Metal Post

Arrow Garner toyed with a strange pendant as he looked at the dark round ball resting quietly on the desktop. A sentence suddenly flashed through his mind.

"When I was extremely angry... I stayed angry for an entire day!"

Sigh~!

He knew full well this was a motivational tactic used by his mother and Teacher Gemma, yet Arrow had truly been caught by it.

Looking at the fist-sized Small Wooden Ball before him, Arrow's thoughts grew heavy.

It was not only Isha. Looking at that dark round ball, Arrow suddenly thought of that pitiful Young Man who had been beheaded right at the start.

If he had not made them intercept the pirates climbing the ropes, then with their courage, might they have survived?

But there was no way to know.

They had courage, but did the others not?

Had not those Young Men fighting on the Front Line also suffered terrible casualties?

If they had succeeded then, everyone could have stood by the ship's rail and used the high ground against the low, like defending a city. The battle would not have been so brutal.

The faint pain in his back made Arrow Wake Up.

It was already over.

The number of survivors was exactly thirty, precisely balanced on the threshold of completing the assessment.

If those Young Men ahead had luckily survived this Death Assessment, then because Arrow had been injured, Nicole might have intervened as well. But afterward, another Death Assessment would have had to be arranged.

If there were another Death Assessment, could those Young Men still survive by luck?

And who knew how many more people would die?

Perhaps—

Now was the best possible outcome?

Arrow looked at the dark ball on the table and shook his head helplessly.

Unless he could find a way to properly settle these pitiful souls.

Only then could it barely count as a better outcome.

So.

Six years.

Advanced Wizard Apprentice?

He wondered—would it be difficult?

Arrow sighed inwardly, casually put the pendant around his neck, then found a piece of black cloth and carefully wrapped up the dark ball.

After the deck had been washed clean, the Cargo Ship continued onward.

The sun shone brightly On the road, and the sea was calm. The sailors on the ship freely raised their bold voices in song from time to time. Amid the laughter, it seemed as though something had happened, yet also as though nothing had happened.

The students' moods, however, underwent an enormous change. Perhaps because they had witnessed Nicole's displayed power, they respected Desi and Arrow even more. They even began imitating Arrow's movements in daily life, awkwardly and comically performing the salutation of Wizard Apprentices.

Though they were all students, they gradually divided themselves into two classes in secret.

This time, it was no longer a division between nobles and commoners, but between those who had huddled trembling in corners during the Death Assessment and those who had dared to fight back.

The most crucial reason behind all this lay in the Metal Posts Desi had handed out.

One side of the post bore the emblem of Jungle Home: thorns entwined around several leaves. Different students had different numbers of leaves, representing the class of academy they could enter.

The other side was marked by a few simple strokes depicting two hot-blooded warriors locked in a standoff with longswords.

In the blank space above the longswords was a string of names written in elegant cursive.

The one in Arrow's hand naturally read "Arrow Garner." It had two leaves, representing that he could enter a Second-Class Academy. It was also the highest grade among all the students.

But just like the little Red Flowers Arrow had once given out, not everyone received one of these posts. None of the students who had hidden in the corners had them!

The post alone might not have been enough to divide all the students, but with what Desi announced afterward, it was more than sufficient.

All students who possessed this post would be able to attend a Wizard Academy for free and choose one Meditation Technique for free!

As for the students without posts?

The tuition for a Wizard Academy was ten Magic Stones per year, while a Meditation Technique cost thirty Magic Stones. Not one stone less!

Of course, these students "might" not be able to produce so many Magic Stones, so the "generous" Jungle Home agreed to let them owe the debt first and repay it in the future.

Even Arrow had only received three Magic Stones from his Grandfather, then sixteen Magic Stones from his mother. From that, one could imagine the value of Magic Stones.

Why were they so expensive?

Naturally, because—knowledge was a priceless treasure!

It was clearly a slap followed by a sweet date, but the method was indeed effective.

Whenever they found free time, the students who had received Metal Posts came to build ties with Arrow. They directly or indirectly asked about Wizard Academies, each of them filled with beautiful hopes for the future.

The students who had failed to receive Metal Posts could only hide away in different corners, looking enviously at those who had received them, their hearts perhaps filled with regret.

At this point, who still remembered the Death Assessment?

They might even have been wishing for another one. No one mentioned their hatred for Jungle Home at all.

It had to be said that Jungle Home handled every small detail with exceptional thoroughness. No wonder its influence could spread across eighteen continents and countless islands.

In the days that followed, aside from exercising on the deck every day, Arrow spent his remaining time chatting. After all, the more friends one had, the more paths one had. No one knew what they might encounter in the future.

In any case, the Death Assessment was over. He no longer had to worry that he might speak to them today, only to Witness their gruesome deaths tomorrow.

With Arrow deliberately drawing closer, he quickly became friendly with all the students.

Even toward the students who had not received Metal Posts, Arrow was not cold or dismissive.

Small people had their own uses too. A smile cost nothing, after all.

Amid such a life, all kinds of islands gradually began appearing around them. The ship stopped at some islands from time to time to rest briefly. Time slowly passed, and only after another half month did they arrive at their destination.

"Finally, we're back."

When the faint outline of a straight line appeared and the continent gradually drew nearer, Desi stood at the bow, a delighted smile appearing on his face.

"That is our destination."

"That is Raphael City, where all the academies recruit students. Once you disembark, you can take your posts and ask which academies are willing to accept you. Once you have made your choice, those people will arrange to send you to the academies."

Upon hearing Desi's words, the students around them immediately grew excited.

Was their beautiful future finally about to begin?

The students without Metal Posts could only anxiously hide in the corners, not daring to make a sound.

Noticing this, Arrow turned back and asked, "Big Brother Desi, what about the students without posts?"

"Those without posts?" Desi turned back and gave them a cold glance. "Don't worry. Once they get on land, academies will immediately choose them and take them away."

Choose them?

Did that merely mean they had no right to choose?

Looking at those students who had Breathed a Sigh of Relief, Arrow could not be bothered to make malicious speculations.

It was too tiring.

After more than a month of sailing, they had constantly faced that endless, monotonous expanse of sea. Their earlier curiosity toward the ocean had long since been ground away by the dull, repetitive scenery.

At this moment, whether Desi, Arrow, or the other students, all of them were eager to leave the Cargo Ship and return to land as soon as possible.

After learning that they would soon reach land and even choose their academies shortly afterward, all the students hurried back to their rooms, washing up and organizing their bundles.

Very soon, the hull swayed slightly, and Nicole's voice Rang Out across the ship:

"Little Wizards, welcome to—Aners Continent!"