A mage? A spell engineer!

Chapter 495 School Opens, War Begins!

The spacetime rift behind Rorschach felt like it was at a low temperature and low pressure. A chill made him shudder, and he quickly pulled his hand away from Ella's grasp.

The person who was called was about to turn around when the rift not only failed to expand into a temporary portal, but instead snapped shut, clearly indicating that he had to find his own way through.

Looking back, the apprentice and Ella clearly had expressions of "enjoying the show."

"Ahem, you've all seen it, haven't you? I have other things to attend to and must leave now. Please make a copy of the test results and give it to the young man who's been taking care of you while I'm gone."

"Master Andrei?"

"Yes. If you are leaving tomorrow to return to the Forest Tower, we will prepare a farewell party tonight. If you would like to visit other cities, you can ask Andrei, and he will make the arrangements for you."

"No need for that trouble. We will set off as soon as possible. We've already been stuck here longer than expected."

"Thanks for your hard work." After saying that, Rorschach hovered in the air and used his air cannon to propel himself forward to sprint to school. This was currently the second fastest mode of transportation after teleportation. To ordinary people, it might be impossible to see what Rorschach was while he was running, but to the spellcaster...

The apprentice watched Rorschach disappear into the distance: "Master, why didn't you use a teleportation spell?"

"I wonder if it's for physical training and spellcasting skills? Back then, the investigation team that I, Master Rorschach, and Master Humboldt participated in also stepped into the Black Forest step by step."

"Will this work?"

The day was September 10th, the opening day of the Special Administrative Region's Institute of Technology and the day when Master Luo Xia's Tower accepted a new batch of joint training apprentices. In order to save time and energy, a ceremony was held for both sides at once. As the tower master and the nominal principal of the Institute of Technology, Luo Xia naturally had to attend and give a speech.

For those drowsy students, the good news is that the leader who went on stage didn't prepare a 10,000-word speech; in fact, not a single word.

"Master Rorschach, please come up on stage and make a good appearance." The actual principal, Caroline, adjusted Rorschach's crimson robe.

Rorschach, who was just about to tie his tie, said, "Just call me Rorschach, it feels awkward when you call me that."

"Then you should call me senior sister."

"No, no, no, a teacher is a teacher. Once a teacher, always a teacher." Uh, in front of Caroline, is it like being a mother for life? Rorschach cleared his throat: "Anyway, it has a very important meaning."

Before Caroline could finish speaking, Rorschach pulled her onto the stage.

The two stood together on the platform. The apprentices and some teachers below, seeing the red and purple robes appear together, all perked up, their postures straightening considerably. Especially the apprentices from the Mystic Tower participating in the joint training program, who now felt a surge of exhilarating satisfaction – "Wow, I really didn't expect that Mage Rorschach could advance to Grand Mage so quickly! How did I end up joining his Mage Tower?"

The students admitted to the engineering college were still quite naive. They had just finished the most basic literacy education and were allowed to continue their studies in the engineering college after a screening process, especially an examination in mathematics. Most of them were children of workers and urban residents, while a few had struggled to "climb up" from the countryside.

Most of the children here couldn't comprehend the significance of their principal. They only vaguely felt that the people on stage were younger than their parents, the men were handsome and the women were beautiful, and the robes were incredibly impressive, so they would have to drape a bed sheet over themselves when they got home.

The second batch of students admitted to the School of Engineering, which was also the first formal opening ceremony, was prepared in a grand manner. Luo Xia glanced at the decorated venue and arranged thousands of teachers and students in a relaxed manner.

This scale is not small, but it is far from enough for the entire special zone. Even if a large number of college graduates are hired as teachers, the existing number of teachers and the scale of schooling cannot keep up with the current number of people of working age, nor can they meet the future demand for high-quality cattle and horses for expanded production.

"Although many people know me, please allow me to introduce myself: Rorschach, male, twenty years old, born in the Empire."

That's it? Everyone was waiting for Rorschach to continue, but he just paused. After a moment, Rorschach's expression became serious: "Was it very short? An Imperial soldier named Joseph Muller died on the battlefield, and his tombstone only has his name, age, the legion he belonged to, and the last battle he participated in."

"Many more people, whether they are young people from Bain, the Empire, or Valois, don't even have individual tombstones; they end up in nameless graves in mass burials. But you are sitting here, about to begin a new phase of your studies, with plenty of time and opportunity to give yourselves a long self-introduction."

"So I only hope that everyone cherishes life, respects knowledge, and seizes opportunities. That concludes my speech. Thank you."

Luo Xia wanted to step down, but turned back after taking a step: "I forgot to mention, I'm very busy, so whether you call me Tower Master or Principal, I'm just a figurehead to you. If I find you, the apprentices or teachers below the stage, it's mostly to assign you tasks."

"The person you will be dealing with is this teacher, Caroline, or more precisely, the respected Executive Principal Caroline."

Luo Xia noticed that some of the apprentices couldn't control their disappointment. After all, Caroline was just a purple-robed mage. If you threw a book down from the upper levels of the Arcane Tower, there was a good chance it would hit a purple-robed mage. By the standards of the Arcane Tower, the female mage on the stage was really mediocre (although they were just apprentices who had difficulty getting promoted).

The speaker concluded by saying, "Don't underestimate Mage Caroline; she trained a great mage. Though it may sound a bit presumptuous, that great mage is me."

"Professor Caroline's other students are also shining brightly in their respective fields. Students, please keep up the good work!" Anyway, according to Rorschach's intelligence as of today, Richard has already been awarded the rank of Brigadier General, and as for Bart, he will soon go down in history as the man behind the world's first female senator. All three have bright futures—congratulations!

Caroline now understood the "importance" Rorschach had mentioned before going on stage. She hadn't prepared a speech either, so she simply said a few words. The students, inspired by Rorschach, were now more enthusiastic, giving Caroline a warm round of applause.

On one side, there was a joyful, energetic, and hopeful opening ceremony; on the other side, in the southern part of the imperial-occupied territory north of Valois, the National Guard was cleaning cannons and gun barrels, preparing to fight the enemy within the homeland.

Artillery General Drouot will be deployed in his first battle after his promotion, commanding a reorganized heavy infantry division. The corresponding Imperial rank for a National Guard branch general should be brigadier general; his promotion was due to the influence of his subordinates, but his own military competence has been recognized by command.

Drouot picked up his binoculars and put them down again. He saw that the wheat fields had already been harvested, and the Imperial army's trenches had carved several ugly lines into the fields. The general couldn't help but curse:

"The National Salvation Committee and the National Assembly have been stalling for so long, dragging their feet for far too long! I'm afraid the imperialists are now comfortably eating the food grown by our compatriots, waiting for our attack."

After the Second Battle of Moncado, a large number of troops needed to rest and recuperate. However, the instability in Valuana after the rest and recuperation affected all aspects of the army, from personnel transfers to logistical support, which delayed the military operation to reclaim the entire territory by a full month.

But no matter what, they had to give it their all. As troops on the Eastern Front, Drouot and his unit not only had to recapture lost territory, but also make the Imperials believe that the main force of the National Guard was charging toward the strongest defensive line in history.

Meanwhile, his former subordinates, now promoted to the same rank as him through exceptional means, including the artillery general Paul, will take the shortest route from west to east and from south to north through the low-lying principalities to directly approach the imperial capital.

Drouo looked at the "Giant Mechanical Breaker Hand" lying on its side, covered by a felt cloth, and secretly prayed that it would be able to play its maximum role.

(End of this chapter)