Fanatics of the Magic Academy

The old homeless man slumped against the wall, his eyes clouding over again, and said:

"Where would you like to hear from?"

"From the moment you were born."

Rose said matter-of-factly.

"Then how the hell are you going to stop talking?! Do you even know how old I am? I'm 110 years old!"

The elderly homeless man lost control of his emotions instantly.

"Look how anxious you are. Your cerebellum has atrophied from all the drug use. How much of your 110-year memory can you possibly remember? Just pick out the ones that left the deepest impression on you."

Rose shrugged.

The old homeless man looked at Rose's face and said:

"Are you really just a 5 or 6-year-old child?"

Then, he shook his head and said:

"Forget it, how could someone like me understand someone who has the rationality of a 5 or 6-year-old with the mindset of a 30-year-old?"

"You're a genius among geniuses, able to get a 150-year loan as soon as you enroll in the Lovillia Mystic Academy."

?

Did he just say something I can't understand, like a 150-year loan?

The old homeless man ignored Rose and continued to speak to himself:

"My name is Kenneth Carter. I was born 110 years ago, in the year 5108 of the Magic Calendar. I come from a middle-class family."

"My family... is quite happy. I showed great talent in magic and mathematics when I was young."

"When I was 18, according to the laws of the state of Lovillia, my father had fulfilled his duty of support and gave me some money so that I could live on my own."

"I was not content to become a middle-class person like my father, so I worked and studied at the same time and got into the Lovilia Mystic Academy, the best magic academy in the world."

"However, the tuition at the magic academy was too expensive. A single textbook cost 1500 marks. At that time, my monthly salary from part-time work was only about 900 marks. The cost of a single class ranged from 300 to 3000 marks."

?

This tuition is way too expensive!

Generally speaking, 10000 marks are enough for an average family's expenses for a year, but this is only enough to buy 6 textbooks?

Rosen interrupted:

"Then you can buy second-hand textbooks. Go ask your seniors; that way you can save a lot of money."

Kenneth Carter shook his head and said:

"Every book has its unique mark, just like Mark. And the assignments aren't the paper-based assignments you're thinking of; they're the 'magic net' version."

"Oh, you probably don't know what a 'magic network version' is. It's a virtual network...tsk...how can I explain it to you..."

Kenneth Carter was quite troubled about how to explain this to Rose, since there weren't many of these things in the slums or even in the surrounding area.

Those are high-end goods only available in the very heart of Lovillia.

But Rose understood what Kenneth Carter meant; it was just the internet, right? He nodded and said:

"I think I understand."

Kenneth Carter glanced at Rose, and since Rose said he understood, he assumed he did, and continued:

"On the Magic Network, without the mark on that book, you can't submit assignments for the course. And each mark is linked to a person's identity; if you can't submit assignments, you can't get credits to graduate."

"Therefore, everyone must be required to purchase the latest textbooks, even though the pricing of these textbooks is extremely unreasonable."

Rose understood; it's like each textbook has a QR code, and you have to scan the QR code to log in to your account and submit your homework, and that account is linked to your personal information.

If I don't buy the new books, I won't have an account. Without an account, I can't submit my homework. If I don't submit my homework, all this schooling will be for nothing.

"Including the high cost of textbooks and courses, the annual tuition is approximately 7 marks."

"So I applied for a student loan, and because I was considered quite talented, I got a 40-year loan."

"How many?"

Rose was a little stunned. How could he dare to take on a 40-year loan?

Seeing Rose's somewhat stunned expression, Kenneth Carter continued:

"Even so, many people can't get a loan because of my exceptional talent. In their judgment, I have a high probability of becoming a mage of the 3rd rank or higher."

"Magicians above the third rank will experience a leap in lifespan, generally living to around 150 years old."

He glanced at Rose, paused, and said:

"As for a prodigy like you who can reach the level of a 30-year-old at the age of 6, according to their standards, you can get the maximum loan amount of 150 years."

Rose didn't say anything; only he knew how he got his high points.

Kenneth Carter continued:

"At that time, I finally had a concrete understanding of my talent, which strengthened my resolve to become a magician."

Rose felt a bit amazed. What did it mean that the talent test was done during the loan process?

This is different from the talent testing conferences and talent selection events I saw in novels from my previous life, isn't it?

"During my school years, I worked part-time while attending classes, and sometimes I even had to sell my blood and participate in human experiments."

"People with high rationality have a natural resistance to certain experiments, making them excellent research materials."

"Although it was a bumpy road, I eventually graduated. My mentor felt that I had a great talent for studying magic, so he invited me to join his team."

"My supervisor also took good care of me and paid me a very generous salary."

"From then on, I began to demonstrate my talent in the research field and published several articles with high impact factors."

"Forty years have passed in the blink of an eye. I have met the girl I love, lived a happy life, achieved success in my career, and paid off my loans."

At this point, Kenneth Carter couldn't help but smile.

"At that time, I was 60 years old. As a third-circle mage, I was in my prime, and I thought life would continue like this."

"Until I turned 75, I realized I was starting to get old, and my sanity was declining uncontrollably."

"At first, it didn't have much of an impact, until I was 80 years old, when my sanity could no longer meet the threshold for using some magic."

"I can no longer continue the job I used to do so well, and I am about to be demoted."

"At that time, I still had a mortgage to pay off and couldn't afford to be downgraded. So, through the introduction of friends of the same age who were facing the same difficulties, I started using some drugs that temporarily improved my sanity."

"Thanks to these medications, I got through that period and paid off all my loans when I was 90."

"At that time, my wife and I were also set to retirement age and received a pension equal to half of our previous salaries."

"In fact, I am no longer able to perform those jobs and conduct research. The long-term use of drugs has caused my rationality to decline drastically, down to the level of the second ring."

"At that time, my wife and I thought we could retire comfortably, but after a while we found that because our pension was only half of what it used to be, we could hardly maintain our current lifestyle."

"Even though I was once the top scientific magician, I still have some savings, but it won't last long at all."

"I have no choice. At 90 years old, I'm forced to do some work to barely make ends meet."

"However, I overlooked one point, which is that I am no longer young. I suffered from a very serious hidden illness due to participating in human experiments in my early years, and I have to take some medication."

"At the same time, my wife was diagnosed with a chronic disease due to years of overwork and selling blood, which prevented her from continuing to do some extra work."

"With decreasing income and increasing expenses, we finally couldn't afford the current costs, so we sold the house we had just finished paying off the mortgage for two years and moved to a smaller house in a worse neighborhood."

"We barely made ends meet by covering the difference between the two, but fortunately, my husband and I had health insurance in Lovelia in the past, and some of the medicines were very reasonably priced."

"However, three years after my husband and I were diagnosed with the disease, the medical insurance staff reminded us that the policy had changed and the prices of the medicines we were taking were getting more and more expensive."

"But I can't not eat. I can manage if I don't eat, but my wife has to eat."

"Finally, we had no choice but to move from the heart of Lovelia to a more remote area in order to maintain basic expenditures."

"At that time, my ailment was so painful that I needed to go to work, so I started taking cheap painkillers to help me continue working despite the pain."

"My wife passed away when I was 100 years old, and we had to pay a huge amount for her funeral and medical expenses during her rescue."

"At the time, someone told me that I could sell my wife's body. This would not only save me from paying huge funeral expenses, but also because my wife had taken drugs to enhance her sanity when she was over 80 years old, had chronic illnesses, and was a magician, she would have high research value."

"But! That's my wife of over 60 years! How can I bear to let her body be placed on a testing table and manipulated by others!"

"In the end, I sold my house and assets to pay for the enormous funeral and emergency medical expenses."

"I'm homeless now. A few years ago, I could barely afford to rent a place with my spare money, but later I had no choice but to live on the streets."

"The magician who once stood at the pinnacle of Loviria has now fallen to the streets. It all feels like a dream. I can only forget my illness and pain by taking enhancement drugs."

"And then, this is what you see now."

It's unclear when it started, but only the old homeless man kept talking incessantly, while Rose listened silently from the side.

Coming to his senses, the old homeless man was already in tears. He covered his head and sobbed in anguish:

"Why, why did I end up like this... Waaaaah..."

He carefully took out a love token pendant from his pocket. He opened the pendant, and inside was a photo of a newlywed couple in their wedding attire.

The man bore a resemblance to the old homeless man and was full of vigor, while the woman was gentle, beautiful, and wore a happy smile.

"Delia, how are you doing over there? Are you still in pain? I miss you so much..."