Chapter 60: Well, Winterfell Academy is a Professional Academy
Has Winterfell Academy been completed already?
Upon hearing this news, Joshua raised an eyebrow. While pleased, he was also quite surprised. After all, that was a massive building constructed within the belly of a snow-covered mountain. Simply transporting construction materials there required a huge investment of manpower and resources. Now, less than a year later, it was already fully completed?
"Fast."
As he spoke, he opened the door and entered the study, unable to help but remark, "I never expected mages to be this efficient."
No. 3 lightly descended from the ceiling and then floated beside Joshua. She didn't seem particularly surprised, merely stating in a flat tone, "Back then, when Carlis built the fortress, it didn't take a few years either. You guys taking a whole year to build such a small academy is really slow."
"How can you compare that? You poured the strength of an entire civilization into it, while we're just a small county territory."
Joshua retorted.
"In any case, it's slow."
No. 3, however, wasn't interested in reasoning with the warrior. But she turned her head and offered another piece of good news: "Oh, by the way, that Paladin who always looked at me with a strange expression recently discovered a peculiar place in the volcano. The elemental concentration there is abnormally dense and highly unstable. Ordinary exploration personnel can't even enter at all."
Speaking of this, the Artificial Intelligence Girl's expression also turned serious: "That place is deep within the volcano, where lava gathers, Joshua. For such an unstable, peculiar region to exist there, you should understand what that implies."
Upon hearing this news, the warrior was momentarily stunned. Then he stopped what he was doing and fell into thought: "Something like this actually happened? Could it be... that Loranda's luck isn't that bad after all?"
Thinking this, he already had some guesses about that area. With that in mind, Joshua made a decision: "It could indeed trigger a volcanic eruption. When I have the time, I'll go take a look deep inside the Great Aias Volcano."
After that, No. 3 reported a few more trivial matters. As an Artificial Intelligence, she had been entrusted by the warrior from the very beginning with the task of relaying information. After finishing her report, she lightly floated up from above the Lord's Manor and flew off to the main body at the other residence.
Joshua, after reviewing some materials and confirming that there were absolutely no thirty types of Gold-rank creatures in the Northern Lands, couldn't help but sigh.
He didn't think this task was particularly difficult; he just found it troublesome. Thirty Gold-rank monsters weren't like cabbages. For each one, you'd spend a day investigating, a day tracking, a day determining its lair and killing it. Occasionally, you'd encounter one with tenacious vitality or skilled in escape, wasting another day. Calculated this way, even if he did nothing else but focus on killing magical beasts, it would take nearly half a year.
Of course, let alone half a year, even if it took a year or two, his advancement to the Ultimate-rank was still quite fast. In fact, if others had such a fast advancement speed, they would have been jumping for joy long ago. But Joshua was very dissatisfied. With various disasters looming ever closer, such leisurely downtime was also running out. If he didn't speed up the progress now, he would surely suffer for it later.
Lifting his head, the warrior looked at the Glowstone Lamps and the other lamps on the ceiling. The golden and white lights were very dazzling. Compared to a year ago, the light produced by these magic stones was growing brighter and brighter.
This was proof that the concentration of Arcane Power elements was increasing before the arrival of the Great Magic Tide. The rising density of free energy meant more and more people could awaken their bloodlines, pass the Battle Qi trials, and open their Arcane Power sources. Thanks to the former invasion of Evil Gods, the space-time barrier in the Northern Lands was thin, so the increase in Arcane Power was faster than elsewhere. Nostradamus had also seized upon this point when he decided to establish an academy in the Northern Lands.
"As for student sources, I shouldn't have to worry. The Archmage has surely already contacted some familiar nobles, inviting their children to enroll. He's also definitely collected quite a few talented commoners. And the teachers must be ready too, since he's the Dean of the Imperial Royal Academy. As long as he's willing, he can always find people."
Thinking this, a new idea occurred to Joshua. He walked to the window and looked out at the city, rendered silent by the blizzard and biting wind, lost in thought: "Maybe I can help a bit... and also create an opportunity for the people of my territory."
What Nostradamus wanted to establish wasn't an aristocratic school only for the rich and noble, but a popular school aimed at spreading magic. From the very beginning, he planned to take in many students. To that end, he had specially built an unusually large mountain academy. Such a thing was incredibly common in Joshua's previous life, but on the Mycroft Continent, it was a surprising innovation.
This was a fantasy civilization world where individual strength was paramount. Although true experts could already travel across worlds, commoners lived on the eve of the magical industrial era. Their lives weren't impoverished thanks to the fertile land, but they didn't have much spare time to seriously learn to read and write.
Most people weren't completely illiterate. Thanks to the basic universal education provided by the Church, they could understand some announcements, write their own names, and a few short prayers. But very few could read an entire newspaper from start to finish. Only the rich, nobles, and descendants of Transcendent Beings had certain channels and abilities to acquire more knowledge.
Magic academies were initially established for the descendants of these upper-class people. But Nostradamus wanted to give the common masses access to this channel as well. For an ordinary person, this idea might be a pipe dream, but for an Ultimate-rank Archmage, it was a potentially achievable reality. Joshua was also very interested in this matter. With the support of two experts, Winterfell Academy was rapidly completed. However, the warrior suddenly realized he could do even more.
"Because of the existence of the Rune Factory, Moldavia will need many workers in the future who understand magical knowledge. They don't necessarily need to be very strong, but they must know some basic rune knowledge."
Winterfell Academy could completely open a specialized course to meet Moldavia's needs. The status of these workers wouldn't be low. As part of the Rune Factory production line, their salaries would certainly be generous. They wouldn't need too much talent, just basic coordination skills. After all, rune technology only required knowing how to inscribe and activate. Even ordinary people could learn a part of it quite easily. It wouldn't take too long—a few months, at most a year, to complete basic teaching and start internships.
For example, with Mana Armor, the process of casting and polishing its components didn't require a real mage or blacksmith to handle. Assembly and drawing the rune circuits were also tasks that could be delegated. If corresponding courses were really offered, the number of personnel in Moldavia capable of producing magical equipment would effectively multiply several times over.
Furthermore, this also meant that ordinary commoner children would have another path for upward mobility. It couldn't be helped if one's own talent was low and they could only be a worker. But if their descendants had strong talent, then a worker in the Rune Factory would naturally have a better foundation, resources, and channels to nurture their offspring.
Thinking this, Joshua pulled out his notebook from the desk and casually jotted down some plans. As he wrote, he muttered to himself, "I never thought I'd become the kind of person who turns a farmer's son into a worker. What a rare experience... Universal talent surveys also require a lot of funds. Calculating it this way, it seems I'm still a bit short on money. I'll prioritize the main city and nearby areas... Wait."
Writing up to this point, the warrior stopped his pen and frowned: "Actually, it doesn't necessarily have to be just about training mages. I have so many experienced warriors and knights here, and quite a few archers too. I could totally establish a professional academy... But let's put this matter on hold for now. It's acceptable to consider opening new departments later when I have more money."
Once the basic policy was determined, the next step was fine-tuning the details. Activating the communication array, Joshua began further discussion and negotiation with Nostradamus.
Their conversation lasted late into the night. Regarding the warrior's idea, the old mage thought it over for a while before expressing his agreement. He also believed it was necessary to adapt to the times, rather than directly applying the educational methods of aristocratic schools to Winterfell Academy. Some changes were indeed needed.
Finally, the two parties finalized the general plan and process.
A few days later, a piece of blockbuster news was issued from the Lord's Manor and quickly spread throughout the entire city.
(To be continued.)