Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
After the examinations, which were held over three days in a row, the sky started getting cloudy, and now, it was drizzling, bringing a slightly cold feeling to the students.
“Donnie, how were the tests?” asked Sammy on the square of Mills Noble School. They were waiting for the sorcerers. In the past several days, Sammy finished all his tests, including for Magic Structure and Arcana Basics, in about half the given time, as he was always determined to go back to get more sleep.
Donnie looked at the busts on the square—they were the busts of all the most outstanding graduates from this school. He answered while pretending to be in a peace of mind, “I did okay. I checked with other students, and I think I should be qualified for Heidler Magic Academy. I’ll see how well I can do with this additional exam on Necromancy. You?”
In the early morning, Sammy was in a relatively good spirit. He yawned and stretched a bit. “No major mistakes. Not bad for me.”
He didn’t ask Donnie more about the exam, because when they were in school, even in Necromancy, Donnie was always more competitive than him in terms of magic theories and spell analysis. He only had the edge over Donnie in terms of casting speed, the power of casting, skipping-level casting, and some special abilities, and that was because of the specter behind his back.
In the drizzle, none of the apprentices left for the building to keep themselves warm and dry. In their minds, necromancers were known for their gloomy and unpredictable tempers as depicted by television channels, radio, and newspapers. It did not matter if they studied how to cure diseases or anatomy, they would still be the same. They were mysterious, and they also made people stand in awe of them.
“Jane Heinrich Hunt, countess, famous mathematician, astrologer…” Sammy read the words inscribed below one of the busts. “Nothing about this lady’s arcana or magic level. Maybe she’s below middle-rank. Maybe she’s a pure mathematician.”
“Nothing special. Mr. Longman just became a sorcerer the year before last, but he’s now already in the top twenty as a mathematician as he has solved a couple of mathematical problems put forward by His Excellency Mr. Evans,” said Donnie in great respect. “Although Mr. Longman isn’t very talented in magic, his great contribution to math is important. And now, he has lots of support and resources, and he’s catching up. We’re more gifted than him, so we should never easily give up. I think the lady is similar to Mr. Longman, and it looks like she’s a noble, a big one, from Heinrich family…”
Sammy nodded. “Also, with the development of ‘artificial intelligence’, many mathematicians who lack magic talent are already catching up because of their powerful calculation abilities.”
“I wish I also had one, to avoid those trivial and time-consuming math questions…” Donnie sighed.
“Wait, the surname, Hunt…” Donnie suddenly recalled something.
His tone suddenly rose a bit as he said, “Yes, that lady should be Mr. Ali Hunt’s wife.”
Ali Hunt, an encouraging name for both the ordinary and magic apprentices, was so far only a level one arcanist and a second-circle sorcerer.
However, when artificial intelligence first developed, he dug his first bucket of gold because of his sharp instinct. Later on, he even won the support of some werewolves and became their spokesperson. His original small company had now grown into a business empire, under which the subsidiary companies had covered magic communication, telephone communication, radio, satellite application, werewolf guards, and even mercenary hiring. Now, he was already one of the leading tycoons in Holm.
What made people even more jealous of him was the fact that he had married Jane from the Heinrich family. Since then, he was no longer just a lucky upstart but had won the support of the major noble family plus the werewolves.
For many ordinary people, it was like the most beautiful dream they could have. Although Mr. Evans’ experience was, of course, more fascinating, it was too far away from them! However, in comparison, Ali’s story seemed more likely to be copied, as he got all he had today because he caught the opportunity of this era. That could happen to anyone!
Then, with enough money, they could also learn magic!
“I see. No wonder…” Sammy commented with a sigh, and he took a glance at the clock on the magic tower and said in confusion, “It’s almost eight. Why are we still waiting?”
Donnie also felt that it was a bit strange. The examinations for entering senior magic schools were under the supervision of the royal family of Holm, the cabinet, and the Committee of Arcana and Magic Education. So it was a pretty big deal.
At this time, several gloomy-looking sorcerers flew out of the building. Some of them were wearing Holm-style suits while others were wearing long, magic robes.
“Here they are.” Donnie felt a bit more relaxed.
The leading sorcerer in a long, black suit said to them in a voice that was loud and clear enough for everyone to hear, “Those whose candidate numbers are of even numbers, please follow the sorcerer on the left to take the additional subject on specters, ghouls, and souls, and the rest of you follow your examiner on the right to take the exam on body structure, corpse combination, and summoning specters. And you’ll switch in the afternoon. Don’t even try to exchange information, as the tests will be different.”
Donnie patted Sammy’s shoulder. “I’ll see you around.”
He knew that they were in different groups.
“You’re gonna nail it!” There was finally a big smile on Sammy’s sleepy face as he wielded his right fist.
Donnie also grinned and responded with an encouraging gesture.
After walking past the first building, the apprentices started leaving the queue while following different sorcerers. In the end, Donnie started feeling the surroundings to be very quiet, and he could even hear the little birds chirping in the trees.
At this time, he saw the magic tower in front of them surrounded by a group of people in black uniform coats. They were blocking this place using alchemy barriers.
Cops on Granlin Street? Donnie’s heart missed a beat. Did anything really happen?
Granlin Street was where the headquarters of the Holm Empire Police was located.
Then he saw two middle-aged men wearing the special badge walking out. On the badge, there was a black staff.
Donnie recognized them. They were sorcerers from the Punishment Department. He started getting a bit nervous, as sorcerers from this department were known for their investigation skills.
The necromancer walking in the front asked the apprentices to make way for the two sorcerers from the Punishment Department.
“… Asystole is the cause of death. The person who died had heart disease, pretty bad…” The sorcerer with brown hair was talking to his colleague as they were walking past the apprentices.
The other sorcerers nodded slightly. “He was off the leash playing virtual adventure and the illusion had triggered the dangerous amount of adrenaline secretion. Never saw people die like this before Ms. Heidi’s artificial intelligence joined illusion. I guess Affair Committee and Magic Research Board now have a good excuse to pause such projects…”
“Having no idea about his own health condition… He had no one else to blame…” said the brown hair.
Donnie basically figured out what happened. He was quite surprised that a game based on artificial intelligence could kill a sorcerer.
But was there a conspiracy behind?
As a big fan of adventure and crime shows, Donnie was a typical conspiracist.
But this little accident did not bug Donnie for long, as he was facing this very important exam, and he should give the top priority to it.
They then walked in a cold, gloomy magic tower. At this time, a black-haired teenage girl walked in from the side door.
She was absolutely gorgeous. Although Donnie was worried about the exam, his attention was still caught by the girl’s beauty. Although she had short hair, her face looked stunning, and her manner was also beyond elegant.
At this time, the girl’s gentle silver-purple eyes suddenly became very sharp. The apprentices all looked down to avoid her eyes.
Donnie finally realized that the girl was wearing a simple black suit and a pair of trousers, as well as a black bow.
Wait, why was she dressed like this? And why did she have an Adam’s apple?!
Boom!
Donnie felt his head buzzing. The “girl”, who was much more beautiful than all the ladies he had ever seen, was a male!
Someone coughed, and there was more coughing that followed that. Donnie knew that he was not the only one who got shocked.
“Go into your test room following your own candidate number,” said the necromancer with gray hair. “You’ll have to identify the materials and which part it is. Then, you’ll design and make a stitched body. You may leave spare materials if you don’t need them, but don’t take them with you.”
Donnie sobered up as a sudden chill ran over him. He quickly found his room, and the teenage boy was right in the room beside his.
