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nIn the top deck garden of the ship, Griffin spoke up. “Can I talk now?”

n“Alright,” Maximus finally gave Griffin a chance, taking pity on him.

nGriffin smiled and asked, “So, which academy have you decided to join?”

nApparently, Griffin didn’t believe that he was not a prospective student going to the central continent .

nMaximus thought about being a student and realized that it had many benefits.

nFirst, it would provide him with a formal identity.

nIt was fine if it’s just him alone, but he had a family to consider. In the future, if he needed to arrange things for them, he couldn’t always stay hidden.

nSecond it would allowed him to have a formal guidace.

nBecoming a student can help him avoid many detours and would help him grow stronger in the long run.

nAlthough he possesses the ability to study independently and has access to abundant resources, ultimately, without proper guidance from a qualified teacher, his achievement in the future will be limited.

nWhile his current tier of strength didn’t require much guidance, in the long run, his lack of knowledge and little imperfections will hinder his further advancement.

nThird, as his strength grew he needed higher resources, although he can buy it in the system mall, without much question from his wives and children.

nHowever, He didn’t want to deceive his wives and children too much, at least when he achieve something in the academy he will have sufficient reason to take out more advanced resources.

nAnd lastly, is for the safety of his kingdom and his follow-up plan to conquer the whole sunburnt plateau.

nFortunately he hadn’t conquered the entire Sunburnt Plateau yet, once he did, the rest of the inhabitants in the cursed continent would know his action.

nThis is also the reason he wants to make a huge amount of money on his trip to the central continent. He needs a weapon strong enough to protect his interest and people.

nThe reason the whole cursed continent would know his action once he conquered the whole sunburnt plateau was due to the influence of several powerful Tier 9 Primordial Mages.

nThey had set up law arrays, manipulating the laws of the continent to prevent gods from interfering and gathering faith.

nConquering a place situated within one of the scattered islands in cursed continents was typically their initial step to promote and collect faith.

nIt started with the battle of gods which destroyed and polluted the continent which corrupted the mana making it a cursed continent which is named by magicians as it became a useless land for them.

nAngered by the god’s action of wantonly destroying land and corrupting people with faith. Mages and Knights banded to exile gods from interfering with their world.

nHowever, gods still have the divine continent which had their divine energy already integrated into mana.

nThe divine mana allowed them to descend to the divine continent without much world suppression making the mages and knights helpless about them.

nBut anywhere in the world became their forbidden area as now they become a valuable especimen for research making them hunted all over the world

n…

nThinking about the academies he could choose, Maximus eliminated the Battle Academy as it was too violent and not in line with his personality.𝓞𝑣𝐞xt.𝗰𝑶𝑚

nAs for the Spirit Farm Academy, it seemed too leisurely and boring. While he would have plenty of free time for other activities, he wanted to choose an academy where he could truly learn and develop his skills.

nThe Music and Art Academy didn’t interest him either, as he thought it was focused mainly on assisting or picking up girls.

nIt wasn’t entirely useless, but it seemed more suited as an auxiliary profession rather than one for combat or practical training.

nCooking Academy pass…

nFormation and Array Academy pass…

nBeast Taming pass…

nThen the idea of becoming a Mechanic crossed his mind since he wanted to combine magic and technology he had in his previous life.

nHowever, thinking that a mere token of a ship has advanced technology like augmented reality.

nHe realized that his previous life’s technology was more backward than what he thought compared to this world.

nOn the other hand, he could consider the Alchemist Academy.

nHe already had an alchemist identity within the Etherium Gold Chamber of Commerce.

nHe was sure that Lawrence should have already reported his identity as an alchemist to thier headquarters given his VIP 9 status.

nTherefore, Maximus was left with a choice between Alchemist and Mechanic, both of which interested him greatly and offered potential benefits.

n…

nReturning to Griffin, who was still waiting for an answer, and Maximus who lazily sipped his tea, seemingly oblivious to Griffin’s presence.

nMaximus finally looked at Griffin and said, “I’m not sure yet whether I should go to the Mechanic Academy or the Alchemist Academy.”

n“Oh, that’s nice,” Griffin’s eyes lit up. Both professions were associated with wealth or wanting to be rich.

n“Unfortunately, we haven’t chosen the same academy,” Griffin said with a hint of sadness.

nObserving Griffin’s pretentious behavior, Maximus couldn’t help but feel goosebumps.

n“Why are you here anyway? Don’t you have companions?” Maximus asked, assuming that someone of Griffin’s royal status would have siblings or cousins accompanying him to take the academy test.

n“Oh, they’re gambling in the arena,” Griffin absentmindedly replied.

nSeeing Griffin’s disheveled appearance, it was clear that he had lost his money and came to the upper deck for some fresh air.

nMaximus didn’t respond further and continued to bask in the breeze.

nGriffin also fell silent, remembering that he had lost his money due to gambling.

nFortunately, there was a bank on the ship, so he could still eat after withdrawing some money.

nAfter some time passed, Maximus stood up, planning to return to his room and study the basic knowledge of mechanics and alchemy.

nHe realized that he didn’t know much about these fields, and he couldn’t pass the academy test without sufficient understanding.

nGlancing at Griffin, who was still sulking over his loss, Maximus said, “Goodbye, see you later.”

nAlthough Griffin’s constant chatter could be irritating, he wasn’t a bad person to be friends with. Besides, Maximus was also curious to meet Griffin’s sister, who possessed such mystical talent.

nAfter seeing Maximus leave, Griffin muttered, “Bye.”

n…

nArriving in his room, Maximus purchased basic books on mechanics and alchemy.

nHe decided to study what made these fields special and ultimately choose which academy he would attend.

nReading about the basics of alchemy, Maximus discovered that it was the most revered profession in the world, focusing on the manipulation and combination of natural elements.

nAlchemists harnessed the power of nature to transform and transmute the world’s materials, unlocking their hidden potential.

nTheir primary focus lay in the study of intricate balance of the laws and rules as they sought to uncover the secrets of creation hoping to manipulate them.

nRumors circulated that alchemists at their peak could even create life itself, earning them the title of gods of creation and life.

nHowever, he remained skeptical of such rumors.

nWhile he acknowledged that alchemists could synthesize creatures, they were mere puppets with flesh and blood, lacking a soul—the fundamental aspect of a living, sentient being.

nThe soul was crucial not only for the opportunity to train as a mage or knight but also for gods to collect faith.

nHe doubted that even gods could create life with a soul, as they would have already conquered the world and flooded it with their believers if it were possible.

nMoving on to the study of mechanics, He learned that this profession was often referred to as a crooked path by mages.

nWhile alchemists sought to bend the laws and rules of the world to their advantage, mechanics adhered to and utilized those laws and rules.

nMages viewed mechanics as obedient dogs of the world, following its dictates, which contradicted the mage’s notion of wielding the laws and rules of the world to serve their own purposes.

nDespite being called a crooked path, mechanics were worshipped by many, especially the rich and weak.

nUnlike alchemical items that required corresponding power to use, mechanical items only needed magic crystals.

nThis made mechanics more accessible to the wealthy and less powerful individuals.

nHe even imagined the scenario of an enemey facing a seemingly weak Tier 1 official mage who secretly possessed several magic crystal mines.

nIn a surprising turn, the mage could wield a mechanical energy weapon and take out huge amounts of magic crystals just to load the weapon and then blind the opponent with money before killing them.

nThis was also the reason most mages considered mechanics as crooked path—many mages were impoverished due to resource consumption.

nWhile mechanical items were cheaper than their alchemical counterparts, the huge consumption of magic crystals and accessories addition like bullets, just to operate them, dissuade most of them teling them in the face that they are too poor to even use mechanical weapon.

nIn contrast, you can manipulate alchemical items just by using your own mana.

nAs Maximus pondered between the two options, he found himself entangled in a dilemma.

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