Chapter 538 – Mages Are Too Competitive

Chapter 538 – Mages Are Too Competitive

Eberhard ran a hand through his greasy hair and decided he should head back to his rented dormitory first for a bath and a change of clothes.

His rank within the Dawn Society wasn’t high enough — he could only buy two {Body Cleansing Cards} per month, and the last time he’d cleaned himself was half a month ago.

Meanwhile, the dormitory he was renting hadn’t been used even once. What a waste of points.

After washing up and leaving the dormitory, he found a spot on the grass to lie down and bask in the sun, letting the breeze wash over him. Then he wandered over to the arena to watch people spar, and in the evening he found a tavern outside Tower Forest for some drinks.

The next day, after returning to Tower Forest, he suddenly didn’t know what to do with himself.

It was a strange feeling — the relaxation he’d been looking forward to for so long wasn’t actually all that enjoyable.

But there was no way he was going back to those dizzying theoretical texts.

He headed straight for the main tower’s magic training rooms. “It’s been half a year since I last tried casting — can’t let myself get rusty!”

“I’d like to rent an apprentice-level magic training room,” Eberhard said, presenting his student card to the training room administrator.

“For how long?”

“Three hours!” Eberhard said.

“The Psychic Branch’s magic training rooms are only for practicing psychic magic — you can’t practice other types of magic here. Any training equipment damaged by other types of magic must be compensated at full value. You’re aware of this, right?” The administrator deducted his points. “All set! Go ahead and register.”

Eberhard was familiar with the process. He flipped through the training room registry — any room without a name and usage time logged was vacant and currently unoccupied.

The first few pages were for training rooms near the Magic Lift, and they were almost entirely booked. He flipped further back and found one that had just been vacated. He was about to fill in his information when he suddenly froze: “Ancient Mage Class, Elite Student Moira?”

Could it be that Moira?

“Must be someone with the same name! What advanced mage would come to an apprentice-level training room? Breaking something and having to pay points for it — that’d be such a bad deal!”

Eberhard convinced himself.

The administrator overheard him and asked, “What’s wrong? Do you know her? Purple hair, purple eyes, an advanced mage, around thirty years old? She came yesterday and rented a room for an entire week straight.”

Eberhard: “…”

It really was her!

Looking at the registration time, she had clearly come to the magic training room right after leaving the 7th-floor library last week.

Hmph!

She might have outworked him on theoretical texts, but was he going to be afraid of her when it came to practical magic training?

The whole reason his theoretical foundation was so weak was because he’d spent all his reading time on magic practice instead.

Eberhard slapped his student card down on the desk. “I’m renting for a week too!”

He was going to live in the training room for the next few days!

After receiving his seven-day access card for the magic training room, he suddenly felt a pang of regret.

He was only at the apprentice level!

His active psychic power wasn’t enough to cast more than a few apprentice-level spells before bottoming out, and on top of that he still needed to exchange Gem Coins for magic cards, which made things even tighter. Three hours in a magic training room was already a long session.

Magic training rooms were charged by the hour — more expensive than dormitories, even. Meditating to recover inside one was pure extravagance.

But he’d already rented it, and there were no refunds.

Wincing over his spent points, he walked to the magic training room right next to Mo Lan’s.

This time, he didn’t need anyone else to motivate him — he threw himself into practicing magic on his own.

Every last point he’d spent had to come back to him as real strength!

A week later, Eberhard nervously emerged from the magic training room, his heart uneasy as he glanced at the room next door. Seeing the vacant status, he let out a long breath of relief. “Thank goodness! Thank goodness! She’s already gone!”

If she’d still been there, he couldn’t have kept up anyway.

A new session of the apprentice-level psychic magic practicum was about to begin. He needed to go back to the 7th floor to review the foundational theory, then find last year’s instructor to take the assessment.

Stepping off the Magic Lift, he heard several apprentices chatting during a break from reading. They were sitting on sofas they’d brought themselves, just outside the washroom near Library Room 9.

His ears caught the words “advanced mage,” and he immediately slowed his pace.

“What brings you here too?”

“How could I not come! I heard an advanced mage came down to the 7th floor to grind, stayed for half a year before leaving. Is that true?”

“Of course it’s true! When I got here, she was right in this very library room. She just left last week, and I heard she went to grind on the 17th floor a couple of days ago.”

“What? She went to the 17th floor too? Even for an advanced mage, can she really absorb that much material in such a short time?”

“Who knows! But the way I see it, anyone who can become an advanced mage isn’t stupid. She’s definitely not just doing it for show — what would be the point for someone like her?”

“But she’s already an advanced mage! Why would she come read apprentice-level books?”

“I know about this! The Ancient Mage Class recruited someone new this year, signed on as an Elite Student. I heard it’s a thirty-year-old female advanced mage — very beautiful, with curly purple hair and deep violet eyes. You won’t find another person with purple hair and purple eyes in all of Tower Forest, so it’s got to be the same person.”

“Oh, she’s from the Ancient Mage Class! No wonder!”

“Even for someone in the Ancient Mage Class, isn’t this level of grinding absolutely insane?”

“I know, right! It’s completely over the top!” Eberhard couldn’t help but stop and chime in. “The first time I saw her in Library Room 1, it was the very first day of enrollment!”

“Are you saying she came to the Library Floor on her first day of school? And stayed for half a year straight?”

“Good heavens! She really lives up to her reputation as a wild mage warrior who earned her way to advanced mage by age thirty on her own!”

“But I still have to say — if she only reads and never practices, can she really learn magic? Mages need knowledge, sure, but you can’t have only knowledge! Magic is ultimately a practical discipline!”

“She did practice. After leaving the 7th floor, she spent an entire week in a magic training room. She must have gone to the 17th floor after that.” Eberhard said.

“Don’t tell me she actually read through all the books on the 7th floor in half a year and learned at least three apprentice-level psychic spells on top of that!”

The moment those words were spoken, everyone fell silent.

What kind of monster was this woman?

At that moment, only one thought occupied Eberhard’s mind: thank goodness his rank wasn’t high enough to access the 17th floor. At least he wouldn’t have to see her for a while.

He couldn’t compete with her at all!

He’d been beaten down so thoroughly that he was starting to adopt a zen attitude. He couldn’t muster an ounce of courage to compare himself to her anymore.

Let the beginner and advanced-level seniors go compete with her instead!

Meanwhile, on the 17th floor, the same scene from six months ago on the 7th floor was playing out all over again.

Regarding this, Mo Lan had only one thing to say: “Mages are way, way, way too competitive!”

She absolutely could not bring shame to the name of Sorceresses!

Even if nobody knew she was a Sorceress right now, one day she would surely make a name for herself in Valen as one.

She hadn’t even taken a transformation potion — if she had any embarrassing history, it could be dug up in a heartbeat!