Academy

He was not the only one who was staying quiet during the discussion, Vee was also silently watching from his seat and had yet to say a word until the village head finally asked him for his opinion.

"Yes, you are also a mage and must have some thoughts on this too," Agnes said to him too, she was worried and did not want anything that would affect her son's growth so she wanted to hear everyone's suggestions, and figure out the best possible way to go about it.

"You lots keep arguing about buying an awakening stone or going to an awakening shop. Do you know how much any of those costs these days? Last time I checked which was long before even Alex was born, awakening stones cost over five magic stones!"

Boom!!

The place dropped into silence when they heard the price that Vee just mentioned. True, none of them had bothered with the price of an awaken stone in a very long time since they had no need for it but they had not expected it to be so expensive.

One had to know that the currencies used in Edrichrio were silver coins, gold coins, and magic stones.

A full basket of fresh tomatoes could only be sold for just five silver coins, a single gold coin was equal to one hundred silver coins, and just one magic stone was a thousand gold coins.

This would mean that a single magic stone was up to ten thousand silver coins, how long did the villagers plan to work to make so much? Ten years? It might not be enough even if they had to starve everyone for those ten years.

But the value of a mage was just so precious to give up on one sure candidate.

"That being said, even though awakening shops are cheaper, just one person should still cost several gold coins" Vee added after letting everyone understand the challenge of getting an awakening stone.

"Then do you suggest we take him to an awakening shop?" The village head asked. Vee's words had made him realize that getting an awakening stone was almost impossible unless a miracle happened.

Everyone also turned to stare at him at this point, waiting for his answer; even Alex was also staring at him, the kid was dazed by the amount of money he just heard.

Vee shook his head "I did not say that" he paused and studied the faces of everyone before continuing.

"Why don't we consider sending him to a magic academy?" Vee suggested and everyone once again turned silent.

Not waiting for them to speak, Vee continued.

"The resources of training a mage is not something that this village can afford even if everyone worked twice as hard and sold everything we make, we won't be able to get him anywhere with just us. Getting five magic stones for an awakening stone is impossible unless we plan to steal one which is also impossible and going to an awakening shop has too many uncertainties but sending him to a magic academy is different because not only will he be able to awaken his element for free, he will also be paid special attention by the academy because of his rare element so nothing happens to him. All he has to do is to work hard and show his determination to get stronger, the academy will naturally take care of him to make sure he grows well"

Vee elaborated a lot of facts, causing the others to fall silent as they considered the pros and cons of his words.

Indeed, when put together, joining a magic academy was undoubtedly the best of the three options but that was in normal circumstances because the major problem facing them now was that they were still too poor; entering an academy was not cheap either, they only considered it because it appeared safer and cheaper after how Vee placed it.

"Even though what you said is right and we all agree. Applying for an academy test isn't that cheap on its own, the usual prize for most academies in the neighboring kingdoms starts from five gold coins to ten gold coins. Also, students have to pay to attend special classes while in the academy and buy learning materials after a few months in the academy which should cost the student a minimum of fifty silver to three gold coins every month. Besides, the registration for the academy test for all academies is just a week away and that's too short of a time to gather enough money to send him to join, do we have to keep him here till next year?" The old storyteller, Bretrato said after a long time of thinking. Gathering five gold coins from now to the test period of next year would be difficult but not impossible if the villagers cut down their stocks and sold more farm products, the promise of having a mage was worth it and Alex seemed like a kid who would remember favors.

"It does sound difficult if you put it like that but you should know that aside from the special classes that students pay for, the academy has free general classes that students can attend for free and also a limited amount of free chances a student can attend a special class before needing to pay. As for learning materials…those aren't compulsory since they only help the students learn fast and it's the students' choice if they want quick progress, there's nothing wrong with improving gradually.

Also, there are some jobs that students from poor families can do in the academy to earn some coins like library attendants, cleaning, assistants to teachers, and other things.

Most of all, all these problems can be solved if Alex manages to get on the ranking. With such a rare element, the academy will definitely pay special attention if he gets on the ranking of his batch"

Immediately Vee mentioned the ranking, the expressions on the faces of Bretrato and the village head changed.