Chapter 4: Summoning Apprentice
The overall tone of White Coral Academy was dominated by shades of white and gray. At its center stood a magical tower roughly thirty meters tall, its ivory-white body encircled by Northern European-style academy buildings in various hues of gray and white.
Green vines coiled around, branches grew lush and thick, and numerous rooks and witches riding flying magical tools darted through the sky. All these added a lively sense of busyness to the otherwise cool-toned academy.
“Good afternoon, Miss Bell.”
“Hello, polite apprentice. Are you here to submit a quest or to purchase something?”
On the first floor of the magic tower, a lazy black cat lay idly upon the magic crystal wall of the quest submission platform. This time, however, Janna, who had just returned to the academy, did not maintain the usual calm indifference she displayed when dealing with Luke and Bloodfang at the Antler Alley Tavern.
Her etiquette was flawless, her smile warm and courteous, like a humble apprentice facing the strictest mentor. Even though the black cat in front of her hadn’t so much as glanced her way, Janna didn’t dare raise her voice.
“I’m here to submit a quest, and I’d also like to rent a magic scroll.”
“Is that so? Give me your quest submission slip.”
“Here you are.”
Janna gently placed the quest slip onto the magic crystal wall. The black cat, addressed as Miss Bell, didn’t even lift her head. She merely tapped the slip lightly with her tail.
In an instant, a delicate origami paper crane fluttered silently out from the envelope, landing beside Bell’s right ear. Its beak opened and closed noiselessly, whispering inaudible words that Janna couldn’t catch.
“Mm, well done. The academic credits have been transferred to your account. Be sure to check.”
“Thank you, Miss Bell. I bought this dried silverfish snack while doing quests at the Antler Alley. If you don’t mind, I’d be honored if you’d try a bit.”
“Oh? Bring it here and let me see.”
When she saw the small packet of dried silverfish that Janna took out, the black cat, who had been lying sideways, immediately sat up.
With a flick of her tail, the brown paper bag of silverfish floated from Janna’s hand to in front of the cat. The pink nose twitched slightly as the normally indifferent feline face showed a rare expression of interest.
“Little apprentice, what’s your name?”
“Miss Bell, I am first-year apprentice Janna Roland.”
“Mm, I’ll remember you. Next time, don’t bring me anything again, got it?”
Seeing the cat pretend to be stern, Janna gently nodded. “I tried this batch myself and found it tasty, so I bought extra. If you like it, I can help buy more in the future.”
“Mm, I’ll let you know after I try it.”
The fluffy tail swayed again, and with its motion, a palm-sized dimensional rift appeared behind the black cat Bell. With another flick, the brown paper bag flew into the rift and disappeared.
“That’s an interdimensional storage pouch. When you’ve saved up enough academic credits, I can give you a discount on one.”
“Thank you, Miss Bell.”
“Oh right, didn’t you also say you wanted to rent a magic scroll?”
Having stashed away the silverfish, the black cat returned to her lazy sideways pose. But this time, her usually indifferent large cat eyes gave Janna a few more glances.
“Yes, I’d like to rent a scroll for Spirit Summoning.”
“Spirit Summoning?”
Sensing the magical flow within Janna, a hint of understanding appeared in Bell’s eyes.
“So you're a dual-affinity apprentice of the Mysticism and Plant branches… not bad… wait a moment.”
The pink nose twitched again toward Janna’s direction, and the once nonchalant feline face suddenly showed a look of confusion.
“The plant aura on you is very strange… extremely strange. But your development is too shallow. I can’t pinpoint exactly what’s odd about it.”
Upon hearing Bell’s words, Janna, who had been smiling, slowly lowered her eyes. Her long black lashes cast subtle shadows that hid the unnatural emotion stirring in her gaze.
“A summoning scroll suitable for a wizard apprentice… found it, here it is… but your current wizard level is too low. You may need to wait a bit before you can grasp the contract knowledge within.”
As soon as she finished speaking, a printed version of the magic scroll appeared on the crystal wall.
“The content in this scroll is for your eyes only. After one month, it will vanish automatically… It costs 70 academic credits. Just tap here.”
“Alright.”
Hearing the amount, Janna winced as she pressed her index finger onto the fingerprint scanner of the crystal wall. As light flowed and a sharp sting touched her fingertip, the recently warmed credits, along with her previous savings, were deducted from her apprentice account.
“Thank you for your help this time, Miss Bell. I won’t disturb your rest any longer. I’ll take my leave now.”
“Go on.”
Carefully storing the scroll, which was worth over 70 Gold Surrels, Janna bowed and turned to leave the magic tower in quiet steps.
“The academic credit reward from this purification quest wasn’t bad—7 credits. Adding in the 68 I’d saved before, I finally had enough to redeem the Spirit Summoning Scroll… But now I only have 5 credits left. Not even enough to buy the cheapest crystal ball.”
On her way back to the dormitory, Janna continuously counted her pitiful credit balance. The deeper her thoughts went, the more her delicate brows furrowed.
“Thankfully… I still have a few coins I earned from Luke at the Antler Alley Tavern, plus the 10 Gold Surrels in monthly apprentice subsidies. I can barely scrape by for now. But… for a wizard apprentice, this amount of money is merely a drop in the ocean. It doesn’t cover much at all.”
At White Coral Academy, aside from apprentices from the lower districts, a significant portion hailed from wizard families in Turin.
Compared to a penniless, powerless, and connectionless apprentice like Janna, those born into families received far more resources from their clans—even if their talent didn’t surpass hers.
Even though Janna had advanced to a first-level wizard apprentice ahead of others, without sufficient resources, it would be difficult to maintain her advantage.
Of course, the world never mistreated talented people.
Apprentices like Janna—lacking power, status, and wealth—could, with their talent, receive treatment even better than a bloodline-relative with lesser gifts, if they agreed to pledge loyalty to a major family.
Not to mention, aside from her talent, Janna possessed a beauty that made others covet…
“Fortunately, I have the daily quest System, my golden finger. Even if it can’t conjure Gold Surrels, the rewards from completed tasks ensure I won’t fall too far behind in growth. It’s just that I can’t afford the next set of paid lessons…”
“Sigh, making money is always the biggest headache…”