Chapter 34. Choosing Courses
Fulan stared at the packed course schedule before her and fell into deep thought.
Was she trying to take too much?
She had already selected more than twenty courses, and quite a few of them conflicted with each other.
Fulan let out a sigh.
“It looks like I have to remove some.”
With a small swipe of her hand, she began deleting the courses that conflicted with most of the others.
“‘Introduction to Magical Craftsmanship’ has to go. What kind of ridiculous class lasts more than sixty sessions? I might as well just grind proficiency myself.”
“‘Secrets of Runes’ should probably go too. Although it gives Points, the instructor might not even understand runes as well as I do.”
“‘Analysis of Common Metal Materials’… how did I even select this course? Would it not be easier to just learn blacksmithing directly?”
…
Eventually, after removing every course with scheduling conflicts, Fulan looked again at the list.
There were only eleven courses left.
And none of them overlapped.
She finally relaxed.
“Hey, Fulan.”
Fulan looked up and saw Bella and Laiyi, who had previously arranged to meet her to compare course schedules.
“Ah… hello.”
Bella immediately noticed Fulan’s course list and exclaimed in surprise,
“Why did you select so many courses?!”
“Is it really that many?”
Fulan looked confused.
Back in her previous life at university, selecting more than ten courses was extremely common.
And that had been for a single semester. Here, the academy schedule covered an entire year, so selecting a dozen courses did not seem excessive at all.
“Take a look at mine.”
Bella handed over her own paper, where the courses she intended to take had been marked with checkmarks.
Fulan glanced at it and saw that only four courses had been selected.
She asked curiously,
“Why did you only choose four?”
“I joined the Sword Chant School, so I only need to study related subjects. Besides, selecting courses from this list requires Points.”
Only then did Fulan understand why she had chosen so many courses.
For a normal apprentice, simply gaining access to a School was already a rare opportunity.
Once they understood the School’s requirements, they focused entirely on the necessary courses in order to qualify for admission.
If they succeeded, they could join the School and become a Senior Apprentice.
If they failed, they would be expelled from the academy.
Many apprentices could not even meet the admission requirements of a School, so naturally they could not select a large number of unrelated courses like Fulan.
But Fulan relied on her panel.
Her philosophy was simple: more skills could never hurt.
Every course she selected covered a craft or discipline that she did not already possess on her panel.
After thinking it through, she still decided to keep her choices.
Maximizing the advantages of her panel was the most important thing. Focusing solely on one field did not suit her time or energy.
“Techniques for Instant Spellcasting, Material-Free Casting Instruction, Elven Swordsmanship Instruction…”
Fulan looked at the courses Bella had marked.
She realized she had never even seen these courses on her own selection sheet.
And their contents were completely different from the ones she had chosen.
The courses she had selected were mostly theoretical—titles that ended with words like analysis or application.
But Bella’s courses were entirely practical training classes that directly taught how to perform specific techniques.
“This is the course list available only to members of the Sword Chant School. Other apprentices cannot see it. If you want, I can get you a copy.”
“Other people can enroll in them?”
“Yes. Anyone attending these classes is either from the Sword Chant School or someone they know. Everyone does it this way.”
Fulan could not help but smile bitterly.
More entrenched elitism.
Even enrolling in courses required personal connections.
“Thanks.”
Fulan removed the course “Application of Combat Technique Release” from her schedule.
She had originally selected it because she heard that students who performed exceptionally well would receive a rare Combat Technique as a reward.
But since Bella could provide access to better courses, she naturally preferred those.
In terms of teaching quality, instructors from a School were almost always superior to ordinary instructors.
Moreover, most of these internal School courses were taught by formal mages.
“I will choose Elven Swordsmanship Instruction.”
Fulan knew that anything called “—Swordsmanship” usually referred to a complete combat style.
It included multiple Combat Techniques, as well as footwork and attack rhythms.
Generally, a proper style required a corresponding Breathing Method to truly be considered complete.
But expecting to learn an entire combat style simply by selecting a course was unrealistic.
In this era dominated by elitism, even a single Combat Technique often had relationship barriers preventing outsiders from obtaining it.
She estimated that the class might teach one or two Combat Techniques along with some footwork, and that would be the end of it.
If you had connections, you might gain access to the advanced teachings.
If not, that was as far as you could go.
However, the real reason Fulan was interested lay in her panel.
After she had mastered the incomplete Breathing Method previously, she discovered something surprising.
Now, whenever she wished, the Swift Wind Breathing Method would activate automatically—as if it were an innate ability.
The incomplete aspects had completely disappeared.
She still did not know what had originally been missing from the technique.
It felt as though she had fully mastered it.
Although if she wanted to teach it to someone else, she would probably have to think carefully about how to explain it.
That discovery gave her a new idea.
What if she treated Elven Swordsmanship the same way?
If she could thoroughly master the entire combat style through her panel, the results might be extraordinary.
Meanwhile, Laiyi seemed to notice Fulan’s intention to study many different disciplines.
“You want to learn these skills first while searching for information about other Schools, right?”
“That is right. I still want to see what the other Schools are like.”
However, Laiyi clearly did not approve of her plan.
“But you are trying to learn far too much! Potions, foundational construction spells, and who knows what else. Who selects courses like this?”
“A normal person would spend two or three years mastering just one of these subjects. Yet you want to study all of them.”
“What if I actually manage to learn them all?”
Laiyi did not respond to that question.
Instead, she brought up something else.
“I still recommend that you withdraw from most of these courses… Have you not been searching for information about other Schools?”
“That is right. Do you know somewhere that compiles such information? I really need it.”
“There is no place like that. But I do have some big news related to a certain School.”
Fulan immediately became interested.
She had become extremely sensitive to any information related to Schools. Several of her course selections were based purely on vague rumors.
For example, one course she had chosen—[Fundamental Study of Construction Spells]—was rumored to recommend outstanding students to the Construction School.
Another course—[Introduction to Common Creatures of the Alliance]—sometimes resulted in the instructor recommending students to the Necromancy School.
“Let me think… It should be a course available to all academies and does not require Points. I think it is called [Weapon Forging].”
Course selection was divided into two categories.
Some courses belonged exclusively to a particular academy.
Others were shared across multiple academies.
Usually, courses from one’s own academy were relatively easy to enroll in. But shared courses like this…
“I checked earlier. That course has already reached full capacity…”
Fulan had seen the course before.
She had originally wanted to enroll to train her weapon forging skills, but the class had already filled up. So she abandoned the idea.
“Use Points to forcibly enroll.”
Laiyi lowered her voice.
“I heard that this School is recruiting apprentices in the City of Apprentices for the first time.”
When a free course reached full capacity, apprentices could still spend Points to force their names onto the list.
It was one of the small privileges that Points provided.
Fulan was immediately intrigued.
Recruiting in the City of Apprentices for the first time?
Perhaps the spells of this School were extremely powerful.