Chapter 41

The Commercial Street of Dongcheng District.

When Sain returned to the shop where Fatty Boss was, the latter had already sold all the goods Sain had given him.

It had been nearly a month since Sain completed his mission and returned.

Fatty Boss could have sold all the goods much earlier, but to earn more black gold, he managed to put the three green-jawed feather eggs into a small auction recently held in Muzobura City.

It has to be said that Fatty indeed has a strong business acumen.

In the end, the black gold Fatty handed over to Sain amounted to 577 pieces, even after deducting Fatty's commission.

Such a large sum of black gold was something Sain had rarely seen in his life.

And the addition of this black gold would help Sain advance faster in the field of alchemy.

Eldest Brother Zorro was right; in the early stages of alchemy, it was purely a money-burning endeavor with no immediate returns.

The bird claws and beaks of the green-jawed feather were far from enough for Sain to practice on.

He needed to buy more experimental materials and some specialized alchemy tools.

He couldn't always go to his eldest brother for help every time he wanted to conduct an alchemy experiment, could he?

Actually, the various alchemy tools in Mentor Moses' laboratory were not only complete in number but also of very high quality.

But unfortunately, they were too high-end for Sain to use, or he was worried about damaging them.

You eat as much as your stomach can hold.

Sain didn't need to aim too high; he just needed to start from the basics and build up steadily.

After all, he was still young.

The 577 pieces of black gold filled a medium-sized cloth bag, and Fatty Boss was still rambling on about how rich those demi-human tribes were.

Since participating in a small auction in Muzobura City, Fatty's vision and perspective had gradually broadened.

He had no talent in cultivation, but he was indeed a good businessman.

Moreover, Fatty was not without resources. With the support of Melly and Sain, as long as the two could steadily provide him with magic potions and alchemy tools in the future, he was confident that the three of them would all become rich.

Fatty's ambition and promise made Sain chuckle.

Just as Sain was about to say something, a deep, muffled whistle sounded and gradually echoed throughout Muzobura City.

Almost simultaneously, Sain and Fatty rushed out of the shop.

At that moment, many others in Muzobura City did the same.

Every resident in the city, upon hearing the special sound, couldn't help but look up at the massive black shadow reflected under the glow of the fluorite.

It was a giant ship that had suddenly appeared from somewhere.

The ship was so large that it was 200 meters long and 50 meters high.

Apart from a few official black mages who immediately flew to the sky above Muzobura City when the floating giant ship appeared, several dozen Owl Academy inspectors also flew up and scattered around the floating giant ship.

Beside Sain, Fatty Boss couldn't help but sigh, "Another batch of newcomers has arrived. I wonder how many there are this time and how many of them will meet the minimum mental strength requirement of the academy."

Fatty Boss seemed to recall his early days in the Dark Region, making him somewhat sentimental.

Sain, however, didn't think much about it. When he saw the floating giant ship in the sky above Muzobura City, the first thing that came to his mind was, "Another year has passed, and I'm seventeen now."

...

Half a month later, almost all the apprentices of the Black Magic Academy knew that this year, the official black mages had abducted nearly a thousand children from the surface.

But only 272 of them met the mental strength requirement, less than a third of the total.

The minimum standard to become a black magic apprentice was an initial mental strength of seven or more.

Sain's initial mental strength was eleven, which might be one of the reasons why his magic cultivation had been relatively smooth over the years.

The level of initial mental strength indeed played a significant role in determining the advancement speed of magic apprentices during their early learning stages.

Sain's promotion to a mid-level apprentice at the age of sixteen could already be considered a small genius.

As for those who were still at the low-level apprentice stage in their twenties or even thirties, apart from their limited intelligence and understanding of magic, their lower initial mental strength was also a major shortcoming.

It was unclear whether the initial mental strength was related to intelligence.

The arrival of over 200 new apprentices brought a new burst of vitality to the long-dormant Black Magic Academy.

Looking at these little ones, whose faces were filled with fear, anxiety, and a hint of curiosity,

more than one black magic apprentice recalled their own past.

"Enjoy the cold and despair of the Black Magic Academy!" many black magic apprentices sneered inwardly.

According to past trends, by the second year, the number of these new apprentices would be reduced to less than half.

Most of them would be "eliminated" for various reasons, unable to adapt to the academy environment.

Even among the remaining few, very few would eventually grow and advance to the low-level apprentice stage.

By probability, having 15 would already be considered good.

Over the years, the entry-level apprentices had been replaced in batches, but the number of mid- and high-level apprentices had remained constant, which already spoke volumes.

Sain didn't go to the new apprentices' dormitories like some bored apprentices to "inspect" them.

After just a brief understanding of the new apprentices' situation, Sain continued with his studies.

...

Mentor Moses' laboratory.

On this day, Sain came here as usual.

Unlike usual, Mentor Moses was not in the alchemy laboratory conducting an experiment.

Instead, he was sitting in the first-floor living room, chatting with visiting official black mage Dylas.

After respectfully greeting Mentor Moses and Master Dylas, Sain headed towards the laboratory.

On his way through the living room, Sain accidentally overheard Mentor Moses and Master Dylas discussing the new batch of apprentices.

"This time, only about 200 apprentices met the mental strength requirement."

"I wonder if the number of qualified apprentices in the academy will meet the requirements of the deans in ten years." This was said by Master Dylas.

Due to frequent visits to Moses and their shared origin from the Western Islands, this official black mage had secretly formed an alliance with Moses.

A month ago, Dylas obtained information from Moses that ordinary black mages in Muzobura City had not yet touched.

Just this information advantage alone was enough to place Dylas among the top ten official black mages in Muzobura City.

It was unclear what information he had obtained that made him pay unprecedented attention to whether the number of academy apprentices would be sufficient in the future.