I was an apprentice in Ferren

Chapter 23 The First Test
"...Forget it, I can't reason with a barbarian like you who knows nothing of elegance or love." DuPont looked at the beautiful stone house in the distance: "Is that a tavern? This village is quite wealthy."

“Aside from the Silvermoon Federation and Deepwater City, Harua is indeed quite wealthy. Even the villagers in the countryside who can’t afford stone houses can still afford brick houses. Only the temporary shacks in the fields are still made of adobe bricks, where they eat, sleep and avoid the sun.”

"Although the era of Nether has passed, the Nether survivors of Harua are still quite resilient. Even if no mage comes out of their family in a generation, there will be relatives who awaken to become professionals. Mutual help and the long-term peaceful environment have made their family wealth substantial. The overall environment can be said to be much better than the cruel world outside."

After saying that, he looked at DuPont and asked, "By the way, where is your hometown? How did you end up being assigned to this poor and backward Northwest?"

Harua is surrounded by mountains and can be described as a basin. The only place that connects it to the outside world is called the Taras Trail. If foreign powers attack, they will definitely start from here. At that time, apart from Taras Fortress, Northwest College will be the front line of resisting foreign enemies.

Besides the external threat of war, there is also the Akraw Swamp, located directly south of the academy, inhabited by green dragons, black dragons, and a host of demi-human races. Almost all the intermediate and advanced contracts in the northwest come from there. If you don't have the ability to figure it out, it's not an exaggeration to say that you'll be reduced to ashes.

In addition, the abbot of this academy, Lavoisier, is a well-known radical and can be said to be one of the representatives of the new school of magistrates of Harua. Although he is powerful, his relatively young age and lack of experience compared with other councilors led him to be relegated to this position as the head of the academy.

It's fair to say that no family with any connections in Harua would send their child here.

This question really stumped DuPont.

His inherited memories were incomplete; DuPont had come to school early and had never been back, so his memories of the place were very vague. After thinking for a while, he said, "Your question has stumped me. I only remember that there was a desert not far from my home, but I've forgotten its name."

"Desert? You don't mean the area near the Nas Desert in the northeast, do you?" Man Shi suddenly realized, "No wonder your dad sent you to the northwest. The Nas Desert is basically the worst place in Harua. It used to be plagued by blue dragons for many years. Although the northwest is barren and there is a risk of war, it hasn't been war for several hundred years. Compared to your hometown, it is indeed much better."

DuPont couldn't help but roll his eyes when he heard this.

Damn it, everyone says his college is poor, but it turns out his hometown is even worse. No wonder DuPont doesn't want to go back and his family rarely sends him money, even though his father is an aristocrat, he's still so poor.

With the desert and the threat of blue dragons, what kind of profit can a minor noble possibly make?
However, DuPont thought again, wasn't this the best time to bring up his current predicament?
However, mentioning money can hurt feelings, and DuPont didn't want to capsize this newly acquired friendship. He said with some helplessness, "Yes, that's why I really want to improve my strength as soon as possible, graduate early, and go home so I can do my part. Whether it's making money through adventures or helping my family hunt monsters, I'll have done my best. Otherwise, if I encounter a summons to hunt the Desert Blue Dragon after I graduate and go home, I'm afraid I won't even know how I died."

Hearing this, Man Shi felt somewhat puzzled: "Harua rarely fights with the Blue Dragons anymore, right? The chaos among the dragons a few years ago severely weakened the Blue Dragon family, and they were chased and beaten by Harua's army. How could those good-for-nothings dare to show their faces?"

DuPont was wondering what was going on, but he had already come up with a plan: "Those blue dragons don't dare to cause trouble openly, but who can stop them from stealing cattle, sheep and treasures? They also keep their lackeys behind the scenes, letting human bandits or monster clans rob people everywhere, but they are actually backing them up."

"Oh? That's interesting, but it's too early for you. At the very least, you need to become a formal mage and have a few trustworthy partners before considering this kind of thing. You must have some ability to be a bandit in that area."

As the two talked, they had already passed through the village. Man Shi didn't forget to flirt with some of the village girls who were thick-waisted and had big hips. When they were alone, he finally asked, "How old are you this year?"

"14."

“It’s not too late yet.” Man Shi pointed to a small house surrounded by a fence on the back mountain: “That’s my home. I’ll give you a little training.” DuPont nodded without saying anything, and soon a simple house built almost entirely of wood appeared before DuPont’s eyes.

“I used to have a woman who was a druid, and to make her happy, I built my house entirely of wood. But in the end, we couldn't get along and we didn't stay together.” Manstone said this in a flat tone, almost devoid of any emotion. “But I'm too lazy to change the house; it's good enough as it is. This fence is about six feet high. It won't keep out skilled thieves, but it's not bad at keeping wild animals away from stealing food when I'm not around. I usually just jump over it. You're strong but lack training. Can you do that?”

"I don't know, I haven't tried it." DuPont said honestly, "Aside from the long staff course, there are almost no opportunities for physical training at the academy."

"Give it a try. If you don't stretch your muscles, you've just grown a body in vain. Even when you're adventuring with teammates, a mage can't just throw spells around. There are many times when you'll be forced into melee combat or even fight against multiple enemies. You should know that those monsters love to live in groups and don't care about martial ethics; they'll swarm at you."

"Even a mage's armor can't cover your entire body, not to mention that some powerful monsters also have considerable skills and abilities. If you don't have certain melee skills, you won't be able to withstand the desperate offensive of those whose homes are being invaded. By the time your teammates come to your aid, you might already be a pile of mangled flesh."

After finishing speaking, Man Shi patted his thigh and said, "Watch, just do it this way."

Man Shi twisted his neck, and a series of cracking sounds erupted in half a second. Then he got up and took a running start, his legs outstretched in mid-air as he leaped high into the air like a cheetah, and in the next instant he was on the other side of the wall.

DuPont looked at his much slimmer thighs and felt a bit unreliable: "Where would I get such explosive power as you?"

“Actually, I didn’t use much strength. Didn’t you see I used a running start? If I just used muscle power, I could jump over here from the spot. Those traveling monks can easily jump to the rooftops that are 3 meters high.” Man Shi said, then jumped back. “Try it. At worst, you can use your mage armor. There are no spikes on this wooden fence. At most, it will only cause some bruises. But be careful when you come down. Don’t be unlucky and break your neck.”

"Forget it, adding some oil to my feet will increase my stride and jumping ability, so I should be able to do it." DuPont said, stretching his legs. His flexibility was actually not bad, but his low agility meant his reflexes were really average. To put it simply, he would definitely be a noob at playing CS2.

However, DuPont was still a little worried: "I see that the top is still a bit thin. What if it gets stuck on the top? Won't it rip my intestines out?"

Man Shi looked at it carefully and gestured: "No, your legs are long enough that if you rush forward, you can definitely get past it and won't scrape its belly. At most, you'll scrape its balls."

DuPont gasped after hearing this: "Now that you mention it, my legs feel a little weak. Is it okay if I don't jump?"

"This wooden fence is standing right here, and it makes your legs weak. What will it be like when the goblins come with their spears? Won't they scare you out of your wits?" Man Shi said with a disdainful snort. "Besides, don't you know magic? If you don't trust yourself, don't you trust the power of magic?"

“You just wait!” DuPont scoffed, took a deep breath, took a few steps back, and began his running start.

"grass!"

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(End of this chapter)