A mage? A spell engineer!

Chapter 459 Joint Training

Joint training programs are familiar to anyone who has gone through the postgraduate entrance exam process in their previous life. They can be a savior, meaning that universities can offer more admission slots, or they can be a trap, meaning that both sides' bosses either don't care or both ruthlessly exploit the students.

Currently, apprentices in the Tower of Arcane Arts can only see the former.

"Joint training program application?" A new announcement appeared in the lobby, and this novel phrase sparked widespread interest. Seeing that the crowd had thinned out, "senior" Lucas began his enthusiastic pitch:

"Joint training is great, everyone! Master Luo Xia's mage tower is now recruiting. Interested students can come and learn more. Since it's just starting out, the graduation requirements are very simple, and you can start learning spells based on your level right away. We guarantee you'll learn them."

"The requirements have been lowered, but the joint training will retain your status as apprentices of the Arcane Tower. You will still be recognized by the Arcane Tower after you quickly become a formal mage."

Is it really that good? At first, everyone was dismissive. After all, this so-called Luo Xia was some random, amateur mage who didn't even have the rank of archmage. How dare he come to the Tower of Mystic Arts to recruit students? Moreover, the halo of "student and research collaborator of Master Kano of the Tower of Stars" and "recipient of the Moonlit Medal" in his personal resume could not cover up his true nature as a "student of the Imperial Royal Magic Academy".

Alas, educational discrimination is everywhere.

Fortunately, Lucas's efforts paid off, and many students stuck in the second stage finally began to show interest. When the professors of the Arcane Tower confirmed the news, the apprentices finally began to discuss it enthusiastically.

What truly convinced interested apprentices to make their decision was the subsequent supplementary clause:

The joint training slots at Rorschach Tower are limited and available on a first-come, first-served basis. More slots will be available through joint training with companies such as Kempson Steel, Lanster Foods, Bassford, and a fine chemicals plant. The training period will be longer and participants will need to take on some work at the plant.

Corporate training programs can also gain recognition from the Tower of Arcane Arts, but the assessment will no longer take place at Rorschach's personal mage tower. Instead, the assessment will require returning to headquarters for formal mage certification, which will obviously be more difficult.

However, some apprentices are happy to participate in joint training programs with companies, for a simple reason: money. They get a lot of money, at least on par with working in a magic guild. Earning money while studying—this is the first time I've heard of such a good thing.

In the past, money was hardly a lure for apprentices. Which family didn't have some wealth to come here to learn? Talking about money was beneath them! However, the past is the past, and the present is the present. As Bain's economy deteriorated, the children of wealthy merchants found that their families were sending them less money, and some even went bankrupt. Not only that, but the second sons of nobles also learned that their families' investments had failed miserably, and starting next month they would have to fend for themselves in the Tower of Arcane Arts.

The Tower of Arcane Arts provides food and lodging, so you won't starve, but alchemy materials, scrolls, and books are all expensive. Without family support, your situation will be the same as Rorschach's back in the magic academy, no, even worse, because the magic academy takes into account the economic situation of commoners, while in the Tower of Arcane Arts, anything that costs money is never cheap.

The damned tower for work-study programs is located in a place where only birds poop, and it takes a long time to travel to and from the nearest city, Munich. The professors, disregarding the apprentices' plight, require them to be available at any time or do all sorts of odd jobs in their spare time.

In other words, if Rorschach hadn't offered this plan, the Arcane Tower would have truly experienced a wave of student dropouts. At the very least, those apprentices whose families had gone bankrupt would have been unable to stay, as they had neither income nor any hope of graduating.

Some people see that if they hesitate any longer, they won't even be able to go to the Mage Tower, so they have to hurry up and grab a spot ahead of them. Others see the "corporate joint training" as a lifeline.

As for the love-hate relationship between students from different branch campuses and students from the main campus, or whether joint training programs are inferior, Rorschach didn't care. He only cared about teaching magic directly to the apprentices who came, and then praising them: "Young man, you have a good eye!" Even though some of the apprentices who had extended their studies might be older than him.

Another issue is the spell cloud. Could the Arcane Tower introduce a new spell system as part of its curriculum?

The "Border Area" welcomed its fourth guest.

Feuerbach's spirit gazed up at the lush Tree of Law. This place truly lay between illusion and reality, close to the Symbolic Realm, and the Tree of Law and its guardians filled him with wonder.

However, the Grand Master always had an inexplicable sense of familiarity, wondering if he had been here before.

"I never imagined you'd go this far. Is this the origin of the new spell system?"

In fact, Feuerbach was not in the Tower when the banking crisis first began; he was busy with two things. One was finding a new place to hold meetings with the other members of the Senate, especially given the fragmentation of the guilds.

Secondly, in early June, Cano submitted a shocking report to the Senate, claiming that with the joint efforts of the Tower of Stars, he had successfully broken through the Transmutation Dust Stream and reached the Primal Layer, where he witnessed the "Tree of Truth" recorded in the ancient texts.

Kano used the example of the high-level necromancy incident to argue that magic guilds should establish an organization to monitor the activity of the "Tree of Truth" in the long term. Low-level spells are used extensively and constantly, generating a massive amount of data, which is reflected on the Tree of Truth as just a cluster of light, so there's no need to worry about monitoring them. However, for high-level magic, monitoring and early warning are necessary.

Kano concluded that establishing an observation facility for the "Tree of Truth" would become the foundation for the Magic Guild's survival in the new era and under new circumstances.

The other chiefs and members of the Senate were still engaged in heated discussions, after all, they were the main users of advanced magic, and at least for now, monitoring the "Tree of Truth" was monitoring themselves.

Rorschach actually cultivated a second "Tree of Truth," which he himself called the Tree of Law. Feuerbach was speechless when he reached the border, unsure how to evaluate the master and apprentice.

"I once thought that if your schemes were unacceptable, I wouldn't let you leave the office." In Feuerbach's view, Rorschach had a villainous air about him; his mischief had bankrupted countless people. Fortunately, Byrne didn't have skyscrapers, and the Arcane Tower wouldn't be lent to speculators to use for suicide.

Rorschach believed he had only accelerated the process; his main goal was to poach workers, and reaching out to other industries in Byrne was just a side effect. Whether or not there was the June banking crisis, those workshops would have simply died slowly or suddenly.

Feuerbach continued, "But now I realize I was wrong, and I may not be able to keep you here, Rorschach. Conversely, if I don't agree, and having seen this 'Tree of Law,' wouldn't it be difficult for you to let me go so easily?"

Master, there's no need to judge others by your own standards. Although Rorschach dared to let Feuerbach come up, he was confident enough that the archmage's spirit would not pose a threat.

He wanted the spell cloud to be incorporated into the Arcane Tower's teaching system, and for more people to upload their spells. In this way, the Tree of Magic would experience tremendous growth, and Rorschach, deeply bound to it, would also reap the rewards. As things stand, thanks to the efforts of the Mutual Aid Society apprentices, and the attempts of others like Caroline and Richard, Rorschach opened his panel, and the spell list required a long scrolling process to reach the end.

While the spell cloud is shared, the spell tree will only be fully opened to Rorschach alone.

However, he felt that he had not made any fundamental improvement. The so-called "Grand Master" was nothing but a passing cloud. What truly impressed Rorschach was the power displayed by the ancient sages.

Similarly, the Tree of Law also needs to be upgraded and iterated. It's foreseeable that the number of users will explode in the future, so Rorschach needs to implement some constraints and limitations to prevent the tower spirits within the Tree of Law from overloading. He also needs to improve its response and processing methods to provide a better user experience, and even attempt to resist the Empire's anti-magic technology.

If Feuerbach approves, the spell cloud will join the archmage collaborator and participate in the iterative construction of the spell cloud; if he cannot accept or agree, Rorschach can only modify the memories in the other's spirit form and then let him go back.

(End of this chapter)