Chapter 566: This is What You Call an Academy
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
This was the Academy?
The few mages looked forward in anticipation.
In front of them was a white wall that was painted with simple markings. The main gate stood proudly in the middle of the wall and if you looked through the empty spaces between the grails, you could see a few buildings of varying heights past it. There were low and flat buildings neatly clumped together, a slightly taller three-story building, and even a huge plaza ...trees were also planted neatly along the small road, which they were sure would provide tons of shade once the
The mages looked at each other with a sparkle in their eye.
In short, the academy was not grand, at most, it was spacious. But, this kind of building layout was foreign to them. The three-story building was like a villa, but its structure was anything but; the windows were all separated by a thin line, showing that there were many rooms in the building.
But...they did not know what the rooms were for.
"Everyone, this is the school building, inside it is over a hundred classrooms, it can hold up to a thousand students. We will do most of our teaching in this building." Benjamin explained.
The few mages came back to their senses, their faces were confused, not very sure of what they had just heard.
Benjamin saw this and smiled before pushing open the metal gates to bring the people in.
"The left-hand side is where the hostels are located. We don’t force students to stay here, but many of them come from far of places, so a hostel that can house up to four thousand people is very much necessary. If the student body increases in volume, we can utilize the empty land in the academy to build more."
"To the right is the magic plaza. Practicing magic is a dangerous activity, so we tried to make the space as large as possible. There is even an arena in the plaza, which is fenced off with special materials. We encourage students to spar with each other...but of course, duelling with the intent to cause grievous harm is forbidden.
"Behind the school is an experimental field. It has the right conditions for most magical plants to grow. We encourage students to get a wholesome development, whether it is alchemy, gardening, or even creating magical tools, we do not only plan to train battle mages."
"That is our specialized potions area, there are all sorts of tools for creating and brewing potions...’"
The mages followed Benjamin as they walked through the entire academy. The more they heard Benjamin’s explanations, the bigger their eyes opened, their jaws were basically being dragged on the floor by the end of it.
They...did not know what to say.
All of them were lost for words.
All the schools and academies they have seen before this were nothing in terms of scale or functionality compared to this.
For example, the most famous knight school was just a large piece of barren land with a stable and an armoury. As for the noble’s academies, it was nothing more than expensive red carpets all over the place and weird paintings on the wall with no emphasis on facilities.
But a magical academy like this....
It was not actually grand, per say. From the looks of it, there were no excessive decorations, but you can tell that each brick was laid with great thought behind it.
"This place...is so intricate." The elderly mage exclaimed.
"Division of labour increases efficiency." Benjamin smiled and said," If everything is mixed in together, it is not really professional, students would easily get lost."
"Division of labour increases efficiency...."
Vinci heard this and seemed to have understood something.
"Mage Benjamin, do you really not want to recruit anybody above twenty?" The young mage suddenly asked, "Being able to walk out of such a great academy would surely cause all of my peers to become jealous."
In truth, he was not listening particularly closely to whether what each place was for, but...after hearing the general explanation, he started to feel that this was a high-class place and abandoned his initial scepticism about it!
"Sir, you are already a capable mage, there is no need for you to attend our academy anymore." Benjamin smiled and shook his head, "The rules have already been set, I can’t an exception just make for one person."
"Is there really no way? I’m only four years over the age limit." The young mage was persistent," To maintain such a huge academy, the expenses must be great. How about this, if you let me in, I can pay extra. And I can help recruit more people."
Benjamin still smiled and shook his head.
"Sigh... why are you all looking so much at potential? Most of the time, those that have potential do not have money; even if you want them to attend as students, can they really afford to pay the fees?" The young mage asked.
Benjamin replied, "Most of them actually can’t afford to pay."
The young mage was even more confused, "Then how do you all make money?"
"We already thought of an idea of using work to replace money." Benjamin explained," To most people, our academy fees are really too expensive. Thus, we have decided to waive the tuition fees of children with poor backgrounds and instead let them work their debt off."
Hearing this, the few mages did not react, but Vinci’s eyes lit up.
"You have... bought their future?"
"Exactly." Benjamin nodded and said," All the students we have accepted are sprouts full of potential, with this division of labour, their growth would accelerate. It’s making an investment: once they become mages capable of making money, I will gain back what I lost with even more benefits."
Vinci heard this and took a deep breath before whistling, "That’s impressive."
To have such a method...
He had been a merchant for so many years, why did he not think of it?
Benjamin’s words gave him motivation, he could not help but think of the potion mages that were under him. Before this, he only took in experienced potion mages, paying them coins for their work.
But with this technique, he could cultivate his own potion mages now!
Not bad, not bad at all...
This visit had proved quite fruitful.
"But in doing so, you will have to slowly cultivate the mages, right? I can’t imagine you getting any payoff in the beginning." The young mage thought of another problem and asked.
Benjamin heard this and nodded.
"That’s right, so we tried replicating my methods of making money. Those self-learning materials outside are rather expensive, and yet, people buy them. After classes start, we still start an audit course as well, if you pay part of the fees, anyone can come and listen in, you could say it is contributing to the promotion of magic."
The young mage seemed to cheer up at the reply, "May I come audit in the future?"
"Of course, you can, I just afraid our courses are too shallow and unable to satisfy people that have been mages for a long time like you."
The young mage immediately shook his head and said, "No, the contents are not important, what is important is the school of thought taught here. I really want to know what it is like to attend a class here."
"I want to know too." Benjamin smiled, "Time is running out, our teachers are all still undergoing training to achieve the quality of education that we are striving for. Half an hour from now, I have to go give a talk to them."
The few heard this and showed some interest.
"Can we sit in?
Benjamin shook his head.
"If not... never mind, you have already accompanied us on a tour of the whole academy, and for that we thank you. If you are busy, we won’t take up any more of your time."
Benjamin walked them to the front gate and bid them farewell. Then, he turned around and left for the school block.
The few mages watched him leave in awe.
"What is his brain made up of? How does he come up with so many new ideas? I want to open it up and see..." The young mage could not help but marvel.
"That’s enough, he can fight a bishop singlehandedly, what about you? You won’t be able to harm a hair on his head."
The young man scratched his head, "I just kidding, who would dare lay a finger on him?"
"That’s right... he is already so powerful at such a young age. In just a few years, his power might be able to match the Pope’s." The elderly mage exclaimed.
It felt like the magical world was about to be flipped upside down.
Walking beside them, Vinci heard their discussion and shook his head helplessly.
"Let’s go." He said, "Different people have different paths to walk. We should not need to admire other people; we have already come here and gained much knowledge, let’s go back and digest it."
The few heard this and nodded.
"Right...we should go back."
With this, they passed through the academy. Crestfallen yet full of emotion, they walked out the main gate.