Cornflower Witch

Chapter 381 Post-Match Rewards
The scene of Siltia participating in the competition was witnessed by two professors in the audience, and the two of them liked her more and more as they watched.

"Sigh, if only she could enroll this year." One of the older men was already getting impatient.

“Yes, such a promising talent, every day he stays outside, I’m afraid he’ll be snatched away.” The woman next to him nodded in agreement.

"The Mage Alliance has nearly 200,000 new students every year. Although the number is large, only about one in ten thousand has a real chance of reaching the sixth rank. Moreover, there are many schools of thought within the alliance, and everyone wants to grab the best students."

Having outstanding students not only strengthens a faction, but also ensures that the skills and knowledge one has dedicated their life to can be passed on. Otherwise, when one dies, all the results of one's research can only be reduced to complicated and obscure records. The regret and loss of that is difficult for ordinary people to understand.

For a monk, about 70% of his life is spent on honing and improving his skills. This can be said to constitute everything in his life: status, power, income, social respect, admiration from others, self-fulfillment, and so on.

It would be extremely regrettable and distressing if these skills were passed down due to a lack of suitable students. However, the higher the level of a mage's skills, the more complex and obscure they become. One needs to learn a lot of prerequisite knowledge and theories, master and become proficient in advanced techniques, and finally learn the most core essence. Therefore, it is not easy to find a suitable student to pass on these skills.

The reason why the various schools of the Mage Alliance were initially willing to spend a lot of resources to expand enrollment and train new people was to find suitable people to pass on their knowledge. Otherwise, schools that lacked candidates to master the core secret techniques would face the problem of extinction within two generations and then decline rapidly.

The vast and profound knowledge is both the strength and the weakness of the Mage Alliance. Its strength lies in making the overall strength of the Mage Alliance a level above the surrounding major power alliances. However, its weakness is that the excessive amount of obscure knowledge and theories makes it extremely difficult to pass on, and it is not something that can be learned by just anyone.

You can expect a genius who has never been to school to learn extremely difficult sword techniques in a few days, solely through talent, but you can't expect him to understand theoretical books full of formulas and symbols.

The second round of the freshman competition ended quickly. After winning three matches, Hiltiya decisively gave up the remaining matches because the remaining contestants were all elite third-tier members of the academy, whom she could not defeat in her current state. Even if she could win, she would probably have to use all her skills and expose many of her trump cards, but there was really no need for that now.

After receiving the reward certificate, Hilti returned to the library as she wished, handed over the certificate, and then told the staff about the two secret techniques she had chosen.

"Okay, Miss Hedra, please wait a moment." The staff member asked the young woman to wait.

About ten minutes later, the staff member came over and told Siltia to go to the Inheritance Room.

“Everything is ready. Miss Hedra, you can go directly there. You are very lucky this time. The professor who recorded this secret technique happens to be at school today because he is participating in the Silver Bell Festival, so you can ask him directly about the learning method of this secret technique.”

"Learn arcane arts directly from the professors at Rolik Academy?" Hilti was surprised. She had previously thought it was just about using the inheritance gem to sense the knowledge and complex feelings stored within it.

"Yes, this is more effective than using the Inheritance Gem. After all, the professor can demonstrate it to you on the spot and answer many questions." The staff member looked congratulatory, and the two senior students next to him nodded in agreement.

"Go ahead and don't worry, the professors are all very nice people."

"Then I'll go." The girl nodded and left with the staff member.

After Hilti left, Tikkis and her grandmother continued to sit in the library hall waiting. Her grandmother looked at the two students, seemingly wanting to say something but holding back.

"You're only here for that child, aren't you?" She had figured out their identities and motives.

"Ahem, senior, what are you saying? I don't quite understand." The young man beside him turned his face away.

"Hehe, I am old, but I'm not stupid." The old lady shook her head.

“I felt something was off when you introduced yourselves as ‘first-class movie star’ students.” “That child probably doesn’t know what level a student who gets ‘first-class movie star’ is among their peers every year.”

"According to the academy's rules, students who are initially at the third rank upon enrollment will advance from 'Fifth Rank of Movie Star' upwards. However, most people will directly enter the fourth rank before they even reach the second rank, which is to say, they will become 'Fifth Rank of Venus Star'. So, although 'First Rank of Movie Star' may seem like only a third-rank student, in reality, those who can quickly obtain this evaluation level at this stage are all geniuses among their batch of students, and their numbers are extremely small."

"You know, it's rather unusual that two geniuses of the same age, who are extremely strong and ranked at the top, would gather together at the same time and have the leisure and enthusiasm to help a complete stranger from another school."

"Of course, at first I just thought you just liked the child, after all, Hedra is indeed cute and quite strong, but when you said that the professor would personally teach him, I immediately confirmed my previous guess."

"Let me guess, which tutor or professor instructed you to come here? The lineup is so impressive."

"Ahem." The two glanced at each other, realizing they couldn't hide it any longer.

"Well, as expected, I can't hide this from you, senior. My mentor is Professor Maredo, the powerful mage who now masters the core secret technique of 'Steel Shadow Demon Hand'," the young man introduced.

“My teacher is Professor Fukalian, who is also the sole inheritor of the ‘Dream Substitute’ technique,” ​​the girl next to her replied.

"So it was these two...no wonder." The old lady thought for a moment and stopped blaming.

Seeing the old man lost in his memories, the two became curious as well. After all, although he was old, he still possessed the aura of a fifth-level cultivator and might have been a key figure in the academy in the past.

"May I ask your name, senior?" the two asked tentatively.

"Me? Hehe, go back and tell the teacher that I am the old tuner of 'Huanjin Workshop', and they will know."

"Huanjin Workshop?" The two were somewhat unfamiliar with this place.

"It seems to be a workshop that specializes in making musical instruments, music boxes, and clocks," one of them recalled briefly.

“That’s right, it’s not a big workshop, and it rarely takes orders from outside anymore, so it’s normal that you don’t know much about it.” She patted her granddaughter beside her and recalled.

"However, there was a brief period of glory sixty years ago, when I even met your teacher." She laughed as she spoke, her face kind and serene.

"Since Hedra has already chosen the secret technique, it will probably take quite a while to learn it. My granddaughter and I won't wait any longer. We'll take her out for a good time today."

“When Hedra comes out, give her this business card and tell her that she is welcome to visit ‘Huanjin Workshop’ in the future.” After saying this, the old man got up and took the hand of Tiqisi, who was standing next to him, so that she could say goodbye to the two of them.

"Say goodbye to the older brothers and sisters."

"Okay, goodbye, brothers and sisters. Tiqisi is leaving now." She spoke timidly but seriously, and then ran off with her grandmother without looking back.

(End of this chapter)