Ch. 27 - Elements

James continued, "Although the total amount of mental strength is not a decisive factor in terms of becoming a mage, its benefits are huge! This means that you are able to cast more spells compared to your peers -- not useful for research, but very helpful for combat. If you become a battlemage, it will be great."

"A battlemage?"

James dismissed him, "Bah, we can discuss it when you actually become a mage -- there is no need for you to know now."

Adam replied, "But Mr. James, this is my mental strength we're talking about, I think I need to know."

James smiled, "I guess you are right. However, although this is your inherent talent, it's useful to me, too."

"What do you mean?"

"Follow me."

James led Adam by the hand and led him to his laboratory. Adam didn't resist -- James is incredibly powerful for an apprentice, so he's interested to see what James wants to do with him.

A laboratory is incredibly important to a researcher -- each researcher protects their own achievements and discoveries very strictly, and this is no exception in the Mage World. James swiped his identity token three times, and the laboratory was unlocked.

Adam was curious on how mages do their research -- it is not realistic for the researchers to simply rely on fantasy and theories, so rigid, empirical evidence was needed, but how does one prove something mystical like magic? When he walked into the room, his questions were answered -- countless, sophisticated instruments used to measure magic; containers filled with exotic specimens; test tubes with strange liquids...

"This laboratory is oddly simple and... ordinary."

James smiled.

James' laboratory was huge, and the walls were painted black. The room was full of optical projections, suspended in the air. Rune models were painted onto the projections, and crystal balls were scattered on the tables.

James' tone changed from indifferent to kind, since Adam was about to be of great importance to him, "You think this laboratory is ordinary? Wait 'till you see the other laboratories."

James continued, "There are other labs that focus on other things -- my main research is for runes and mental strength."

"I see why you're teaching meditation now."

James nodded, "That's right. I'm qualified enough to serve as a first-year Rune Studies mentor."

Adam's gaze swept across the room and had to physically stop himself from recording everything in the room. No matter how much he wanted to remember this vividly, it is equivalent to stealing James' research, and he might die if James decides to kill him for doing that.

Adam wondered what James' motives were, and without beating around the bush, asked, "So, you want me to become your test subject?"

James shook his head, "Not a test subject, but my assistant. When you help me in my experiments, I'll share some of my earnings to you as a commission. You'll be able to live comfortably here."

"What do I need to do?"

Seeing that Adam was willing to become his assistant, James gently grabbed his shoulders, "It's very simple -- build sets of runes that I come up with, and I will record your feedback in order to judge whether or not meditation has any true value."

This sounds like a great idea for Adam -- experimenting with runes won't cause him any physical harm, he can get paid, and gain knowledge and experience from working under James. There is no reason for him to refuse.

But Adam wouldn't agree so easily, remembering the Black Mage's advice of not making hasty decisions.

"I'll think about it carefully and give you an answer by next week, now, what is your research for?"

James was a little frustrated and slumped back into his seat, "When a mage has inherent talents in certain magic, their soul can try to guide him towards the correct path. I would like to study if these talents can be integrated into the rune groups to build your own set of runes, since I theorise that mage 'armour' formed this way has a strong personal tendency and is able to call forth powerful abilities."

Turns out, as long as apprentices reach the bare minimum, they have the opportunity of becoming a mage, but a small number of people with inherent talent will have access to spells relating to their own talent.

Adam got his answer and left James alone. He still needed to attend his Elemental Studies class in the afternoon.

Along the way, he met a lot of apprentices who had just finished their Rune Studies class -- they discussed the knowledge they had obtained, and constantly compared their mastery with each other.

It was noon, but nobody chose to eat lunch. It was expensive, after all, and with everyone being as strong as a knight here, one meal a day was more than sufficient.

Some people saw Adam, but didn't approach him. Some of them have already decided that Adam was an idiot, so they considered it unwise to invest their time into Adam.

Adam does not care. Being an A.I, he did not know the concept of loneliness.

The closer he got to his classroom, the more intense the surrounding magic content became. This energy caused him to put more effort into walking, but the other apprentices were struggling to walk by, having to take frequent breaks for a few steps.

A few corners later, Adam came to a closed door. A barrier sealed the door, and on the barrier wrote: [New apprentices are strictly prohibited from casting spells in the Elemental Laboratory, or dire consequences will be at your own risk.]

Nobody dared to disobey this rule. Adam resisted the great energy to try and enter the lab for his next class.

The barrier displayed a text: [Display your identity token.]

Adam swiped his identity token against the door, and Adam felt a force latch onto him, completely suppressing his mental power.

Since Adam was more talented than his peers, it took longer for his mental power to be completely suppressed.

The interior of the Elemental Laboratory did not conform to Euclidean geometry -- it looked extremely large inside, and a couple of apprentices came and went in a hurry. There were several doors that were sealed tightly with runes.

Adam checked his timetable and walked towards his classroom underground. The moment he reached the stairs, explosions could be heard in the opposite room, and violent fire licked at the apprentices.

"Oh my god!"

"Extinguish it!"

Panic erupted among the apprentices, and a crowd soon gathered by the lab. Several people were burnt, and their clothes were singed.

The senior apprentices who wore grey robes ran out the lab, and a figure who was surrounded by orbs of fire chased after them, "All of you idiots! Idiots! Didn't I tell you that the runes had to be perfect?! You idiots are worse than pigs!" he then turned to a senior apprentice cowering, "Send them to the infirmary, and never come back!"

"This must be an experiment on elemental magic," Adam thought to himself. This was important information to him, but he had no way of entering the lab.

When he came to his classroom, Adam found that his tutor was the Black Mage! After everyone arrived, he began, "I am the Black Mage, and I am a second-level Wind Mage. I will be your Elemental Studies teacher for the first year."

The classroom was an amphitheatre, the Black Mage levitated in the centre and announced, "I hope the scene just now did not frighten any of you -- elemental magic is full of charm, and probably what most mages are looking forward to! However, it is dangerous, and the apprentices who were running just now were extremely lucky to run away with their lives. You must know, many apprentices die from these experiments every year.

I will only be meeting you once a month -- in this year, you must study what elements there are and successfully construct three sets of low-levelled elemental magic runes.

This assignment of yours is extremely important. If you are unlike Miss Ophelia, who has talents in Body Refining, you must learn at least three kinds of elemental magic, or you will be expelled from the academy."

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