14: Chapter 14 First Impressions of the Academy

The sheer scale of the academy was beyond imagination.

The two walked along the main road for a full half-hour before reaching the bustling, densely built area where the teaching district met the living district.

Passing by the edge of a flower bed planted with glowing, mushroom-shaped plants, Byron could smell their delicate fragrance.

Just then, Colin suddenly stopped talking, looked ahead, and a strange expression appeared on his face.

Byron followed his gaze.

At this moment, a group of young men and women were having a picnic in the garden.

No, more accurately, it was a group of girls surrounding a handsome young man, feeding him.

"Are you jealous?" Byron raised an eyebrow and teased.

Hearing Byron's words, Colin acted like a cat that had its tail stepped on, nearly jumping up, and quickened his pace.

"Pah! Jealous, my ass! I just find it disgusting! Extremely disgusting!"

"Byron, you know, that guy entered the academy in the same batch as me. His Aptitude is far worse than mine, yet he somehow became a Second-Class Wizard Apprentice before I did."

"Byron, do you know why?"

Hearing this, Byron's eyelid twitched. Recalling the scene from earlier, he had a guess in his mind.

After all, he was no longer the novice who knew nothing about the Wizard World.

Given the large gap in their Aptitude, for the one with lower Aptitude to catch up and even surpass the other, he knew of only one reason.

That was having enough Magic Stones.

Using Magic Stones to buy knowledge, Materials needed for experiments, guidance from mentors...

This guess reminded Byron of something from his past life.

Byron countered: "Is it because of those girls?"

Colin looked at Byron in surprise, and seeing that he didn't intend to explain, he continued.

"Yes, it's because of those girls. They seem crazy, obsessively infatuated with him. To attract his attention, they keep giving him things, including Magic Stones."

"So Byron, if you have any female friends, you must tell her about this and make her vigilant, otherwise... Heh."

Speaking of this, Colin smacked his lips and shook his head.

Hearing this, the first person Byron thought of was Eliza.

But recalling Eliza's personality, Byron didn't think she would be like that.

Afterward, neither of them brought up the topic again. They continued walking around the academy and arrived at the core teaching district, where the buildings were most dense.

Here stood over a dozen massive, sprawling circular buildings, with countless students in wizard robes moving between them.

Colin pointed at the tall buildings and explained: "This is the academy's teaching district. You will have classes here, and all the courses offered here are free."

Hearing this, Byron's eyes lit up. There was actually such a good thing in the Wizard World.

But before Byron could be happy for long, Colin's gloating voice rang out.

"Heh heh, do you think the academy is generous and that you can learn all knowledge for free?"

Byron: "Isn't that the case? Is there a problem here?"

Colin didn't beat around the bush: "You can learn free knowledge here, but that knowledge is limited to the very basics of each subject."

"If you want to continue learning deeper knowledge, then sorry, you need to pay the mentor who offers the course to learn it."

"And there's another point: you can only study three courses at the same time. If you want to study others, you have to pass an assessment; otherwise, don't even think about it."

"Do you still think this place is great now? This is a nightmare for countless Wizard Apprentices!"

"Can you imagine? Clearly there is so much free knowledge available, but you can only watch it in front of you without being able to touch it. That feeling is truly unbearable."

When Colin said this, the indescribable expression on his face was exactly like a lecher standing in front of a beautiful woman who had stripped naked and was posing seductively.

But he could only look and not touch; it was extremely painful.

But when Byron heard Colin's explanation, his eyes didn't dim; instead, they became even brighter.

Others are others, but he was different; he had the Eye of Omniscience.

These obstacles set by the academy were simply effortless for him.

As long as he was given enough time, he could pocket all this knowledge and turn it into his own resources!

By that time, he couldn't even imagine how powerful he would become!

Seeing that Byron didn't speak, Colin thought he had also been hit hard, so he patted Byron on the shoulder; everything was understood without words.

To this, Byron just smiled and didn't explain anything.

After all, since Colin had told him so many things, he shouldn't hurt his feelings.

'Omniscience, has the academy map been recorded?'

[Recorded, archived.]

At the same time, a 3D flat model appeared before Byron's eyes, with buildings and roads clear at a glance.

Byron recognized at a glance that this model was the academy's map, and it even had some text annotations on it.

However, there were still some blank areas on the map; those were places that even the Eye of Omniscience could not detect.

Regarding these places, Byron already kept a respectful distance in his heart; he wouldn't even go near them.

After the two chatted for a while longer, they parted ways, agreeing to meet again in the Laboratory tomorrow.

After parting, Byron didn't continue to wander around the academy but headed towards the living district.

After all, having walked for a whole day, even Byron felt a bit tired and needed to rest.

Just as Byron was walking towards the living district, he suddenly heard someone calling him from behind, so he turned around to look.

Sure enough, not far behind him, Eliza was standing alone, smiling and waving at him.

Byron looked at Eliza as she walked up to him and asked with a smile: "Eliza, have you just finished your enrollment registration, or have you finished visiting your mentor?"

Eliza replied with a smile: "I just finished visiting my mentor and was preparing to go back to the dormitory to rest. I didn't expect to run into you."

Byron: "It just so happens I'm going back to the dormitory too. Let's walk together."

Eliza did not refuse and walked beside Byron.

"Byron, I wonder which mentor you chose at the academy?"

"I followed your advice and chose Potion Dept. Mentor Isold Ross. How about you?"

"Me too. I chose a mentor in the Potion Dept."

Byron looked at Eliza in confusion: "Eliza, I recall that the Materials only listed one Potion Dept. mentor. You..."

Eliza explained with a smile: "That mentor didn't intend to recruit students this time, but that mentor has a very good relationship with my ancestor, so..."

Hearing this, Byron understood. Well, they were Dragon kin, so it wasn't surprising.

Eliza seemed to recall something, and her expression became a bit worried: "I just don't know which mentor Gray chose. I hope it's not one of those who are 'fishing'. If he chose them, he'll be in big trouble."

Byron shook his head: "You have already warned him. I believe Gray won't forget."

Eliza nodded: "I hope he can make the right choice."

However, as Eliza walked, she felt something was wrong. Why was Byron still walking with her? At the same time, she saw Byron stop, so she asked.

"Byron, isn't the dormitory for Third-Class Aptitude students over there? Is there something else you want to ask me?"