A mage? A spell engineer!

Chapter 455 Recession

The apprentices have long suffered in the Tower of Secret Arts!

No other college or mage tower apprentice could understand the bitter tears of the arcane tower apprentices. Not only was the study period long and prone to delays, but graduation was also frequently blocked.

That's absolutely insane.

Perhaps it's related to its extreme elitist philosophy and the pervasive influence of the term "secret art" in its teaching. Firstly, it assumes that everyone who joins the tower is a prodigy, and indeed, those with magical talent outside are all "gifted children," but it demands that all apprentices be geniuses among spellcasters.

In the early stages, from the ages of six to fourteen, these apprentices were only exposed to grammar, debate and public speaking, art, and mathematics, collectively known as the arts, a practice inherited from ancient times. Upon completion of this stage, they needed to pass an examination to advance to the next level of education.

If a boy with magical talent has completed his arts education at another school and can pass the exam, then the Tower of Arcane Arts welcomes him to join.

Up to this point, the teaching arrangement was still acceptable. Next, they obtained formal apprenticeship status and began to learn alchemy, magic circle geometry, mythology, history, and philosophy. Their underdeveloped brains had been "poisoned" by some kind of logos.

If someone is possessed by a demon, they might spend their days in the tower chanting things like "Existence is everything, everything is for existence," which would likely ruin them.

Those who pass the second stage of their studies are truly seasoned geniuses! Only then will professors select their favorite students and impart their magical skills to them as unreservedly as possible. Indeed, many apprentices only have the opportunity to learn real magic after successfully completing the second stage, and even then, there's a prerequisite—being valued by a professor.

It's true that only the best of the best are selected, but what about the rest? Some, seeing reality clearly, simply enter the job market after failing the assessments or not being selected by the professors. After all, apprentices who survive the first two stages are already on par with university students from Munich and Wirtz. Others waste their time, squandering their youth.

Allowing apprentices to form mutual aid societies and learn zero-ring tricks on their own during the second phase is the final mercy of the Tower of Arcane Arts.

If you graduate, you'll be an elite mage, guaranteed to reach the intermediate level. If not, the Tower of Arcane Arts will provide you with free accommodation until you're 28. After that, you'll have to contribute talent to society.

Luo Xia couldn't understand it. How could he tolerate this? Could it be that the core magic passed down through generations of the Arcane Tower was called the "PUA Technique"? These dark secrets were only learned by the various factories through their disheartened apprentices.

They now follow Andrei to maintain the ever-expanding collection devices and other magical structures.

When Rorschach interviewed these "losers" about their experiences, one apprentice said embarrassedly, "To be honest, coming to the factory was a last resort."

The magic guilds within the Kingdom of Bain are the safety net for the Arcane Tower, at least ensuring a comfortable life. The apprentices who joined back in the food factory days were considered "unrecyclable waste" by the guilds.

Those who emerge from the Tower of Arcane Arts inevitably possess a certain pride. Rorschach could understand; in his past life, engineering students would either have tears in their eyes or wryly mock themselves when talking about graduating and going to work in a factory. Manufacturing is truly tough and exhausting, and it's hard for the villagers to understand why a dignified magic apprentice would work in a factory. In their simple professional mindset, shouldn't the least they be doing is sitting in an office in the city hall?

After Rorschach expressed his understanding, a straightforward guy spoke the truth again: "Actually, the apprentices and mages of the Arcane Tower have some doubts about you and Mage Bart. It's not directed at you, but rather that the teaching level of the Empire's magic academy isn't that high."

So you all think that everyone who comes out of the Royal Magic Academy is a fraud? While it's true that many students tend to choose the simplest, lowest-level spells for their official qualification exams, isn't it better to be recognized as a mage by the guild and the Empire sooner? Isn't it better to graduate quickly? Now we can add one more thing: isn't "Spell Cloud" good enough?

Moreover, in terms of lineage, I was also gilded by the Tower of Stars, one of the thirteen magic towers!

As time passed, the factories in the special zone expanded rapidly. Rorschach became rich and planned to swing his pickaxe at the corner of the Arcane Tower. The pickaxe head was called "Spell Cloud," and the handle was the simplest and most effective source of money.

This might not have worked before, but now the balance of power has shifted. It's time to extend our reach to the Arcane Tower and rescue the poor apprentices!

Munik, a branch of the Magic Guild, Lucas hummed a song while reading the newspaper.

The newspapers were filled with a lot of "strange" content, recklessly flirting with rebellion against the monarchy, along with some industry news. Kempson Steelworks added 12 blast furnaces, importing the latest open-hearth furnaces from the Empire. The Lanster Sugar Exchange listed a high-strength synthetic fiber that could replace hemp.

[At this point, I hope readers will remember our domain name: ①⓪①ⓚⓚⓢ.ⓒⓞⓜ]

He glanced around and saw a lot of good news from the country, and as someone within the guild, he knew that they were all related to a young man.

I remember he once visited the Tower of Arcane Arts only as a mage from the Tower of Stars, and I even showed him the way. I wonder if Rorschach still remembers me? I should have befriended him more back then.

Are there any regrets? If so, Lucas only indulged in the idea, and soon he felt that the days of drinking root tea and reading the newspaper were quite nice.

There's another section called GG, which features a job posting from the Special Zone, specifically for apprentices or mages from the Arcane Tower.

The pay is alright, but will anyone even go? Lucas chuckled and put down his newspaper. He opened the necklace box; inside was a miniature oil painting. In one painting, his wife smiled sweetly, and in another, his adorable daughter. The artist had given the toddler's hair a little artistic touch. In the past year, he had transformed from an apprentice lamenting his decision to drop out of school into a reliable husband and a happy father.

The humming continued; today was payday. He pushed aside his employee badge and walked towards the finance office.

"The door's unlocked, please come in. Oh, it's Lucas." The woman in charge of finances was buried in a mountain of files and receipts, and even with the assistance of [Mage's Hand], she was still overwhelmed. She cleverly used [Arcane Marks] to categorize and process different types of documents, the side effect of which was that different colored lights were flashing everywhere.

"Yes, I'm here to collect my salary for this month."

"Okay." The finance officer got up and opened the safe. The accountant was also present to register the transaction, and then Lucas was asked to put his fingerprint on the safe.

The hand that was about to press down stopped.

"What's wrong?"

"The quantity is wrong." Lucas weighed the file folder in his hand; it was too light and too thin. When he opened it, he found only twelve silver coins tucked inside the brown paper bag.

He counted again in disbelief: "Only this much? Not even enough to pay my maid's salary!" Good heavens, he couldn't even imagine how much anger his wife would unleash with this small amount of money, and how the children's cries would fill the entire house.

"Then some servants should be laid off, Mr. Lucas." The treasurer didn't even lift his eyelids: "As a beta-level employee of the guild, that's all you have."

"No, no, no, we all know that's just on the surface. What about my allowance? Look, I went on three field assignments this month, including assignments to the telegraph company and Grove Bank."

The finance department then allocated five silver coins and three copper coins: "Sorry, I forgot about the telegraph company. But as for the other projects... unfortunately, none of them made any money. The same goes for all the employees."

Unlike Valuwa, Bain's guild did not have numerous subordinate enterprises. The main "cash cow" for the Arcane Tower and the guild was the banking industry. Unfortunately, due to the large number of workshop bankruptcies, the bank's bad debts were increasing rapidly, and its business was shrinking quickly. The only positive profits were from the telegraph company, a joint venture with Rorschach, and investments in the special zone.

And that money must be prioritized for the Tower of Arcane Arts.

"Also, HR couldn't reach you before, so they asked me to inform you when they paid your salary: Mr. Lucas, due to the decline in our communication business, we won't need as many people in the guild anymore. You will be entering the 'talent pool' next month, and after passing the assessment, you will be permanently assigned to Bain Telegraph Company. I suggest you familiarize yourself with the necessary lightning magic and protective magic, as well as related knowledge."

"What if I don't pass the assessment?"

"Then you need to pay more attention to where talent is needed."

Shaking all over, Lucas recalled the job posting from the Special Administrative Region, and now he could no longer laugh it off.

(End of this chapter)