Chapter 2: Treatment towards new students (2)
The sudden wave of excitement gradually retreated. Weariness and sleepiness silently struck every single person in the dark.
Surrounding them were several oil lamps that had been hung up, resembling unremarkable fireflies.
Everyone was engrossed in setting up their tents.
The scattered, minute sound of trickling sand permeated their surroundings, acting as a lullaby. Quite a few people had already given up and simply collapsed on top of the tent"s padding, covering themselves with a cloth and falling into a deep sleep.
At the beginning, Suo Suo had also helped out with great enthusiasm. But after persevering for three minutes, he could only hug the padding and drool.
Di Lin, who had been born into the most ill.u.s.trious n.o.bility on the Dream Continent, originally had no knowledge of the way to set up a tent. Fortunately, his magic tutor had already reminded and personally taught him the method to accomplish this thing before setting out for this place. It was clear that setting up tents was one of the prized traditions of Saint Padeus" Inst.i.tution.
Under the conditions of almost complete darkness, he used no less than a full hour before managing to set up the tent. By this time, the majority of the people had already entered dreamland. Di Lin shifted Suo Suo to one side of the tent and then lay down with deep sigh.
Finally, he was here.
He closed his eyes.
Only those who had experienced it would know just how tough it was to walk this path. In reality, if Princess Qiao Ni had not been forcibly suspended from school and made to return home for self-reflection at the last minute, perhaps he would now be lying down in the student dormitory of Saint Sauvy"s Radiant Inst.i.tution. It was hard to forget the excitement and joy in his heart when his father brought back this piece of news. Although knights were similarly respected in Shamanril, it was not in line with his own selfish wish.
His desire to be a student of Saint Padeus was not simply because he wanted to be a mage. A greater part of the reason was his desire to be free from imperial power and the shackles of his clan. And only Saint Padeus" Inst.i.tution could fulfill this.
Suo Suo, who was lying beside him, turned over, his warm breath continuously blowing against his earlobe.
Di Lin retrieved a blanket from his s.p.a.ce bag and covered the two of them before turning and falling asleep.
The tent"s padding was limited in its softness, causing them to toss and turn from side to side before Di Lin and Suo Suo"s aching backs woke them up when it was only dawn. The two separately took out gargling water from their s.p.a.ce bags to rinse their mouths before wiping their faces with a towel.
Suo Suo suddenly asked, "Are we at Saint Padeus" Inst.i.tution now? I didn"t dream of something incredible at a camp, right?"
Di Lin was already numb to his occasional bouts of excitement and smoothly packed up the things before opening the tent and walking out.
The moment he stepped out of the tent, he was dumbfounded.
Because Macreis and a group of magic tutors were marking the tents.
As if sensing his gaze, Macreis turned around and shot him a grin.
Suo Suo just happened to stick his head out and immediately shrieked upon seeing his smile. His voice was originally not small and moreover, it was in the quiet of the early morning. All the students were instantly startled and anxiously drilled their way out of the tents, observing their surroundings in a guarded manner.
Macreis" smile immediately stiffened.
The magic tutors following behind him who were marking the tents also stiffened.
Di Lin helplessly kneaded his forehead and covered Suo Suo"s mouth. He could practically foresee that his future six years as a student would be a relatively exciting one with Suo Suo around.
But no matter what was said, Suo Suo did indeed accomplish the job of a morning call.
Macreis personally came over to express his "greetings". "I am extremely curious about the reason for your shriek. If there is no objection, could you give an explanation?"
Suo Suo"s shoulders shrank back. Ever since he saw Macreis floating back and forth in the air yesterday night, he possessed conflicting emotions towards him.
Di Lin calmly gave an explanation. "He has worshiped your distinguished self ever since young, which is why he was so excited upon facing your smile."
"Oh? Is that the case?" Macreis looked at Suo Suo suspiciously.
Suo Suo lowered his head.
This action was clearly misunderstood by Macreis as shyness. Macreis" complexion finally lightened. "All right then. You two stay here for a while, I"ll make arrangements for the other students."
Actually, there was no need for him to make any arrangements. The magic tutors he brought had already nearly finished choosing the students.
Suo Suo saw that he and Di Lin had been thrown to the side all on their own and asked uneasily, "Will we be sent back?"
"No," Di Lin was very confident about this matter. Saint Padeus" Inst.i.tution would rather seal them in a warehouse than take risks and violate the agreement by returning them.
Macreis randomly allotted the few remaining students to the magic tutors who hadn"t met their quota. After they left with the students, he returned to them.
Suo Suo"s body was stretched so tautly that it was straight as a pole.
Macreis nodded with satisfaction. He had never once been stingy with his gentle image when facing those who worshiped him. "Is that your tent?"
Without waiting for Di Lin to reply, Suo Suo rushed to say, "It"s not!"
Macreis stared blankly. "Then yours…"
"There is nothing that is ours," Suo s...o...b..t his lip and stated firmly. "Everything belongs to the school."
"Putting it in such a way is not wrong…" Macreis wanted to go one step further to convey his meaning when he heard Suo Suo once again continue in excitement. "I"m prepared to sacrifice myself for the inst.i.tution at any time!"
Macreis, "…" If he didn"t recall wrongly, what they were managing should be a school, not the army right?
Di Lin smiled and explained. "As long as it concerns you, he has always been easily excited. Especially because your name was in the ninth spot on the Dream Continent"s Mage rankings."
The magic guild would organize a ranking of the mages once every year to hint that it was the largest mage organization. Of course, in order to raise the magic guild"s position, there would always be all sorts of shenanigans involved. For instance, the magic guild would monopolize the first three spots every single time. This was despite the fact that in the eyes of the majority of the Holy Inst.i.tution"s tutors, the supposed first, second and third spot experts were simply old dregs with strength equivalent to snipping hair.
Macreis frowned. "Is the magic guild still messing around?" However, he didn"t continue pursuing this topic and instead took out a flame-red pen from his s.p.a.ce bag. He walked to the side of their tent and drew an insignia.
Every mage capable of crafting magic scrolls was an expert at drawing.
Suo s...o...b..inked and said in a tiny voice. "My clan"s insignia isn"t like that." He paused for a moment and said again, "It isn"t the Basco clan"s either."
Macreis replied. "Of course this isn"t your clan"s insignia. This is the insignia for rank ten orthodox magic tutor Hydin · Tagilis."
Di Lin suddenly understood. "He is our future tutor."
"Yes," Macreis looked at the two faces before him that were br.i.m.m.i.n.g with vitality. Suddenly, he felt somewhat reluctant. "Hydin is a great magic tutor. No one would deny this fact even a hundred thousand years later."
Di Lin sensed the oddity in his tone of speech.
Suo Suo didn"t think so much. His innocent eyes lit up and he asked, "Ah. So you aren"t our tutor?"
Macreis saw his sparkling eyes staring at him and a.s.sumed that he was sad about it. He placated him. "That isn"t confirmed yet. Hydin has to be willing to accept you guys first." Due to Hydin"s insistence on picking his students, the inst.i.tution eventually decided that as the chief tutor, Macreis was duty bound to accept them if Hydin didn"t. Macreis had originally been full of complaints about this decision that was half enforcement and half compelling, but after seeing Suo Suo"s pure and shining gaze, he suddenly had a change of heart. "Work hard. If you are really unable to get through, I will accept you guys."
Suo Suo didn"t even consider it. "I will definitely work hard at pa.s.sing!"
Macreis, "……"
Di Lin explained, "No matter what, he will not embarra.s.s himself in front of you."
Macreis looked kindly at Suo Suo"s face that was br.i.m.m.i.n.g with fighting spirit. What a good child.
Di Lin stared blankly at Hydin"s insignia.
He finally recalled - he seemed to have heard of this name from his childhood magic tutor.
A… person who was not very well received.
Macreis gave each of them a booklet which described Saint Padeus" Inst.i.tution"s location in detail, as well as the way to receive daily necessities, the location of the dining hall… After that, their life and death was entirely up to them.
After an afternoon nap, Suo Suo observed the densely packed empty tents around them and worriedly looked towards Di Lin, who was seated underneath a tree reading. "Will we be abandoned?"
Di Lin didn"t even raise his head. "There are three days in total for registration of new students. We came too early."
Suo Suo replied, "But why is it only our tutor who has not appeared?"
This feeling of being thrown to the side was too terrible.
Di Lin thought of the various rumors surrounding Hydin and gloom settled over his heart. If their tutor was indeed him, then…
The sound of drums suddenly came from the southeast.
Suo Suo and Di Lin stood up simultaneously, looking towards that direction.
Not long after, four mages appeared in the sky, each of them holding onto a bamboo pole. The four bamboo poles intersected to support a chair. A youth dressed in complex, exquisite attire fit for a royal banquet sat arrogantly on it. They appeared not to have sensed the people below and flew towards the direction of the inst.i.tution without leave.
The youth"s appearance was concealed by the rays of light shining against his back.
But Di Lin could not be more familiar with the insignia on the bottom of the chair – the head of a golden eagle —
The royal family of the Kanding Empire.
Translator"s corner: Please take note of a few changes:
Shamanli –> Shamanril
Society of G.o.d"s Light –> Society of the G.o.d of Light
Magician –> mage.
Edits have been made to previous chapters.