Synthesis Wizard-Chapter 191: Intermarriage and Prospects

Chapter 191: Intermarriage and Prospects

After all, they were new to the place and didn’t want to make their seniors wait too long. In less than fifteen minutes, the freshmen returned to the dormitory doors.

The group then headed to the cafeteria.

“The academy has two cafeterias, one in the north and one in the west. The one we’re going to now is the second cafeteria in the west.”

The second cafeteria was massive. You could see it from afar.

Upon closer inspection, they found a bulletin board at the entrance of the cafeteria, which displayed the recommended dishes for the day.

[Today’s Special: Crystal Mushrooms from the Underworld, with a slight effect of enhancing spiritual activity, 20 gold coins per serving.]

[Today’s Special: Electric Thorn Dragon Meat from Zone 1, with a slight effect of strengthening physique, 12 gold coins per serving.]

[Today’s Special: Ice Rainbow Fish from the Underworld, with a slight effect of enhancing ice element resistance, 30 contribution points per serving, only available to Second-Rank Sorcerer Apprentices and above.]

…

One line of information after another filled the bulletin board.

A group of apprentices surrounded the bulletin board, seemingly discussing something. They could faintly hear someone complaining about the price being too expensive.

“The food in the cafeteria needs to be purchased, and the prices vary. The recommended dishes on the bulletin board are the most expensive. Even we can only afford to eat them occasionally.”

Duvini explained to the freshmen:

“Although it’s expensive, most of the recommended dishes are worth the price. Many times, if you come late, you might not be able to get them. Some foods also require a certain level to purchase.”

The freshmen were also stunned by the prices listed on the bulletin board.

Most of them came from noble families and were financially well-off. But even so, they had never tasted a dish that cost tens of gold coins per serving.

This price was practically robbery!

Duvini saw their expressions and smiled without saying anything.

Once they tasted the flavor and effect of these delicacies, they would realize that these gold coins were well spent.

Entering the second cafeteria, they found multiple areas, each with a different style and offering unique food.

The freshmen found a place to sit down. Soon, several staff members approached them to take orders.

To their surprise, these staff members were not human but a peculiar type of female humanoid creatures.

They had purple-bronze hair and skin as smooth as white jade. Their faces were flawlessly beautiful, as if they had stepped out of a painting.

Their eyes were deep, large, and round, and their ears were long and folded backward, with a hint of elf-like features.

They were about a meter tall, slightly taller than halflings.

“These are water fairies, the staff members of the cafeteria,” Duvini introduced. “They are kind and love cleanliness. They can also manipulate water elements.”

“How come I’ve never heard of such creatures before?” a freshman asked in confusion.

“That’s normal.” Duvini chuckled. “Water fairies are interdimensional creatures. This continent doesn’t have such creatures, so you haven’t seen them before.”

“They were summoned by the academy from another dimension and have signed contracts with the academy. They serve the academy in exchange for rewards.”

The appearance of the water fairies seemed to have flipped a switch. The freshmen immediately started asking all sorts of questions.

Duvini patiently answered them one by one, while Xie Qin sat silently on the side.

Not long after, the water fairies brought their plates.

A beautiful water fairy placed the plate in front of Fleming. As she left, she gave him a sweet smile.

Fleming’s heart beat faster involuntarily. He couldn’t help but take a few more glances at the water fairy’s back.

In the past, he thought the neighbor’s sister who lived next door was very beautiful, and he even thought about marrying her when he grew up. But now, he suddenly felt that the water fairy was pretty good too.

After a lively lunch, Xie Qin and Duvini took the freshmen to the logistics department to collect materials such as academy maps, regulations, exchange lists, books, robes, and brooches.

“The brooch is your student ID. Many places require you to wear the brooch to enter. Remember to keep it safe. If you lose it, you’ll have to pay to get a new one.”

After giving these final instructions, Duvini and Xie Qin left.

The freshmen held their materials, and in groups of three or two, they returned to their dormitories.

The dormitories were all single rooms, complete with a living room, bedroom, bathroom, and other amenities. The furniture was also brand new, and the living environment was excellent.

The freshmen, who had just witnessed so many novel things at Starlight Academy, were clearly excited. They gathered in the corridor, chatting and exchanging ideas.

After all, they were just teenagers. While they were gradually maturing physically, their minds were still relatively childish.

Fleming did not join them but went directly to his dormitory.

As soon as he put down his things, Donohue came to visit.

“Fleming, what courses are you going to enroll in tomorrow?”

Fleming had already made his decision. Without hesitation, he said, “All of them! I’m going to enroll in all the basic courses!”

Donohue’s lips twitched slightly. “Are you going to be that hardcore?”

Fleming shrugged and asked, “What courses are you going to enroll in?”

Donohue sighed. “You’ve said it all. What else can I do? I have to enroll in all of them. I don’t want to be left behind by you.”

Fleming smiled, patted him on the shoulder, and said, “Let’s work hard together!”

Fleming was extremely grateful for this opportunity to finally be admitted to Starlight Academy.

Even without the penalty of expulsion looming over him, he would have worked hard.

After all, this was his only chance to transcend the ordinary!

Who wouldn’t want to live longer and witness the pinnacle scenery of the continent?

After a brief chat, Donohue left.

Fleming closed the door and couldn’t wait to pick up the books from the logistics department. He carefully flipped through them.

“Star Ring Meditation Method”!

This was the only book that freshmen were given for free.

To obtain more books, they had to borrow them from the library or exchange them for gold coins and contribution points.

Taking a deep breath, Fleming calmed his mind and focused on reading the book in his hand.

He had asked Sister Duvini about this before. Among the seniors who had advanced to Second-Rank Sorcerer Apprentice, the fastest to master the Star Ring Meditation Method was Senior Sherman, who had done it in just twenty-five days. The slowest one hadn’t taken more than a month and a half.

He didn’t expect to break the twenty-five-day record, but he at least needed to master the Star Ring Meditation Method within a month and a half.

Only then could he stand out among the freshmen.

Although he had only been here for less than a day, Fleming could clearly feel the intense competitive atmosphere of the academy.

Everyone was diligently studying and practicing, making the most of every second to improve their strength.

This gave him a sense of urgency, making him unwilling to waste even a single moment.

“One day, I will also enter the Dragon Bone Tower!”

Shining Light City, Royal Palace.

In the council chamber, Kei frowned and remained silent.

Bred, Jourdan, and Stary, who were standing beside him, kept their eyes fixed on their noses and their noses fixed on their hearts, all remaining silent.

In the recent aptitude assessment, Second Prince Wes Arnest and Grand Princess Adela Arnest both failed the aptitude test and missed the chance to attend Starlight Academy.

This chapt𝙚r is updated by freeωebnovēl.c૦m.

Upon hearing this news, His Majesty had sighed and lamented in front of them many times.

Bred, Jourdan, and Stary were not surprised. His Majesty was just a legendary knight, not a formal wizard. The probability of his descendants having wizard aptitude was no different from ordinary people.

After a while, Jourdan, who was the most impatient of the three, finally couldn’t bear the silence. He winked at Bred.

Bred rolled his eyes secretly but still coughed lightly to break the silence.

“Your Majesty, it’s not really their fault. People with wizard aptitude are rare, one in a thousand. It’s not like the two princes could decide their own aptitude.”

Kei sighed. “I know. I didn’t blame them. It’s just that the royal family has never had a sorcerer apprentice. If this continues, it might have a negative impact on the royal family’s prestige.”

Bred and Stary looked at each other upon hearing this.

This was indeed a problem!

Jourdan didn’t think as much as the other two. He spoke casually, “Your Majesty, you’re overthinking. Even if Prince Wes and Princess Adela didn’t pass the aptitude test, there are still so many princes and princesses in the royal family. There must be one with wizard aptitude, right?”

Adhering to the idea of branching out and multiplying, Kei had given birth to many children over the years.

Now, upon hearing Jourdan’s words, he was stunned for a moment before a thoughtful expression appeared on his face.

That’s right!

As long as he had enough children, one of them was bound to have wizard aptitude!

He could still live for another hundred years or so. As long as he continued to branch out and multiply, he would eventually be able to cultivate a sorcerer apprentice for the royal family.

With the empire’s current foundation, as long as the royal family had a sorcerer apprentice, no matter how poor their aptitude, with the empire’s full support, they could be piled up into a Third-Rank Sorcerer Apprentice using resources!

Kei felt that this was feasible, and as his thoughts diverged, he quickly came up with another idea.

“What do you think about arranging an intermarriage between the royal family and a sorcerer apprentice from Starlight Academy?”

Bred, Jourdan, and Stary were all stunned for a moment before quickly understanding His Majesty’s intentions.

He wanted to improve the royal family’s genes through intermarriage with a sorcerer apprentice.

After a moment of silence, Bred hesitated. “Your Majesty, many of the empire’s nobles have the same idea. They have already contacted some of the sorcerer apprentices in the academy, but only a few agreed to intermarriage.”

Kei frowned upon hearing this but quickly relaxed.

The sorcerer apprentices of Starlight Academy were all in their prime right now. Naturally, they didn’t have the time or energy for marriage, especially with Su Nan as an example. Anyone with ambition would not agree to marry into a noble family.

But that was before.

With the establishment of Starlight Academy, the competition among the students was becoming increasingly fierce.

Many students from ordinary families or minor noble families lacked the financial resources to support the academy’s huge expenses.

To obtain resources, they had to spend a lot of time and energy taking on missions.

But if they intermarried with nobles, they would have ample financial support, allowing them to save more time for cultivation and learning, which would accelerate their early development.

For both the students and the nobles, this was a win-win situation.

It was conceivable that in the future, more and more sorcerer apprentices would choose to intermarry with nobles.

And in this regard, the royal family had an undeniable advantage.

The resources the royal family could provide would surely far exceed those of the lower nobles.

That said, Kei knew that this was not something that could be rushed. It required careful planning.

First, the royal family didn’t have any members of marriageable age yet. Even the oldest, Yabai, was not yet eighteen.

Second, choosing the right marriage partner was paramount.

Kei’s most preferred targets were Sherman, Kore, Atir, and Ethan, the outstanding students with the highest potential to advance to Third-Rank Sorcerer Apprentice.

However, he also understood that these people didn’t need the empire’s support, so the probability of them agreeing to an intermarriage was very low.

Perhaps, one day in the future, when they couldn’t see any hope for further breakthroughs, they might consider procreation.

However, that would be an extremely distant future.

Excluding those people, Kei wouldn’t be interested in other mediocre sorcerer apprentices.

He was more inclined to select promising freshmen from the new batch. While they were still weak, he would intermarry with them and support their rapid growth. In this cooperative relationship, their relationship would undoubtedly be more stable.

But selecting promising freshmen wasn’t something that could be done overnight. It would require long-term observation before making a decision.

After some thought, Kei had a plan in mind. He dropped the topic and turned to another matter.

“How’s the resource mobilization going?”

When it came to serious matters, Bred, Jourdan, and Stary subconsciously sat up straight.

“All the resources have been mobilized to the border cities. It’s enough to sustain a large-scale war!”

Kei nodded in satisfaction and asked, “Is there anything unusual about the surrounding countries?”

“Besides adding troops to the towns bordering the empire, there are no other unusual actions.” Bred replied.

Kei understood and nodded.

It was not strange for the surrounding countries to take these actions.

They were guarding against the Starfire Empire’s launch of a war to unify the Southeast Region.

The current Starfire Empire, in terms of land area, was no smaller than the former Azure Gold Empire. In terms of overall strength, it was even stronger. Not to mention, it had the only wizard on the continent as its ruler.

It could be said that the current Starfire Empire had a stronger foundation and greater power to unify the Southeast Region than the Azure Gold Empire.

Even if the Starfire Empire claimed that it had no intention of unifying the Southeast Region, no country would believe them.

And in fact, Kei indeed had plans to unify the Southeast Region.

The Southeast Region was just the first step. His true goal was the entire Starlight Continent.

On this point, he had had an in-depth conversation with Su Nan once. The two brothers agreed on this.

With Su Nan’s support, Kei’s confidence grew.

Thinking about the empire’s future prospects, even though his temperament had become much calmer than before, he couldn’t help but feel a surge of excitement.

At this moment, an internal affairs official suddenly appeared at the entrance of the hall. He bowed and saluted.

Kei glanced at him and said indifferently, “What’s the matter?”

“Your Majesty, a messenger from the Thornflower Duchy has arrived and requests an audience.”

Upon hearing this, the four people in the hall were taken aback.

Jourdan frowned. “At this time, sending a messenger… Could it be that they’ve discovered our plan?”

Stary, who had been silent all this time, suddenly spoke up. “It shouldn’t be. Although the Thornflower Duchy has added troops to the border cities, that was before the empire mobilized its resources. They shouldn’t know about the empire’s plans yet.”

Kei thought for a moment and waved his hand. “Take him to the reception room. I’ll receive him there.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

(End of Chapter)