Chapter 530 – The Elite Student Contract

The fake Golden Pen Technique could bypass contracts.

That meant the 《Elite Student Contract》 was, for witches, purely a free meal with no cost whatsoever — all gain, no sacrifice.

Although not every witch could pass the mages’ magic aptitude test and qualify to sign this 《Elite Student Contract》, for those who could, it was nothing but profit.

Mo Lan picked up the fake golden pen — summoned by the fake Golden Pen Technique — that she kept clipped to the pocket of her mage robe, and signed her Mage Empire language name on the 《Elite Student Contract》.

The contract “took effect,” and her silver student card turned gold.

On the card appeared her name “Moira” along with the words “Elite Student.” Besides that, there were fields for dormitory, merit points, and missions.

The merit points field displayed 1,000 points.

The dormitory and mission fields were still empty.

“All done! Congratulations, junior, you’ve officially enrolled in the Imperial Magic Academy’s Ancient Mage Class as an elite student. Let’s head back to the neighboring section. Read through our Ancient Mage Class’s 《Newcomer’s Prospectus》 carefully, and you’ll know what to do from here on out.”

Samantha said.

Mo Lan nodded to Tamiya before following Samantha away.

The testing up ahead was still underway. The testing mage spotted the gold student card in Mo Lan’s hand and exclaimed in shock, “She passed? Elite student?”

“Of course! An all-element affinity of 85 and psychic power of 300 — a genius!” Samantha said proudly. “And she’s even studying 《Sky Meditation》!”

“Tsk tsk! What a waste. The Ancient Mage Class is practically ruining its students! With talent like that, if she studied an elemental meditation technique and focused her psychic power in one direction, she’d have reached Beyond Peak level ages ago. Instead, she’ll learn everything — sure, unbeatable within her rank, but peers with less talent will have already advanced while she’s still stuck in place, tormented by every faction’s magic. When she gets older, she’ll have plenty to cry about!

Miss, there’s still time to change your mind. The Ancient Mage Class is just an experiment the higher-ups are running — you students are nothing but test subjects. The path of omnipotence looks glamorous, but it’s far harder to walk than the path of specialization.

With your talent, you’d be welcome in our Alchemy Branch! You could specialize in Alchemy Magic and pick one or two other elements to build a combat system around!”

The testing mage urged.

“Hey, hey, hey! Jonathan, are you itching for a beating? If you’ve got the guts, settle this in the dueling arena,” Samantha said, displeased.

“I’m not dueling you right now! If we’re going to compete, let’s see who surpasses Peak level first!” Jonathan said.

“Have you even reached Peak level yet? And you’re already thinking about surpassing it!” Samantha mocked.

“I’ll still get there before you!” Jonathan said.

……

The two of them rolled up their sleeves and hurled insults at each other endlessly. Mo Lan and several children who had just finished their tests stood off to the side.

The children shrank their heads like quails, but Mo Lan was lost in thought.

It seemed the Ancient Mage Class didn’t have the best reputation at the Imperial Magic Academy either.

But that had nothing to do with her. She wasn’t here to study — she was here to steal their knowledge.

Samantha argued with Jonathan for a while before huffily dragging Mo Lan away.

“Students in our Ancient Mage Class do tend to advance more slowly on average, but every single one of us is unbeatable within our rank. At the annual Academy Tournament, our people consistently take first place in the spellcasting combat events at every level. On top of that, students in our class can freely enter and exit the Mage Towers of every branch to study and sit in on classes, without having to do any assignments. We can come and go as we please — it’s incredibly flexible. So students from other branches look at us with a mix of envy and jealousy, and all they can do in the end is attack us for our slow advancement speed.

Little do they know, we’re simply accumulating power!”

Samantha explained to Mo Lan.

Mo Lan nodded and asked her only one question: “Can we read all the magic books inside every branch’s Mage Tower freely?”

“Theoretical magic books can be read freely inside the Mage Towers, and you can borrow up to a hundred at a time to read within the Tower Forest grounds.

For magic books related to spell structures, you can only read the introductory sections inside the Mage Tower. You may check out only one at a time, and only after you’ve finished studying and mastered that spell can you borrow the next one.

Additionally, students in our Ancient Mage Class must follow one condition when selecting spells: at every rank, you must learn at least three spells each from the elemental, psychic, and alchemy categories before you can borrow magic books of the next rank.”

At this point, Samantha let out a sigh. “Actually, Jonathan wasn’t wrong. Our Ancient Mage Class really is still just an experimental program. So far, not a single mage has completed this path and successfully surpassed Peak level in All-Element Magic.”

“But that should only be a matter of time, shouldn’t it?” Mo Lan said. “As far as I know, the Ancient Mage program has only been running for fifty years!”

“Exactly! It’s only a matter of time!” Samantha lowered her head and wrote a string of numbers on a small piece of parchment, tucked it inside a book, and pushed it toward Mo Lan. “Here, this is for you. Take a look.”

Mo Lan pretended not to notice her little maneuver and looked at the book’s cover. “《Newcomer’s Prospectus》 (Ancient Mage Class)?”

“That’s right. Inside you’ll find a map of the Tower Forest, the fixed class schedules for each Mage Tower, maps of the public areas, dormitory building maps, cafeteria maps, and the training plan — all laid out clearly.

Generally, adult students who enroll don’t have an Instructor assigned to them. They have to learn on their own using the 《Newcomer’s Prospectus》. During this process, they might catch the eye of a Mage Tower’s master and be taken on as a disciple.

Only students who haven’t yet been initiated are gathered together for introductory courses first.

Our class’s 《Newcomer’s Prospectus》 combines the best of every branch, so it’s considerably thicker. You probably won’t be able to finish it all at once. You can start by reading chapters one and two here, then check into your dormitory and read the rest afterward.”

Samantha was confident she could understand it.

This 《Newcomer’s Prospectus》 was far more detailed than the witches’ 《Newcomer’s Guide》.

The mages’ 《Newcomer’s Prospectus》 was written with the fear that students might not understand the contents and waste precious study time.

The witches’ 《Newcomer’s Guide》 was written with the fear that students might discover the hidden traps too early — saying nothing that should have been said.

Mo Lan sat down in the Ancient Mage Class’s recruitment tent and began flipping through the thick 《Newcomer’s Prospectus》:

“Chapter One: Student Card User Guide

Chapter Two: Dormitory Check-In Guide (with Dormitory Building Map)

Chapter Three: Tower Forest Living Guide (with maps and brief introductions for the cafeteria, laundry room, servants’ quarters, and retainer squad locations)

Chapter Four: Academy Events Overview

Chapter Five: Ancient Mage Training Plan

Chapter Six: Alchemy Branch Student Guide

Chapter Seven: Psychic Branch Student Guide

Chapter Eight: Fire Elemental Branch Student Guide

Chapter Nine: Water Elemental Branch Student Guide

Chapter Ten: Earth Elemental Branch Student Guide

……”

Judging by the page numbers, the first five chapters were relatively brief with plenty of illustrations, while each chapter after that was thick enough to be a book in its own right.