Mage Victor said, "The biggest reason the Magefoes have never been entirely wiped out is that they serve as a touchstone. The True Spirit Archmages strictly forbid full-fledged Mages from slaughtering Magefoes outside the Mage Continent precisely so that they can serve as the target of the war Mage trial, held roughly once every century. When the time comes, all the apprentices taking part are teleported in batches into one Magefoe gathering place after another. They're weak, but their ancient magic's delving into curses and the like makes them exactly the right opponent for testing the strength of your souls."
Adam walked out of Headmaster Victor's room with a contract in hand and a very strange feeling in his heart. He truly had not expected that this was the reason the Mages had never finished off the Magefoes — they were like crops that could only be raised loose outside the vegetable patch: harvested crop after crop, while every care was taken to keep them from going extinct.
Mage Victor had not been stingy. Once Adam agreed to stand in for Moldo Tower at the trial, which could come at any time within twenty years, he declared that the apprentice-stage knowledge of the academy held no more secrets for Adam, and granted outright Adam's application to establish an Electrical and Related Elements Research Laboratory.
The former was of little use to Adam. The final apprentice-stage knowledge was kept on the top two floors of the library, recording the research directions the academy had mastered that an apprentice could use to advance — though because of Moldo's middling overall strength, there was not much of it. The latter, however, was very useful: with the academy's backing, Adam could finally begin his own experiments without worrying about cost.
In the Review Department, Mage Irene was staring into space out of sheer boredom. Seeing Adam, she wasted no words: "Give me the headmaster's certification, then sign this agreement, and you'll have a laboratory of your own in the Elemental Experiment Building."
Adam knew that Mage Irene had been given her instructions in advance by Headmaster Victor, and he was no longer surprised by the way Mages communicated. If there's an internet covering the whole Mage Plane, then setting up a local network inside a tower is hardly difficult.
Adam picked up the pen, signed his name on the agreement, and said, "Thank you for your help, Lady Mage Irene."
Mage Irene gave an indifferent smile and picked up the agreement. Her manner toward Adam was surprisingly warm: "Little one — hmm, I can't call you little one anymore, can I? I can hardly believe you've already found your path of advancement. Before long, perhaps, I ought to be calling you Mage Adam."
In a full-fledged Mage's sense of time, twenty years was indeed only a short while. Most of them were untroubled by lifespan, and so naturally did not much care about time.
"Your laboratory will be fitted with a soul-sensing device. It's not there to spy on you, but to help hold your advancement down when you can't hold it back yourself." Mage Irene pointed to a specially marked clause in the agreement as she explained.
"Of course. That's entirely reasonable." Adam said, understanding; this had been part of his agreement with Headmaster Victor from the start.
"And then, your monthly funding is five complete ether crystals." Here Mage Irene's tone shifted a little. "That is no small sum — a full-fledged Mage's laboratory gets no more than that. And the most important part is that you may spend it however you like."
Adam understood what "however you like" meant. In Mage Victor's words, the five complete ether crystals were the academy's compensation for delaying Adam's advancement, and could be counted as Adam's personal wealth.
After hearing Mage Irene explain it all point by point, Adam left the Review Department and flew to the old laboratory.
In the laboratory, the devil was gleefully recounting the course of the mission to James and Frank, endlessly inflating its own role in it, until it sounded as though the mission could never have been completed at all if not for Garfield the Great.
Adam pushed the door open, did not so much as glance at the devil, who cut off mid-sentence, walked straight into the mithril room, put the instruments and data inside into his personal storage space, and then said to James and Frank, "The electrical element laboratory has been approved. We're moving."
After the astonishing scene they had witnessed in the mithril laboratory the last time they saw Adam, the two had expected this day would come. They knew Adam's character well, so they wasted no words: they swiftly packed up their personal belongings and experimental data, checked carefully that nothing had been left behind, and followed Adam out.
The mission hall was the busiest place in the academy, and at every hour of the day apprentices hoped to find work there that suited them and would earn them magic stones. Compared with the flightiness of their first year, they were much steadier now, and brawls over snatching tasks or putting others down had become rare.
Suddenly, spotting a newly posted task on the light screen, a boy ran to a corner of the mission hall and said to a companion waiting there, "Brother Korvo, there's news!"
Korvo looked at him, puzzled. "What?"
The boy realized he had not made himself clear. He smacked his own forehead and started over: "That apprentice named Adam — the one you told everyone to keep an eye out for. There's news about him."
Korvo's eyes lit up. "A cooperative mission?"
His development of psychokinesis had given him a command of the elements far beyond that of his peers, and since that day he had been full of interest in Adam, the creator of the meditation method.
After learning Adam's temperament from the senior apprentices at the apprentice bar, he had not gone knocking on Adam's door rashly; instead he had chosen to wait for a good opportunity.
Having received an excellent education since childhood, he knew well the benefits of befriending a genius: even on different paths, the sparks of wisdom struck from colliding with an outstanding mind would help him in the years ahead.
The boy shook his head. "No, it's not a cooperative mission. He's hiring laboratory assistants." The boy had never cultivated the Psychokinesis Meditation Method — it was too hard for him — so he had never looked into Adam, and had no idea why Korvo cared so much about an apprentice who, by all accounts, no longer had any talent.
Korvo's eyebrows rose, and he stepped quickly forward. Others had already noticed the task posting; most of them were apprentices of the previous cohort, and they too seemed surprised to see the name Adam again. But no one chose to accept the task.
The scrolling text on the light screen read: Recruiting five to ten laboratory assistants. Requirement: cultivation of the Psychokinesis Meditation Method. Pay: three hundred units of energy stones per month. Assessment site: Elemental Experiment Building, third floor, Electrical and Related Elements Research Laboratory. Posted by: Adam.
When he noticed the name of the laboratory, his brow furrowed and he murmured, "The electrical element?"
The boy came up beside him and picked up the thread. "Brother Korvo, I don't think this person is worth that much attention from you. The electrical element? Ridiculous. The instructors have said plainly that the electrical element has no research value. I'd guess he's just grandstanding."