Transmigrated to another world, I'm illiterate?

Gret headed straight for the Mage Tower with the letter of recommendation.

The temple's search party arrived in high spirits but retreated in disarray. Before even reaching their destination, they had already angered a Necromancer, and their strongest fighter was severely injured. Seeing that pushing forward would yield no good results, they could only retreat to the temple to rest and heal.

As for what came next – exploration, revenge, or something else entirely – that was a matter for the future.

Even Priest Donald, who had wanted to chat with Gret for a bit longer, could only give him a regretful glance before boarding his carriage and leaving without looking back.

With the temple guards gone, the City Guard's affairs were naturally no longer their concern. Gret conferred with his teammates, and they turned back to Uncle Edmond's farm to rendezvous with Captain Karen. After borrowing a few mounts from Uncle Edmond, they took a shortcut back to the city.

The temple guards had suffered such a significant loss; it was hard to guarantee they wouldn't lash out at someone. If they were to blame their failure on them, a few low-level Warriors would certainly not be able to withstand it. The best course of action now was to return to camp quickly and report upwards.

Even John, the Young Priest from the Temple of the God of War, canceled his trip home to visit and turned back to the temple.

Gret parted ways with them as they neared the city, heading towards the Mage Tower. Hartland City had only one Mage Tower, which wasn't within the city but stood atop a hill in the suburbs. The hill was densely forested, and looking up, only a sliver of the tower's peak could be seen from afar.

"Is this like the 'deep mountains hide an ancient temple' saying... it does have a certain atmosphere..."

Gret mumbled, flicking the reins. The chestnut mare beneath him snorted and obediently turned its head, trotting onto the mountain path.

The main road out of the city split into a branch road below the hill, leading directly to the summit. This mountain path was wide and flat, with deep wagon ruts, clearly indicating frequent carriage traffic. Gret didn't struggle, and in less than fifteen minutes, he reached the summit and arrived in front of the Mage Tower.

Although the Mage Tower had "Tower" in its name, it was more like a castle, with a large area enclosed by an outer wall. Gret dismounted, took a few steps back from the wall, and tilted his head to observe:

"This tower is quite tall... the third floor, the fourth floor..."

BOOM!!!

A deafening roar. Birds scattered, horses whinnied, and the sturdy Mage Tower itself swayed slightly. Thick smoke billowed from a fourth-floor window, and at the same time, with a whoosh, a person was ejected in a parabolic trajectory...

Gret: !!!!

That height! That speed! Hitting the ground, if he were lucky, it would be a fracture; if unlucky, his neck would hit the ground, and he could delete his account and start over on the spot!

He sprinted towards the landing point. If it was just a broken leg, he didn't need to rescue; if his neck was broken, rescue would be useless; but if he suffered cardiac arrest, airway obstruction, or massive bleeding from fractures, perhaps he could save a life if he ran faster!

Run faster!

Run even faster!

Gret panted, running with his head down, almost at the speed of pushing a critically ill patient to the operating room. As he ran, his feet grew slower and slower, until finally, he stood still, hands on his knees, staring blankly upwards.

It wasn't that he couldn't run anymore. Gret's current body was, after all, a new recruit of the City Guard, and his Warrior level could barely be rated as Level 1. The problem was that the person who had been ejected from the window, every move they made, made Gret feel that running like this was unnecessary...

The person flailed their arms, shouted "Ahhh," and flew outwards along the parabola. Reaching the highest point, they suddenly pulled something from their pocket and tossed it out. Immediately, the high-speed parabolic trajectory abruptly stopped, and the person, as if equipped with a parachute, slowly, slowly, drifted down to the ground.

Gret, holding the reins, stood on the ground with his mouth agape, watching. The guy swayed and floated, from thirty feet to twenty, from twenty to ten feet above the ground. Looking down and seeing Gret, he even smiled at him.

"Eliot!!!"

A furious roar erupted from above the smoking window. The person floating in the air shivered, and somehow stopped floating. With a plop, they fell straight down--

"Aaaahhhhhhh!"

"...Uh, can you still walk?"

This flying man, covered in soot and ash, the bomber of the Mage Tower, the strong individual who floated down from the sky and finally twisted his ankle, ended up returning to the Mage Tower on Gret's mare.

With his introduction, Gret easily met the owner of the Mage Tower, the Level 5 Mage German Klaus, and handed him the letter from the Necromancer.

"Gret Nordmark?" German was the polar opposite of the Necromancer; he was a complete fatty, his deep red robe strained across his belly, which protruded significantly. His dark brown hair was neatly combed back, and a large beard extended from his ears to his jaw, then drooped down loosely, covering his Adam's apple.

Gret glanced at him and almost thought he had transmigrated again, seeing someone from a political textbook before his eyes.

He stood with his hands at his sides. Mage German read the letter at a glance, then raised his eyes and scanned Gret from top to bottom:

"Andrew said you want to learn Elemental Magic?"

"Yes."

"What's your foundation like? What level of spells can you cast? Level 1 spells? Level 0 spells?"

"Uh... I can't do any..."

"How much of the spell principles have you read? Basic Spells? Magic Pattern Construction? Elemental Introduction? Potions? -- You don't even recognize Magic Script, do you?"

"I really don't recognize that..."

Gret's head drooped lower and lower. He knew a few Latin words from memorizing drug names when he studied medicine; he had minored in German and frequently used English for journals and literature, so he was more than familiar with it. But Magic Script, where would he learn something like that?

However, not recognizing Magic Script meant that most, if not the vast majority, of magic books were incomprehensible. No way, after years of hard study, had he become illiterate after transmigrating to another world?

Seeing that he didn't know this and didn't understand that, Mage German's thick eyebrows furrowed repeatedly. Even with a friend's recommendation, he was becoming impatient:

"...You don't even recognize Common Script, do you?!"

"I recognize that!" Gret breathed a sigh of relief and quickly replied. Thanks to the original owner's father, though he died early, he had at least taught the original owner to read. His family had also left behind a small box of books, and it was with this box that the original owner completed his basic reading education--

"And, I know Healing Spell!"

"Hmm..."

Mage German's expression softened slightly. Knowing Healing Spell indicated he had the basic qualifications of a spellcaster; his mental power, perception, and so on were at least up to standard. As for the rest, hmm, for the sake of his friend Lynn...

"Since Andrew wrote a letter of recommendation, you can audit classes at the Mage Tower for now. The tuition is 10 gold coins per month, but for Andrew's sake, I'll waive it for you--"

Thank goodness!

Gret secretly let out a sigh of relief and nodded quickly. 10 gold coins a month, he didn't even have a single silver coin on him right now. The City Guard's salary, wasn't it 5 silver coins a month?

Fortunately, it was waived, otherwise, would he have to go back and ask the Necromancer for money...

"Well, you can come to the Mage Tower every day and freely read the books on the first floor, but you're not allowed to copy or take them away. You can attend my lectures if I'm teaching, and if my disciples, like Eliot, are willing, you can ask them for advice. You'll need to provide your own materials for copying spells, and you can't use the alchemy room without my permission. We'll discuss other matters once you become a Mage Apprentice!"

Thanks to @A Bowl of Fish Ball Congee for the 200 Qidian coins reward.

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