Meeting an Old Friend

Munin's answer left Richard stunned for a moment. Then his brows drew tightly together as he asked, "What exactly is going on now?"

Munin sighed softly, glanced at the few wizards around them, and said coldly, "Get out."

At those words, the wizards immediately scrambled up from the floor and fled the room as though escaping for their lives.

With a wave of Munin's hand, a barrier against prying eyes enveloped the room. Then, wearing a troubled expression, he said, "Teacher, you should know about our shortage of rank-and-file troops, right?"

Richard nodded slightly. "I know. Wasn't the universal wizardification program meant to address the troop shortage? Is even that not enough?"

"Not enough. Nowhere near enough." Munin shook his head. "We are currently fighting the Star River Mayflies in nearly a hundred worlds at once. Such a vast front has completely paralyzed the Wizard Academy system.

"These new wizards are all taking accelerated spellcasting courses. They can graduate in three years..."

"Three years!" Richard exclaimed.

"What can they possibly learn in three years? Even if the best teachers break everything apart and chew it up for them, they can at most learn one branch of basic runology. Could it be that the Thrones have invented some alchemical wizardry to increase intelligence? Something that dramatically raises these new wizards' intellect?"

"Of course not." Munin shook his head. "The Thrones merely created a Magic Potion that can be mass-produced and effectively improve a wizard's concentration. Through this potion and targeted knowledge infusion, these new wizards can learn basic runology, basic alchemy, an introduction to the Four Elements, and ten standard legion spells before graduation."

By then, Richard already knew exactly what sort of wizards these were.

"Cannon fodder?"

"Yes. Cannon fodder."

On the battlefield, the combat power of any creature below