Necromancer, What the Hell Is Summoning 055? Section 28

Overall, conditions at this "preparatory magic tower" were appallingly bad.

The dining hall walls were badly eroded, with large patches of plaster peeling away to expose the darker adobe beneath. A few barely adequate repairs looked like scars left by a clumsy doctor's careless stitches.

The dormitory had an earthen floor. The soil did not even seem to have been properly prepared: it was uneven underfoot and carried the raw, earthy smell of fresh soil. Here and there, withered yellow weeds had stubbornly pushed through the cracks, only to be trampled crooked and left barely alive.

The schoolhouse was the most presentable building in the student area, clearly serving as its showpiece.

Even so, it was terribly old and run-down. A narrow, lengthy corridor ran beneath the eaves. At intervals along its mottled walls, fist-sized pieces of fluorite cast a dim yellow glow, barely dispelling the heavy shadows.

As they walked, loose flagstones occasionally shifted underfoot with an abrupt click.

When Chen Mo arrived, evening class was in session. One instructor and ten students, plus Kato and Chen Mo, made up Glimmer Group Three's twelve disciples.

"Instructor, Roy's back from leave!"

Swish!

More than a dozen gazes focused on Chen Mo like searchlights.

Curiosity, speculation, disdain, contempt... Those were what Chen Mo could readily sense. If a microexpression analyzer tested them one by one, he reckoned he would feel a tidal wave of strange emotions.

At that moment, Chen Mo understood a little. Deputy Director Vincent might not have been talking nonsense when he said they would have to buy off everyone in the tower.

At least, not one person wondered how Roy had suddenly come to look like this.

Although the place was a little too shabby, it did not matter. Chen Mo had not come on vacation. The new meditation method awaiting him, the accompanying magic materials, the diversion skill he had dreamed of... Everything was making great strides in a better direction.

There was bad news, however. The instructor in charge of Glimmer Group Three was very unfriendly toward Chen Mo.

Kato had already warned Chen Mo about this on the way. Instructor Morton had come from a poor family and possessed exceptional talent, but after a serious accidental injury, he had been judged incapable of advancing further in magic and dismissed from his original magic tower.

Later, the trauma to his spirit grew worse. Unable to afford treatment, he could only wait for death in despair.

"He happened to meet our head instructor, Archmage Har, who saved him. But his realm has been stuck at Moon Wheel ever since. He might never advance again."

"So he really, really dislikes children from wealthy families..." Kato winked at Chen Mo. Clearly, Chen Mo fell into that category.

Talk about being parachuted straight onto a sore spot...

"But the instructor's a good person, and he takes his teaching seriously. Everything that needed taking care of at the institute has been taken care of. You just need to be careful not to upset him!"

Instructor Morton sat at the front of the schoolhouse. He was around forty, of medium build, with a thin face and dark brown hair streaked with gray. It was combed meticulously back, exposing a broad, deeply lined forehead.

His mage robe had been washed so often that its original color was almost impossible to make out. Its hem had worn into a thick fringe, and patches of a similar color stood out on the cuffs and collar. It was the first time in Chen Mo's life that he had seen a patched mage robe.

Instructor Morton had never forgotten the debt he owed Archmage Har for saving his life. He had been desperately saving money, dreaming of building a real magic tower for his benefactor and teacher. Perhaps it was this obsession that had led him to suppress his dislike of "well-connected newcomers" and ultimately accept Deputy Director Vincent's terms.

Even so, Chen Mo keenly felt Instructor Morton's loathing for him in those frost-covered gray-blue eyes.

Unconcealed loathing!

Morton stared at Chen Mo for over ten seconds before slowly rising to his feet. His excessively solemn expression seemed to lower the temperature of the entire schoolhouse by several degrees.

"Now that everyone's here, listen up!"

"Although I've said this countless times, I'm going to emphasize it again."

"I'm Morton, responsible for Glimmer Group Three's basic spell instruction."

The middle-aged mage tucked his hands into his worn sleeves, his back slightly hunched, and swept his gaze across the corner where Chen Mo stood.

"First, rules! Everyone in my group must follow the rules. No bullying others by relying on your influence, and no disturbing anyone. Don't bring certain filthy habits into the schoolhouse. Understood?"

The apprentices all turned to look at Chen Mo again. Quite a few could not suppress their gloating expressions, and some even nudged their companions and exchanged meaningful looks.

"Second, fairness!" Morton's voice was utterly calm. "Everyone here gets the same amount of time, the same materials, and the same potions. If you want different treatment, have Master Har arrange it for you himself. Otherwise, get out and find those 'good relatives' of yours who are willing to spend money on you!"

Everyone turned their attention to Chen Mo once more.

"Third, and most importantly." Morton's voice rose sharply. "There's no place for trash here! I don't care who you were before! In the Third Glimmer Group, before me, Morton-"

"Your background doesn't matter, only your strength!"

"All right, that's the end of today's lesson. Practice on your own. Tomorrow morning, I'd better not see any of you arrive late, or you know what the consequences will be!"

Once Morton left, the schoolhouse seemed to spring to life. The students, who had barely dared to breathe moments ago, began chattering. Although they lowered their voices at times, Chen Mo could still clearly hear the barely concealed excitement in their discussions.

"So that's the useless piece of trash who came to replace Roy? I hear he can't do anything?"

"Who cares? Getting past old stick-in-the-mud Morton will give him enough trouble. The old man hates that kind of underhanded business most..."

"I hope more of them come. They can replace all you annoying bastards with the silver coins and materials in my pocket!"

"In your dreams!"

"They'll definitely test him tomorrow. Then we'll see what he's made of!"

"This'll be fun. Think he'll cry tomorrow?"

"Heh, I have to say, he's pretty handsome. Maybe that one in Group Six..."

"Shh! Keep it down! Don't let him hear..." Their companions hastily silenced a few more blatant voices.

Chen Mo acted as though he had not heard any of the malicious remarks.

He had no time to waste.

He went to bed early, rose early, and did a simple morning workout around the dilapidated dormitory. Then he became the first to enter the schoolhouse.

Morton was a very conscientious instructor. Because of this "newcomer" who was not actually new, he had someone bring in the Hal Magic Tower's only large-scale magic testing device under the pretext of a group assessment and tested every student again.

At last, this remedied Chen Mo's predicament: without a panel, he had been unable to quantify his abilities up to now.

After one session of deep meditation and one use of mana, the results came in. Unsurprisingly, Chen Mo placed last in the group.

After all, he had only studied for a few short months and had received almost no additional resources. He could not compare with these students, who had received a relatively formal education and studied for at least half a year, some for two and a half years.

His mental strength index was 4.2 and his mana was 4.0. Among apprentices whose two indices both started at 15 or higher, his scores stood out painfully.

"Oh, the poor kid. Did he trade his mental strength for money...?"

"He's even worse than that sickly Roy! I really don't know what he's doing here. Can he even pass the assessment?"

Kato, the key contact and actually the institute's inside man, was somewhat bewildered.

Had Director Vincent overestimated this man's abilities, or had he deliberately brought him in to set him up?

Chapter 46: The grind king arrives

Though Morton deeply despised this sort of ignorant, spendthrift "second-generation noble," he was at least a competent instructor.

He spent the entire morning teaching Chen Mo the [Blue Leaf Meditation Method], the specialty of Master Har's lineage. He explained the names and uses of the accompanying magic materials one by one and, finally, taught him a basic spell, the [Basic Illumination Spell], commonly known as the Glimmer Spell.

The meditation method was for cultivating mental strength, while the Glimmer Spell was for training mana.

This was far more formal than what Chen Mo had learned before. Black Raven Castle had basically ignored theoretical foundations and focused solely on practical application. It could roughly be understood as a fast-track institution like a vocational school, training people who could be put to work immediately.

If they could bring skeletons, they brought skeletons; if they could bring zombies, they brought zombies; if they could bring statues, they brought statues. One way or another, every Tom, Dick, and Harry had a use.

Its basic education had been a complete mess. Even the magic materials for meditation were handed out in ready-made packages, which was why Chen Mo had a pile of gold coins but did not know what magic materials to buy at the market.

Now, no matter how much Morton mocked him during the lesson, Chen Mo felt nothing but delight.

"Instructor Morton, how do I replenish my meditation materials when I run out?"

A trace of disdain appeared at the corner of Morton's mouth. "At your current level, using up the materials you've been given would be enough to do your parents proud. Don't waste your thoughts on things like that."

Chen Mo pretended not to understand the jab and asked again.

"You can buy them from me, but the price isn't the same as for your basic allotment! Tsk, I forgot. You probably don't lack money, so let's say six silver coins a portion!"

"All right. Then, Instructor Morton, can I also buy potions to replenish my mana for training?"

Morton nodded.

He could not be bothered wasting any more words on this ungrateful youngster.

The basic tuition students paid to Har's "preparatory magic tower" included the basic magic materials needed at each stage of cultivation, just enough to cultivate mental strength at maximum efficiency. But buying extra materials came at an exorbitant, bone-stripping price.

Out of irritation, Morton doubled the asking price.

Since this youngster who did not know his own limits wanted to contribute to Master Har's magic tower, was he supposed to stop him?

Chen Mo was not finished. He turned around and found the person in charge of the cultivation rooms, an old man whose exact age was impossible to tell, but who looked close to the grave from any angle.

"I'd like to use a cultivation room outside the scheduled practice hours. How much does it cost?"

Naturally, it was the warmhearted beanpole Kato who had told him about this, but Kato had never used the service and did not know the exact rates.

The old man lazily raised his eyes to look at the black-haired youngster and mumbled indistinctly around something in his mouth. "Five silver coins a session, ten silver coins a day."

"What about a monthly package?"

The old man looked up again and examined Chen Mo carefully from head to toe.

Oh, so this was the fellow who had spent a fortune to get in. No wonder.

His throat moved, and with a pop, he spat the pit of whatever he had been chewing straight into the waste trough in the corner. He pulled out a thick register, blew the dust off it, and leafed through it for a while before finally finding the exact answer.

It had been a very long time since anyone in the Glimmer groups had paid extra for additional cultivation room services.

"Eighty silver coins for ten days!"

The price was enough to deter most commoner apprentices.

Chen Mo took out his money pouch.

In that instant, he became the sort of person he had once despised: someone who used power, connections, or capital to enjoy privileges.

It turned out that most hatred of privilege was simply because one could not enjoy it oneself...

Whatever. I'm doing this to serve the motherland!

Having finished his mental preparations, he drew up a detailed schedule. He also set a line of scrolling text on his tactical watch, making sure he could see it whenever he looked up.

128 days until the next assessment!

Reminders packed the schedule, their times precise to the second. Thus Chen Mo, or rather Roy, began his journey of cultivation.

He woke at 4:20 in the morning and jogged laps for thirty minutes, constructing the Glimmer Spell's spell model in his mind as he ran.

After exercising, Chen Mo quickly wolfed down breakfast in the dining hall. He was the first to enter the schoolhouse and begin practicing his meditation method.

It was not that the other students lacked diligence. A meditation method was a kind of extreme stress on the mind, and the longer one practiced, the less effective it became.

The general consensus in magical circles was that, while maintaining peak condition, a total of around two hours of meditation would maximize the effect of a day's cultivation.