Chapter 143: Frost Gold Month

For this point allocation, Gao De chose 【Mage Hand】.

The reason is simple: 【Mage Hand】 is an incredibly common cantrip for mages, and one that remains useful from beginning to end.

Therefore, even though it lacks offensive power, it is worth this point of Origin.

As for the remaining 【Sand Scorpion】 Origin, Gao De decided to save it for now.

For the sake of "Super-Tier Feats," he will need to learn a great number of spells in the future; it is better to save it for those rare spells.

Such as the 【Insect Swarm Proliferation】 he is about to obtain.

A very logical line of reasoning.

Frost Gold Month, 1st.

The day of the public admissions for the Sairui Academy.

This is also one of the liveliest days of the year for the academy.

Not only the academy, but Saint Xi Encheng has also become exceptionally lively due to the recruitment of the Sairisi Academy.

However, this liveliness has nothing to do with Gao De.

And he does not care.

By comparison, Gao De is more concerned with the five zero-tier basic runes he must master today, and even more concerned with the tiny venomous insects in the breeding room.

After all, that concerns his remuneration.

Thinking this way, Gao De opened the handwritten materials he needed to study today.

Then, in his "nine-day-long" rune-studying career, Gao De encountered a predicament for the first time.

He pondered for a long time, finally moving his feet from the workbench toward that small room with the tightly shut door, and then, for the first time, he knocked gently on the door.

"I have been waiting for you to come find me." The door opened automatically under the influence of a rune.

He Xi Okenli, who had been prepared, smiled as he looked at Gao De standing at the doorway and said, "If you want to learn runes well, diligence and a thirst for knowledge are both indispensable."

Gao De was embarrassed to explain to He Xi that it wasn't that he didn't want to ask, but that he could fully understand and comprehend the materials from the previous days, and there was nothing he needed to ask about.

But answering like that would seem too lacking in humility, and contradicting He Xi would ultimately be bad.

Gao De never blindly worshipped authority, but that did not affect his respect for his teacher.

So his choice was to smile awkwardly.

This was the first time Gao De had seen his mentor.

It was also the first time He Xi had seen his student.

Both of them were sizing each other up.

He Xi fit the image of a high-level mentor in Gao De's mind—referring to those virtuous and esteemed mentors with professor titles in the universities of his past life.

His aged face bore the fine lines left by time, yet he had a pair of eyes that were clear and incomparably deep.

He was like a reef in the sea, having weathered the pounding of wind and waves, yet still standing steady and firm.

On the table in front of He Xi were piles of draft paper and rune diagrams; it seemed he had been holed up in the room these past few days working on some experiment.

And Gao De also fit He Xi's impression of him.

Silent and calm, looking unremarkable, but actually very durable.

Just like a stone in a latrine.

He Xi had actually long wanted to meet this student of his who possessed infinite talent in the field of runology.

But due to his initial actions, the way the two of them interacted had bizarrely continued in the form of being separated by a single door.

He Xi felt that as a mentor, from any perspective, it should be Gao De who took the initiative to see him.

Gao De felt that since He Xi had chosen this method of communication and instruction, it indicated that he was busy and did not wish to be disturbed, so Gao De chose to try his best not to disturb He Xi.

Both were incomparably certain of their own judgment.

He Xi, who had never waited for Gao De to come see him, then started a contest of wills with Gao De.

He was a person without much pretension, but that did not mean he didn't care about his face.

He even occasionally had a bit of a childish temper.

However, dragging it out for too long was not good.

Because classes were about to start.

Therefore, in order to make Gao De take the initiative to find him, He Xi was "very despicable" today and added "a little bit" of content belonging to the second stage of the runology course to Gao De's materials. The effect was outstanding.

After a long silence, Gao De said respectfully, "Mentor, I have a question about today's materials..."

He Xi gave a blank "Hmm."

"You enrolled in 'Runology'?" He Xi did not immediately answer Gao De's question but asked this instead.

Gao De was stunned for a moment, then nodded: "Yes, classes are about to start."

"You don't need to attend that course," He Xi said flatly.

"Ah?" Gao De didn't react in time.

"Beige's teaching style is not suitable for you, and he cannot teach you."

Beige was the instructor for the first stage of the "Runology" course.

Gao De's expression showed some hesitation and conflict.

"You just need to learn from me. I have already applied for an exemption for you. You only need to participate in the assessment at the end of the course. If your grade is passing, you can obtain the credits for that course."

He Xi looked at Gao De calmly, those deep eyes seeming to see through Gao De's thoughts.

Sure enough, after He Xi said this, the hesitation and conflict in Gao De's expression vanished instantly.

He nodded, "I understand, Mentor."

"Also, do not reveal your progress in runology to the outside world," He Xi added: "If anyone asks you, just say I told you not to disclose it."

Gao De frowned slightly; this was a very strange request.

But he could vaguely sense that He Xi seemed to be doing it for his own good?

But regardless of He Xi's purpose in making this request, it would not cause him any loss of interest, so Gao De nodded and agreed to He Xi's request.

Looking at the young Gao De, He Xi thought of himself many years ago.

Outstanding talent is a good thing, but if the talent is too outstanding and one lacks the power to match it, it will evolve into a disaster.

This was an insight he had gained through personal experience.

What's more, Gao De's talent was far more outstanding than his own.

"As for the question you just raised..." He Xi tapped the table with his aged fingers, providing a concise and clear answer to the question Gao De had raised.

When he left the Jia Wen Building, Gao De's mood was quite good.

He had finally seen his mentor today.

Moreover, this instructor seems very kind, giving him a sense of warmth that he could only feel from the virtuous and esteemed old professors in his past life—in this world, this is a very rare thing.

Although Gao De did not know where this sense of intimacy came from.

Actually, using a famous quote from another field, one could explain all of this well: "Only technology can be close to technology."

Of course, Gao De did not realize this was the reason today.

Because for him, no matter from which angle one looked at it, as a beginner in runology, there was no way to talk about "technology being close to technology" with a high-level rune mentor.

Gao De did not care about the academy's admissions.

But when dining in the cafeteria in the evening, he inevitably heard some news about the admission day.

For example, the Sairui Academy admitted a total of twenty-one mages this year, the highest number of new students in the last five years.

And among these twenty-one new students, there was even a 14-year-old first-circle mage.

Reaching the level of a third-rank mage apprentice at this age is actually an extremely difficult thing.

Not to mention that this person successfully promoted to a 1st-circle mage without taking any rank-up magic potions.

The high level of mage talent was undoubtedly displayed.

Even more exaggerated was that it was said this person awakened a feat that was an extremely powerful metamagic feat.

Therefore, although he had not yet become an official student of the academy, he had already been pre-booked as a student by the Minister of the Spell Department. In the discussions of others, Gao De heard the name of this new student: Yilan.

Time arrived at Frost Gold Month, 2nd.

Of the eight courses Gao De enrolled in this year, one finally started today.

"Nolan Continent Geography and War Geography."

(End of chapter)