Academy Opens

As the Hurricane Bandits incident continued to ferment, an increasing number of people came to inquire about Drew, as well as the academy he was establishing.

However, Drew had once again hidden himself away at home to study alchemy, leaving all matters to be managed by Joseph.

Drew felt that taking on this follower was truly a wise decision.

Not only could he handle all the trivial chores, but despite Joseph not having particularly strong talent for cultivation, his ability to manage affairs appeared quite impressive; he handled everyone who came knocking with ease.

For those who came with other matters, Joseph dealt with them directly. Today, he organized the list and information of those interested in enrolling in the academy and brought it to Drew for review.

Currently, there were eighteen people interested in studying at the academy, ten of whom were noble scions. These were the individuals among the current nobility who possessed mage talent; some were mage apprentices, while others were official mages.

Drew knew that these people had excellent heritage and learning paths, so they had no worries about how to advance.

The reason they came to study was simply to build a good relationship with Drew. In the eyes of these noble scions, strength was not the most important thing; a good network was the foundation of standing firm.

Even becoming a mage was merely to occupy a more favorable position within that network. Nobility was their primary profession, while being a mage was just a secondary one.

In this world, advancing to a high-level professional was a bottleneck that blocked most people.

Advancing to a mid-level professional could always be achieved as long as one had talent and worked hard enough.

Just like Karen before, who was able to advance to mid-level despite a missing soul, yet could never break through to the high level.

Therefore, professionals above the high level were rare, and the high level acted like a threshold that divided people into two categories.

Currently, high-level professionals rarely appeared in the world of ordinary people; they had their own circles and their own small worlds.

Some worlds, mysterious to ordinary people, were where they lived.

In the world of ordinary people, high-level professionals were generally organized. They were either key figures in various associations or individuals recruited by great nobles or the royal family to serve them.

For professionals generally scattered outside, the mid-level was the ceiling.

And a mid-level professional like Drew, who could take on five opponents at once, was a peak figure among the mid-level.

In the absence of high-level professionals, such a person was generally the top figure on the market, so these noble scions naturally wanted to build a good relationship with him.

Additionally, six people were like Joseph had been—stuck at the primary mage stage for a long time without being able to break through.

These people had all heard the news of Joseph's advancement and confirmed that he had indeed advanced through a specific method.

They wanted to try their luck to see if they could also advance through this method just like Joseph. These people were the most proactive, and their goals were clear and their intentions the most straightforward.

The remaining two were actually ordinary people; one had been detected with mage talent but had not yet begun formal cultivation, while the other was simply an ordinary person without any talent at all.

Drew casually crossed off the list of the last ordinary person and said to Joseph, "There is no need to accept this person. Why let someone in who has no talent?

If they end up unable to cultivate anything, wouldn't that ruin the reputation of our academy?

As for the others, regardless of their reasons or thoughts, as long as they have positive intentions toward us, we can accept them all."

"But some of them aren't even here to study, are they?"

"Whether they study or not is irrelevant; we aren't guaranteeing that everyone will succeed.

There is no such thing as a 'guaranteed success' policy. Among these people, some will eventually succeed, and as long as there is one successful case, it will become our living advertisement.

The others are unimportant; they can all serve as background.

Besides, what do you think is the purpose of us running this academy?"

"It is to carry forward your method."

"No, I don't care about carrying it forward.

First, you had the desire to be passionate about the cause of education, and I am helping you realize it.

If you want to dedicate yourself to education, you cannot only teach good students. It is normal to have both good and bad students.

Only through bad students can you discover the shortcomings in your teaching. If there were only good students, you would just need to lecture, and the good students would complete everything else themselves; that wouldn't be called an educational cause.

Education should be for everyone, regardless of their background.

Second, although we are not running this academy for money, we shouldn't turn away money that comes for free, should we?

Third, the purpose of running an academy can also be to expand our connections. As you know, a school is a great place to expand one's network.

Teachers and students, classmates, and so on—these are the best kinds of connections.

There are so many noble scions among these students; if we need help with something in the future, wouldn't it be easy for students to help their teacher?"

"Understood. Our academy will open its doors to welcome everyone who comes to learn.

Shall I go and notify them of the enrollment time now?"

"You can. Also, there is one more thing: you must treat these people both equally and differently."

"What does that mean?"

"On the surface, everyone must be treated equally.

Benefits, rules, and the like should all be unified and posted in writing.

But there should be distinctions among these people; for example, establish a scholarship that can be obtained by the top student in exams, and other such distinctions.

Furthermore, when teaching, you must treat everyone equally; you don't need to lecture in too much detail, nor do you need to pay special attention to or ignore any specific individuals."

After class, you can have your apprentices act as study tutors to interact with them. For those noble children, send the sharp ones who know what should and shouldn't be said. They are here to build connections and scout for information; feed them some trivial news to keep them satisfied without leaking any vital secrets.

Build good relationships with them. Many matters that are difficult to resolve openly can be communicated through them privately.

As for those who are truly here to acquire knowledge, you can have your most outstanding apprentices interact with them. They are here to learn and won't care whether you are pleasant to be around; what they want is something substantial.

As long as you can help them get what they want, you will be welcomed by them.

"Understood. I will coordinate the tasks with my apprentices."

"Additionally, you need to gather more detailed information on them. Especially this commoner and this person." Drew pointed to one of the names on the list.

"Is there something wrong with these two?"

"Why hasn't this commoner started cultivating? Was his talent just discovered, or is there another reason? Why would someone his age go to get tested, and just happen to have talent?"

"As for the other one, an eighteen-year-old primary mage—I don't need to tell you how good his talent must be. Why would he come here to study? A child with such talent should be snatched up by high-level mages, shouldn't he?"

"Are you implying that they both have ulterior motives?"

"Not necessarily, which is why you need to investigate them thoroughly."

"Understood, I will leverage my connections to get to the bottom of this. If there is nothing else, I will go work on the start date and curriculum."

"Go ahead." With that, Drew immersed himself back into his research on the Cure Potion.