniform of a first-level mage, with a meticulously combed hairstyle and a very formal ruffled scarf around his neck, giving him a serious and capable appearance.

Contrary to his cold image.

Zanze is a seemingly harmless little girl.

She wore a white dress with a matching mage uniform over it, and had beautiful, long, light-colored hair. Her features were delicate, with slender eyebrows and eyes, and her gaze was calm and serene, carrying a hint of languid weariness.

He looks like he hasn't woken up yet.

The two stood beside Lylene, looking together at the map of Oisast on the table in front of them.

In the upper right corner of the map, there is a circled forest.

"The Grob Basin?"

Gainau stared at the red circle on the map, puzzled.

"This basin is sparsely populated and has a complex terrain, and it is also home to a large number of monsters. It is indeed suitable as an examination venue."

"but----" Gainau frowned slightly.

"Isn't it too easy to just let the examinee capture a [Meteor Bird]? Any experienced mage could do that."

"This is far too easy for those who want to become a Level 1 Mage."

The meteorite bird is a small bird with brown feathers.

They are very sensitive to magic and will not approach places where the magic power is higher than a certain value.

Therefore, they will fly away immediately if any mage gets close.

Their own magical power is very weak, making them difficult to detect once they fly away. Moreover, these birds have very hard bodies and can fly at speeds exceeding the speed of sound.

It is virtually impossible to capture birds by magic alone.

However, these so-called difficulties in capturing are simply a piece of cake for experienced mages.

If you briefly suppress your magic when you spot the meteor bird and use more traditional bird-catching methods, such as nets or traps, mimicking the techniques of ordinary hunters, you can easily capture it.

In Geinau's view, such exam content was far from sensible.

This is not a test of magic at all.

"The combat environment for a Level 1 Mage is usually very perilous. There are frequent instances where their magic is suppressed, even controlled, leaving them unable to use it. This kind of assessment is meant to show everyone that magic is not omnipotent."

"If you want to reason with me, you can wait until the exam is over. The assessment of a first-level mage should strictly follow the principle of strength."

17 Gainau's words were somewhat blunt.

Zanze glanced at him.

Lylene wasn't angry.

"I remember you saying, 'Ganau, you hate teammates who have no brains.'"

"Isn't this kind of assessment exactly what you wanted? A person who can handle this kind of test question flexibly must be a quick-witted person."

Ganau's eyes were icy cold.

"A first-level mage needs more than just a quick mind."

Lylene did not refute Gainau's words. He raised his finger and pointed to a spot outside the city of Oisaster, where a scarlet skull was painted.

"Therefore, the location of the second level will be here."

[The Fallen King's Tomb] An unexplored maze.

It is marked with the highest level of danger.

Gainau looked at Lylene.

"You want the test takers to solve this maze?"

Lylene nodded.

Gainau's tone turned serious, "Laierne, do you know what you're saying—"

"Based on the information from the advance investigation team, it can be deduced that the master of that labyrinth is the [Water Mirror Demon], a monster born in the mythical era, with the earliest record appearing in the 'Heroic Legends' written by the great sage Evish. The current consensus in the magical world is that the [Water Mirror Demon] can read the memories of people within its magical range, thereby creating clones."

"Among the newly created monsters, there are some that can read the memories of their targets, such as the [Phantom Demon], but they cannot create physical forms. Only the [Water Mirror Demon]'s memory copying is physical."

"Those entities possess the same strength, magic, and skills as the original body, making them the most perfect magical creations, with overall combat power comparable to the original body."

"This is also why the Tomb of the Fallen King has not been conquered to this day."

"The first hurdle is too easy, and the second is too difficult," Gennau questioned.

"Ryle, are you kidding this year's test takers?"

Lylene glanced at him with some surprise.

"It's rare that you care about the feelings of the test takers."

"I just find these unnecessary casualties boring."

Zanze also disagreed.

"Many people will definitely pass the first level. Given the confidence they gained from that level, the likelihood of them underestimating their opponents in the second level is extremely high. At that time—"

"To eliminate the clones without any sacrifices, one needs a cautious attitude, calm self-analysis, excellent individual skills, and essential teamwork."

Lylene nodded.

"That's right, calm, cautious, and cooperative—isn't that exactly the kind of teammate you're looking for? As a 'pacifist,' you should prefer this selection method, right?"

Zanze paused for a moment.

She glanced at Gainau, then at Lylene.

"That's definitely the way I like it."

"However, the [Lost King's Tomb] is too dangerous, and there will be a lot of casualties, which is not something I want to see."

Lairn seemed to have anticipated Zanze's words.

He took out a small glass bottle from his pocket, inside which was a small, curled-up clay figure.

"This is a [Magic Puppet]. It has extremely high magic and physical defense, and can even cast simple healing spells. Its life-saving effect is top-notch."

"Before the second stage begins, you can distribute these [Puppets] to each examinee."

Zanze didn't reach for it. A strand of her light-colored long hair, which was draped over her shoulders, floated up gently and, as if it were alive, wrapped around the map. She then took the glass bottle from Lylene's hand.

This is her "hair magic".

She can control her hair with her will, and can even use it to fight.

Normally, she uses her hair instead of her hands for everything, big or small.

She looked at the small glass bottle and pondered for a moment.

Having the [Magic Puppet] certainly ensured the safety of the examinees, but something still felt off—

"Laiern, in the past, you always used simple and crude assessment methods. Why are there so many considerations this time?"

Faced with Zanze's questioning, Lylene smiled.

He slowly rolled up the map on the table, chuckling to himself as he did so: "After all, I'm getting old. Who knows if this will be the last Level One Mage Exam I preside over? It's time to make way for you younger generation."

Then, he handed the map he had put away to Zanze.

Zanze still raised a strand of hair and took it.

Lylene looked at her empty hand, now devoid of the map, and slowly clenched her fist.

"No matter what, this is my first time trying it."

After saying that, he reached out and patted the two young men on the shoulder, then walked past them toward the door of the reception room.

Zanze was puzzled by Lylene's change of heart. She looked at Lylene's back with a deep gaze.

"is that so----" Beside her, Gaina remained silent.

The lecture was a great success.

The students adored Frillie.

If it weren't for Lylene showing up just in time to take him away, the scene after the lecture would have turned into a massive idol autograph session within seconds.

Despite the students' enthusiasm, Frillie firmly stated that she would never come again.

Lylene was helpless.

"This is not a good situation—the school holds an invited lecture outside the school every now and then, and this one was very popular. The school has already contacted me to start booking the next one."

Frillie shook her head firmly.

She never liked noisy environments.

It's best to avoid these kinds of troubles as much as possible.

"Although it's a magic school, isn't it too monotonous to only listen to lectures by mages? Why not have sages, warriors, and monks all give lectures?"

Frillie quickly made a suggestion.

Xia En found it funny.

This white-haired elf is always quick-witted when she wants to slack off.

He couldn't help but tease, "What, you're not going to take your payment for the magic book?"

did not expect.

After thinking for a moment, Lylene surprisingly nodded in agreement.

"That's a good suggestion. It will also help students understand other professions. So, I'd like to ask you all to come to the school once a month after the New Year."

Xia En: "————" Xia En thought he had misheard.

No, buddy, you just agreed like that?

Is it appropriate for a magic academy to hold lectures by sages?

Shutark pointed to himself, his eyes full of confusion.

"Am I coming too?"

Lylene smiled and nodded.

"The reward remains the same: one magic book each time."

Shutark was on high alert.

"I can't do it! I'm just a novice warrior! I haven't even graduated from my master yet! How could I possibly teach so many students! I can't!"

The boy remembered the crowded lecture square he had just been to, and his face turned ashen with fright.

He was very interested in being a student.

Become a teacher?

Xia En had no doubt that the kid would take off running.

Sure enough, Frilian thought so too, and she immediately patted Shutark on the shoulder.

"Shutark, summon your courage for the grimoire."

Shutark wailed.

"I don't need a magic book!"

But it didn't work.

Frillie immediately sold him out.

"Sage, Warrior, Monk, and today's four magic books in total. May I ask if I can receive them all in advance?"

Everyone [————] After seeing Frilian and the others off.

Instead of rushing back to the Continental Magic Association, Lylene went to the school library.

In the library, he took out another map.

This map is slightly smaller than the one he, Gennau, and Zanze had just looked at.

The vegetation, buildings, and even the city boundaries on the map are slightly different from those in the present-day Oisast.

He walked past rows of bookshelves, his eyes searching among the books. After a moment, he stopped and pulled out an old-fashioned book from the shelf.

He skillfully turned to a particular page of the book.

I carefully compared the map in my hand with the illustrations in the book.

"That's correct."

"Grob Basin, ancient ruins, suspected to be the tomb of the sage Evisch —"

"You'll definitely be interested."

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