CHAPTER 566: CHAPTER 563 THE GREAT WIZARD DRAKE

"Master of the Tower, looking at the current state, the spell research in the Astronomy Department has completely stagnated. Without being able to observe the real stars, where do you think our future research should head?"

The third floor of the Astronomy Tower.

This floor had the largest surface area of any other in the entire tower, basically all of it free for movement except for the spiral staircase.

The teaching workspace of the Astronomy Department was located here.

At this very moment, in this floor dedicated to teaching, Katrina was facing an assortment of wizards, including wizard apprentices in their distinctive attire, as well as faces Ronald had encountered on his climb up the tower.

It was a middle-aged wizard in wizard robes who had just posed the question.

But...

How should one describe it?

In Ronald’s view, Katrina was a wizard with an exceptionally strong ability to anticipate the future and was also a qualified researcher.

However, as a teacher, she was truly a bit outrageous.

Faced with a question from her subordinate, she sprawled casually on her own lectern, propping herself up with one hand to avoid lying down completely. Her tone and gaze were drifting toward the ceiling, totally detached from the person who had asked the question:

"Research direction, huh..."

"Haven’t other disciplines set fine examples?"

"If we can’t see the stars, we just continue to refine our own spellcasting abilities. After all, the whole Academy is now filled with a mood of ’breaking out of the seal, blood for blood,’ so enhancing combat capabilities is surely the right choice."

"..."

Faced with her tower master’s remarks that were a bit too grounded in reality.

The questioning wizard looked back at the new wizard apprentices behind him, and then decisively gave up on his original question:

"Master, we’ve only completed a third of the experimental plan brought in by the Prophecy Department last time, should we continue that today?"

"Mmm..."

Katrina pondered for a few seconds.

Then she waved her hand at her subordinates, signaling not to bring up that subject for the moment.

She then hopped off the desk and walked in two steps to a wizard apprentice whose expression was still somewhat perplexed.

"Hey, kid."

"It’s my first time seeing you today."

"What were you thinking, choosing to take a course with our Astronomy Department?"

"..."

The young wizard apprentice looked extremely bewildered.

It wasn’t his first time taking classes in the magic tower.

But it was unprecedented for the head of the department to personally teach a class and to come up to him to ask questions.

You must know that in other departments...

With formal wizards teaching wizard apprentices, senior wizards teaching formal wizards, and then the tower master or the Great Wizards occasionally giving a ’major lecture’, that was the normal rule of the academy.

Were the people of the Astronomy Department completely opposite to those of the other departments?

"I... I am curious about astral-type spells..."

"..."

On the other side, Ronald, as an observer, was watching everything.

Assisted by the power of ’Fury,’ Ronald could see the situation clearly.

Katrina herself, from the beginning to end, looked down on the other wizards from a superior position, treating teaching as a kind of spice of life.

And Katrina’s subordinates could roughly be divided into two types.

One was the common wizard who was just muddling along, and Ronald had seen a wizard from this type sleeping before; the other type was staunchly loyal to Katrina, thinking of bringing some fresh blood into the Astronomy Department during the course of teaching, hoping to leave some apprentices behind.

About a quarter of an hour later.

After teasing the young wizard apprentice, Katrina also started to get serious. She began to emphasize some casting techniques that were very beneficial to novice wizards, rather than those grand experiments or powerful spells.

Ronald continued to listen for a few more minutes.

Having determined that most of the content was of no use to him, he turned and walked towards the upper levels of the tower.

According to what Katherine had previously said, Ronald soon arrived on the seventh floor.

Here, towards the north, was an office-like area, while opposite was a storeroom for storage.

Ronald walked straight toward the office end.

The staff member there was a male wizard dozing off.

"Hello, I am Drake?"

"..."

"Ah?"

The wizard behind the desk lifted his head to look at Ronald and took several seconds before he reacted.

"Oh, it is Mr. Drake!"

"The tower master instructed this morning that you were to come here to collect something."

Ronald nodded with a smile.

Meanwhile, the wizard in front of him was muttering to himself about Katherine’s instructions from the morning, while he bent down to search for something behind the desk.

Soon, a neatly folded wizard’s robe was brought out.

On it was a seven-pointed star-shaped badge.

"Here, take this."

"This is your uniform for the Astronomy department."

"There are some matching benefits too, just give me a moment."

Saying this, the wizard got up from behind the desk and turned to walk toward a farther room.

Ronald, while the other man was away, unfolded his robe; it was a wizard’s robe completely in the style of the Academy Tower, equipped with a defensive array and a self-cleaning spell.

And this badge...

Ronald briefly recalled the scene he had observed on the third floor.

Apprentice wizards had no type of badge visible on their chests, but full-fledged wizards would wear sun-shaped badges on their robes.

And a seven-pointed star...

It seemed that only Great Wizards, the original tome bearers, were entitled to wear such a thing.

In the world of wizards, owning an original tome was used as a yardstick, which also made practical sense.

Thinking this, the wizard who had left not long ago came back around.

This time, he placed a bracelet and a file bag in front of Ronald, his fully awakened face now showing nothing but respect.

"Mr. Drake, this is what the tower master has prepared for you."

"If there is anything you do not understand, you may ask me directly."

"..."

Ronald looked at what he had received.

The bracelet was clearly a magical artifact meant to enhance spell-casting abilities, while the paper bag contained documents to prove his identity and a deed for a dwelling within Barrier Mountain.

Compared to the magic wand and the residential rights in the apartment area that Bapulor had received the previous night, Katherine’s treatment of Ronald was obviously much better.

But right now, Ronald was not in a hurry to confirm exactly what kind of privileges he could enjoy at Barrier Mountain.

He pondered the conversation he had with Bapulor when they parted ways earlier that day.

Then, looking back at the Astronomy department wizard in front of him, who was being extremely polite,

Ronald revealed a slight smile and then spoke in a gentle tone:

"Sir, you must know that I just joined Barrier Mountain yesterday."

"As a newcomer, I indeed have some questions about the Academy Tower, would you be willing to help answer them?"