Chapter 80: Prosperity

"Kuku, I thought you would disappear."

"Gaga. No rush. No rush."

Exiting the elevator hall, that senior brother walked ahead while Li En followed behind.

The scenery in the lower-level mage tower was nothing special; those familiar wooden floors and wooden furniture made Li En think of an office.

But seeing the little Kusras walking slowly toward him, Li En was somewhat surprised.

He had thought that once they entered the mage tower, Kuku would vanish without a trace. Although he could only use first-tier spells now, Li En always felt this mage tower couldn't stop him.

Didn't this guy already can't wait to go to the mage tower library to "read books"?

"Here. Sooner or later. No rush first." Kuku walked steadily step by step, swaying with a jerky motion, pretending quite well to be an ordinary low-intelligence magic puppet.

The implication was that since Li En could enter this mage tower, the library within was essentially already Kuku's family property!

So, waiting a bit with patience was indeed unnecessary to steal books right now; being too eager might easily startle the snake. But did Kuku have patience?! Would he suppress his desire for new spells and wait for a better opportunity?

"To be honest. If you don't explain clearly, I won't cooperate with you." Li En sighed; he already knew how to get along with Kuku.

No need for socializing, not even needing to play the emotional card; speak directly, if it works it works, if not, nonsense and favors are useless.

Li En had already confirmed that once the Heroic Soul could jump out, that satisfaction metric would probably truly become mere decoration.

"Uh, outside, it's quite fun. On the streets. Super interesting! Expecting it."

With this, Li En completely understood.

That street outside was full of other races and various shops, naturally featuring new-era technologies and items; compared to the very familiar mage tower, the unknown technologies and goods of the other races were naturally more interesting.

Got a new toy, so naturally abandoned the original plan; very Kuku, very kobold.

But at this moment, Li En immediately remembered that self-exploding steam locomotive; many of those shops belonged to dwarves and gnomes, right?

Instantly, Li En's scalp went numb, a premonition of impending disaster.

"Don't mess around, at least don't drag me into it." As Kuku possessed him longer, Li En felt more and more that he seemed to be turning black from black ink; the moral baseline that Brother Sul had painstakingly raised was rapidly sliding down.

"Ga. Trust my skills. Won't be discovered! Even if discovered, won't drag you in!"

Alright, you don't deny you'll definitely mess around, just confident you definitely won't drag me in.

Li En nodded; he decided to trust the integrity of Great Mage Kuku. He forgot the words he had spoken in the morning: "Do not trust a kobold's confidence."

Kobolds have no fear! What would a Dragonborn fear?! Whether they can win is one thing, whether they charge is another!

"Lord Li En..." Suddenly, the purple-robed senior brother ahead spoke up.

"Just call me Li En. Mage Scoll."

"Are you a Warlock?" This senior brother looked at the little fellow who had seemed normal at first but, after a few steps, was curiously running around, lost in thought.

Mechanical beast companions were rare, but not non-existent; this level of self-awareness should not be an artificial golem, but a mechanical life form of the Mechanical Realm.

Being able to summon such a rare beast companion, this junior brother might not only be a Warlock but also possess a special bloodline.

Could it be some Alchemist lineage? A hybrid from another plane? In the current Supernatural world, Alchemists and Potion Masters were very popular.

"Hmm. I am a first-tier Warlock." Casters often habitually describe their level by the highest-tier spell they can cast.

"That's a good thing; remember to add it when filling out the form later, it will give bonus points..." Mage Scoll calmly accepted all this and gave Li En advice regarding development.

Hard workers easily harbor dissatisfaction toward those who gain without labor, but millionaires are unlikely to feel jealousy toward a lucky person who found a wallet.

Times have changed; nowadays, the magical civilization of the Beastmen world is strong enough, and mages are confident enough to face casters of other systems; at least, they don't care much about low-tier Warlocks.

This was also because currently, apart from some Warlock families with unique inheritances, many Warlocks actively come to the mages to learn spellcasting, just like Miss Shaliman, this Psion.

The surface identity of a first-tier Warlock was also the result of consultation between Li En and Kuku.

On one hand, he needed the Warlock identity to mask his peculiarities; on the other hand, this was already a seller's market; the mage tower didn't lack apprentices, rather Li En had to prove his potential and uniqueness to gain more opportunities...

"Tsk." And Kuku was very unhappy; comparing the past and present, he felt more and more that he was suffering racial discrimination.

"... Don't play pranks, at least not while I'm here."

"Then wait a moment. First take me to the gnome shop!"

"Fine."

Very quickly, Li En discovered that his scheming was probably overthinking things.

Even after easily passing the preliminary test, he still didn't qualify to meet the mentor who was a Great Mage.

The senior brother simply led him to a logistics warehouse and handed him a set of items.

"If coming to this street, it's best to wear this robe. This is a spell component kit, this is the general textbook. The next General Competence Class should start tomorrow afternoon; you've come at just the right time... Tuition, miscellaneous fees, equipment fees total 136 gold coins; round off the fraction, 130 then."

Instantly, Li En was stunned.

Having tuition was one thing, but so expensive?! This tuition alone is enough to buy real estate!

"... You can use it first; just make up for it within a month. If there's difficulty... uh, the bank of the Grey Goblin at the end of the street can provide loans, just the interest is a bit high."

For apprentices unable to pay tuition, this senior brother felt nothing much; actually, most apprentices from commoner backgrounds couldn't pay; they basically worked while studying, and those mage apprentices working in the shops below all carried "student loans."

And considering this junior brother's background, hearing he was once a Paladin, it was normal for him not to have money... uh, he wouldn't go chop up those Grey Goblin loan sharks, would he?

But this had nothing to do with him; doing his own job was enough.

"It's not that the teacher is putting on airs and refusing to see people; the teacher is just really busy. Recently, the Royal Family and the City Lord's Mansion have been gathering mages for meetings every day. The General Competence Class is actually an opportunity; if you have other ideas midway through learning, you can absolutely operate on your own and decide your future. If you are still interested in us after graduation, then formally become a disciple then."

Li En suddenly realized; they must be discussing the underground ruins and the beasts.

And the so-called General Competence Class was actually the "Mage General Basic Knowledge Crash Course," a training class jointly organized by mage organizations and several mage towers.

In the past, mages would take a batch of apprentices each, selecting students from the outstanding ones, but with resource shortages and an increase in apprentices, this one-to-one or one-to-few mechanism was no longer cost-effective.

A batch of apprentices might have not a single standout (this was the majority case), wasting energy and spirit on ineffective work; Great Mages didn't want to spend their energy on this anymore.

Therefore, as long as enough mages gathered, this rather mature training mechanism naturally emerged.

Letting mid-level mages serve as teachers, pulling new apprentices together for short-term training; only those who stand out qualify to become disciples.

Of course, from another angle, if you are particularly amazing, you can also make a small name for yourself at this stage; then, a suitable Great Mage will actively come to take you as a disciple.

Mutual selection; although it lacked some human touch, the efficiency was obviously higher.

And the fact that they could play this way was the result of mages becoming numerous enough to form a two-way choice market.

"Excellent! Excellent! This is progress."

Kuku was very satisfied, but Li En, who had changed into a white mage robe and walked onto the street, felt increasingly subtle.

It felt like a training institution and a postgraduate entrance exam.

"It's a good thing. This mentor probably isn't suitable for you."

Miss Shaliman's teacher was a "Grand Enchanter," and his school of magic was also unsuitable for Li En; in Kuku's view, Li En, with his Red Dragon bloodline, was clearly more suited to Evocation and Conjuration.

But the lessons could wait until tomorrow; for Li En, the most important issue at present was

"Where to get money?!" 130 gold coins was truly an astronomical number in this era.

A few gold coins were enough for a family to live on for a year; 130 gold coins—Li En didn't even know if selling his house would be enough.

If he had a choice, Li En wouldn't want to borrow money at all; even if he didn't borrow, knowing the nature of the Grey Goblins, he vaguely guessed it would basically be usury.

"I have a way! I have a way!"

At this moment, Kuku suddenly said excitedly.

"I—" Li En wanted to refuse; his experience told him something would surely go wrong, but considering the astronomical number of 130 gold coins.

"Fine, you try it, as long as you don't implicate me."

(End of this chapter)