Mercenary Wars

Chapter 233 Randolph

Gaucano and Martin took out their cadet badges.

The abbot accepted both the silver coin and the badge.

Then he took out two sets of stamps, stamped the two men's badges onto the stamps, and chanted a spell.

With a fleeting, faint light, a line of small text appeared on each stamp, bearing the names of Gaucano and Martin. The lettering was neat and clear, as if written with the finest quill pen, blending perfectly with the original stamp design without any sense of incongruity.

As a special type of stamp that can quickly deliver letters to anyone's desk, the Mage stamp has a real value far exceeding its selling price. If real-name authentication cannot be guaranteed, its widespread circulation on the black market is entirely predictable—and the academy clearly does not want to see this scenario.

Gao Jiano examined the mage stamps closely and discovered that they also bore special magical markings. Although it was a third-circle spell, it wasn't difficult to dispel, but it would almost certainly leave a trace. These multiple safeguards ensured that these rare mage stamps could only be used by the purchaser.

In addition, stamps are exquisitely crafted, and even without considering their practicality, they are still good collectibles.

The stamps feature some of the famous figures who have come from the Academy of Magic. The first one is Saint Grostete, the first headmaster and a saint of Mosa. The others are also historically renowned archmages, each of whose stories could be written into a thick biography.

The abbot suddenly asked out of the blue, "Are you going to the library to borrow books next?"

"How did you know?" Martin blurted out in surprise, as Gaucano had just told him about it a few minutes earlier.

The deacon mage said, “Some students don’t even know that mage stamps exist until they graduate. The freshmen who come to buy stamps on the first day of school must be readers of the ‘Ax Magic Academy Survival Handbook.’ Based on my experience, your next plan is usually to go to the library to increase your borrowing count.”

"Hehe." Gao Jiano smiled slightly awkwardly; this was exactly his plan.

In addition to the overt course exams, Ax Magic Academy also has some hidden assessments, one of which is the number of books borrowed.

According to the "Ax Academy of Magic Survival Handbook," some chair professors use book borrowing as one of the criteria for selecting disciples.

Of course, this is just an isolated case.

A more general benefit is that students who accumulate a certain number of borrowings will receive higher borrowing privileges.

In theory, as long as enough books are borrowed, a student's borrowing privileges can be upgraded to "Professor Level," second only to "Chair Professor Level," which allows borrowing of forbidden books.

Compared to basic borrowing privileges, professor-level borrowing privileges not only involve an increase in the number of books that can be borrowed at once, but also include reserving rare books, extending the borrowing period, and so on.

Let's not talk about "improving one's own posture level" or anything like that.

Its most practical benefit is that by utilizing high-level borrowing privileges, there is a greater chance of finding some original exam questions in the library, which significantly reduces the difficulty of the exams.

Therefore, one of the main pieces of advice that the "Ax Magic Academy Survival Handbook" gives to new students is to start borrowing books early and not wait until the exam to cram.

The deacon mage was unconcerned about Gao Jiano's embarrassment: "Following the rules and utilizing the rules is nothing to be ashamed of. Being well-informed is also an important quality of an excellent student. Those students who graduate but still know nothing about the academy's deeper rules are destined not to become outstanding individuals."

After a brief pause, he changed the subject: "However, I must remind you that Dean Randolph is also a loyal reader of the 'Ax Academy of Magic Survival Handbook'."

Gao Jiano was taken aback. Dean Randolph was also reading "The Survival Handbook of Ax Magic Academy"?
The deacon smiled slightly: "Don't let Dean Randolph's age of three hundred fool you, his mind is more youthful than many of the students... Anyway, after reading the contents of the survival manual, Dean Randolph modified the rules of the book borrowing magic, and now it's not so easy to rack up borrowing numbers."

“Back then, increasing the number of books borrowed was the easiest thing to do at Ax Magic Academy.” As he said this, he leaned back, a hint of reminiscence flashing in his eyes, as if recalling his own experience when he first entered the academy. His fingers tapped lightly on the table, making a rhythmic sound.

Martin: "What are the rules now?"

"I don't know, and even if I did, I couldn't tell you, since I still have to collect my salary from the academy." The deacon shook his head. "But what is certain is that the new rules will be hard to circumvent."

Gaucano thought for a moment: "When did the new rules come into effect?"

“Two and a half years ago,” the deacon said, “it is said that the author of the survival manual has been trying to find a solution, but at least so far, the best way to increase book borrowing is still to read the borrowed books carefully.”

Who is the author of the survival manual?

"No one knows his true identity, and the original author must have graduated long ago. His successor is probably a member of some club. These are the most troublesome people in the entire Ax Magic Academy..."

Ten minutes later.

Gaugano and Martin arrived at the Orsini Library.

Located in the heart of the Orsini region, this library is a magnificent building with long staircases and exquisite columns and statues adorning its sides, giving it a somewhat religious appearance. In fact, at some point in history, the Orsini Library was indeed known as the "Theological Library."

Besides offering advice on increasing borrowing numbers, "The Survival Handbook of Ax Magic Academy" also lists a number of "must-read books for freshmen," covering everything from theory to practice, from ancient to contemporary times, as well as some sought-after supplementary textbooks.

Gaucano and Martin then borrowed a large number of books according to the list of required reading.

The moment he touched the book, Gao Gano immediately understood what the so-called "magic of book borrowing rules" was all about, thanks to the prompts on the panel.

Simply put, every book in the Orsini Library has multiple magical markings that serve as the basis for borrowing, accumulating borrowing records, handling, and returning.

Previously, increasing borrowing volume only required borrowing and returning books, but now, thanks to Dean Randolph's modifications, the rules of magic are quite different.

A valid borrowing not only requires that the book be borrowed and returned, but also that most of the pages be turned and left open for a period of time.

This involves an ancient and rather obscure spell. In fact, if it hadn't been mentioned in the Blood Magic Notebook, Gaucanor's stats might not have recognized it.

This made him somewhat relieved, at least he understood the specifics of the rules, while other trainees might have to go through a lot of trial and error to figure out the hidden mechanism.

Even knowing the rules, Gaucano felt at a loss. Most of the pages had been turned over and left untouched for a while... How could he possibly clean them up?
We can't exactly research time magic just to increase borrowing numbers, can we?
No wonder the "Ax Magic Academy Survival Manual" has been slow to develop new methods to boost borrowing numbers; the new rules are indeed much more troublesome than the old ones.

Does this mean we have to read through it page by page?

Unrealistic.

Gao Jiano is a book lover and reads very quickly. He can finish a book in about a day, and the time it takes him to read a page is about the same as the minimum time required by the rule magic. However, the requirements for obtaining professor-level borrowing privileges are just too high!
According to the information he had, professor-level borrowing privileges require accumulating 500 valid borrowing records!

If he were to rely solely on regular reading, he would likely have to endure at least two years of ascetic life, devoting all his time outside of classes and basic needs to reading, just to have a chance of obtaining professor-level borrowing privileges. Admittedly, this design does indeed select the most persevering and determined students.

"The devil is always one step ahead of the saint!" Gao Jiano thought to himself, putting aside these thoughts for the time being.

The "Ax Magic Academy Survival Handbook" also contains many suggestions for new students, and includes a special section on "Things You Need to Do on Your First Day of School," some of which have time limits and are only suitable for doing at the beginning of the semester. Therefore, he needs to quickly implement these suggestions.

A busy day.

During dinner that evening, I shared my observations from the day with Daryls—the Avis School and the Laziville School do indeed have many differences.

The next day was the entrance ceremony for the Ax Magic Academy.

The entrance ceremony was held on the huge lawn where they took their written exams, but when they returned to this familiar place, the scene was completely different.

The stone tables and chairs that were once scattered have long since disappeared.

Instead, there is a densely packed row of stone benches, more than a thousand in total, just enough to accommodate all the new students and some teachers.

In front of the numerous stone chairs is a wide, high platform.

The platform is also made of stone, but it is not a temporary magical creation; rather, it is a structure that has weathered many storms.

In fact, it was older than most of the professors at Axe Magic Academy.

However, it shows no signs of age; the countertop is clean and flat, and the background is a flawless white Patrick marble wall, painted with an exquisitely detailed relief depicting the life of St. Grostedt.

Perhaps for this reason, this platform is also known as the "St. Grostedt Pedal".

Under the bright sunshine, about a thousand new students from the three schools of thought sat below the St. Grostedt's lectern.

The new students all wore light blue student mage robes, with different colors for the edges depending on their school of thought: purple for the Avis school, green for the Orsini school, and yellow for the Laziville school.

Gaucano and Martin sat together, sometimes chatting with the students around them, sometimes looking at the empty St. Grossett podium.

It was a bit hot, but thankfully the academy thoughtfully set up a large-scale cooling spell that enveloped the entire area, eliminating the heat that was rising as noon approached.

Nevertheless, the thousand new students were still somewhat restless, with discussions rising and falling among them.

"Why hasn't the dean arrived yet?" Many people couldn't help but look at the clock tower, where the huge clock face showed that there was not much time left before the scheduled start time of the ceremony.

"I've heard that Dean Randolph is one of the busiest people on the continent of Farallo, as busy as the Pope!"

“Not the busiest. My grandfather told me that Dean Randolph is simply… lazy.” This assessment elicited a chuckle from those around him; it was hard to imagine that a highly respected archmage would be described in such a way.

Who is your grandfather?

"Dean Randolph's honorary disciple."

“I’ve also heard from the elders in my family that Dean Randolph is a person who ‘never gets in a hurry.’ He might not even be out of bed yet!”

"Let's wait a little longer, it's not time for the official start of the entrance ceremony yet."

Time passed little by little.

After a few minutes.

"Boom-thump-"

Two deep chimes rang out, one from the central bell tower of the college and the other from the Ax Bell Tower on the River St. Bode.

The melodious chimes signaled the arrival of the hour.

Just at the same time.

Suddenly, a faint light appeared on the St. Grossetter's platform, followed by a swirling blue glow, and a smiling, white-bearded old man appeared out of thin air, waving his sleeve lightly.

The old man's beard was white and bushy, and he wore a distinctive monk's hat, robe, and a slender staff. He looked like a classic, almost stereotypical "elder monk" figure who had stepped out of a play, and every gesture he made revealed unfathomable wisdom and power.

Without a doubt, this white-bearded old man was none other than Randolph, the dean of the Ax Magic Academy.

As the melodious chimes rang out, Randolph looked at the group of new students below the stage and greeted them with a smile, "Hello, students."

Even the students from magical families were amazed by the precise teleportation magic, let alone the freshmen from commoner backgrounds, so there was a chorus of exclamations from the audience.

"It's teleportation magic!"

"That's amazing! You truly deserve to be called the dean!"

"Don't you guys think Dean Randolph looks a bit like St. Grostedt?"

"Maybe it's because they all have big white beards."

Amidst the surrounding murmurs, Gaucano couldn't help but carefully observe Dean Randolph, who had been teleported in. Observing this legendary figure so closely made him feel somewhat dazed.

After all, he had long admired the renowned "High Archmage"—an honorary title personally bestowed upon Randolph by the Pope.

On the continent of Westfall, even the disciples of the Lord acknowledge that no one understands the Blood Elves better than Randolph; he is the undisputed master of all Blood Elf cultural studies.

When Gaucanor was learning Blood Elf script, his main reference books were Randolph's works, and he was once quite fascinated by the beautiful writing and profound content of the books.

Therefore, in a sense, Randolph can be considered the first "character from the book" he met.

Dean Randolph had a kind face and a friendly smile, just like the old grandfather who lived next door.

He first let the freshmen discuss for a while, then slightly lowered his hand. This simple gesture immediately produced a magical effect, and the hall gradually quieted down.

He then coughed twice, his voice carrying evenly throughout the hall: "The entrance ceremony officially begins."

(End of this chapter)