Heihe Valley Academy 1

A wooden table with scattered goose feather pens, ink, several large sheepskin papers, and an opened book.

The pitch-black teacup was still steaming with a scent like fresh grass.

The black mane bear dozing in the corner was snoring loudly again. Its noisy snoring made the people in the room have to strain their voices to hear each other.

Standing by the window, Barmer's voice was hoarse. His weak body had been severely damaged after he forcibly performed secondary spells at the Colosseum last time and had not fully recovered yet.

"Raymon, the outside world is vast. Powerful men control large territories. It is said that some top wizards can open up other planes and communicate directly with some strange and powerful creatures." Barmer, sighing, took small sips of the liquid in his cup and introduced the outside world he knew about.

As the only place on the entire west coast with testing capabilities, Heihe Valley Academy still had unimaginable influence despite its decline.

In the more than eighty years that Barmer had presided over the academy, he had sent off more than two hundred wizard apprentices in person. But now, only a dozen messages could come back.

Most lost contact within three to five years of leaving or received direct notices of their deaths.

Few became formal wizards.

Of the few remaining who had feedback, only one who Barmer sent aboard fifty years ago successfully entered the Tower Land and became one of the few famous wizards.

Those who returned to the west coast from time to time were basically those who failed to become formal wizards. They did not have the qualifications or courage to challenge formal wizards again but were unwilling to stay outside and be reduced to servants or wanderers. So they returned to the west coast with injuries all over their bodies to enjoy the peaceful life here.

Standing by the window, Barmer, who exuded an old musty smell, frowned. He did not know how to describe the old man because Raymon's previous impression was that the old man seemed very mean-spirited, which could be seen from how he only saluted Raymon's badge.

But when Raymon came to Heihe Valley Academy yesterday, his impression of the old man changed greatly.

Sighing, nostalgic, with the usual nagging of the elderly, the old man's expression became gentler, his tone more respectful, and he used honorifics when mentioning Raymon's name.

Casually chatting, but as the black mane bear's snoring grew louder and louder, Barmer could no longer bear this strained communication method.

He led Raymon to the teaching area of the castle, sighing apologetically. "When you get old, you tend to feel more. Let me show you around Heihe Valley Academy and see those teenagers who will board the ship with you. You will set sail in three months."

The castle in the center of the academy is the teaching area of Heihe Valley Academy. Following Barmer, Raymon saw teenagers meditating on symbols in the rooms.

They were mostly teenagers in their teens, sitting solemnly in the classroom, each with a wizard's book open in front of them.

In addition to Barmer, Heihe Valley Academy, with only five teachers, had only five people eligible to board the ship in three months.

Two had family heritage and were descendants of the royal family of the Kingdom of Ogasso. The other three had been sent here since childhood and had reached the first-level apprentice after diligent efforts. These five were arranged on the top floor of the castle for daily study.

Heihe Valley Academy had a history of hundreds of years on the west coast, but the teaching facilities here were still simple.

Hundreds of wizard books officially produced by wizards, some explanations of wizard meditation techniques, and the spells mastered by teachers would be passed on to these teenagers.

Due to the considerable time spent on meditation, the teenagers studying at the academy all looked pale and frail.

After leading Raymon on a tour of the teaching area, Barmer took him to the library of Heihe Valley Academy.

In the library located underground in the castle, most of the dozen tall bookshelves were empty, holding only dozens of books. Raymon was surprised and asked why.

Somewhat ashamed, Barmer told Raymon that a major fire in the castle 300 years ago destroyed the academy's collection of books over many years. Without a channel to replenish books, the entire library of Heihe Valley Academy was left with so little.

Facing these books, Raymon's desire to read them was uncontrollable. "Dean Bar mer, since I have long received my teacher's teaching, I hope I can read the books in the academy."

Barmer readily agreed to Raymon's request and specially told Raymon that the books here were more theoretical and that the conclusions in many books needed personal judgment.

A technique in a book might be of great help to one reader but might cause severe harm to another reader due to minor flaws.

Therefore, without explicit verification of suitability, all theoretical books could only be used as references and not fully trusted.

Wizards with countless possibilities, each understood differently. So for wizards, there was never a completely correct theory, only theories that suited individuals.

Listening to Barmer's well-intentioned warning, Raymon frowned, realizing that although wizards were powerful, knowledgeable, and could live almost endlessly, there were also enormous risks in the learning process.

Perhaps a small, unverified technique useful to an individual could lead one into trouble.

"Raymon, even a wizard's apprentice cannot judge by ordinary people's thinking because all who embark on the path of wizards have already transcended ordinary human society and entered the world of wizards. You need to be mentally prepared for this, or you will feel pessimistic and hopeless."

After introducing his experience, Barmer gave Raymon advice with a wry smile.

Feeling that this was a well-intentioned warning, Raymon bowed to show his gratitude.

Through communicating with Barmer, Raymon's impression of the old man changed greatly. He hesitated for a moment but still wanted to leave the library to let Barmer read slowly inside. Barmer called out to Raymon.

Frankly telling about the possible conspiracy to usurp the throne of the Tori family, Barmer laughed in the face of Raymon's worried and solemn expression. He calmly told Raymon, "I warned you just now that wizards transcend the ordinary human world. You cannot think in the way of ordinary human society. You need to change your way of thinking..."