Chapter 7: The Grand Gift of the Holy Temple

Long Dangdang was a bit dazed as he left class. Today's first lesson was mainly about getting everyone to know and familiarize themselves with each other, without much substantial content.

Just as he was walking out of the classroom, an angry voice suddenly rang in his ears, "Long Dangdang, come out here, meet me at the registration office entrance."

"You can be a bit quieter, I'm not deaf," Long Dangdang rubbed his ear. The voice came from a small earpiece in his ear.

Because of their special circumstances entering the academy, Long Leilei had spent a lot of money to buy them this communication device. Within a ten-kilometer range, they could communicate at any time, which also meant they could help each other in emergencies.

When Long Dangdang arrived at the registration office, the furious Long Kongkong was already waiting.

"What's up?" Long Dangdang only let his guard down completely when he was with his younger brother.

"Do you still have the nerve to ask me what's up? Long Dangdang, you liar, where are the beautiful girls? Our entire class is full of guys, even the flies are male," Long Kongkong shouted angrily.

"Ah? I didn't know! Who would have thought your knights are so peculiar," Long Dangdang said innocently.

Long Kongkong glared at him, "I see, I see. You kept saying you wanted to be a mage before, because there are more girls in the mage class, right? You are really too devious."

Long Dangdang sneered, "When Mom said she wanted us to become mages and mentioned that there are more girls, what did you say at the time? You said, 'What's the point, they're not mine.' You didn't care at all. Have you forgotten?"

Long Kongkong was taken aback, "Did I say that? I, I said that just to avoid going to school. Since we have to go, of course... I don't care, I want to go to the mage department too."

Long Dangdang said coolly, "It's too late, it's too late."

Long Kongkong's eyes darted around, and his anger quickly turned into a smile. He moved closer to Long Dangdang, grabbed his right arm, and said, "Bro, you're my real brother, right? Let's make a deal!"

"Flattery will get you nowhere. You call me 'bro' when you need something, but you call me 'Long Dangdang' when you don't. Do you think I'll fall for that?" Long Dangdang looked at him with disdain.

"Bro, look! You have to help me cover up my lack of talent, right? So, you have to learn knight skills. And when you help me cover up, I should at least know a bit about mage knowledge. How about this: we switch every other day. Tomorrow you go to my class, and I go to yours. This way, you can study both magic and knight skills, and you won't waste your excellent talent!"

"Pfft, don't try that. I have seven elemental talents, I can't even practice them all, let alone dual-cultivate," Long Dangdang looked up at the sky.

"Bro, think about it. My talent is so weak, even worse than ordinary people. Can you bear to let your little brother never find a wife? Besides, this is the best way to cover up our impersonation. Do you want Dad and Mom to be punished because of our exposure? Think about how they risked everything for us. As their sons, shouldn't we fulfill their wishes?" Long Kongkong looked at him with a pained expression.

Long Dangdang glanced at him and said, "I can agree, but you have to promise me that even with your poor talent, you must study seriously. Otherwise, I can't cover it up alone."

Long Kongkong was taken aback, "How can I study with my poor talent? My innate inner spirit and innate magic spirit are not even enough to qualify for admission."

Long Dangdang narrowed his eyes, "Our homeroom teacher said something today that I found very reasonable. She said that specializing in one thing is easier to improve than trying to do everything. It's okay to have poor talent. I think you should reduce what you learn, only cultivate one or two types of magic and one or two skills. Practice every day and become proficient. Even with poor talent, you can still learn some basic skills, right?"

Long Kongkong asked doubtfully, "Is that true?"

Long Dangdang said, "We have to try. As long as you promise to study at least one magic and one knight skill well, I'll agree to switch classes with you. This is also to cover up and avoid trouble for Dad and Mom."

"Deal, it's settled." Long Kongkong agreed quickly to avoid facing thirty male classmates, including the teacher, every day.

The two brothers were about to head back to the dormitory when a figure suddenly descended from the sky, blocking their path.

Seeing this person, the two brothers were taken aback. Long Kongkong's eyes immediately sparkled, "Wow, a beautiful lady! Ouch, why are you pinching me?"

"Teacher, hello." Long Dangdang pinched Long Kongkong while bowing to Si Yu.

The person blocking their path was none other than Si Yu, the homeroom teacher of the first-year class one of the Magic Academy, a beautiful woman with long, wavy red hair.

"This is the genius from the Knight Academy, your twin brother Long Kongkong, right?" Si Yu looked at Long Kongkong with interest.

Long Kongkong's eyes sparkled even more, firmly believing that he must switch to the Magic Academy, "Teacher, hello. I am the wise and handsome Long Kongkong."

Si Yu smiled, "Hello, I am your brother's homeroom teacher, Si Yu."

Long Kongkong was about to say something but was quickly covered by Long Dangdang, "Teacher Si Yu, is there something you need?"

Si Yu said, "The Holy Temple has sent someone to look for you. I didn't find you at your dormitory, so I looked from the air and saw you two. Come with me quickly, they are waiting at your dormitory entrance."

"Okay, teacher." Long Dangdang glanced at Long Kongkong.

Long Kongkong nodded continuously, indicating that he wanted to go with him.

The two brothers followed Si Yu to Long Dangdang's single dormitory at the Magic Academy.

Sure enough, at the dormitory entrance, two middle-aged men in magic robes were waiting. The standard uniform of the Holy Temple is white, and the elemental symbols next to the magic emblem on their chests indicate their specialties.

One was a fire mage, the other a wind mage, the two most common types.

Si Yu nodded to the two mages, "Here is Long Dangdang."

The two mages looked at Long Dangdang and Long Kongkong, but were a bit confused for a moment.

"Hello, I am Long Dangdang," Long Dangdang stepped forward.

"I've heard you are twins," the fire mage said with a smile, "Aren't you going to invite us in?"

"Oh, please come in, teacher, please come in," Long Dangdang quickly opened the door and invited everyone in.

It was a simple one-bedroom apartment, about sixty square meters, which was already very luxurious for the academy, especially for lower-year students.

But when the two mages entered, they frowned. The fire mage said to Si Yu, "Is this the treatment for our genius? There isn't even an elemental gathering array?"

Si Yu quickly replied, "It will be set up, we just haven't had the time yet."

The fire mage said, "No need, I'll set it up for Dangdang later. Teacher Si Yu, please step outside for a moment."

"Okay." Si Yu looked at the two mages from the Holy Temple and then at Long Dangdang, and walked out.

"Should I go out too?" Long Kongkong volunteered, hoping to chat with the beautiful teacher.

"You are the genius brother, you don't need to go out," the fire mage said with a smile.

The wind mage, who had been silent, suddenly asked Long Kongkong, "Genius brother, have you tested your innate magic spirit? What is it?"

"Nine." Long Kongkong felt the title "genius brother" had a mocking tone.

"That's fine." The wind mage's gaze immediately shifted away.

Are you being polite? Long Kongkong was furious. Is it that people with no talent have no rights?

The fire mage then said to Long Dangdang, "Dangdang, after learning about your innate magic spirit, the main temple has taken great interest. But they also respect your and your parents' choice, allowing you to continue studying at the Holy Temple Academy. However, according to our advice, you should transfer to the temple within six years. You shouldn't stay at the academy for too long."

Long Dangdang was taken aback, "This, I need to discuss with my parents."

The fire mage said, "No rush, we can talk about it later. This time, we came to reconfirm your talent and bring some expectations and support from the temple. So, we need to retest your innate magic spirit. Is that okay?"

"Okay." Long Dangdang nodded.

The test results were obvious. When the two mages saw the high innate magic spirit of eighty-four, their eyes lit up with excitement.

"It's eighty-four, not eighty-three! The previous test at the branch temple had some deviation. Maybe your state was different then. No problem, no problem, a little more is better," the fire mage was so excited that he waved his fists.

"Now, let me tell you the temple's expectations. As a possessor of the elemental blessing constitution, you have one of the strongest talents in our Magic Temple. Even while studying at the academy, you must work hard and not slack off. The temple hopes that by the time you are twelve, you will reach the third rank, which is the formal rank of a mage."

Long Dangdang had just learned about the mage ranks today: from lowest to highest, they are: Magic Servant, Magic Apprentice, Mage, High Mage, Mage Knight, Mage Lord, High Mage Lord, Holy Mage Lord, and Law God.

A third-rank mage requires a magic spirit of two hundred points. With his innate magic spirit of eighty-four, his cultivation would definitely be much faster than that of ordinary mages.

"This goal shouldn't be too difficult, right?" the fire mage asked with a smile.

"Um, um." Reaching two hundred from eighty-four in two years would be easy for a genius.

The fire mage said, "The temple won't put too much pressure on you, and you are still young, so we hope you can enjoy your childhood. Here are some supports from the temple to help you cultivate here." As he spoke, he took out a ring that looked like a white crystal and handed it to Long Dangdang.

Being the son of a deputy head of a branch of the Holy Temple, Long Dangdang and Long Kongkong had some knowledge. They almost said in unison, "Storage ring?"

The fire mage nodded with a smile, "Exactly, a storage ring. You can use your mental power to retrieve items from it, and you can also put things inside. This ring has a three-cubic-meter space, which should be enough for you now."

More than enough, it was too much. Long Dangdang remembered that his father's storage ring only had a two-cubic-meter space, and he had boasted about it to the two brothers.

Focusing his mind on the ring, he vaguely saw something inside.

The fire mage's eyes flashed with surprise but quickly returned to normal, "No wonder you are a genius. You can communicate with the storage ring even before learning how to use mental power. I'll help you take the items out first."

As he spoke, he touched the storage ring in Long Dangdang's hand, and several items appeared.

A wooden staff, a necklace, and a scroll.

The fire mage introduced, "This is the Spirit Awakening Necklace. It enhances the gathering of magic elements during meditation, improving meditation efficiency. The staff is the standard staff of our Magic Temple, which is usually only issued to formal members. It increases the gathering speed of any elemental magic by ten percent and the power of magic elements by ten percent. Keep this scroll close. If you are in danger, open it. It contains a combination spell, a seventh-rank Holy Spirit Protection and a distress signal. This means that if you open it in danger, it will protect you temporarily, and the nearest mage will see the signal and come to your aid immediately."

"Besides these, I also brought two spirit furnaces. You can choose one."

When they heard "spirit furnaces," Long Dangdang and Long Kongkong's eyes widened. This was really a grand gift from the Holy Temple!