IRM Chapter 23

The annual midterm training was one of the most significant events for all vocational schools in the Saint Trilley Kingdom.

 

During this half-month training period, students would be randomly assigned to wild environments completely different from their daily lives, using their learned knowledge and mastered skills to survive in harsh and dangerous wilderness while completing designated tasks.

 

The training locations would change according to different professions and abilities. For example, combat-oriented professions like warriors and mages would be assigned to more dangerous areas, while support-oriented ones like alchemists and engineers would have much friendlier training environments.

 

But regardless, as long as it was linked to final grades, it was a matter of utmost importance in the students’ eyes.

 

On the day of departure, the little mages were uniformly equipped with academy uniforms and magic bags, sitting properly in the classroom, quietly waiting for Professor Joseph’s instructions, their faces suppressing excitement and nervousness.

 

Joseph had changed out of his usual flowing teacher’s robes. The lightweight black knight outfit made him look considerably younger. He surveyed the spirited little mages from the podium, nodded with satisfaction, and said, “Although the Dark Night Forest contains unpredictable dangers, battles between life and death are the fastest way to improve your abilities. This training is not only the academy’s assessment standard but also your own trial, so please take every battle seriously and never harbor any luck!”

 

Seeing those tender faces become solemn, Joseph felt he had warned them enough and softened his voice to comfort them. “Of course, according to tradition, Class S’s training location is the most dangerous, so the academy has also invited several engineers to enchant your equipment and help improve your abilities.”

 

The Class S little mages didn’t feel particularly surprised upon hearing this. Most of them came from the empire’s top noble families. Equipment enchantment provided by the academy might seem like a rare and precious opportunity to others, but to them it was merely icing on the cake.

 

Some little mages who were born at the pinnacle of power even refused the enchantment – their equipment and its existing enchantments were already top-tier, and additional enchantment would only be superfluous.

 

Like Brandon at this moment, he was boredly playing with the wand in his hand, waiting absent-mindedly for the enchantment ceremony to complete.

 

The academy had invited three engineers in total, one of whom was familiar to Ji Chi – the dwarf Bard from the wand shop on Central Street.

 

Evan gasped softly upon seeing Bard.

 

Hearing the commotion, Bard smiled kindly in Evan’s direction, but when his gaze swept over Ji Chi beside him, his expression became complicated again, clearly still not having forgotten about that legendary amulet.

 

Joseph bowed and greeted the engineers, inviting them to sit in the empty seats at the front of the classroom.

 

Joseph raised his head and said to the little mages, “Students who need enchantment, please prepare your equipment and come to the front of the engineer gentlemen in order.”

 

Evan had been busy preparing for the midterm training recently and hadn’t visited Bard on Central Street for a long time. Now he hurriedly carried his wand to Bard’s front, excitedly greeting him: “Grandpa Bard, I didn’t expect to meet you at the academy! How have you been recently?”

 

Bard smiled as he took Evan’s wand, pulling out enchantment materials and a mithril carving knife from the small box he carried with him. While enchanting for him, he answered, “Not bad. How about you? Are you getting used to using the wand?”

 

Evan nodded vigorously. “Yes! It’s so useful! I even suspect whether you sold me an excellent wand for just fifty gold coins at a discount!”

 

Another engineer nearby heard Evan’s words and couldn’t help but glance at the wand Bard was enchanting. His pupils contracted violently, and his mouth slowly opened wide.

 

The Magic Academy spared no expense for the elite class, and the engineers they invited were among the kingdom’s finest, naturally able to discern the quality of wands at a glance.

 

What do you mean by excellent wand? What do you mean by fifty gold coins? I’ll give you fifty thousand gold coins – can you help me find such an “excellent” wand?

 

Bard gave a subtle threatening glare to the dumbfounded engineer beside him and answered Evan, “You’re overthinking it. Use it with confidence – this isn’t an excellent wand.”

 

Evan genuinely breathed a sigh of relief. “Then I’m relieved. Thank you so much.”

 

The engineer who hurriedly turned back had tears of blood all over his face. What relief! Of course that’s not an excellent wand! That’s an epic! Epic, do you understand?! A quality I can barely catch a glimpse of!

 

This enchantment ceremony proceeded very quickly. The engineers had prepared the enchantment materials before coming to the academy and only needed to carve a simple magic circle on site and embed the materials into it.

 

Ji Chi, who was last in line, stood in front of Bard within a few minutes. He handed over the excellent wand he had purchased together with Evan and softly said thanks.

 

Bard looked at him, his mouth tightening into a straight line. His wrinkled right hand held the carving knife, skillfully carving on the wand. Before long, a thumb-sized magic circle appeared in the middle section of the wand. Bard took out a brilliant fire magic crystal from the box and fitted it perfectly into the center of the magic circle.

 

He returned the enchanted wand to Ji Chi, hesitated for a while, slightly lowered his head, and said to Ji Chi in a low voice, “When you return from this training, could you come to the wand shop? I… request this of you.”

 

The engineer beside them heard fragments of words and turned to look at them in shock again.

 

The dwarf race, due to their short stature and being looked down upon by other races, had the characteristic of being both inferior and proud. Each one had a fiery temper, like short and stocky powder kegs that would explode at any moment. It was rare to see them bow their heads to anyone, especially to humans.

 

Bard noticed the glances from beside him and glared fiercely again.

 

The engineer whimpered and turned back. This time I must have misheard! Indeed, it’s still the familiar dwarf formula!

 

Ji Chi was also somewhat surprised. His first encounter with Bard hadn’t been friendly, and he still hadn’t figured out what specifically caused Bard’s hostility toward him at that time. However, he could roughly guess it was related to the legendary amulet, and this request should be the same.

 

Ji Chi took the successfully enchanted wand and agreed without hesitation, “Alright, I’ll come find you after returning.”

 

What a joke – how could he not accept such an obvious side quest! It might even be a hidden one!

 

Although his skill at skipping plot was well-practiced, his instinct for accepting quests wasn’t bad either!

 

The bizarre balance diluted the guilt of skipping plot, and Ji Chi was in quite a good mood now, holding his wand as he returned to his original seat.

 

Time gradually approached noon, and there was still some time before the large teleportation magic circle would activate. This time was originally left for the little mages to familiarize themselves with their newly enchanted equipment, but their attention was interrupted by a group of people entering through the classroom door.

 

Headmaster Harvey walked into the classroom while talking to someone beside him. He looked up at the little mages in the class who showed puzzled and alarmed expressions, and said with a smile, “Don’t worry, I’m not here to give a speech. This mysterious guest has gifts to give you.”

 

Not a speech – good! The little mages breathed a huge sigh of relief. The headmaster’s endless speeches were simply terrifying! They didn’t want to feel drowsy during their upcoming mission!

 

Reassured, the little mages perked up their ears, and their bright little eyes all drifted to the mysterious guest.

 

Ji Chi saw the familiar face beside the headmaster and his heart jumped. What was going on today? Why were acquaintances appearing in clusters?

 

Shelley, the manager of Interlet Potion Shop, stood to one side wearing his well-fitted and refined formal wear, smiling, with several attendants behind him carrying gift boxes.

 

Joseph, who hadn’t received notice, was also confused. He quietly asked Harvey, “What’s going on?”

 

Harvey chuckled and introduced them. “This is Mr. Shelley. He represents Interlet Potion Shop and has brought everyone a special farewell gift.”

 

Interlet! Little mages of ordinary status rarely heard this name, but families at the center of imperial power had a love-hate relationship with this potion shop.

 

They loved it because the potions produced by Interlet were among the best, and hated it because those researchers didn’t take nobles seriously at all. To purchase medicines from Interlet, neither money nor power worked – one had to have achievements related to alchemy.

 

Now it was the turn of the little mages from prestigious families in the class to be stunned. Even imperial princes and princesses going to war hadn’t received such preferential treatment from Interlet!

 

Shelley smiled imperceptibly in Ji Chi’s direction and gently waved his hand, having the attendants behind him distribute the potions from the gift boxes to the little mages. “You are all the future hope of the empire. May your journey be smooth and your harvest abundant.”

 

These words seemed to be addressed to all the little mages, but Shelley’s gaze remained fixed in one direction without moving.

 

He was offering sincere blessings.

 

The attendants in black tailcoats respectfully distributed palm-sized black crystal boxes to each little mage. The black crystal felt smooth and weighty, with beautiful cursive logos outlined in mithril dust on top. The box alone was worth a fortune, not to mention the full array of potions inside. Various attribute potions emitted colorful glows, lying expensively in wooden boxes lined with red velvet.

 

Ji Chi received the wooden box handed to him by an attendant, said thanks, and slightly opened a crack. The contents of his crystal box were completely different from others’ – it was a storage magic box containing large quantities of expensive potion materials he usually used.

 

Ji Chi looked up to meet Shelley’s gaze and smiled softly.

 

He knew Shelley had known his identity very early on, just choosing not to make it public.

 

Interlet didn’t belong to any faction. It was just a communication center founded by a group of researchers, so it was quite pure and direct – no matter how powerful you are, whoever provides benefits is my patron!

 

Ji Chi had initially taken a liking to this point and directly sent two epic potion formulas as gifts to show goodwill. The value of potion formulas was different from finished potions! That wave directly maxed out Interlet’s favorability. The manager and several founding great alchemists were moved to tears, almost wanting to pack up half the shop and give it to him.

 

So Shelley’s purpose in coming to give gifts to the whole class today was also obvious: Feel free to go all out during your training – if anything goes wrong, Interlet will cover for you!

 

Ji Chi curved his eyebrows. This indeed provided him great cover. He wouldn’t have to be restrained when using potions, since the whole class had different attribute potions, and mixing in one with special effects wouldn’t be unusual.

 

Joseph recovered from his surprise. Although he didn’t understand Interlet’s motives, the impact on this training was only positive. After he sincerely thanked Shelley, the departure bell rang.

 

The moment the last bell toll fell, the academy’s teaching building suddenly lit up with colorful magical light. On the floor of each classroom, a huge and complex magic teleportation circle slowly emerged, its shimmering light illuminating every young and tender face.

 

Seeing this, Joseph loudly reminded, “Now, prepare your items! Prepare for teleportation!”

 

Blinding flashes flooded the entire classroom. The originally bustling classroom instantly became empty, leaving only Harvey to accompany the guests who hadn’t left.

 

Harvey watched the teleportation magic circle gradually dim and rubbed his smooth scalp. “Ah~ Every year my happiest moment is seeing this scene – finally half a month of peace and quiet.”

 

Shelley laughed upon hearing this. “Too bad the potions we’ve developed don’t work on your hair, otherwise you wouldn’t have been troubled for so many years.”

 

Harvey laughed heartily and waved his hand. “I’m used to it anyway. With so many things to worry about, no amount of potions would be enough!”

 

After Harvey finished speaking, he stopped laughing. He suddenly turned his head, staring directly at Shelley, asking word by word, “What kind of person do you think Ji Chi is?”

 

Shelley was startled and his expression became solemn. He looked at Harvey warily, about to ask what he meant, but was horrified to discover that his mouth was completely out of control, and what he was thinking came out without reservation. “Mr. Ji Chi is a very strange person. He has talent and ability, but doesn’t have strong ambition and desire. However, we’re very happy to meet such a person. He will lead the alchemy world into a completely new realm.”

 

Harvey listened quietly and found it quite interesting, seeming somewhat relieved as he chuckled. “Quite a high evaluation of him. But you’re wrong about one thing – he’s not someone without ambition… Do you know how many applications he’s submitted to me behind Joseph’s back in the past six months just to transfer academies?”

 

Shelley hadn’t listened to Harvey’s teasing at all. After being forced to speak, he immediately turned back in panic to look at the attendants standing behind him, only to find they all maintained their original postures without moving, even without the rise and fall of breathing in their chests, as if time had stopped flowing around them.

 

Shelley covered his throat and looked at Harvey in horror. “Are you… controlling time? Who are you? How can you have such ability? What exactly do you want to do?!”

 

Harvey gestured in the air to calm him down. “Relax, I don’t want to do anything. I just wanted to take this opportunity to ask a question. As for who I am…”

 

Harvey turned to stroke the podium beside him. “My full name is Harvey Toth. There probably aren’t many people who remember this name anymore…”

 

Shelley found it very familiar. He lowered his head and murmured the name several times. At a certain moment, the corner of his eye suddenly swept over the thick magic grimoire placed on the podium, and he suddenly understood, the hair on his body instantly standing up!

 

Shelley looked up at Harvey in disbelief, his voice trembling, “You are… the God of Knowledge… Harvey Toth.”

 

Also one of the gods in continental history who had long since vanished.