Chapter 128. Teaching Apprentices
Inside Cuilan Academy, on a recently requisitioned piece of land, a brand-new sign stood upright on the ground, reading [Forge Furnace School Temporary Base].
This area had been designated as a temporary base for the Forge Furnace School, thanks to Elan using his privileges as the Academy Head.
Currently, there were only two lonely buildings on the site: one was for the newly enrolled apprentices' accommodations, and the other was a practice area for them to hone their spellcasting skills.
In one of the empty rooms, two apprentices from the Forge Furnace School were practicing their spells.
Kane stood facing a specially made wall, casting the spell [Steam Jet].
He was very skilled. With a simple lift of his hand, he placed the release node on one finger, compressing the steam’s path into a narrow stream.
A loud rumbling sound rang in his ears as white steam shot out from his finger, slamming into the wall.
A large dent appeared in the solid wall. Kane examined it carefully, feeling quite satisfied.
However, unease bubbled up inside him. Although the spell was powerful, it wouldn’t be enough to win any rankings in the assessnt.
While the Forge Furnace School’s spell repertoire was still small, the [Steam Jet] was a ranged attack, giving it more strength than the Transformation School’s spells.
After all, the Transformation School’s spells were just a filler, with their real expertise lying in modifications.
But even with that advantage, it still wasn’t enough compared to other schools.
The Elental Academy could easily outperform it with just a basic Fireball, and other schools had their own powerful spells.
"This won’t work. I need to buy so basic spells," Kane thought to himself.
He knew that relying on just this spell wouldn’t be enough to succeed in the assessnt. He needed to practice so foundational spells.
Turning to his best friend, Osian, who had helped him join the Forge Furnace School, Kane asked:
"How’s your device coming along?"
Osian, who was tinkering with parts on a table, looked up and replied:
"With [Energy Conversion], I can make the crossbows automatically reload. I’m working on a slot for the bolts now."
Kane looked at the crossbows on the table and asked, "Can we take these into the assessnt?"
Due to the nature of certain schools, there were restrictions on the number of items each school could bring into the assessnt to keep things balanced.
For example, if the Transformation School brought a fully ard team of twelve modified soldiers, no one could compete with that!
The Necromancy School could summon dozens of evil spirits and skeletons, forcing their opponents to fight a large army while spending all their ntal energy just to control them.
With such tactics, other schools wouldn’t stand a chance, so the number of items allowed into the assessnt had to be restricted.
Bringing in a single crossbow wasn’t a problem, especially since not every apprentice had the magic power to cast stronger mage shields.
Most of them could only cast a Fireball spell and then use a crossbow to shoot, potentially breaking through a mage's shield and dealing damage.
But what if soone brought in four crossbows and didn’t use spells at all, relying entirely on weapons?
"It should be fine. I asked Elan. He said as long as the equipnt is magic-powered, it’s allowed. They’ll only stop you if it doesn’t involve magic," Osian replied.
For the organizers of the assessnt, the main point was for apprentices to decide their rankings through their spellcasting.
The restrictions on the Transformation and Necromancy schools were ant to balance things out, while the limits on ranged equipnt ensured the rankings were fair.
If soone just used a few crossbows to shoot and beat weaker opponents, it wouldn’t matter. They couldn’t pass the test without using magic.
However, for items powered by magic, it was a different matter, as long as the user actually perford the spellcasting.
Kane looked at his friend working with the parts, feeling admiration.
Osian had co up with the idea for the automatic reloading crossbow himself. By using gears and rails, Osian had figured out that by casting [Energy Release], the crossbow could automatically reload.
"Once we each have three or four of these, we won’t have to worry..." Kane mused.
Just then, the door was knocked on, and a voice called from outside:
"Elan says we need to assemble."
"We're on our way," Kane responded quickly, signaling for the apprentice outside to leave. He and Osian quickly tidied up the room.
---
When Kane and Osian arrived at the eting place, they imdiately saw two people wearing robes marked with the Forge Furnace School emblem as they entered.
"Two official mages," Kane whispered to Osian.
One of them was Elan, their ntor, whom they often interacted with, but the other—who was the new woman? They had seen Chief Habos, the head of their school, who had taught them about rare materials, but this new female ntor was unfamiliar.
"Do you know who that is?" Kane asked.
"I don't know. Maybe she’s the apprentice Habos took in. I heard she’s just a step away from becoming an official mage. Maybe she’s the one who got promoted," Osian speculated.
"You must be joking. I rember that apprentice didn’t even get a ranking, right? How could she have been promoted? I bet she transferred from another school," Kane replied.
Several other apprentices from the Forge Furnace School whispered among themselves, trying to figure out who the new ntor was.
As soon as the two of them arrived, Elan coughed lightly, then said:
"Everyone’s here, let’s get started."
The apprentices imdiately quieted down and turned their attention to Fulan.
Fulan walked to the materials placed aside and said:
"I am Fulan, a newly promoted official mage, and also a part of the Forge Furnace School. Today, I will teach you how to create a powerful weapon."
With that, Fulan used [Telekinetic Hand] to lift a piece of fine iron, igniting it in mid-air.
The apprentices focused their attention. Every lesson they had received so far in the Apprentice City had been useful, and the lessons from Habos, their previous ntor, had especially benefited them. They had learned that making things involved a lot of skill and care.
Now, another ntor had arrived, and was about to teach them how to create a powerful weapon, even demonstrating the process. This was incredibly exciting.
Osian, watching the iron ingot in the air turn red and even start to lt, was curious:
"How is she heating it up so fast?"
"She’s an official mage now. It’s normal for her to have stronger fire magic!" Kane replied, eyes fixed on Fulan’s spellcasting.
Fulan shaped the tal into a long tube, hollowed out the center, and prepared to start engraving rifling grooves inside.
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