Industrial Revolution of the Mage Lords

Chapter 808 Future Star
"Come on! Let's raise our glasses together..."

"To Larry, the rising star of the kingdom... and to Steelmane's infinitely bright future! Cheers!"

In the lobby of the dormitory on the first floor of the National Higher Institute, a celebratory and farewell dinner party with more than 30 participants was in full swing. Two young men, surrounded by students in the center of the crowd, had flushed faces and had obviously been given a lot of alcoholic beverages.

hiccup—

The refreshing, light beer caused everyone to burp, accompanied by bursts of laughter that echoed throughout the dormitory building.

"Uh... I can't drink anymore, please spare me!" Larry Nelson, with his youthful face, clutched the glass that had been refilled, shaking his head like a rattle-drum, but still couldn't refuse his classmate's enthusiastic persuasion.

Steelmane, a dwarf from the burrow who was much older than him, was even more boisterous, frequently clinking glasses with him and drinking heartily while also making fun of his "transfer student".

"Larry, stop being such a coward... Prohibition only restricts drinking to children and teenagers under the age of twelve. You're already fourteen, how come you're still as weak as a little girl?"

As the dwarf youth spoke, he enthusiastically tiptoed and put his arm around the other man's thin shoulder, adding with a grin, "Besides, you have half orc blood, just like your father, Colonel Nelson, so how can your alcohol tolerance be so poor?"

As soon as he said that, the other students joined in the commotion, forcing Larry to succumb to the flattery and drink his beer down in one gulp with a bitter expression.

If he were still a child, and someone brought up the fact that he was of half-orc blood, Larry would always be able to detect undisguised sarcasm and contempt in their words. In addition to feeling humiliated, he would also feel an indescribable anger and helplessness.

He is fourteen years old this year. When he was born, not to mention the capital city of Xinghuo City, even the earliest pioneering territories had not yet been established in the Northern Territory. The land beneath his feet was still a truly harsh and desolate wasteland.

His mother, who came from a minor noble family, was an unfortunate woman who was kidnapped to the north many years ago during an invasion of the southern territory by orcs. Fortunately, she met her half-orc father, who was also conscripted into the orc army to perform hard labor, so she was spared from suffering torture and humiliation and dying far from home.

As the brilliant and ambitious Emperor settled in the Northern Territory and established the prosperous Frontier Territory on the wasteland, his father, who came to join the other orcs, was fortunate enough to become one of the first subjects to pledge allegiance to the lord. In less than ten years, he rose to become a powerful figure at the top of the emerging kingdom with his loyalty and courage, and his mother and his own status also rose accordingly.

Larry's "hybrid" birth of a human and an orc is no longer a mark of shame on him. Even his grandfather, the baron, whom he had only recently reunited with, had to reluctantly accept the blue-faced, fanged orc father and son.

A year ago, Larry was personally selected by His Majesty to "transfer" to the Advanced Teaching Department of the National Higher Academy. The originally introverted and dull Larry felt like a fish in water... The senior students in front of him were generally several years older than him, and their backgrounds were so complicated that even he was speechless. No wonder His Majesty jokingly called this place the "International Class".

Among them were high elves from Lorien, the "Golden Forest," dwarves from the southern "Breath of the Hills," pure-blooded orcs who resembled them... and even abyssal sea creatures from the Coral Sea, whose thick octopus tentacles were always visible beneath their elaborate robes that dragged to the ground.

On the contrary, the orthodox human students were in the minority, which made Larry, who was initially a little hesitant, gradually start to let loose and quickly integrate into the group.

This is also a "new trend" that has gradually emerged in the capital's higher education institutions in recent years. After several major reforms, the education department, apart from the basic literacy education that remains unchanged, has seen a clear system of subject subdivision in both the intermediate and advanced teaching departments.

In particular, the advanced education department has begun to show a clear division between "economics and administration" and "applied sciences," with students from the Southern Human race clearly leaning towards the former, planning ahead for their future careers in the military and politics, or for positions in the kingdom's government or military think tanks. Meanwhile, mixed-race newcomers like Larry, or "international students" from other ethnic groups, are often more attracted to the magical energy application disciplines offered by the kingdom's academies, and are flocking to magical research and soul alchemy.

To paraphrase a phrase often uttered by the dwarf Steelfur, it roughly means, "You humans crave knowledge of war strategies and political power, while we other sub-species... often seek the analysis of the truths of the world."

These words sounded sarcastic and stereotypical, but Larry secretly agreed with them.

It's not that I agree with deliberately stirring up antagonism between academic factions... In Larry's view, anyone who is beneficial to the future development of the kingdom and helps in the current predicament of resisting the invasion of foreign tribes should be firmly united under His Majesty the Emperor and give full play to their strengths.

This was also a viewpoint that his father, who was the commander-in-chief of the capital's defense forces, often mentioned to him... In some ways, it was the most correct political awareness at the time.

……

The lively dinner party continued for a while, and as the wine flowed freely, a few students, unable to contain their curiosity, finally put down their glasses and loudly asked Larry and Steelmane, "Speaking of which... tonight's celebration party for you two, to congratulate you on being recruited and hired by the Kingdom's Alchemy Experiment Center ahead of schedule... but what's with the farewell party?"

"Yeah, Steelmane... The experimental center is clearly located in the capital, so where exactly are you being transferred to?"

"It can't be that we're going to the front lines, can it? Good heavens... I've never heard of sending researchers to war zones. Isn't that too risky?"

The crowd speculated amongst themselves, which immediately sobered up Steelmane, who already had a high alcohol tolerance. He first turned his head and gave Larry a look that stopped him from speaking. This kid is still too young... I don't want him to accidentally violate the high-level confidentiality agreement.

"Everyone, please be careful what you say!" The dwarf youth slowly put down his wine glass, coughed lightly, and then said mysteriously, "We signed confidentiality agreements when we were selected, so it's not convenient to reveal too much about many things involving research secrets..."

Research confidential?

The others were further intrigued by this, and they all perked up their ears and focused their attention on the most outstanding young talents in the two classes.

"Ahem... I'm sure you've all vaguely heard that besides the headquarters in the capital, the alchemy laboratory actually has several secret experimental bases, right?"

Whoa! Everyone immediately understood and their emotions instantly became excited.

The Kingdom government has indeed established several secret experimental bases outside the capital. However, the specific locations and coordinates of these bases, as well as the research projects within them, have always been top secrets known only to the highest levels of the Kingdom's power. Ordinary students like them have no way of finding out the real inside story.

But one thing is certain... these secret experimental bases were basically created to develop new types of combat weapons, including the rumored "weapons of mass destruction"!
(End of this chapter)