Chapter 548: Establishing the Academy of Magic
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
After a few days, the news of triumph arrived at Geallore.
The soldiers of Icor has no longer has their heart in the battle, and quickly fell back when they came into contact with the soldiers of Carretas. They withdrew their forces to the edge of the border. Not once did the Queen appear, but the rumors of her death was disproved quickly as apparently she has left Carretas long before to return to her castle.
Of course, there were news of her staying resolutely in her room during her stay in the castle was due to some unknown illness, and she did not look particularly pleasant in the few times she showed up.
However, the people of Carretas naturally would not bother about the wellbeing of the Queen. After this conflict that lasted for half a month, Icor’s final soldiers finally left Carretas. Both parties also released statements declaring the end of the war, and the refugees started to return to their homes. Everyone cheered in delight as they could finally return to their peaceful lives before the war.
"I thought this war would be a long one! His Majesty is truly amazing!"
"I heard that a mage named Benjamin was the one who assisted the King to defeat the bishops from the Kingdom of Helius. He even repeatedly went to fight against the mages of Icor! That was why the enemies would finally retreat."
"That’s amazing. Wouldn’t it be great if we could also learn magic?"
The story of the King and Benjamin was spread like wildfire within the country, and it quickly became the hot topic in the whole of Carretas. Of course, the citizens did not know about the details, which led them to make full use of their imagination to create an impressive amount of unbelievable stories.
When Benjamin heard stories that illustrates how he apparently scared the Pope away with only 3 moves, or that he killed 10 bishops with just a wave of his hand, he had no idea if he should laugh or cry. Those stories were very well written, too!
How great would it be if he was as powerful as the stories made him to be.
However, he recognized that this was an incredible opportunity. He had fulfilled his promise to the King, and the King has started to fulfill the end of his promise in helping Benjamin establish an actual Academy of Magic.
The location they chose was within the fields to the North of Carretas. The King provided manpower and resources to start the construction of the city. This city would probably be the first actual Magical City, where all the residents, infrastructure, and transportation was built for the convenience of the mages who came to study magic.
The Academy was not placed within the center of Carretas. Instead, it was situated near the intersection point of the three kingdoms, far from the center of governance, with the grassy plains of Carretas by its side. Benjamin and the King had an agreement that the Academy of Magic will totally be an independent body and is not under the command of Carretas. The King did not go back on his words, as he continued to agree to this amidst the protests of his ministers.
In some sense, the King has gifted the piece of land to Benjamin.
Benjamin was beyond touched by the King’s actions. Nowadays, quite a number of people would immediately forget the ones who helped them after they achieved success. Even though the King was quite a coward, he was still an accountable one. The fact that the King was willing to honor his words to even the minute details even if it was a verbal agreement was precious enough.
And now, with the guarantee from the political part of kingdom, Benjamin could finally start his Academy of Magic!
The Academy was still under construction, but it was already a big area of construction just by looking at the outlines of the area. The King gave as much support as he could in this project in the forms of resources, labor, and publicity. Benjamin would never be able to build a city from the ground up alone. The resources the King provided was given in exchange to Benjamin’s future assistance whenever an emergency arises in Carretas.
They also signed a new agreement, detailing how mages from the Academy would be referred to Carretas first before the other kingdoms, and how the Academy would be required to provide full assistance if Carretas is in danger. Benjamin hoped for the Academy of Magic to not only be a school, but also an international organization of mages. Thus, as an international organization, they will need to establish fair and independent relations with the nations.
Benjamin decided to give up on the Desert City in Ferelden. He shifted all of the power to constructing the Academy of Magic. They would still need to communicate with Ferelden in the future, and the issue in the Desert City was too vague that it poses a threat to the Academy. Benjamin did not really care about the small town anyways.
All of the mages stationed in the Desert City came to Ferelden. When Morris witnessed the building Academy in his wheelchair, he looked moved.
"You.... You really did it."
Benjamin patted his shoulders. "Is there a need to be so touched? It’s not like the Church is destroyed. Work hard, you will be the future Chairman of the Magical Instrument Department in the Academy."
Morris looked surprised. "Looks like you have plans for the Academy already."
Benjamin smiled. "Of course."
He patted Morris’ shoulders before he turned and flew to the sky. He summoned dozens of tiny water figures to join the busy construction team in the Academy.
The number of buildings needed to be built is too much for ordinary builders to build quickly. Benjamin could not wait for too long - after all, his words were real, the Church was not destroyed. Those people were crouching from afar, watching Benjamin’s every move. They would pounce at any moment to pull them into the bottomless abyss. Benjamin needed to pick up his pace.
Thus, his only choice was to help the construction with magic.
Levitation spells, the Dark Hand, and Freezing Spells..... The numerous non-combat magic were utilized by the hundred mages to fit into the work scope of the construction. They used their imagination to use these spells with the construction, greatly accelerating the progress.
Wood floating around by themselves in the air, the soil collapsing by its own.... These peculiar phenomenon happened all around the construction site, and the ordinary builders working for the construction soon were used to them and stopped being shocked by these weird happenings like they initially did.
Benjamin’s magic was more flexible and could contribute more to the construction. Sadly, he could not make a spell that produces water figures that has intelligence of a man, and he needed to command all of the water figures that he summoned. Or else, Benjamin could probably build the whole Academy by himself.
Although that was slightly unfortunate, the progress was still acceptable. Benjamin estimated that their efforts would show after a few months as they would complete the first phase of the Academy. Now, when the Academy was still incomplete, they could only stay in the temporary camps by the construction site. The apprentices stayed with them, and they learned magic while helping out in the construction. It was a form of tuition fees for their studies in the Academy as the first batch of students.
At the same time, they sent out some people to publicize the Academy to the citizens in Carretas and Ferelden in an effort to expand their recruitment reach. Of course, the students that joined will need to pay for their studies, so that the Academy could operate properly in the long run.
Although it was only a prototype, they would still need to spend a long time to construct an operating procedure and regulation for the Academy of Magic.
All in all, the construction of the Academy was running in full speed, and just like the triumph over Icor, it became one of the hottest topic within Carretas.