Joseph's Advancement

Before searching for a suitable fusion solution, Drew first needed to study the other ingredients in the formula for a Healing Potion.

He looked for any matching clues, as the Healing Potion was composed of a combination of these materials.

The properties of the solution should be similar to the properties of these materials.

The materials for a Healing Potion consist of five magical materials and five non-magical materials.

Drew first needed to study the five magical materials, knowing that ordinary people can only withstand a very small amount of magic.

If he could study this formula and concoct substitutes for these five materials, optimizing the Healing Potion formula into one magical material and nine non-magical materials, he estimated that the resulting Healing Potion could be tolerated by ordinary people.

However, Drew felt this approach was unrealistic, as this method of improving formulas was already a very common pattern.

Yet, since no one had ever succeeded in improving it this way, there must be flaws or bottlenecks in this approach, though it was still worth drawing inspiration from.

One day, while Drew was researching the formula, someone both familiar and strange walked toward his house.

He was familiar because Drew knew him, but strange because his state had changed.

Indeed, this person was Joseph, and he had finally advanced.

Drew opened the door and saw Joseph, finding him not as excited as he had imagined. His attitude was very calm, perhaps due to the constraints of his oath.

He had succeeded in advancing, but he had become Drew's follower, no longer a free man.

But that shouldn't be right; during this time, Joseph had treated Drew with the attitude of a disciple, which was almost the same as being a follower. He shouldn't have had such a drastic change.

It must have been the months of study and life that changed his temperament.

They say that reading changes a person's life. It is not just about getting good grades, attending a good school, or finding a good job. More importantly, reading makes a person more steady.

The weight of knowledge endows a person with new cognition, making them no longer so superficial. Now, the feeling Joseph gave off was this kind of profound, scholarly air.

"Lord Drew, I have advanced. I have come today to formally swear my allegiance to you."

"Very well. Was the advancement smooth?"

"My apologies, I have been researching alchemy lately and haven't been keeping track of your progress."

"It is not that, my lord. I did not specifically try to advance."

"It was just that after finishing my studies these past few days, I felt a bottleneck."

"I wanted to try constructing magic runes to adjust my state. But as soon as I started, it felt incredibly smooth, and before I knew it, I had completed the construction of the magic runes for an intermediate mage."

"Since my previous accumulation was deep enough, once the magic runes were constructed, the advancement happened naturally."

"Was I distracted?" Joseph asked, feeling a bit embarrassed.

"Eh, have you forgotten why you started learning in the first place?"

"Learning is just a method, a tool used to achieve advancement."

"It is meant for advancing to explore deeper levels of magic. I was actually planning to tell you during this time to focus your efforts on advancement."

"I didn't expect you to succeed so easily."

"It seems this method is quite successful after all."

"Indeed, this method is truly effective."

"It feels like I have been reborn; the bottleneck that plagued me for over a decade was broken through so inadvertently."

"By the way, I have always had a question I wanted to ask you: how do you have so many students?"

"According to normal population estimates, this town only produces one person with magical talent every five years."

"I see your students are all between fifteen and thirty years old."

"For this age group, this town has at most five or six, yet you have over a dozen students."

"Where did you recruit so many students from?" Drew voiced the doubt in his heart.

"Actually, in the early days when the town supported my studies—that is, when I became a formal mage—I studied in other places, and I recruited several disciples there."

"Later, when I felt my bottleneck and could not advance, I returned to my hometown, prepared to contribute my strength to my home, and these students followed me here."

"After returning to the town, I paid out of my own pocket to conduct talent tests on all the children of appropriate age in the town."

"Then, I took these talented children under my wing."

"Finally, parents of talented children in the surrounding towns heard that I was recruiting disciples and teaching them well, so they all came to me."

"You know, normal mages are usually still pursuing their own path in magic and do not have much time or energy to teach apprentices."

"But with no hope of advancement, I poured all my energy into teaching apprentices."

"This made me exceptionally good at teaching, and I became very famous, so many people came here out of admiration."

"For those talented children, I did not want their gifts to go to waste, so I accepted them all, and gradually, I ended up with so many students."

"However, because there are too many students, the resources I can provide to each one are too scarce, and now I am starting to feel the strain," Joseph explained.

"It seems you are quite the enthusiast for the cause of education," Drew teased.

"What is the cause of education?" Joseph asked, puzzled.

"Just as you taught your apprentices, I previously imparted geometric knowledge to you all. This act of preaching, teaching, and resolving doubts belongs to the cause of education—a profession dedicated to teaching and nurturing people."

"Yes, I truly feel fulfilled when teaching students; it feels exceptionally good. It seems I am indeed quite interested in this field."

"Since you are interested, I have a proposal. I wonder if you would be interested?"

"What proposal?"

"How about we popularize this method? If news of your advancement spreads, those with ulterior motives will surely take notice. There will likely be people coming to ask you about your method of advancement."

"Just tell them the method like that? That would be far too easy for them."

"I never said to tell them the method directly. Besides, telling them directly wouldn't help your educational cause either. My meaning is, you should tell them that learning is a systematic process. It is difficult to master this knowledge by studying at home alone. They must receive systematic training and guidance here. Furthermore, coming here to study is not free. Look, we need to provide the venue, textbooks, and teaching staff. Besides, this method is valuable, isn't it? Therefore, they must pay a price to study here. As for what exactly they need to pay, that is for you to decide."

"Then how should I tell them?"

"Just say that a magic academy has been established here, specifically a special training class for learning magic runes. I am the principal, an Alchemy Master. You are the Dean of Academic Affairs and the instructor. As for your apprentices, those who have achieved success can form special training groups. They can provide one-on-one tutoring to students who have difficulty learning, just like how you guided each other before. But remember, this must be paid for; it is also a way to create some benefits for your apprentices. Coming to our training class requires payment—textbook fees, tuition, and so on—you handle those as you see fit. In any case, you must make them pay something so they feel the pinch; only then will they study hard and be serious. You should have experienced this yourself. Handle the other matters as you see fit; I leave it all to you. You are my attendant now, so you are responsible for handling this matter for me. You are enthusiastic about teaching, anyway."

"Can I really be an instructor? I feel like I'm not up to it. Why don't you teach the classes instead? I'll just handle the odd jobs."

"Rest assured, I am making you the instructor because I know you are capable. You have learned all the necessary knowledge and have a deep understanding of it. Besides, who else besides me do you think understands this better than you? Therefore, it is only natural for you to teach them. Show some confidence. Moreover, they are all coming here specifically to learn because they heard about your advancement; wouldn't it be more persuasive for you to lead by example? They will certainly be more willing to have you teach the class. Very well, it is decided."

"Yes, My Lord. I guarantee I will complete the mission."

In the days that followed, the merchant caravans spread the news of Joseph's advancement very deliberately.