Seeing that the other man was still on his feet, Colin breathed a sigh of relief.
He said, "It was manageable."
Morel asked, "Do you have experience Casting Teleportation Magic?"
"I’ve learned the Tier Two Magic, Misty Step, and I’ve practiced it before."
"That explains it. Most people are a bit more surprised when they first co here." Morel shrugged. "But for a battle-hardened combat Mage like you, I suppose your reaction is normal."
’Maybe it’s because I watched a lot of movies about magic academies in my past life.’
As Colin thought to himself, he continued to survey his surroundings.
The walls of the room were covered in alcoves and shelves, all laden with various objects. At the sa ti, a faint, low hum was audible in the air.
’And why do I feel... like soone’s watching ? Is it my imagination?’
The more closely Colin looked, the more it made his skin crawl.
"Alright, keep following ."
With that, Morel walked forward.
The two of them walked to an open space behind the Steel Giant Statue. The space was a circle with a radius of about twenty ters, surrounded by walls also filled with alcoves that stretched all the way up.
At the sa ti, there were many archways floating in mid-air above them, and one side of each archway connected to a wooden door, also floating in the air.
After they stood firm, the open ground beneath their feet began to flicker with a faint blue light.
Imdiately after, a circular stone slab with a five-ter radius broke away from the floor and began to lift them slowly upward.
"How much do you know about the Black Tower?"
"To put it simply," Colin said, curiously looking around, "absolutely nothing."
"That’s why Edwin gave you this assignnt. He probably wants you to have more options down the road."
"What do you an?"
"Edwin and I used to be teammates in the sa Gray Squad, otherwise we wouldn’t be in charge of this whole field personnel business together."
Morel continued, "Like you, I’m a Wild Mage who crawled out of the slums. Now, thanks to my performance in the Gray Squad, I’ve managed to beco a Magic Professor at the Black Staff Tower. Of course, I’m also a lieutenant in the City Guard."
"So you’re saying I could beco a Magic Professor in the future?" Colin raised an eyebrow.
In his mind, at least, what the man was saying sounded like a fairy tale.
"Of course, it’s possible," Morel said. "Do you have any idea how fast your squad is progressing? Edwin doesn’t recruit many squads to begin with, and yours has a pretty impressive track record. At least, you’re doing much better than the few squads that got themselves killed."
Colin thought for a mont.
’These have been so of the toughest tis for Thousand Masts City lately. Casualties among the field personnel must be high.’
’Speaking of which, I originally thought going to Snow Deer Valley would be a relatively easy job. But with the Skeleton Centurion and the Frost Giant Skeleton along the way, it didn’t feel that easy in the end.’
Colin asked curiously, "Speaking of which, does everyone handle a different number of squads?"
"More or less. But most people try to recruit as many squads as they can."
Morel continued, "Since Edwin is the overall head of the field personnel, he recruits a bit less. After all, he’s the busiest one. That guy’s a real saint. He basically arranges a suitable exit strategy for every field personnel mber—except for himself.
"Can you imagine? A Legendary figure spending all of his subsidies on charity, to the point where he’s eating nothing but black bread every day. I could never do sothing like that, anyway."
Colin rembered Edwin building houses outside the city.
’That certainly sounds like sothing the Paladin would do.’
’Speaking of which, Edwin is the overall head? I guess a Legendary Paladin is certainly qualified for the position.’
Colin belatedly realized just how lucky he had been.
’If I hadn’t t Edwin, I would have just been running around like a headless chicken. The issue with Kase would have never been resolved, and I might not have even survived.’
"So, what’s the job like?"
"Being a Magic Professor? The work is easy, the pay is high, and you have plenty of ti every day for Magic experints or just resting." Morel flashed a proud smile. "I think you’ll feel the sa way I do—the job is absolutely perfect."
Colin thought for a mont and said, "That does sound like a perfect job."
’It’s pretty much the equivalent of becoming a professor at a prestigious university. It does sound nice.’
Hearing this, Colin could already picture his own wonderful retired life.
"You’ve still got a long way to go," said Morel, who could tell what he was thinking. "If everything goes smoothly, you’ll need to climb to a high rank among the field personnel, then get into the Gray Squad and work your way up. If you get good results, you’ll finally be able to land this easy and respectable job."
Colin nodded silently.
"But don’t think this experience is useless. If you don’t want to be an Adventurer in the future and want to teach at so Magic Academy, having a line on your resu like ’Taught a practical training course at the Black Tower’ is extrely eye-catching. Of course, with your current mastery of Magic, you’re not really in a position to teach anyone yet." Morel snapped his fingers.
Just then, the floating disc beneath their feet stopped in front of an arched bridge.
Morel was the first to step onto the bridge, and Colin quickly followed.
He walked to the floating wooden door at the other end of the bridge, reached for the handle, turned it, and stepped inside.
The space beyond the door was shrouded in black fog, making it impossible to see where it led.
’If I saw a door like this in the wild, there’s a 100% chance I wouldn’t go in.’
Colin complained inwardly as he followed.
He stepped through the wooden door, and the black fog dissipated.
Opposite him was a gray wall with several stained-glass windows depicting various figures. Sunlight filtered through them, casting beautiful patterns on the wool carpet below.
To the left and right was a long, wide corridor, its walls also lined with wooden doors.
Robed figures could be seen scattered throughout the corridor, likely students or professors of the Black Tower. Every so often, soone would walk into one of the doors along the hall.
"By the way, do you have any idea about the lesson plan?"
Morel asked as he started walking to the right.
"Edwin told to co here and get the details."
Morel said, "To be honest, Wild Mages like us are no match for the geniuses here when it cos to theory. They’re not going to have you teach them the intricacies of Casting or anything. The so-called ’practical training course’ is for you to teach what you do best: fighting monsters.
"Given the recent situation in Thousand Masts City, it would be best if the content is related to the recent Winter Catastrophe. After all, not everyone gets to go to the edge of the world like Snow Deer Valley and fight polar monsters."
Colin considered the Magic he had learned and his thods of combat.
He asked, "Would sothing related to the Frostland Druids work?"
"That could work. What do you plan to use as teaching material?"
"Blights, or more specifically, Vine Blights."
"That... should be fine," Morel said. "Vine Blights are actually a good choice. They’re uncommon, not too powerful, and they fit with the hot topic of the recent Winter Catastrophe. Besides, information about these monsters was just recently added to the curriculum."
With that, he pushed open a nearby door in the corridor.
The two of them stepped inside.
The place was sowhat similar to a university lecture hall.
Inside the room was a lecture stand, with rows of tiered seats arranged in a circle around it. Behind the stand was a tal grating, and beneath the grating was a small pit, like one you’d find in a fighting arena.
Colin walked over to the tal grating and glanced down.
There was nothing below, just a small pit like one for beasts in a gladiator arena.
"That spot is called the demonstration area. It’ll be closed off when class starts... Actually, never mind. I’ll just explain how to control these teaching aids right now," Morel said.
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