Mercenary Wars

Chapter 231 Laziville
In the autumn of the year 1459 of the Fangfuluo calendar, the Ax Magic Academy welcomed a new class of students. A gentle breeze rustled through the sycamore leaves, and the autumn sunlight streamed through the ancient stone pillars of the academy, filling the entire campus with the excitement and anticipation unique to the new school year.

The number of applicants was close to 30,000, but after two rounds of tests, including written and spellcasting exams, only about 1,000 students were ultimately admitted. The strict admission ratio made almost every new student feel proud of Ax Magic Academy upon enrollment.

Unsurprisingly, Gaucano and Dariss, who both had excellent written test scores and attracted attention during the spellcasting test, were among these thousand people.

Upon entering university, the first thing new students naturally need to do is complete the enrollment procedures and pay tuition. So they lined up in a large hall in the central clock tower of the college. This clock tower is hundreds of years old, with richly carved reliefs on its thick stone walls. Inside the hall, the new students were arranged in several lines, orderly completing their enrollment procedures.

"Gaucano..." Finally, it was Gaucano's turn. The deacon in charge of processing the paperwork held a wand in his hand. With a gentle flick of the wand, the list of new students floating beside him flipped to the corresponding position in a faint blue glow.

He then looked at the roster and said, "If you choose Laziville now, you can be exempted from tuition; otherwise, you will need to pay tuition of thirty gold coins per year."

Tuition waiver?

Gaugano had already wanted to go to Laziville, and immediately said, "I choose to study in Laziville."

The wizard nodded, then waved his wand. Immediately, a line of words appeared after Gaucano's information on the roster, written in what seemed to be the finest quill pen: Laziville School, full tuition waiver...

After all the formalities were completed, the monk handed over a golden badge: "This is your student badge. Don't lose it. It will cost one gold coin to replace it, and you will also need a certificate from your academic advisor."

Gao Jiano took the student badge and looked at it.

The badge is entirely golden, smooth as a mirror, like finely polished pure gold, yet it feels quite light, somewhat like some kind of hardwood.

However, he couldn't directly know what the material was, and the panel's message was also "unknown".

This piqued his curiosity: "What is this badge made of?"

"The magical synthetic metals produced by the Laziville Alchemy Workshop are generally called 'Francis Gold' because they are Professor Francis's masterpiece," the mage said. "This metal is almost as resistant to corrosion as gold, and it has a good affinity for certain spells."

Gaucano nodded, then looked at the shape of the badge.

The badge is finely crafted, with his personal information on the back and a goat pattern on the front.

The goat is depicted with lifelike features, and its simple lines vividly portray its tenacious spirit. It is the symbol of the Laziville School, representing resilience and the spirit of climbing.

Below the goat was a line of text written in cursive script: Ax Magic Academy · Laziville.

Next, Daryls handled the formalities.

“Dalis, your situation is the same as his. Choosing Laziville will exempt you from tuition fees; otherwise, you will have to pay thirty gold coins per year,” the mage said.

Darliss hesitated for a moment: "Can I switch schools later?"

“Yes,” the monk said. “As long as you can get a professor’s recommendation, you can switch schools at any time.”

Daryls finally decided, "Then I'll go to Avis."

This was the result of her discussion with Gao Jiano.

Daryls had similar interests and talents with Avis and Laziville, so she could never decide which one to choose.

But Gaucano suggested she go to Avis.

After all, he wanted to have his own dedicated array master, and Daris could only further her studies in the field of arrays by going to Avis.

In addition, since Gaucano himself has entered Laziville and Darliss has gone to other colleges, it will be convenient for the two of them to exchange information and share resources.

The tuition fees were naturally covered by Gao Jiano.

Thirty gold coins a year isn't much.

The presiding monk fills in the information on the new student roster.

Daryls leaned on the edge of the table and asked, "Teacher, does Laziville have many places available for tuition waivers?"

“Indeed, it has more than the other two schools,” the mage said. “After all, the Laziville school is the wealthiest…”

As he spoke, he handed the student badge to Darlis.

Avis's student badge is purple, with an owl perched on an oak branch on the front, its deep eyes revealing an almost world-weary wisdom.

Daryls happily took the badge and then showed it to Gaucano: "Boss, look, doesn't this owl look like Little Goose?"

"They do look quite similar." Gao Jiano didn't actually notice; he thought all owls looked pretty much the same.

After completing the formalities, the two went to the areas where their respective schools of thought were located.

The academy is large, but it's not hard to find schools of thought there.

Each of the three major schools has a prominent landmark building: the Tower of Avis, the Library of Orsini, and the Alchemy Workshop of Laziville.

The three buildings, some soaring into the clouds and others occupying an astonishing area, form an equilateral triangle at their center—an arrangement said to reflect the faith in Mosa. Other buildings are arranged in a staggered pattern around this triangle and the central clock tower, making the entire college resemble a vast and intricate magic circle when viewed from above.

On his way to the alchemy workshop, Gao Jiano saw groups of students gathered in twos and threes. They were of different ages and wore mage robes of different colors. Most of them wore the badges of the Laziville School on their chests, while some of the older students wore badges of their respective branch schools.

As he drew closer, a smiling young man approached and asked warmly, "Are you a freshman at Laziville?"

“Yes.” Gaucano nodded.

The young man's smile grew even warmer: "I'm John from Modan, your senior and your 'assistant academic advisor'... Come with me, I'll take you to see your academic advisor."

Gaucano followed behind him.

The two talked occasionally along the way.

"Senior John, is your hometown that town of Modan in the north?" Gao Jiano asked.

“Yes,” John smiled. “I know what you want to ask—isn’t Modan a dwarf town?”

This is exactly what Gaugano wanted to ask. Modan Town isn't far from Ax City, but it belongs to the dwarves' territory.

John continued, "Modan is indeed dwarven territory, but as the dwarven town closest to human kingdoms, it is also inhabited by some humans, and I am one of them."

"So, are you also good at drinking and forging?"

John chuckled: "Haha, I'm quite good at drinking, and I've learned a bit of blacksmithing, but I'm not as good as the dwarves. Anyway, I can't understand why those dwarves can treat blacksmithing as a more interesting form of entertainment than opera... By the way, junior, what's your name?"

"Gaucano".

"No surname?" "No." Gaugano thought for a moment. "Are there many students with surnames in Laziville?"

John shook his head: "No, quite the opposite. Laziville has the largest number of students among the three major schools, but the fewest students with surnames. Within Ax Magic Academy, Laziville is arguably the most commoner place."

He paused for a moment, then continued, “After all, you know, ‘being good at making money’ is a well-known label for Laziville, which is exactly what commoners need… Nobles, on the other hand, always like to show disdain for money, saying things like they have no interest in money, so of course they wouldn’t prioritize joining a school that’s full of money.”

Gaucano followed John into a large hall.

The atmosphere in the hall was lively, with hundreds of new students gathered there, chatting animatedly about various topics. Dozens of magical crystal chandeliers hung from the towering dome, illuminating the entire hall as bright as day. Portraits of outstanding students from previous years hung on the walls, their eyes seemingly watching over these newcomers who were about to embark on the path of magic.

Gao Jiano casually found a seat and sat down, listening to his classmates' discussions from time to time.

He soon discovered that even in Laziville, "the most commoner place in Axe Magic Academy," the proportion of students from noble families was still quite high.

Even if they weren't nobles, most of them were well-off citizens.

This is easy to tell from the topics they were discussing.

Literature, painting, opera, music, fine wine... in short, all of these are things that sound very elegant.

As a small-town youth lacking artistic talent and with bad habits, Gao Jiano was somewhat out of place and couldn't get a word in edgewise for a long time.

He was finally able to speak when people nearby started discussing the history of the blood elves.

After all, he scored 91 points in Ancient Elvish, even without much studying.

It's fair to say that, at least among the new recruits, no one understands blood elves better than him.

"I've heard that high elves and blood elves look exactly alike, so how do people distinguish between these two elven subspecies?" a freshman asked.

Gaugano: "Just like distinguishing between the Renwei and the Senen, the High Elves and Blood Elves may look exactly alike, but their beliefs are vastly different, and their languages ​​and cultures are also very different... To us, the High Elves and Blood Elves are indistinguishable, but if you say such things to them, they might fly into a rage. And strictly speaking, the two types of elves don't even look exactly the same; it's just that outsiders rarely perceive these subtle differences."

After a brief pause, he continued, "Of course, from a magical perspective, the two races are indeed difficult to distinguish. No magic can absolutely and accurately differentiate between high elves and blood elves. Not to mention these two, according to the information I've read, some low-level spells can even confuse light elves and drow elves."

The nearby freshmen all nodded in agreement upon hearing this.

Someone else asked, "Is the difference between the languages ​​of high elves and blood elves like the difference between human dialects?"

Gaucano was about to speak.

A voice spoke first: "The language of the High Elves is Ancient Elvish, while the Blood Elves, like other elven subspecies, have a further differentiated Elvish language. It is because they are the only elven subspecies that still use Ancient Elvish that the High Elves call themselves 'High'."

Gao Jiano turned his head and saw that the speaker was a fair-skinned, handsome red-haired boy.

Kevin Fogel.

Gaucano still had some impression of the young man from the Vogel family who was the first to appear in the spellcasting test.

As a renowned family on the continent, Kevin's appearance immediately attracted everyone's attention.

Equally captivating is Kevin's bodyguard, a burly man over two meters tall with a stern face, who always follows Kevin closely.

There are many noble students at Ax Magic Academy, but very few are allowed to bring guards to school.

After all, the Academy of Magic usually doesn't allow unauthorized personnel to enter, so proving that one's guards are not unauthorized personnel is no easy task.

Under the watchful eyes of the burly guards, the atmosphere in the vicinity suddenly became much colder.

Kevin seemed used to this, smiling as he extended his hand to Gaugano: "Hello, Kevin Fogel."

Gaucano shook hands with him and also gave his name.

Then Kevin asked, "Are you also interested in elven culture?"

Gao Jiano remained noncommittal: "It's alright. My teacher gave me a book about blood elves, and I often look through it."

At this moment, John interjected, "If you are interested in elven culture, you can try joining the 'Elf Society,' which is full of elven culture enthusiasts."

He added, "There are also many female students who are skilled in elven illusions."

A large number of male students asked, "How do I join the Elf Club?"

John: "In a few days, various clubs will be recruiting new members. If you want to know more now, you can ask Barbara, who is also one of your assistant academic advisors."

Everyone turned their heads and saw a female elf surrounded by many female students.

Without a doubt, this is an illusion.

But the illusion was very vivid, and the fair-skinned and beautiful elf was still very eye-catching.

"By the way, many of the makeup artists at the Bainaohui Opera House were once members of the 'Elf Society'," another senior student said.

The crowd began to discuss it.

Some of the female trainees even went directly to Barbara and the group of female trainees to chat.

Until several teachers walked into the hall.

One of the young teachers chanted a spell, and as the spell ended, the student badges of the new students lit up.

Hundreds of beams of light lit up at the same time, making the entire hall even brighter.

"There are 456 people, but three students are still missing," the young teacher said to the other teachers.

The teacher in the lead nodded: "Let's begin."

"Everyone, please be quiet, the freshman forum is about to begin." The senior students serving as assistant academic advisors maintained order, and the freshmen quieted down.

The freshman forum then began.

The purpose of this seminar is roughly to allow new students to meet with their academic advisors.

In the following years, academic advisors became the group of people students interacted with the most, and almost all the daily affairs of the college were related to them.

(End of this chapter)