After the opening ceremony ended, Sylutia's studies at Tetis College officially began. In the first year, all students had fixed courses and attended classes together.
Currently, they had to take five courses: Quicksilver Runes, Precision Perception, Instrunt Craftsmanship, Rules and Conduct, and General Mage Studies. Among them, General Mage Studies primarily covered the developnt of the Mage Alliance, key historical milestones, and the characteristics and advantages of various schools of thought.
The Quicksilver Runes course was the foundation of many spell models of the Mithril Clock school, with a difficulty level between the Interdiate Runes and Advanced Runes that Sylutia had previously studied.
After completing this course, they would study the more difficult Dense Runes in their second year, as well as the Mark of Ti, which only Sixth Tier mages were qualified to access—a strange secret art capable of interfering with ti.
In class, the teacher instructing the students first introduced the origin and main features of this course.
"You all should have heard, to so extent, that our Mithril Clock school excels in precision machinery, capable of creating small yet high-quality and functional creations. Much of this credit goes to our mastery of excellent rune engraving techniques."
"By engraving rune circuits inside a creation and constructing circulation loops, we can enchant it, adding special effects. For enchanted creations made by other schools, achieving 20% of normal spellcasting efficiency is already considered good. But our school often achieves 40% of normal spellcasting efficiency—this is nearly the highest among all mage factions."
"This technique established the strength of our school and also brought in considerable inco. If you want to make money in the future, producing high-quality alchemical enchanted creations will be an excellent choice." The teacher's words instantly ignited the students' motivation, making them look forward to their futures. Even students from families that lacked for nothing wanted to prove their abilities in their families through this course.
"Since this is the first sester, my requirents for you won't be too high. This sester, you need to master 17 low-level compound runes and 8 interdiate compound runes."
"Today, I will teach you the Quicksilver Rune. This rune has a very wide range of applications. It serves as an excellent bridge for connecting other runes, greatly improving the smoothness of the entire spell, and also enhancing the effectiveness of other runes. In the Mithril Radiance that Hedra used earlier, the Quicksilver Rune was one of its core components."
"Although our school has passed on the Mithril Radiance spell model to outsiders, not many have managed to learn it on their own like Hedra. There are many factors, but the main one is that outsiders haven't learned our school's other techniques and secret arts, making it very difficult to succeed through self-study alone."
"For example, applying the Quicksilver Rune requires very precise manipulation, which demands that the user have sufficient ntal power and ntal stability. You can improve this ability by studying our school's Silver Thread ditation thod."
"Secondly, you need to have precise discrimination and perception of spell models. This is like a nearsighted person trying to carve a pattern onto a tiny grain of rice. If you can't 'see clearly,' it's very hard to manipulate."
"So you need to apply the various techniques from another course: Precision Perception."
"If you can master Mithril Radiance well right after enrollnt, it proves that you have outstanding talent and are very suitable for our school." After saying this, he glanced at the black-haired girl in the classroom. The students present quickly realized this was a kind of praise for Hedra.
"Alright, I've said enough. Now let's start discussing the details."
The class ti passed quickly, but the students were still not satisfied. That was the mark of a good teacher—not only could they fully impart knowledge and skills, but they could also spark students' curiosity and motivation.
The second class in the afternoon was Precision Perception.
"This course is mainly to give you a more precise and detailed perception of this world. In the first sester, I will teach you seven spell models, which co from the Sniffing thod, Taste Recognition thod, Temperature Sensing thod, asurent thod, Light Distance thod, Material Testing thod, and Purity Inspection thod."
"What once required an ability card slot has now, through continuous research and improvent by our school, been replaced by spells. Although the initial effects may be inferior to the original versions, as you continuously upgrade to more advanced spell models, the final effects will be comparable to what ability cards provide."
"Next year, you will also learn the more advanced Fla Gold thod, Material Penetration thod, Light Analysis thod, Stone Acid thod..."
"The more comprehensive and refined your understanding of things becos, the closer you will be to mastering their operation."
The next afternoon, the Instrunt Craftsmanship course.
"It must be admitted that humans have limits. The biggest difference between humans and animals lies in their use of various tools. This course will teach you the crafting of various instrunts, which will be crucial for your understanding and transformation of the world..."
The next morning, the Rules and Conduct course.
"This course does not teach supernatural secret arts. Instead, it details the processes for formulating various rules and how rules affect human society."
"You need to know that various laws and rules will gradually shape the consciousness and ethos of entire groups. The strength of an organization is also a form of power, and sotis it can be even more important than individual strength."
There weren't many courses in the first sester, and the academy also left so free ti so that students could fill in any gaps in their foundational knowledge.
Ti passed gradually, and Sylutia gradually imrsed herself in the ocean of new knowledge. Her daily routine settled into a stable state. Before she knew it, eight months had passed.
During these eight months, as Chief, aside from studying, she had to set aside ti each week to handle matters among the students.
"Chief, Mogesh and Vilik are in conflict again." A capable-looking girl with a single ponytail walked into the study room, ca to Sylutia's side, and quietly inford her.
Upon hearing this, Sylutia closed the books and notes in front of her, then walked out with her.
"Tell the situation."
Since the opening ceremony, the new students had roughly split into two groups. If it was a conflict within a group, Sylutia could usually resolve it quickly and properly. But sotis it was a conflict between the two groups, which made things much more troubleso.
Mogesh was a mber of Sylutia's group. He loved tinkering with new things and showing them off to his classmates. Occasionally, he would use these things to play pranks on people he didn't like. He was a rather restless student, and he often had a few others around him who played and caused trouble with him.
On the other side, Vilik was a mber of Spencer's group. He also had a mischievous personality and ford cliques among the new students, seemingly trying to build a large group. But his progress so far was diocre.
Aside from these two, the other new students were relatively sensible. Or rather, they spent most of their energy and effort on improving themselves, without much energy left for other things.
"These two troublemakers ended up butting heads." Sylutia could already tell that their personalities were extrely incompatible. Whenever they t, neither would back down, only escalating the conflict.
The cause of this conflict was last week's monthly exam. According to academy rules, students were ranked based on their scores and practical combat results for that month. Those in the top thirty would receive good rewards.
As it happened, one of Mogesh's friends was right on the borderline of the top thirty rewards. He had a chance to make it this ti. But unfortunately, his competitor's strength suddenly increased, causing his friend to fall behind and lose the reward.
"Mogesh believes that Vilik and his companions cheated by temporarily using special potions and rituals to boost their strength."
"Vilik naturally denies such accusations. Instead, he says it's outright slander and demands that Mogesh apologize in front of all the students."
"Mogesh, of course, refuses. So the conflict between them has been escalating. Currently, they've agreed to settle it in the dueling arena after school this afternoon."
"I see..." Sylutia gently supported her chin with one hand, pondering the cause and impact of the issue.
"You suspect that the other party might go too far in the duel?" Sylutia asked.
"Yes. Vilik has done quite a few things like this before in Ximilye District, deliberately leaving permanent, hard-to-heal hidden injuries on opponents during duels." The girl replied with clear thinking.
"He's very good at covering it up. He packages the whole process as unintentional or just an accident. That way, the academy finds it hard to act rashly."
"Besides, his family background is good. Even if sothing serious happens, his family can protect him. So he has no scruples."
"I see."
Sylutia stood outside the hallway, thought for a mont, then led the girl toward the dueling arena. It was almost ti for the scheduled duel.
At this point, who was right and who was wrong had beco secondary. The key was to prevent Mogesh from suffering any hidden injuries during the match.
To be honest, Sylutia hadn't expected a simple argunt between classmates to escalate to this extent. Back in the Hidden Grove, she had almost never seen similar incidents.
Perhaps it was because the Hidden Grove's environnt was relatively relaxed, with few areas requiring competition. More often than not, due to differences in areas of expertise, students often needed help from others, fostering a harmonious atmosphere.
But things were different in the Mage Alliance. Since everyone studied mage factions, they easily competed for the sa ecological niche, leading to more frequent conflicts.
Even her own instructor, Nox, had his dream of bionic flight vehicles shattered in his youth because they were replaced by the invention of airships.
Arriving at the dueling arena, a crowd of new students had already gathered. There were about thirty people from both sides combined—aning nearly half of this year's new students had co to watch.
Down in the arena, Mogesh was discussing with his companions. Beside them was a newly assembled copper-bar golem. This golem was quite crude, made entirely of golden copper bars, with six legs and four arms, wielding weapons.
"This is my latest masterpiece, 'Golden Spider No. 1.' Just watch win." He said proudly to his companions.
On the opposite side, Vilik and a few other friends huddled together, whispering. Occasionally, they glanced over, pointing at the golden copper-bar golem.
Faced with the impending duel, Sylutia pondered how to resolve it.
She could forcefully stop it, but she lacked a proper reason. Simply saying that they might get hurt and ending it would go against the prevailing atmosphere. After all, various dangerous competitions had been held, and injuries were always common.
If she didn't stop it and let them fight, and Mogesh ended up with permanent hidden injuries, it would be a great pity. As Chief, she couldn't just stand by and do nothing.
After standing at the entrance of the dueling arena for a few seconds of thought, Sylutia walked down, an idea gradually forming in her mind. Many students in the arena noticed her, and a few gathered around.
"Chief Hedra." Students from her group greeted her with respect, then curiously followed behind the black-haired girl.
"Chief." Students from Spencer's group also showed the appropriate courtesy, watching her pass by.
Arriving at the preparation area, Mogesh turned around upon the reminder of his companions.
"Chief Hedra! I won't embarrass myself this ti. Just wait for the good news!" He said, brushing his hair back from his forehead with a hand, striking a confident pose.
Sylutia didn't answer imdiately. Instead, she glanced at Vilik on the opposite side, then turned her gaze to the copper-bar golem waiting to take the stage.
Because it was made of copper bars pieced together in a hollow design, this golem was relatively light. It could be driven by a minimal core, making it suitable for low-level mages to use.
"Are you going to fight with this?" the girl asked.
"Of course. It's my latest treasure." Mogesh patted the golem's front leg, and a pair of sharp blades extended from its arm.
"The attack thod is too one-dinsional. If a single joint is missing, the whole thing will struggle to move." Sylutia shook her head.
"How about we make a bet?"
"What kind of bet?" If she had co to stop him, he wouldn't listen, even if she was the Chief. But if this girl wanted to make a bet with him, it stirred up his competitive spirit and desire to show off.
After all, he couldn't beat Hedra in other areas. But if he won a bet against this beautiful and powerful girl, it would be sothing to be proud of—sothing he could boast about to his classmates for over a month.
"If you can co down without a single scratch, I'll consider you the winner of the bet. Also, if you follow my instructions on how to fight, I promise to help you improve your golem for free." Everyone had seen Sylutia's strength, and Mogesh was quickly tempted.
"It's a deal!" he agreed imdiately.
Seeing how obedient the usually hard-to-advise Mogesh was, the girl behind Sylutia was slightly surprised. In her heart, she once again felt respect for the black-haired girl.
Chief Hedra wasn't just strong in talent and strength. Her understanding of her classmates' personalities and thoughts was sothing others rarely noticed.
After that, Sylutia began to instruct him on the fighting style he should adopt during the duel and the precautions he should take.
After understanding everything, Mogesh indicated that he understood. Then the duel began, and both sides stepped onto the stage.
Seeing that both sides were ready, the teacher who had been called in as the referee imdiately announced:
"Begin the duel!"
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