Surviving The Fourth Calamity

Chapter 408: Chapter 207: Overflowing Abundance, Dotting Paper and Writing Characters

Looking at William’s inquisitive gaze, Adrian almost chuckled.

A mage primarily looks for aptitude in a student before considering other aspects.

It doesn’t matter whether they are from nobility or peasantry.

The reason why Fran and Adrian so strongly support the King’s Academy is that it is too difficult to find someone suitable for studying alchemy among the nobility.

People of noble birth tend to view alchemy as merely a tool.

Who would want to take on a student they truly do not admire, regardless of how good their qualifications are?

And if a peasant child is suitable, why bother with a noble’s child?

Adrian knew all too well how he had gotten to where he was.

He really did not know if taking on a noble’s child as a successor would one day repay the debt of life and upbringing owed to their family before becoming legendary.

Many legendary mages of noble birth even fail to touch the line of law because their debt is too great, despite being right at the threshold.

Most mages don’t care about this because they have enough students.

The ones who manage to save themselves in the end naturally become the successors.

Alchemist Masters generally wouldn’t do this.

Fran and Adrian would certainly not resort to such careless measures.

They would rather create puppets themselves than engage in such underhanded tactics.

They only want to take on students from the alchemy system, numerous but all suited for it.

Even if Adrian cannot ascend to become legendary, he could still live for several hundred years!

He was indeed eager to take on some students to do some work, but he wasn’t so desperate as to take just anyone.

Adrian had been observing these children from the Alchemy Academy for a long time, and the Undead Tribe had also been tracking them, seeing them as suitable in all aspects.

He had hesitated only because the ransom was too expensive.

Now that William was planning to hand them over to him, that was really too good.

Furthermore, this transaction was directly transferred by their creditor, meaning these children would need only to repay Adrian’s Magic Tower in the future.

Adrian was well aware of how the Mage Association had expanded in the past.

Though he didn’t harbor such great ambitions, ensuring his students’ loyalty definitely pleased him more.

”Alchemy requires patience and passion. Of course, aptitude comes first,” Adrian replied, ”Even if their initial love for alchemy is because it can make money, that’s still better than most noble students.

In the eyes of many nobles, as long as one becomes a high-level mage, alchemy products can be bought.

They lack reverence and passion for alchemy, neither immersing themselves in it nor dedicating themselves diligently. We don’t accept such children in our school.

Or rather, most Alchemist Masters wouldn’t carelessly take on students.

Those who do not revere alchemy can cause serious troubles.”

William pondered for a moment and could understand.

In a world where the will of the world is active, merits and sins are accounted for very quickly.

For inherently self-centered mages, having a student who joins an evil faction is at most a hassle, and they would sever ties with them.

But for alchemists, if they are not careful in choosing apprentices, that unfortunate student might eventually drag the teacher down into the abyss with them.

That would really be an undeserved disaster.

When the world’s will settles accounts, it is always detailed and brutal.

It doesn’t care whether someone’s slipping into evil was self-inflicted or not.

You did it, you were involved, that’s what counts.

The people of this world are actually quite accustomed to it; knowing there would be consequences, they cut it off at the source.

The mages, many don’t care if they are part of the evil faction, but what they care about is whether it stems from their own will.

William smiled.

In other words, for alchemists taking on students, besides good aptitude, they must also consider whether the student’s temperament is sufficiently stable and preferably without deep-seated hatreds.

Then, they must be filled with a passion for alchemy.

No wonder taking on a student seemed almost like mission impossible for Adrian.

William glanced at Adrian.

He was obviously weighing and calculating whether the cost of becoming the lord of Central City to take on a few students was worthwhile.

”Why was it so easy when Master Fran took you on?” William asked curiously.

”Our family members, despite each having their issues, didn’t have major problems,” Adrian said nonchalantly, ”The Temple of Knowledge doesn’t accept followers who lean towards evil, not even if there’s one in the family.

No one can lie in the temple.

Otherwise, how could our family survive those purges by the Undead Tribe?

But besides my teacher caring about the nature of a person, those archmages in the Mage Tower of Obastian would prefer students who were a bit more loyal. I had the backing of the Temple of Knowledge, they didn’t want to take me.

Luckily my teacher took a liking to me immediately, it was fate, and I became his student.”

”The Temple of Knowledge, huh!” William sighed, ”Does the moon represent curiosity?”

Adrian turned his head; the God of Knowledge also appeared thousands of years ago.

It seemed that He came into the starry sky even later than the God of Contract.

At that time, the Goddess of the Silvermoon indeed had awakened.

Although still concealing herself, she must also have had the ability to cause trouble.

But then, the God of Knowledge doesn’t belong to the Silvermoon Deity System, does he?

Was it just a matter of pulling some strings?

The God of Knowledge back then truly claimed to know all the book knowledge from the past to the present.

Could it be the Goddess of the Silvermoon who gave him the ancient books?

Honestly, he had originally guessed it was related to the Sun God; he never expected it was the Goddess from the Chaos System.

Adrian remained silent, knowing just the relationship between the God of Knowledge and the Moon Goddess was good enough; the rest was none of his concern.

His family members still knew the difference between someone in the family believing in the God of Knowledge and a mage’s personal belief in the God of Knowledge.

They had never planned to let him enter the Temple.

Otherwise, even Fran wouldn’t have accepted him.

Mages should stay out of the business of deities; the more they get involved, the more confused things become.

When Adrian was about to recalibrate his thoughts, he heard William announce a considerable reward.

On his already wavering beliefs, it added the final straw.

He disgracefully became tempted.

Compared to his own teacher and Hill, Adrian only had a limited amount of Space Crystals at his disposal.

Although he could take them from the Magic Tower’s warehouse, sometimes people still want to do things that are meaningless but fun.

Fran never had such interest, so Adrian had to behave properly.

Keep in mind, Fran might not ask Adrian where the crystals went, but he would ask what he had done with them.

If it were herbs, Fran wouldn’t inquire.

But with crystal stones, Fran would want to know if his student suddenly became interested in alchemy with objects and what he could create.

Adrian didn’t want to attend to his teacher.

That was concern, the paternal love he had craved since he was a child.

But if he could have some high-level Space Crystals to play around with, Adrian’s whimsical yet useless ideas might just work!

Seeing his eyelid twitch suddenly, William knew there was hope.

He quickly continued, ”You see, the officials I sent, aside from a few nobles here for a golden touch, others are ordinary officials dealing with the Undead Tribe all year round.

For you, keeping those nobles in check so they don’t disrupt these ordinary officials should be easy, right?

We both know, if they really stir up trouble, in the end, it won’t be the Undead Tribe who suffers, but these ordinary officials might get dragged down with them.

How about it? Just five years! I can definitely find someone suitable to take over your position.”

”Why not Spencer? He can go to that city now, right?” Adrian tried one last time.

”Holmes, legendary, responsible for guarding the Legendary Magic Tower in the back,” William said candidly, ”Although Naven is useful, he is still Spencer. Too prone to causing trouble.”

Adrian knew these well.

Without needing William to say more, he sighed, ”Naven is really unlucky. He would have been most suitable, but unfortunately, the Spencer Family also has fools.”

William remained silent.

If Adrian knew about it, then the clan leader of the Spencer Family had failed to keep the fools in his family in check.

Even though the deal didn’t go through, mouths might have moved prematurely.

It’s a pity for the Spencer Family; though they could never inherit his throne, they could still become the most powerful family in Saral before William ascended to the stars.

But William didn’t have the patience to consider which members of their family were innocent.

He wouldn’t spend his time on these matters.

He decided as soon as he returned he would have Naven stay by his side, specifically dealing with Undead matters.

This was something no one could dispute with Naven over.

As for the rest, let the Spencer Family return to the tradition of infighting amongst the nobility!

After considering for a while, Adrian still agreed.

He was due to stay in this place for some more time anyway.

And for a Magister, finding the right path is vital.

He didn’t need to stay long in the Magic Tower to practice.

If he had a suitable student, he could also start traveling sooner.

Talking about the Undead Tribe seemed troublesome, but the main job wasn’t his to do.

Listening to William, Adrian knew his main concern was that these nobles would completely provoke the Undead.

The nobles of Saral had already been cleared several times.

But it was still impossible to prevent these nobles from getting hot-headed when competing for interests.

William has always valued human life; otherwise, he would leave those guys to die.

Would a king really care about how many nobles die?

Bloodlines matter when they matter, but if there’s an alternative, they become meaningless.

Who can’t concoct a grand ancestor for themselves?

Those who have been dead for so many years can’t protest having more descendants, can they?

William did not concern himself with what Adrian was thinking and quickly handed over the control to the Lord’s Mansion.

Inside, all of Adrian’s duties and rights were clearly outlined.

Adrian, looking at the requirements for fixing the Magic Array, was at a loss for words.

No wonder William had offered such a high salary.

Initially thought to be a thousand times the salary, it turned out to be only ten times after maintenance of the Magic Array.

Adrian looked up, silently staring at the king with an impressively thick skin, saying nothing, not moving an inch.

William sighed, then pulled out a ring and handed it to Adrian, ”Thought I could save a bit.”

Adrian glanced at the contents of the ring, lowered his head, and quickly signed his name.