"Hello, Uncle Schmidt, I'm Moriarty. Ensberg! Looking at the middle-aged man, who was slightly bald and had a very stern face, slowly walked towards him, Moriarty immediately saluted the lord respectfully according to the etiquette of a mage.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, my nephew, Moriarty. Seeing you is like seeing Helen. Schmidt's voice was very high, and he spoke with a lot of energy, and he walked straight up to Moriarty, and looked at the other man for a long time before nodding.

"I'm sorry for my mother's death. It was I who didn't take good care of her. Moriarty bowed his head slightly, not looking directly at Schmidt.

"Well, it's a pity." Hearing Moriarty say this, the mid-level mage sighed heavily, and moved to a large floor-to-ceiling window on the side, looking at the Hockenheim campus below the tower and the fountain square beyond, and fell silent.

The magical world is really strange, obviously from the outside, there are no doors and windows on the mage tower, but on the inside, you can get enough lighting and external vision, which is really magical.

"I still remember vividly what Helen looked when she left the Blue Crystal City, what a bright and lovely girl, with a pair of blue eyes, like the blooming irises. And in the blink of an eye, more than ten years have passed, and my sister is gone forever...", as if recalling Helen's past, Schmidt whispered a monologue.

"I'm sorry." At this time, Moriarty didn't know what to say.

"Maybe it's fate." The mid-level mage shook his head, withdrew his gaze from the window, and turned to look at Moriarty again: "After all, when facing the impermanence of life, even magic is not omnipotent. ”

"Yes. However, I think in our hearts, mothers are immortal. Moriarty nodded.

"yes, that's it." A slight smile appeared on Schmidt's face, but it quickly disappeared again: "To be honest, I was surprised to see you suddenly appear in Hockenheim today. I sent you a few months ago, and I think you read it. With that, the mid-level mage returned the envelope in his hand to Moriarty.

"Yes, I read it carefully."

"So, what made you decide to say goodbye to the silent and boring noble realm and come to Bracada and come to Blue Crystal City? After all, there are too many mediocre people in this world who are greedy for comfortable life and decadent pleasures and are not willing to devote themselves to other more meaningful causes. In just an instant, His Excellency Schmidt seemed to have suddenly transformed into an examiner, and asked Moriarty in a loud and scathing tone.

"There may be many superficial reasons, but there are only two core reasons." Moriarty thought for a moment, and said neither humbly nor arrogantly.

"Tell me about it."

"A thirst for power and a yearning for the wizarding world." Moriarty said word by word.

"Strength and the world of magic? Well, it's a pretty rustic idea, but it's not unreasonable. Schmidt didn't shake his head, nor did he nod, but commented bluntly: "However, here I want to remind you of one thing: for a true mage, power is just an accessory brought by spell, and magic is a qiē. I hope you will always remember this sentence and not lose the essence of a mage on the path of magic. ”

"Thank you for your teachings, which I will always remember." Moriarty humbly bowed his head and said.

"Yes, that's good." The mid-level mage looked at Moriarty with satisfaction and nodded, but his expression remained unmoved: "Moriarty, as you said in your letter, you are still a mage apprentice, right?" So, what spells have you mastered? ”

"Two first-order spells, Magic Arrow and Wind Breath." There was no need to hide it, Moriarty replied honestly. …,

"Oh? Two? Obviously, this message surprised Schmidt slightly, because in his original expectation, a young apprentice of Moriarty's age would only be able to learn one first-level spell at most: "Then, here, cast it." The mid-level mage immediately ordered.

"Yes, the target?" Of course, Moriarty will not have stage fright, and directly asks rhetorically.

"The target is the puppet." Schmidt stretched out his hand and pointed to the bronze mechanical puppet on the side.

"Understood." Moriarty nodded, and immediately began to cast the spell.

The first spell to be cast was the Breath of the Wind, and after an invisible whirlwind of magic appeared in the workshop, the surface of the bronze mechanical golem's body immediately increased with a layer of white light.

"Yes, go ahead." Glancing at Moriarty and the puppet respectively, Schmidt nodded.

After completing the Breath of the Wind, Moriarty calmed his breath for a moment, and immediately began casting the magic arrow. In a few moments, Moriarty, who had already experienced many actual battles, once again perfectly shot a silver arrow at the bronze mechanical golem.

"Smack", the magic arrow hit the target's chest accurately, but the exploding magic energy immediately fell into the water droplets like a sponge, just flashed, and disappeared immediately. And looking at the bronze mechanical puppet, there is not the slightest damage at all.

"Sure enough, as the legend says, the magic resistance of the mechanical puppet is very powerful." Seeing this scene, Moriarty secretly admired.

"Yes, that's good." At this moment, Schmidt's words pulled Moriarty's thoughts back.

"Thank you for the compliment." Moriarty smiled a little shyly.

"Both of your spells are very good, you are skilled in spell wielding, and your casting speed is comparable to that of a full-fledged mage. It can be seen that Helen has laid a good foundation for you. As a mage apprentice, you are undoubtedly qualified. Moreover, according to the regulations, as long as you learn one more first-level spell, you can try the promotion assessment of the official mage. ”

"Yes, so I hope to join Hockenheim and continue my magic studies." Moriarty formally applied to Schmidt.

"Yes, your strength has reached the requirements for joining the academy." Schmidt nodded: "But before that, I think it is necessary to give you a detailed account of the situation and regulations of Hockenheim. ”

"Yes, please."

"Hockenheim, as the official magic academy of Blue Crystal City, is directly under the jurisdiction of the City Lord's Mansion. The courses in the academy mainly include two systems: apprentice and low-level mage, and the teachers are all middle- and high-level mages. Each month, apprentices can choose to take twenty hours of magic classes, and junior mages have fifteen hours. ”

"Twenty and fifteen lessons?" Moriarty couldn't help but be a little surprised that there was only such a small amount of time in a month for a formal classroom professor.

"Yes, but don't be surprised." Seeing Moriarty's doubts, Schmidt continued to explain simply: "Magic is different from the real material world, and a mage can only rely on painstaking self-study, research, and a lot of experimentation if he wants to advance in the ranks. Those magic lessons are just a chance for students to ask questions and solve problems they encounter in their studies. Besides, every mage's time is precious, do you think there is any intermediate or high-level mage who would be willing to spend a lot of time teaching? ”

"I see." It dawned on Moriarty that Hockenheim's curriculum was somewhat similar to that of a PhD study in the Earth World, with the supervisor only responsible for some guidance and guidance, and the real learning still relied on the self-study of graduate students.

"So, what is the cost of studying?" Moriarty asked.

"Apprentices are required to pay a tuition fee of 3,000 gold coins per year, and low-level mages are 8,000 gold coins (the currency unit of the bracada, which is set as in the local area below, and will not be repeated), and these are only the basic lesson fees. In addition, each time a student learns a new spell from the Academy, they must pay an additional amount of gold, which varies according to the level and content of the spell. At the same time, if students wish to live at the Hockenheim Academy, they will need to pay for room and board. As for other rentals such as renting laboratories, magic devices, and applying for special services, I won't explain them all for the time being, but if you need them in the future, you can consult them yourself. ”…,

"Magic learning is really expensive." Hearing such a variety of expenses, Moriarty couldn't help but be a little surprised, it seems that the six thousand gold coins that the baron allocates to himself every year is not a great big number, if he really wants to study at full speed, but there will be a deficit in a year.

"Of course, based on your current strength, I can recommend you to the academy as a 'referral student'. In this case, you can also enjoy a 30% reduction in the tuition fee for your basic courses. But for the rest, you have to pay in full. At this point, Schmidt added.

It seems that as a mid-level mage of Hockenheim, Schmidt still has some privileges. However, this sentence is also tantamount to indirectly telling Moriarty that his uncle will not pay for his nephew's tuition. All the qiē still have to rely on himself.

"So, what are the ways for a mage apprentice to earn some income?" Moriarty did not feel any dissatisfaction with Schmidt's seemingly ruthless words, but took it for granted.

"In reality, there is very little work that a mage's apprentice can do. Because they are not yet official mages, they have very few spells to master, and even the amount of mana and spiritual strength are not obviously insufficient. As a result, very few mages are willing to hire apprentices. In the college, although there are some work-study positions, the salaries are very low, but they are also very sought-after. Newcomers are hard to come by. The mid-level mage looked at Moriarty, a flash of approval in his eyes.

"Is that so?" Sure enough, it wasn't easy, Moriarty frowned slightly

Make up yesterday's chapter.