Above the mage

Chapter 179 End of the First Academic Year

As it turns out, Gaode's worries were unnecessary.

It seems that he is too busy learning magic to find time to earn credits with Gaode.

Or perhaps, as his image as a genius learner became more and more deeply ingrained in people's minds, Yulan realized that he couldn't compete with Gaode in terms of credits, and rationally chose to give up.

In short, when the Flower Flame Month arrived, Yulan did not take any additional elective courses for herself.

This also means that, barring any other circumstances, his credits for the first year will stop at 31.

They have completely lost any chance of competing with Gaode for the top spot in freshman credits.

Gaode, freed from competitive pressure, also breathed a sigh of relief.

Learning isn't difficult, but the tuition is expensive!

If this continues, we'll be facing a financial crisis before the next school year even starts.

The remaining courses also came to an end one after another.

The first thing to do was the final assessment for the course "Spell Application and Combat".

Since it's called "Application and Combat," the assessment content is naturally not theoretical, but practical, testing the students' ability to apply and control spells.

Master Farong set up ten different tests for each of the ten most common magic tricks used by apprentice magicians.

For example, the "Mage's Hand" assessment requires using the Mage's Hand to disassemble and assemble a part of an alchemy machine.

Students choose two spells to be tested.

Then, the instructor, Fallon, will give a final score based on the student's performance in these two spell assessments.

Gaode chose [Hand of the Mage] and [Fire Arrow] as his assessment items.

The challenge of the "Flame Arrow" skill is to hit two fast-moving trial puppets within a specified time.

Clearly, for Gaode, both of these assessment criteria were a piece of cake.

"Done, mentor." Gao De announced as he completed both assessments with incredible speed, as if he had cheated, and indeed he had cheated.

"Gaode!" Falon, the instructor who had just finished explaining the assessment content and precautions to Gaode and was turning to explain things to another student, turned around with an incredulous expression.

He stared at Gao De, who had completed two assessment tasks in almost a minute, and unable to contain his emotions, shouted at Gao De, "Why did you finish all the assessments so quickly?"

"You told me to do this, tutor."

"My God!" Master Fallon's voice grew louder and louder; it shouldn't be called speaking anymore, but rather a roar filled with ecstatic joy.

"This is a new record for the assessment in this course!"

"If it weren't for the college's explicit rule that required courses must be taken in stages, I would have made you directly take the third stage assessment for this course and graduate from it!"

"And now, I can only give you full marks!"

In an instant, all the students on the field heard what Instructor Faron said and turned their shocked gazes toward Gaode.

Gao De's image as a learning genius has become deeply ingrained in people's minds, and this is not the first time he has achieved a perfect score.

So, it shouldn't be surprising that he got a perfect score again.

The problem is, this is a class on "Spell Application and Combat"!

The test assesses magical abilities, not academic skills.

How come Gaode also possesses a talent in this area that even shocked his mentor, Fallon?

Gao De pretended not to notice the surprised and envious looks around him, nodded to his mentor, Fallon, and then quietly left the stage—having been a top student his whole life, he was already very familiar with this routine.

Gao De also passed the final assessments for the remaining courses, including the first stage of "Basic Courses for Dharma Masters", "Cultivation and Utilization of Spiritual Land" and "Survival Skills in Extreme Environments", with high scores.

As for "Symbolic Literature"

Because I have always been learning from He west and through self-study, I have no reference points.

So Gaode only knows that the learning content has exceeded the first stage, but it is still a little unsure about the specific assessment.

Therefore, Gao De, who had been focusing on practicing his calligraphy during this period, even took half a day before the exam to review his previous materials on runes.

When the assessment came, it was discovered that the assessment content required students to select five from ten given level zero basic runes and draw them.

Each rune has three chances to be drawn.

In other words, as long as you master about half of the level zero basic runes and your luck isn't too bad, you can pass the test.

Upon seeing the assessment content, Gaode's first thought was:

That's it?

The course "Symbolic Literature" is a long course that spans a full ten months, so the fact that the assessment content is so simple is indeed beyond Gaode's expectations.

After all, he had already mastered all 651 level zero basic runes in just two and a half months of studying runeology.

Unsurprisingly, Gao De also passed the test with a perfect score in "Symbolic Literature".

Finally, Gaode's first academic year came to an end.

Then comes a one-month waiting period.

By the time Frosty Gold Month arrives, the first academic year for all new students has come to an end.

The top spot in freshman credits unsurprisingly went to Gaode.

That year he completed a total of eighteen courses and passed all of them.

Furthermore, more than half of the final exams were completed with full marks, resulting in a total of 36 credits.

All I can say is that Gao De had an exceptionally fulfilling first year at Cyrus Academy.

The second is Yolan, who earned a total of 31 credits.

Third is Gerica, who earned a total of 25 credits, which is also a very high score.

Because in her ninth month at Seres Academy, the Flower Flame Month, she successfully advanced to a 1st-circle mage after drinking the Ascension Water, earning an extra 8 credits.

With 25 credits, it would be the highest number of credits for any freshman class in the past twenty years.

But this year, it could only come in third.

It's easy to imagine how fierce the competition for credits was among this year's freshmen.

Gaode's first place in academic credits was snatched from two level 1 mages, so its value goes without saying.

After the credit rankings were released, the titles of the three geniuses—Gaud, Yulan, and Jelika Seris College Class of '9655—were upgraded, and the prefix "Class of '9655" was removed.

However, among the three geniuses, Gao De, who ranked first in academic credits, was actually ranked last.

After all, in the world of mages, a mage's talent is always the most important criterion for evaluation.

Gao De's learning talent has been fully demonstrated, and his magical talent has also gained some fame, but his mage level as a second-class mage apprentice is still too much of a drag.

However, thanks to the guidance of his spiritual power, Gao De had already cultivated the magic to 18 levels by the last day of the harvest month.

Furthermore, the next breakthrough is only a few days away.

In the middle of the night, the last petal of the Apprentice Meditation Technique was also materialized by Gao De.

This signifies that the apprentice's meditation skills have reached perfection, and he only needs guidance to catch up before he can attempt to advance to the first rank of mage.

The most important thing for Gaode is to expand his spell library.

It can be said that it is already imminent.

The reason why Gaode has been slow to act is very simple, and can be summed up in one word:

poverty!

Uninterrupted rental of a Tier 1 training room represents an expenditure of 10 silver coins per day.

In addition, even if one were to live frugally, daily living expenses would still require at least 1 tael.

From the beginning of the Green Leaf Month until now, there has only been outflow and no inflow, and Gaode's once three-digit deposits have now dropped to single digits.

To be precise, it was 1 gold and 18 silver.

This amount of money is barely enough to buy a meal, not even enough to cover the next training room expenses, let alone purchase spell recipes.

Thankfully, Gaode finally saw the end of the first academic year.

The ranking of freshmen by credit hours has been finalized.

The 100 gold reward for the top freshman in terms of credits will soon be credited to their account.

(End of this chapter)