I materialized a sci-fi fortress in a magical world.

Hugo's Tower has different standards for recruiting apprentices than the Old Drunkard's. Only a symbolic tuition fee is required to become an apprentice, and there is even a monthly salary.

The price to pay is that you have to work in places like Hugo's mage tower, farm, and winery, where you can't learn much magic and are just exploited cheap labor.

Those who can work at the Mage Tower are all somewhat talented; most people are still out there digging and farming...

Under the suppression of knowledge barriers, even if one has only been exposed to introductory-level knowledge, one can never leave. One must either be an apprentice for life or awaken magic and become a formal disciple.

Once a formal disciple reaches the third level of cultivation, they immediately go out and establish their own mage tower, continuing to operate in this way, thus building up a force until they are promoted and rise through the ranks.

That's how Victor Hugo amassed his enormous fortune...

It sounds cruel, but this is the most mainstream model on the market. Most mages do it this way, otherwise it would be difficult to maintain such huge expenses.

The knowledge barrier is the fundamental guarantee that this "apprenticeship model" can be sustained.

Like the old drunkard and Hugo himself, they came all this way, and in their youth they were determined to change this situation.

Unfortunately, in the end, one option was to abandon this model, while the other was to offer better treatment to apprentices.

Therefore, Luo Yue doesn't know many people here. Those he used to know have either been sent to work on the farm or have reached the third tier and gone out to open their own towers.

Austin stayed to continue his training because he was sensible and useful, and because he also had a higher pursuit of magic.

After finishing his meal, Luo Yue returned to his workshop, not intending to carve any more scrolls, but instead continuing his own practice.

Practice [Magic Weaving] occasionally along the way to quickly familiarize yourself with [Exploding Flame].

After an afternoon of practice, he successfully reduced the time to weave the magic circle to 8 minutes.

But he was still very dissatisfied with the speed and shook his head repeatedly.

"It's still too long. An 8-minute 'load bar' is enough to finish daily tasks in a mobile game. It's also easy to be interrupted, so it's impossible to use it in actual combat."

"I wonder how powerful it is. I'll go out for a stroll tonight and find a place to secretly test it out..."

Just like at noon, Luo Yue slipped out of the workroom a little early to prepare to grab utensils from the cafeteria.

As I passed by another single-person studio next door, I happened to hear the sound of breaking glass coming from inside, as if something had been broken.

Then came another angry, pouting shout:

"Damn it! Damn it! Damn it! It's only a third-tier spell, why is it so hard to inscribe?"

"Is anyone actually capable of carving such a scroll?"

Am I not human? Am I even human?

Luo Yue muttered to himself, and judging from the casual conversation he overheard in the cafeteria at noon, this must be another "master" responsible for handling high-difficulty diagrams.

I didn't expect it to be a woman?

Her voice is soft and sweet, but her personality is terrible. Even though she is not as skilled as others, she still has the nerve to be impotent and furious.

Although they had never met before, his impression of this person had already dropped to zero, so he definitely wouldn't greet him and headed straight for the cafeteria.

Dinner was similar to lunch, consisting of black bread and bean porridge, except the smoked meat was replaced with a few slices of sausage and the vegetable salad was replaced with noodles.

The way to eat it is still the same: first cut the bread in half, soak it in the paste, then soak the rest of the ingredients in it, and stir it into a thicker paste.

Perhaps because he had been traveling for too long, his taste buds had long since given in, and Luo Yue actually ate this food with great relish.

After the meal, he was able to leave the mage tower freely with the small wooden tag given to him by Austin, without being searched like other apprentices to prevent them from smuggling materials out.

Unlike small mountain villages and towns where people can only sleep after dark, Maple Leaf City has a very vibrant nightlife. As the evening bells ring, all sorts of colorful magical neon lights illuminate the city, creating a dazzling and lively atmosphere.

There are plenty of places like that, and Austin once suggested taking Royo to visit them, but he was afraid of upsetting his senior, so he didn't dare.

Now the senior is gone, but Austin is also nowhere to be seen. Except for the morning, I haven't seen him all day, let alone Hugo.

"He's probably out drinking and socializing again?"

Luo Yue didn't think much of it, just strolled around the streets for a bit, and then hurried to the nearest city gate.

With the help of that small wooden sign, the city guards didn't dare to stop him, and Luo Yue arrived outside the city without any trouble. He then jogged through the surrounding villages and farmlands until he reached a desolate hilly area.

The entire Duchy of Andersai is situated in a basin, surrounded by mountains on three sides. It is very remote and has a low population density, making it a perfect training ground for Royo.

But he still pushed his mental energy to the limit, checked the surrounding area to make sure no one was around, and then crawled into a ravine to start practicing.

After a long 8-minute cast time, the [Exploding Flame] spell circle reappeared in his palm, ready to be triggered at any moment.

Although no incantation was required, Luo Yue thought that since this was his first time casting a third-tier spell, he should add a bit of ritual. Since there was no one around, he made up a spell and recited it:

"With the blazing sun of newborn life, tear through the sky! With the embers of the past, usher in the dawn for the next!"

As he infused the last bit of magic, the magic circle in his hand changed from dark blue to fiery red, and the intricate patterns transformed into burning flames, coalescing into a sphere.

Luo Yue quickly used his mental power to lock onto a large rock in the distance, and a fireball in his hand roared out.

Boom boom boom~

A series of muffled explosions echoed through the valley, fire elemental magic surged and churned, and dust and gravel filled the air, soon obscuring everything.

"Cough cough cough! I didn't expect the commotion to be this loud? Cough cough..."

Luo Yue coughed from the choking, and his clothes turned ashen. He quickly fled the ravine.

He didn't go back inside until the smoke cleared, trying to find the large rock that had been used as a target.

All that was seen was a large crater and a vast expanse of charred black.

"Hiss~ This power is about the same as the heavy artillery on Earth, right? And it's at least 120mm or larger in caliber."

"Is the power of a third-tier spell really that exaggerated? I was forcibly casting it beyond my tier, so the power was greatly reduced. If a genuine third-tier mage were to cast it, wouldn't it blow up this entire mountain valley?"

"And what kind of humanoid weapons are those higher-ranking mages?"

Luo Yue gasped several times, his throat burning from the residual fire elemental magic in the air.

"Mages are truly terrifying!"

For a fleeting moment, he suddenly understood the existence of knowledge barriers. If this kind of magic fell into the hands of criminals, it could be detonated in a densely populated area...

Especially when the spell is cast using a scroll, there's no need to chant incantations or cast spells, making it impossible to defend against.

Luo felt it was necessary to have a serious talk with Austin and find out where the rolls had gone.