Chapter 2: Stone Sculpture (Part 2)
Wardley Hotel.
As Yale put it: “Today I found out that number three is actually a stone carving master—we ought to celebrate properly. Come on, let’s go to Wardley Hotel.” And so, the four of them entered Wardley Hotel. As soon as they stepped inside, many students on the first floor turned to look.
The vast majority of the students’ gazes converged on Linley.
Dixie, Linley!
The two most dazzling geniuses of Ernst Academy were always the center of attention wherever they went. In the distance, some students couldn’t help but whisper among themselves.
The four brothers sat down, and the dishes had just been placed on the table when—
“Squeak, squeak~~” The ever-sleepy ‘Bebe’ poked his little head out from Linley’s robe collar, his clever eyes darting around as he stared at a glossy roast chicken on the table. Reynolds immediately grabbed the chicken and handed it to the little shadow mouse: “Bebe, here.”
“Linley boss, I’m going to eat.” Bebe immediately sent a soul message to Linley.
Before Linley could respond, Bebe moved in a flash, landing directly on the table, grabbing the roast chicken, and devouring it ravenously. In less than ten seconds, an entire roast chicken—larger than the little shadow mouse itself—was eaten clean.
“Number three, every time I see Bebe eat at that speed, my heart has to twitch violently,” Yale said with a laugh.
Bebe finished eating and turned to look at Linley. Linley saw Bebe’s greasy paws and couldn’t help but frown.
“Squeak, squeak~~”
Bebe deliberately chirped at Linley, then squinted his little eyes with a smug expression. At the same time, black light radiated from his entire body, and a dark aura spread out. In an instant, the black light vanished. Bebe’s paws, which had been covered in grease, and his mouth were now spotlessly clean.
Bebe puffed out his little face and looked at Linley, squeaking, while sending a soul message: “Linley boss, clean enough now, right?”
Linley couldn’t help but laugh.
“Swish.” Bebe moved in a flash and darted back inside Linley’s clothes.
Then the four brothers casually chatted, ate, and drank.
“By the way, number three, if you want to send your stone sculpture to the Prux Club, there are a few things you need to pay attention to,” Yale reminded Linley.
“Oh? What do I need to watch out for?” Linley pressed.
He knew nothing about the rules for submitting works to the Prux Club.
Yale smiled and explained, “Generally, the lower left corner of a stone sculpture must have the carver’s name or alias engraved on it, to mark it as your work. That’s the first point. Second, when sending the stone sculpture to the Prux Club warehouse, it must be sealed to prevent damage during transport. When the sealed sculpture arrives at the warehouse, someone there will check if it’s intact and record your identity details in detail. Usually, within three days, your work will appear in the Prux Club’s general exhibition hall.”
Linley nodded.
Engraving a code name or signature on the sculpture was to prevent others from claiming it as their own.
He could also understand the need for sealing: “Some stone sculptures are carved very delicately, and bumps during transport could damage them. Sealing them up, with paper or cloth stuffed inside for protection, makes it much safer.”
“What about pricing and fees? How does the Prux Club handle that?” Linley asked further.
He was sending his sculpture to the Prux Club to make money and improve his family’s financial situation.
Yale said smugly, “The sculpture is placed in the exhibition hall, and buyers can bid on it. After a month, the highest bidder gets the sculpture, and you receive the payment. Of course, when the transaction is completed, the Prux Club takes a one percent handling fee, with a maximum fee of ten gold coins. If your work sells for over a thousand gold coins, no matter how high the price, the fee is still ten gold coins.”
Linley understood.
“Number three, don’t worry. I’ll have someone in Fenlai City handle everything properly, and you’ll be satisfied,” Yale said, slinging an arm around Linley’s shoulder with a grin. “If our dorm’s number three sends a stone sculpture to the Prux Club and it sells well, I’ll look really good too.”
George, sitting nearby, looked at Linley and couldn’t help but admire, “Number three, you’re already a fifth-year student, and now you’re on your way to becoming a stone carving master. Your future is limitless—much better than ours.”
“Stone carving master? Don’t flatter me,” Linley said with a self-deprecating laugh.
The four brothers ate and drank, chatting about everything under the sun.
“Life at Ernst Academy is really comfortable,” Yale said, putting down his wine glass with a sudden sigh. “I remember when I was a kid at home, the training was much tougher than this.”
Reynolds also curled his lip and said, “We’re all students of Ernst Academy. According to what my Grandpa Lum told me, the world outside is chaotic, full of killing and conflict. Ernst Academy is backed by the Radiant Church, so no one dares to mess with us, and that’s why we live so peacefully. When we go out for training later, we’ll see how brutal the world really is.”
“That’s right.”
Linley nodded and said with a sigh, “I’m in fifth year now. Many students in my class have already gone out for training. According to them, some students lost their lives in the fighting outside, and many ended up crippled or severely injured. Without experiencing real life-and-death battles, it’s hard for us to grow.”
“We’re like pets raised by nobles—living comfortably, but how can we compare to the ferocity of wild beasts outside?” George also sighed. “I really look forward to the senior students’ bloody life-and-death battles outside. That kind of adrenaline-pumping life must be so exciting.”
Yale, George, Reynolds, and Linley were all fifteen or sixteen years old, and their hearts yearned for the thrilling days of the outside world.
But Yale and the others were still too weak; going out to face life-and-death battles would mean a very high mortality rate.
“Linley, you’re already in fifth year, right?” Reynolds suddenly said.
Yale and George also looked at Linley, their eyes shining.
Linley took a deep breath and nodded. “Yes, I’m a fifth-rank mage, which counts as a high-level mage. In June, I plan to go to the Mountain Range of Magical Beasts for two months of training and come back in August.” Linley had already planned this out in his mind.
“The Mountain Range of Magical Beasts?”
Yale, George, and Reynolds all gasped.
The Mountain Range of Magical Beasts, the number one mountain range on the Yulan Continent, was less than a hundred miles east of Ernst Academy. It was indeed a common place for senior students to go for their second or third training sessions. Most students chose simpler tasks for their first training.
For example, escorting goods or other low-risk activities.
“Linley, you’re going to the Mountain Range of Magical Beasts for your first training?” Reynolds pressed, while Yale and George also looked worried.
“Don’t worry, I’m confident in myself.”
Linley was fairly self-assured. With his strength as a fifth-rank mage and a fourth-rank warrior, a fourth-rank warrior’s speed was already fast. If he combined it with the wind-type magic ‘Supersonic’ as a boost, his current power could push his speed to the level of a sixth-rank warrior.
Most importantly—
Linley could also cast the high-level wind magic ‘Floating Technique’.