The Apprentices' Shock (Part 1)

Are we going to the Battlefield too?

In the Base Camp, the three apprentices looked at Elan with some unease, seemingly disagreeing with what he had just said.

Elan was somewhat puzzled. Logically speaking, shouldn't these apprentices be excited when they heard they were going to the Battlefield, or rather, to test the weapons they had made?

According to his understanding of these apprentices, every time they were to conduct an experiment, they would excitedly grab their weapons and go out, sometimes even setting up their weapons before the targets were even erected.

What happened this time?

"Yes, but she just wants you to go to the Battlefield to experience the specific functions, advantages, and disadvantages of the weapons you're currently making. She believes this will help your future development."

Now that things have come to this, Fran should put the matter of promoting these three apprentices to Formal Mage on the agenda.

Promoting these three apprentices to Formal Mage would only bring benefits to Fran at this point, with no drawbacks.

However, things didn't go as smoothly as Fran had anticipated; it's just that not everyone has such exceptionally high stats as her.

By now, although Fran has given the three apprentices many lessons, answered their questions, and even arranged for them to practice in various factories within the Base Camp,

However, the three apprentices showed absolutely no signs of being able to advance, which made Fran somewhat doubt how she had originally been promoted.

Before I had accumulated enough Mental Power to meet the ancient advancement requirements, I vaguely sensed that I was about to advance, but I was still a little short.

She remembered that even though she used Star Gazing Art to learn a lot about Earth, the time was short, and she didn't actually learn much.

Now she feels that by showing these apprentices around the factories she has built, she can gain far more knowledge than she did at the time.

Besides, back then she could only learn from scholars, but now she's personally teaching these apprentices; it doesn't seem like this should be the case at all.

Now, it seems these three apprentices haven't even scratched the surface of promotion.

However, after careful consideration, Fran also figured out some key information.

Perhaps the ancient method of advancing to Formal Mage by reaching a certain level of Mental Power and the current popular method of mastering certain School thought are not two unrelated conditions.

On the contrary, these are two complementary conditions. Acquired knowledge can, to some extent, compensate for the disadvantage caused by low Mental Power, and vice versa.

This seems to explain why, although a large number of apprentices pass the examinations every year, only a handful are promoted to Formal Mage.

Even though Grey Soil Province is relatively remote, there are absolutely no problems with student enrollment and spell teaching; this shouldn't be the case at all.

If we interpret it according to Fran's theory, this makes sense, even if a new method is now being used to replace the ancient method of advancement.

However, its essence is to add a new condition to the advancement of the ancient methods, so that more apprentices will have the opportunity to be promoted.

But having thought about it this far, the key question is what to do next.

Fran thought about this again. First of all, the speed at which the Base Camp's technology tree was progressing had reached a point where it needed to be slowed down.

Fran must secure a source of large quantities of industrial raw materials in order to better develop.

Take the application of electricity, for example. Generating electricity from thermal power is very simple, based on very basic principles. However, how to utilize electricity effectively requires a scientific and effective configuration system.

High-quality, inexpensive conductors, power generation and energy storage devices—all of these require large quantities of metal and constant experimentation to determine standard values.

If we were to immediately launch the power project, the cost of electricity would likely exceed the price of building an entire Steam Engine. Given the current stage of development at the Base Camp, continuing to build a solid foundation is the right approach.

But since she can't offer any more new things, how can Fran ensure her apprentices acquire enough knowledge?

The answer is to let these apprentices see for themselves what the weapons they helped create actually do, and what improvements are needed to make them better suited for use in war.

After all, these apprentices only participated in the weapon-making process. Although they understood Fran's requirements, it was Fran who debugged the first-generation model herself in order to save time.

When the workers processed the parts later, they followed the original model, and the finished products were basically the same and usable.

Fran even considered the safety of the three apprentices, instructing Elan to protect them on the Battlefield.

Judging from the hesitant expressions of the three apprentices, there were clearly things Fran hadn't considered.

Why are you all making that face?

Elan led the three apprentices out of the house, and as he turned around, he saw the fear on their faces, which he found hard to bear.

All three of them pursed their lips, and finally Kahn, who was standing in the middle, revealed the reason.

"Um... we had heard that there was a war going on in Antir, hadn't we?"

"That happened so long ago. The situation has long since stabilized, so what does it matter now?"

"But... back when we were at the Cuilan Academy, we heard that the dean of the Cuilan Academy seemed to treat those apprentices like that..."

"Stop, stop, stop..."

When Elan heard this, he realized what Kahn was about to say, something that had been widely circulated among the apprentices.

After all, although his original intention was to provide the Law School with an additional avenue for recruiting apprentices, he actually used the excuse of joining the army in Antir to deal with the inspection.

Elan had never told these apprentices that he was the headmaster of the Cuilan Academy, since it had nothing to do with cultivating the Forge School.

Moreover, his position as dean of the academy may soon be removed by a specialist from the Alliance.

Given the Alliance's policy of impartiality, it is naturally unacceptable for one School to directly monopolize the best students in an entire academy.

In the future, the Forge School will either find a few teachers or start giving public lectures to recruit apprentices.

It was for this reason that Elan had not revealed to the apprentices that he was the dean of the Cuilan Academy, since he might have to step down from that position at any time.

This has led to the current situation. Elan knew without even hearing what Kahn was about to say that it involved some horrific experiments using apprentices as living subjects...

"That's not true. If anyone dared to do that, they'd be on the Alliance's wanted list long ago... Speaking of which, you're all so scared, but you weren't like this when we brought you to Antir."

"This is different..."

Kahn offered a quiet defense, explaining that the reason they dared to come to Antir was partly because they hadn't thought of this matter initially, since Elan no longer needed to recruit Law School in this way.

The event had already been cancelled in the year Kahn enrolled, so it only became a topic of conversation among the apprentices.

Furthermore, Elan himself led them to Antir, and with a teacher who usually treated them well leading the way, they naturally trusted him.

The most crucial point is that they came here for promotion. They've attended Harbos's lectures, know how to get promoted, and understand the difficulties they'll face if they want to.

Finding a mage who has already been promoted here is a rare opportunity for them, and they naturally don't want to miss it.

Upon hearing the words "Battlefield" and "Antir," they subconsciously recalled the gossip they had heard in the City of Apprentices.

"Don't worry, I reckon she's just sending her men to fight some bandits or something. That kind of situation is perfect for testing her weapons and equipment, and it won't cause much harm to her men."

Fran didn't tell Elan the specifics of the mission; she only asked Elan to protect the three apprentices when the battle began.

Since arriving here, Elan, like the other apprentices, had never left the Base Camp, so he was unaware of Fran's actions in Antir.

This led him to subconsciously guess that Fran probably wanted to find a group of bandits to test the combat effectiveness of their weapons and equipment.

After all, with so many people, even if Fran concocts a low-quality version of the firearms, equipping many of them would be enough to deal with some apprentice-level Profession.

Elan subconsciously believed that only things made with magic were high-class, and that things not made with magic were probably of very poor quality.

Even when the team was halfway assembled, Elan still thought the same way.

However, after the team was assembled, Elan had a different opinion.

He saw that the once spacious square was now densely packed with people, and remarkably, after the crowd had gathered, they did not make a fuss.

Instead, they gathered in twos and threes, quietly reciting rhythmic sentences.

Elan asked Fran what was going on, Fran only said that it was an important measure to make the workers work hard.

Elan stopped abruptly at that moment, clearly not wanting to know what methods Fran had used.

Now, I see groups of believers whispering to each other in the square, reciting those familiar phrases.

The fact that they were standing in the middle of the square made Elan somewhat embarrassed.

They could only watch these people go about their business, completely unable to integrate, which was almost absurd.

After Elan and the others finished waiting, he saw several people in gray robes carrying a huge, dark object, and some ordinary people pulling the thing with ropes.

What is this? A hint of curiosity flashed in Elan's eyes, but it was only a hint.

Behind him, the apprentice Ocien's eyes lit up. When he was making the parts for this thing, he knew what it might be used for. Now that they were about to go to war, bringing this thing out proved his guess.