Mages Are Too OP - Chapter 381
Chapter 381: Necessary Showoff
That was very rude, but nobody dared to complain even if they were angry. At best, they could only curse Roland in their hearts.
After all, Roland had invited them last night, and they had slighted their manners by not showing up at all.
So, they could only accept the subsequent disrespect.
Since it was impossible to talk to Roland, they went to those related to Roland.
The families of Vivian, Jerry, and all the other magic apprentices in the Magic Tower were pestered in the following days by acquaintances. Some even wanted to send their children to those families.
Other than them, the other guests of the party were harassed similarly.
Were it a different time and place, those guests might have been willing to help them.
But this concerned the teaching of magic apprentices. Besides, Roland had publicly stated that he was petty and vengeful.
What if the man renounced the privileges of their families after he found something?
So, only an idiot would help them.
Or at least, nobody would help them in the first batch. By the time Roland’s anger was gone in the second or third batch, they might have a try.
While the privileged guests were unwilling to help, the refused guests grew angry, because there were only two days to go until the test.
The two parties were in conflict. At first, only some families were yelling at each other, but since many nobles were related, it soon escalated into a huge fight between the two parties.
Reading the report submitted by the Black Sand Gang, Roland smiled and said, “Well, just as I expected, they’re infighting. Not bad at all.”
“That’s really an evil smile,” remarked Vincent in disdain.
Roland put the report in his drawer and chuckled. “I’m only doing the villain’s laugh. Those nobles always conspire to set up the Magic Tower. I’ve had enough of that. They think that we can’t play tricks? They can enjoy being pawns for a while.”
“Those who don’t know you will really think that you’re vengeful.” Vincent shook his head and said, “Divide and conquer does work, but it has to be backed by power. What’s next on your mind?”
Roland thought for a moment and said, “Try to recruit more civilians in your class.”
“As loyal supporters of the Magic Tower?”
Roland nodded. “Yes. The descendants of the nobles are half-loyal to their families no matter how we raise them, but the civilians are different. If we give them a chance to change their lives, they will be mostly attached to the Magic Tower.”
Vincent nodded. “Got it.”
“On the other hand…” Roland pondered a moment and said, “Try to inculcate the ideas such as ‘familial background is nothing’ and ‘you can be anything you want to be’ into their heads.”
Taking a deep breath, Vincent subconsciously sat straight. “You’re playing with fire!”
“I don’t think so.” Roland shrugged in amusement.
“Are you not afraid that they will turn the new Magic Tower upside down after they grow up?”
Roland said matter-of-factly, “By the time they grow up, our new Magic Tower will have become a gargantuan organization. If they can still destroy it, so be it… Besides, if they’re capable of doing that, it won’t be hard for them to eliminate other forces, such as the churches.”
Vincent smiled at him, deep in thought. “You’re up to something big.”
“Not at all!” Roland tried to deny it. “I’m just one of those guys who want other people to be unlucky when we’re unlucky.”
“Heh!”
Vincent scoffed, not convinced at all.
Two days passed.
The newly-established temple-styled pavilion hadn’t been dismantled yet, so the tests were held there.
Outside of the pavilion was a huge crowd of mixed civilians and nobles, who had completely surrounded the place.
Seven hundred children of appropriate ages were sent into the pavilion. The descendants of nobles, merchants, and civilians formed three different groups.
The children of merchants and civilians were much humbler than the cocky noble descendants.
The children of the civilians, in particular, were wearing clean but patched clothes, too shy to look at anybody else.
The square was even noisier than the busiest market.
Roland felt that his ears were ringing when he came out. Then, he cast the soundproof barrier that he learned from the drows to cover the whole pavilion.
The place immediately became quiet.
The soundproof shield was almost transparent. The people outside could see what was going on inside, but couldn’t hear anything.
Roland and Vincent, as two practical men, didn’t want to waste their time on any splendid speeches. They simply walked from the Magic Tower to the children.
They examined the children and, now and then, patted their shoulders, asking them to go to another side.
Every time they patted a child, his or her relatives would cheer loudly outside as if it were themselves who were picked.
Soon enough, Roland picked thirty apprentices. Half of them were the children of nobles and merchants, as could be seen from their attire, and the other half were skinny and emaciated civilian children.
Vincent picked forty apprentices and ten more civilian children than Roland did.
After the candidates were chosen, Roland canceled the magic barrier and spoke to the crowd with a broadcast spell, “We’ll have a test every year in the future. Only the descendants of those who are close to the Magic Tower will be qualified. As for the qualifications for civilians, the Black Sand Gang will be responsible for that.”
Then, the magic apprentices came out to clear the grounds, creating an empty space on the right side of the Magic Tower.
Though confused, nobody wanted to argue with the people from the Magic Tower at this point. Besides, those apprentices had the right to kick them away from the Magic Tower’s territory.
After enough empty space was cleared, Roland walked over and snapped his fingers.
Under everybody’s eyes, the square turned into a swamp at first. The mud in the swamp then rose as pillars and beams as if in a dream.
After that, the walls were established too, enclosing a square, five-story building that had a huge coverage.
At this point, many people had realized what Roland was doing.
He was doing final renovations for this massive building.
Watched by tens of thousands of people, a huge teaching building almost as high as the pavilion was erected.
Though the teaching building was shabby, undecorated and crude, and some windows were even crooked, nobody felt that it was ugly.
Magnificence was the greatest beauty.
It was a simple law that applied in architecture too.
Besides, such an unbelievably huge building had been built after no more than five seconds.
The soon-to-be magic apprentices who were just chosen looked at Roland’s back in awe and admiration.