In the office, Amos took out his stamp, slowly pressing it onto Angel’s form, then said with a cheerful grin, "Alright, you have been specially admitted as a student of the Magic Academy. From today onwards, you’re one of my special recruits."
Barnes stood to the side, her face filled with anger, yet utterly helpless.
"Is there a difference between special recruits and regular students?" Angel reached out to take the form handed over by Amos.
"You’re just now asking that? I thought you’d already figured it out." Amos coughed twice, then continued, "There are a few small differences. For example, special recruits don’t need to pay tuition."
"No tuition?" Angel’s eyes widened with excitement. His face, which was still soot-covered and unkempt, looked quite comical.
"Uh... is that something to be so happy about?" asked Amos.
"Of course, isn’t it?" Angel’s eyes gleamed. "After all... not having to spend money is always a good thing, right? Nobody likes money being taken out of their pocket."
"Hmm..." Amos gave Angel a puzzled look and paused briefly before continuing, "You’re indeed quite talented, and I like you a lot, but your concern over money is not a great quality. Mages are big spenders. There’s never been a mage who’s interested in making money. Even a casual experiment can cost thousands, sometimes tens of thousands of silver coins. A personality like that of a miser doesn’t suit a mage—you’ll need to work on that."
Saying this, Amos turned around to face his bookshelf, as if searching for something.
Angel muttered softly, "Well, that’s assuming you actually have money to throw around. If you’re broke, how can you afford not to care?"
"What did you say?" Amos turned back with a small booklet in hand.
"Nothing, I said nothing!" Angel quickly exclaimed.
Barnes gave him an inscrutable look.
"Take this, it’s the Magic Academy handbook." Amos handed the booklet to Angel.
"A magic book?" Angel took it and casually flipped through.
"No, it’s not a magic book. It’s a guide about the Magic Academy and will help you integrate quickly. Every incoming magic apprentice gets one. This one is my old copy, so I’ll lend it to you for now."
Barnes stared at Amos in astonishment.
"Alright, I’ll finish reading it today!" Angel replied excitedly.
"You don’t have to finish it today. Just refer to it when you need to." Amos shrugged. "It includes a detailed list of the differences between special recruits and regular students, though there are only a few. No tuition fees, for one. After advancing to higher grades, every student is assigned a dedicated mentor and studies a specific branch of magic under them. But special recruits can only choose the Magic Master who recommended them for admission as their mentor."
"So I can only choose you?" Angel hesitated for a moment.
"You’re not happy about that?" Amos frowned and widened his eyes.
"No! No... I’m delighted, really," Angel replied with an awkward smile.
"Another thing: I’m responsible for ensuring you graduate successfully. If you don’t graduate, I’ll lose the right to use the special recruitment quota. Also, I can’t be your graduation examiner—it has to be randomly assigned."
"Understood. Anything else?"
"One more thing... report the day after tomorrow?"
"Enrollment begins the day after tomorrow?"
"Of course not. There’s an exam the day after tomorrow. I want you to take the exam with the lower-year students. I’m confident you’ll pass, which means you won’t have to waste time studying things you already know. I’ll handle everything else."
"Thank you! Thank you so much!"
"The exam is in the afternoon, but you’ll need to come in the morning. I’ll explain the exam format beforehand so you don’t embarrass yourself. After all, you’re my special recruit, and if you mess up, it’ll reflect poorly on me." ɪꜰ ʏᴏᴜ ᴡᴀɴᴛ ᴛᴏ ʀᴇᴀᴅ ᴍᴏʀᴇ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs, ᴘʟᴇᴀsᴇ ᴠɪsɪᴛ n0velfire.net
"Understood, thank you! Thank you, Magic Master!"
"You should be calling me Mentor now."
"Thank you, Mentor!" Angel bowed repeatedly.
Beside them, Barnes furrowed her brows into a deep scowl, looking at Amos in disbelief.
After Angel left, Barnes finally asked in a low voice, "So, you did it on purpose, didn’t you? Intentionally ensuring he failed, then taking him in as your special recruit. This way, he has no choice but to have you as his mentor."
"Um... did I ever say that?" Amos replied, feigning innocence.
"Isn’t that the case?" Barnes’ eyes widened. "In Magic Academy tradition, giving a student your own Magic Academy handbook is the highest compliment. That much is obvious!"
"Shhh!" With the conversation reaching this point, Amos abandoned his act entirely. He dragged Barnes to a corner and whispered, "Honestly, at first, I just wanted to send him away, like we originally agreed. But after the basic knowledge exam, I felt something was off. His foundational knowledge is far better than the lower-grade students here. And... it’s unusual. I suspect someone has been teaching him."
"Someone’s teaching him?" Barnes was momentarily taken aback.
"Yes, and I think it’s a graduate of the Magic Academy. The sequence of runes he transcribed isn’t the one we use now—it’s an older method that was phased out a century ago. But truthfully, the older sequence is more accurate; it was just abandoned because it’s too hard to remember and learn. Plus, his Ancient Elvish is exceptional. If you’re asking me to believe no one’s been teaching him, I can’t. Honestly, I suspect he has a mage in his family who’s been instructing him in Ancient Elvish since he was a child."