When Jelica opened the door and saw Gaode standing there, a look of surprise immediately crossed her face.
It had been nearly three months since their enrollment, and this was the first time Gaode had ever come to visit her.
She had looked into his situation slightly and knew that the moment he became an official student, he had taken eight elective courses in one breath and was now studying bitterly. Jelica was secretly astonished by this. She had originally planned to just pick one or two courses at random to breeze through the easiest first year, focusing most of her Energy on advancing to a 1st Ring Mage. However, ever since she learned how hard Gaode was working, she felt too embarrassed to slack off. After some hesitation, she ultimately chose four courses.
Even though she had chosen those four courses voluntarily, she constantly felt as if she were being forced to work hard—it was a very strange, indescribable feeling.
If Gaode knew what she was thinking, he would have thoughtfully helped her describe this exact feeling.
This was called: hyper-competition.
"Gaode, did you come looking for me for something?" Jelica asked on her own initiative.
Gaode breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing her. After all, the students in the academy were all busy with their own affairs and rarely spent time in their dorms. He had been afraid of making a wasted trip.
"Jelica, do you still need the fruit drink from last time?" Gaode cut straight to the chase. "I brewed some more and added a few precious ingredients. Now it won’t evaporate in a short period and can be stored for a long time."
As for the so-called "precious ingredients," they were actually just seasonal fruits. He said this partly to further inflate the value of the fruit drink, and partly to cover up his previous excuse about it being highly volatile.
"The fruit drink from last time?" Jelica’s eyes darted thoughtfully before she extended an invitation. "Come in and let’s talk. Don’t just stand at the door."
Seeing that she didn’t refuse and even invited him inside for a detailed discussion, Gaode knew the deal was nine times out of ten a success.
Once they were seated on the chairs in the room’s parlor, Jelica’s expression turned serious, switching entirely into a business mode.
"How much fruit drink can you provide this time? It won’t be just one small flask like last time, will it? Can you supply it long-term?" she fired off a string of questions.
Gaode shook his head and answered them one by one, "I made a bit more this time, about 14 pints.
"However, I can’t supply it long-term. For one, the brewing process for this fruit drink is extremely troublesome and requires a lot of time.
"I can’t possibly waste too much time on this. There are many more important things in the academy that are worth spending time on.
"Secondly, brewing this fruit drink requires several special ingredients that cannot be bought on the outside market, and I don’t have very many of them on hand either."
Jelica’s mind raced before she spoke. "I see... That’s fine. Fourteen pints is a decent amount, enough for me to drink for a while. If your ancestral recipe could be mass-produced, it would definitely make a fortune. It’s a pity.
"Anyway, I’ll take all 14 pints of the fruit drink. If you produce any more after this, just come find me. I’ll buy an unlimited amount.
"For 14 pints, how about I round it up and give you 150 Gold Coins?" she said with a smile.
The wealthy young lady’s temperament was fully revealed in just those few sentences.
Hearing this, Gaode did not hesitate at all and immediately nodded in agreement.
"I’ll deliver the fruit drink to you shortly," Gaode said, his face lighting up with joy. "By the way, the name of this fruit drink is the Leakless Fruit Drink."
He had come up with a makeshift name for the fruit drink he brewed using Leakless Water.
"The Leakless Fruit Drink..." Jelica nodded, indicating that she had memorized it. "Wait a moment then. I’ll settle the payment with you first."
Back in his dorm, Gaode placed his newly received 150 Gold Coins together with his original savings.
A total of 213 Sean Gold Coins gleamed with an alluring golden light, and the little roosters engraved on their faces looked exceptionally full of Spirit.
Gaode affectionately stroked the two hundred or so Gold Coins, unable to bear parting with them. Soon, a large portion of them would no longer belong to him.
The mere thought of it made his heart ache. Thinking further about all the Leakless Fruit Drink he had just handed over to Jelica made it ache even more. But it was all worth it. With these 150 Gold Coins in his account, at least he wouldn’t have to worry too much about his expenses for the first academic year.
Gathering all his savings, Gaode left the first district and arrived at the committee’s course selection counter.
"Course selection." Gaode handed his identity nameplate to the elderly staff member wearing a long robe.
"Which courses do you want to select?" The old man was already highly skilled at the workflow. Without even looking up, he took Gaode’s identity nameplate and swiped it on the Alchemy Machine beside him to confirm the information.
Then, keeping his head down, he pulled out the course schedule, ready to record the courses Gaode named.
"Magic Ink Extraction and Production..." Gaode said.
This was a branch course under Rune Science. Drawing Runes required two essential tools: the first was a Rune Pen, and the second was Magic Ink. Forging a Rune Pen was the job of the Alchemy Department, which Gaode had no interest in getting involved with. Among the Three Royal Families, Gaode was very interested in both Rune Science and Magic Potion, but he truly had no thoughts whatsoever about Alchemy.
He would not associate with such crude blacksmiths!
As for Magic Ink, it was generally made by Rune Masters themselves. It was considered a basic craft for a Rune Master, just as a chef was undoubtedly proficient in grocery shopping.
"Alright, registered it for you." The old man took out the identity nameplate, preparing to hand it back to Gaode.
"There’s more," Gaode hastily stopped him.
"More?" The old scholar, who had worked at the course selection counter for decades, frowned.
On the Alchemy Machine, he could clearly see that Gaode already had eight ongoing courses under his name that had not yet been completed. Selecting two more would make it ten courses... Could he even handle that workload?
Although he knew in his heart that for Gaode to take extra elective courses under such circumstances, he must have the spare Energy to learn. Still, a new student studying ten courses simultaneously made the old scholar feel it was a bit exaggerated. Having worked in course selection for so many years, to tell the truth, he had rarely seen anyone like this.
"Business Group Management and Trade Practice..." This was a branch course under the Basic Cultural Course. Any Mage planning to work in a business group in the future would take this cultural elective.
"Alright..."
Before the old scholar could finish his sentence, Gaode spoke up again. "Racial History."
This was yet another branch course under the Basic Cultural Course.
"Ah?" The old scholar subconsciously let out a sound of bewildered surprise.
"Study of Earth Vein Creatures, Magic Engineering, Magic Medicine, Pharmacological Research, Magic Pet Cultivation..." On this side, Gaode had already rattled off all the courses he had pre-selected in one breath.
These courses covered a wide range of fields.
Racial History primarily studied the various native races and their histories in the currently known Mage Plane; it was a branch course under the Basic Cultural Course.
Study of Earth Vein Creatures, as the name implied, was a course specifically dedicated to researching Earth Vein Creatures, covering their anatomical structures, Extraordinary Abilities, characteristics, ancestral lineages, and more.
Magic Engineering mainly focused on the knowledge and techniques of using Magic for the surveying, design, construction, and maintenance of various engineering projects.
Magic Medicine researched the Healing of various diseases through Magic.
Pharmacological Research involved understanding the properties of various medicines and the changes produced when these properties were combined. This course was a branch of Magic Potion and was also one of its required courses. Furthermore, completing this course would help in deducing and verifying prescription formulas.
Gaode still harbored the intention of completing the full prescription for the Spirit Communication Potion if he ever got the chance. Therefore, even though he hadn’t chosen Magic Potion, he still took this elective course.
As for why he didn’t take Magic Potion, the reason was very simple: studying Magic Potion required spending a massive amount of money to purchase raw materials for concocting potions. He simply couldn’t afford it right now. In fact, if Jose hadn’t been providing him with free Magic Ink and magic paper all this time, the cost of consumables for studying Rune Science alone would have made Gaode’s already tight financial situation even worse.
Magic Pet Cultivation, on the other hand, was a course that researched the species composition, morphological structures, living habits, reproduction, historical development, and other life activity characteristics and laws of Magic Pets...
A total of eight courses. Upon full completion, they would bring Gaode a whole 12 credits, which would perfectly offset the credit suppression brought about by Yulan’s Early Period 1st Ring Mage level.
After Gaode finished rattling off the course names as if he were ordering from a menu, the old scholar—who had kept his head down checking the schedule—finally jerked his head up. His eyes were wide open, staring straight at Gaode.
"Is there a problem?" Gaode asked.
"You want to take eight more elective courses?" The old man wondered if there was something wrong with his ears, or if there was something wrong with the young man’s brain.
This wasn’t ordering dishes at a restaurant; this was course selection! Besides, even if it were ordering food, one person ordering eight dishes in one breath could eat themselves to death.
"Is that not allowed?" Gaode had never heard of any restrictions on the number of courses one could select.
"No problem..."
"That’s good. Here is the course fee." Gaode heartbreakingly took out his money pouch, poured out 120 Sean Gold Coins, and pushed them over.
The staff member’s brain still hadn’t fully processed the situation. Relying entirely on muscle memory, he mechanically collected the tuition Gaode submitted, completed the registration, and returned the identity nameplate. Throughout the entire process, he looked as if he had lost his soul.
It wasn’t until after Gaode left that he finally snapped back to his senses.
"Eight plus eight, taking sixteen elective courses at the same time..." the old man muttered.
Not only had he never seen such a student in his entire career, but there probably hadn’t been many students like this in the entire history of the academy, right?
Just what kind of student was this?