Upon hearing Du Pont's question, the clerk in the room did not even raise his brows. He simply continued reading today's newspaper. "You didn't finish this week's assignment, so what are you collecting next week's for?"
After saying that, he yawned and shot Du Pont a sidelong glance. "There aren't many circumstances under which the Academy allows this kind of sick leave. Don't betray the Academy's trust. If there's nothing else, go back."
What an oblivious guy. Doesn't he know it's nap time?
As a promising young man who had once gotten along just fine on construction sites, Du Pont's skin was as thick as a city wall. Pretending not to understand, he gave an awkward laugh and turned to leave, though he could not help feeling a little disappointed.
If he had managed to freeload successfully, he would have had much more room to maneuver. Unfortunately, idiots seemed to be rather rare in this world. Even swindling a little startup capital was proving difficult.
However, after glancing at the copper badge on the man's chest and confirming there was no one else in the room, Du Pont quickly came up with a new plan. He quietly took out a finished scroll and placed it on the desk. "Professor William, I've been sick lately, and my condition has been terrible. My efficiency hasn't been what it used to be. Could you perhaps make an exception?"
"Hm?" William's impatient expression vanished after hearing that, but the next moment, he frowned. A trace of coldness flashed through his eyes as he looked at the somewhat restrained Du Pont. "Student, if others find out about this, it'll be a serious offense at the Academy. You could be confined for a week or even expelled."
"Ah?" Du Pont looked stunned. "Professor, didn't I just pick up the scroll you accidentally dropped on the floor? I definitely didn't Scribe this scroll. You can take a look."
"Oh?" William carefully examined Du Pont's badge, then looked at the name on the scroll. Only then did a smile appear on his face, though it quickly disappeared again. "That is true, but you really haven't submitted ten scrolls. This is rather difficult."
"But the school never said only those who submit scrolls can collect parchment." Du Pont coughed lightly. "I imagine sick leave records, scroll distribution, and scroll collection aren't all recorded in the same ledger, right? The people collecting scrolls and handing out parchment tomorrow will each have their own duties.
"If anyone comes to investigate, then I was simply muddled from being sick and collected an extra set by mistake. I can make up for it afterward. And Professor, you're so busy that you wouldn't notice such a small matter. Besides, why would those higher-ups care about gaining or losing a few sheets of parchment?"
"..." William fell into thought after hearing that. He subconsciously glanced around the office, where he was the only employee, then slipped the scroll into his pocket and cleared his throat. "Everyone comes to submit them on Saturday morning. If you're late, I won't care."
A knowing smile appeared on Du Pont's face. He gave a quick farewell and turned to leave.
Why did William not hand it out now, when there were fewer people and more privacy, but insist on doing it when the place was crowded?
Naturally, because a crowd meant more work, and more work meant more chances for something to go wrong.
Thinking of that, Du Pont felt a little excited.
There were no ordinary people in the important departments of the Mage Academy. Even regular staff possessed some spellcasting ability. Many employees had become Academy staff after graduating as apprentices. Their income could not compare to adventurers', but it was stable and relatively safe.
Anyone who could work in a lucrative department like Finance naturally had little magical talent but some powerful connections. Yet in an environment as special as the Mage Academy, their salaries definitely would not exceed those of teachers, nor would their allowances surpass those of powerful instructors. After all, mage levels were not something one could fake.
William only had a copper badge. That meant his mage level should be below Level 5, just like Du Pont's. He had merely graduated earlier and become an employee, putting his status one step above Du Pont's. But in the eyes of the Academy's upper ranks, he might not amount to much.
If his connections had been truly formidable, he would not be sitting here.
With no hope of promotion and an ordinary position, would someone working in such a department honestly settle for a fixed salary?
Such people existed, but the Mage Academy clearly had more clever-minded people. Du Pont's small test had produced quite good results.
Using public resources to fill one's own pockets, then shifting the blame onto someone else and clearing oneself if trouble arose—few people would refuse such a risk-free deal.
Unfortunately, long-term leave was not permitted within the Academy, so he could not exploit this loophole many times. Still, in the short term, he had earned six gold coins. If his relationship with William grew closer in the future, there might be other benefits as well.
There was an old saying: the four strongest bonds in life were studying together, fighting together, splitting loot together, and visiting brothels together. Crude as it was, it made some sense. But Du Pont only believed in one of them.
As long as there were shared interests, friendship could endure.
There was still half an hour before the end of lunch break. Du Pont was not sleepy, but he did not want Scribing scrolls to affect his afternoon classes, so he simply went to the library to find some free leisure reading.
The librarian was a fairly pretty young woman, but she was currently asleep with her head on the desk. Du Pont did not disturb her. He simply wrote down his name in the register beside her, then browsed the library, which supposedly held twenty thousand books.
Most of the books here were not particularly valuable. Some were simply travel guides for various regions or popular romance novels. After flipping through a few, Du Pont discovered some steamy and explicit knight novels. Just reading a few lines made his blood surge.
Chapter One: My Gnome Landlord Has a Barbarian Wife
Forget it. Reading that now would affect his state. Du Pont quickly scanned it and had the system store it away, planning to take it out later whenever he was tired from Scribing scrolls and needed to adjust his mood.
He should read something useful now, such as this compilation, Guide to Practical Mage Hand Use.
School of Transmutation cantrip: Mage Hand. It was one of the required subjects for mages. It could help a mage handle miscellaneous tasks such as fetching cups, holding candles, and finding things. Even famous Archmages relied on this small spell.
Notes from an Archmage: "The person who invented Mage Hand was definitely a genius. It was practically a third hand that moved exactly as one wished. In some ways, it was far more useful than those clumsy apprentices."
Notes from a mage apprentice: "Ever since I learned Mage Hand, I no longer have to trouble my girlfriend to do this and that when I get home. I'm no longer afraid of oil splashing on me when I cook, either."
Notes from an anonymous person: "Mage Hand is a little bigger than a human hand, but it has real weight and tactile sensation. It is unexpectedly convenient for certain activities. You just need to stay focused at all times so you don't accidentally break the skin, but in a sense, isn't that part of the fun?"
Seeing this, Du Pont felt that it was completely outrageous. Yet there was even a follow-up record from this person below. It was short, but it left Du Pont utterly shaken.
"I married my Mage Hand."
Damn it, who turned this thing into a book and put it in the library? This book should be paying me!
After washing his eyes clean, he returned to the classroom. Perhaps because his injuries had healed, Du Pont found the afternoon lessons much easier to follow. He gained an extra 6 points of course Experience Points, bringing the total to 30 and his overall Experience Points to 454/2000.
It was just a pity that the final golem class did not grant any Experience Points.
The instructor was a rare dwarven mage. It was said that he had been a war mage in the Battle of Mithril Hall in the north. Though one of his arms was missing, he had a thick mithril arm instead. The golden medal on his chest was particularly dazzling, and his booming voice made it impossible to doze off. However, very few people were interested in his class. Most attendees were miserable civil engineering students taking it as a required course.
"Flesh is weak, but stone may not be reliable either! Through my many years of practice, I've discovered that mithril is absolutely the finest material for making golems. A mithril golem of the same size has only one-fifth the density of adamantine, while its power is only 10% weaker and its agility is greatly improved. The only flaw is that it's too expensive. If any of you become rich in the future, you can come ask me for the blueprints."
"Ahem, I've gone off topic. Now I'll teach you something practical: how to use local materials to create a Clay Golem in the shortest time possible. This is the latest joint achievement of Haluar and Mithril Hall. Once the spell is successfully cast, even poor soil can be used. The golem core cannot be reduced in size, and concentration must be maintained. Tests have shown that summoning time can be greatly reduced in relatively damp areas."
Although many people were distracted, Du Pont found it quite interesting.
The reason everyone lacked interest in this course was actually simple: making golems was expensive, but using them was troublesome. Furthermore, this professor had the common dwarven bad habit of always bragging and rambling.
The lowest-grade Clay Golem weighed a full two thousand pounds. Its simple core and overly clumsy body made it easy to kite in actual combat, leaving it unable to catch enemies at all. At the Academy, it was basically only used for menial and exhausting labor.
Compared to an Iron Golem, a large toy resembling a weapon of war that could actually fight, this was the absolute bottom of the barrel. If taken into battle, it could only serve as a guard and mobile shield at one's side.
Rather than a golem, it was more like an obedient large earth elemental puppet.
But summoning a large earth elemental was a fifth-circle spell. As long as he had a golem core, he could create this thing even with his beginner-level golem studies. Of course, what he made would definitely be far inferior to the instructor's creation onstage, but it would still be genuine combat power.
Unfortunately, golem cores were extremely expensive. Even a defective earth golem core that could only be used once cost one hundred gold coins. For Du Pont, it was completely beyond reach.
He would have to research whether he could make golem cores himself later.
Dinner still cost fifty copper coins. After eating, Charles mysteriously said he had an appointment that night and left the Academy directly. Du Pont shook his head and continued to Scribe Scrolls.
His Scribing speed had improved considerably again, reaching twenty-eight and a half minutes, though the fatigue remained.
The system also changed his scroll-Scribing rating.
1st-circle spell scroll success rate: 60%. While remaining calm and focused, the user's Scribing success rate can increase to 80%–95%.
Seeing those words put Du Pont in a good mood, but continuing to Scribe in that state would not go so well. He put away his pen and ink and prepared to head to the kitchen to carry out a small plan.
The sound of pigs being slaughtered that morning had given him an idea. There should be no one left in the cafeteria at this hour.
Before you continue