Chapter 70
Batch Trust Grinding
Unlike the class schedules Eivass was familiar with, the Royal Law University did not have traditional “8 AM classes.”
The Seminary’s classes began at nine in the morning and at three in the afternoon. There was only one class each morning or afternoon, but there was no set end time.
Usually, the mentor would use a sand timer, ranging from forty minutes to an hour and a half, according to their own course schedule. Each time the sand ran out, a clear *ding* would sound.
After a short break, to use the restroom or grab a bite, the mentor would flip the sand timer again and begin the second session. Class would end once the sand ran out for the second time.
Two rounds of the sand timer, one upright and one inverted. This custom and method of timing was a sign of respect for the Pillar God of the Path of Balance, “Hourglass.”
He guarded the concepts of “knowledge” and “science.” The earliest “vocational educators” and “vocational researchers” in all ancient civilizations were His apostles.
Although Eivass left relatively early, Lily pushing his wheelchair meant they couldn’t walk fast. By the time Eivass reached the school entrance at precisely ten o’clock, it was almost time for class to end by the time he and Senior Haina arrived at the classroom.
This class used a medium-sized sand timer, with each round lasting an hour. This meant that this history class, which primarily involved reading from textbooks, would require sitting in the classroom for two solid hours, not including the break time.
Even though Professor Bard’s class was only once a week, this single session was incredibly taxing.
Normally, students would start to get restless about ten minutes before Professor Bard’s class ended.
They would pack their belongings, get some water, chat, and discuss where to go hang out with friends afterward. For university students, it was still a bit too early to eat, but if they went out, time would be too tight. They would usually go play sports, cards, or chess, or perhaps go to the library to study, do homework, and train.
Or they might simply go to the sports field to watch the handsome and beautiful athletes – this was also the time when the “Individual Tactics” department trained in horsemanship or swordsmanship. Once students reached their second year in the Seminary and learned to heal others through physical contact using the Illuminate Spell, it became an excellent opportunity to find boyfriends or girlfriends.
But now, they could only watch with heartache as upperclassmen snatched up the quality resources of their own year, while they themselves could do nothing.
Regardless, anything would have been better than sitting here dozing for two to three hours.
Fortunately, the professor had a good temper. Whether it was whispering or sleeping with their heads on their desks, he generally wouldn’t intervene unless it was too outrageous. He would just keep lecturing.
But today was different.
The sand in the hourglass was running low, and the students were indeed a bit anxious.
However, they weren’t anxious to go out and play; they wanted Eivass to continue telling his stories.
They were afraid that once the sand ran out, Eivass would “clock out” and stop talking.
“—Who’s going to fill in the plot for us afterward?”
Going out to play was something they could do every day, but vivid historical stories like these couldn’t be heard just anywhere.
Even if Professor Bard lectured for three hours, the knowledge would flow out of their brains like water, clean and gone.
But they dared to swear that Eivass’s stories could be retold by them in their own words at the bars, parties, or other social events that very night! A mysterious, engaging historical tale involving many Extraordinary individuals, unknown to most, yet not entirely forbidden—that was enough to make them the stars of the social scene for that brief hour!
Even students who usually skipped class took out their pens or pencils and began taking serious notes.
“In the latter half of the Shattered Land War, these Children of the Moon were defeated. Due to the Children of the Moon’s immortality and their inability to cross flowing water, they were sealed by the Daffodil Duke and imprisoned behind a waterfall, where they were forced to dig. The first Daffodil Duke was the president of the Court Alchemist Association and also the vice president of the Mage Association. His ducal title was bestowed upon him by the emperor at the last moment of the late Empire, and he was the last noble of the Empire.
“The Daffodil Duchy followed both the Path of Balance and the Path of Wisdom. Their capital was the former imperial capital. This was the first Caster nation on the entire continent, or even the world, where the top leadership was entirely composed of mages and alchemists—this might be a key point, students, please take note.”
Eivass’s tone was calm, and his voice was clear, making him immediately likable.
Unlike some visiting professors hired from out of town who had strong regional accents and peculiar grammar, requiring students to strain to understand their meaning; nor was he like Professor Bard, whose speech was vague and whose monotone made one sleepy.
As a native of Glass Island, Eivass’s Avalon language was exceptionally standard—unlike some instructors from Glass Island whose voices carried a distinct Elven accent, leading to misunderstandings for students unfamiliar with Elven. For instance, Eivass’s father, James Moriarty, was such a person.
“As for the Children of the Moon who were not sealed, they rallied with the former Imperial Art Association and together established the Iris Kingdom. The Black Hawk Duke, who guarded the border and believed in the Lord of Scales and Feathers, remained almost unharmed during the Shattered Land War due to his neutral stance. Because the Black Hawk Duchy’s land was fertile, they harbored a large number of mercenaries and adventurers, as well as professional soldiers who had lost their income. Combined with the Black Hawk Duchy’s numerous hunters, pharmacists, and assassins, they became the nation with the strongest military power after the Empire’s division.”
Lily behind Eivass’s wheelchair widened her eyes and looked at her young master in front of her in surprise.
Lily knew that Eivass enjoyed reading strange books at home, but as a dutiful personal maid, she had no idea he was so knowledgeable!
She looked up at the quiet students from the podium, her brown pupils seemingly sparkling.
Yes, this is it…
This is wonderful, exactly like the university classroom of my dreams!
And Eivass, reaching this point, chuckled, “You must all be asking… why was the Black Hawk Duchy, the only nation to preserve its military system intact, instead annexed by Star Antimony?
“That is because the Star Antimony Kingdom inherited the Empire’s most colossal legacy—
“The Demon Scholars, who were almost wiped out by the Children of the Moon, and the Necromancers, who were loyalists of the old Empire and were targeted at the very beginning of the Shattered Land War. As the biggest losers, they had nowhere to go. At this point, the emergent alchemists from the ‘Twelve Keys,’ who had amassed significant funds and talent during the war, gathered them together and established the Star Antimony Kingdom.
“The alchemist who led the rebellion from the Alchemist Association and founded the ‘Twelve Keys’ was the founder of the Star Antimony Kingdom, Valentin I. These common alchemists, all from commoner and minor noble backgrounds, did not destroy the old Empire’s aristocracy; instead, they maintained it, leaving almost none of the ancient imperial traditions unchanged. Even the legal and official systems were largely unaltered. Consequently, the populace welcomed Valentin I’s rule more—aside from having a more enlightened, younger emperor from a commoner background, their way of life remained largely the same.
“This alchemist unified all the civilian alchemists, declared the establishment of a nation based on alchemy, founded universities to openly teach alchemical knowledge, and lifted the ban on the sale of all alchemy books. The word ‘Star Antimony’ means ‘lion’s heart,’ which is why the symbol of the Star Antimony Kingdom is a golden heart.
“Unlike the orthodox alchemical heritage of the Daffodil Duchy, the alchemists of Star Antimony were not focused on ‘perceiving the world’ from the beginning, but on maximizing the Power to ‘change the world.’ They only created ‘useful things,’ conducting research with purely utilitarian goals and specific purposes.
“This is the greatest difference between ‘Star Antimony Alchemy’ and traditional alchemy. A portion of the knowledge in our current ‘chemistry’ comes from Star Antimony Alchemy. Undoubtedly, students—I believe this is a key point—this is the reason why the Star Antimony Kingdom’s national strength grew so rapidly, even to the point of annexing the powerful Daffodil Duchy and Black Hawk Duchy.”
Alchemists are arrogant. No one can force an entire nation’s alchemists to conduct research in a designated field solely for the benefit of the ruler and the state.
—Unless this path is the one the alchemists chose themselves.
“During the Shattered Land War, Valentin I captured, studied, and analyzed those Children of the Moon. Eventually, he dispelled some of the mysterious knowledge of the Path of Love and transformed it into his own Power.
“Afterward, Valentin I proposed a new concept: he believed the Philosopher’s Stone was impossible to achieve. It violated the essence of ‘equivalent exchange,’ one of the core principles of the Path of Balance, and thus he no longer considered the Philosopher’s Stone one of the three ultimate goals of alchemy.
“He added a new ultimate goal, another path presented in his book, ‘The Triumphal Chariot of Antimony’—achieving the sublimation of Antimony and manufacturing ‘Star Antimony.’ Before this, Antimony was not considered one of the ‘Seven Basic Metals’ traditionally valued in alchemy; alchemical research on Antimony began with Valentin I.
“Because Antimony represents animalistic nature in alchemy, the refinement of Antimony implies the refinement and sublimation of animalistic nature.
“In other words—with the right methods, any mortal can become a god. This is the core philosophy of the Star Antimony people.”
Just as Eivass finished speaking, the bell on the sand timer on the desk rang. The content in the book had also just concluded.
Upon hearing the bell, the students erupted in a chorus of complaints.
“Ah, it’s over already?”
“Professor, please have Eivass continue!”
After all, Eivass had exceptionally enriched the details glossed over in history books with his “historical” accounts.
In this World, secrets are wealth, and knowledge is Power.
What he spoke involved a great deal of superficial alchemical knowledge. For Avalon, where alchemy had only recently begun to flourish for twenty years, this was something most students had never encountered and were curious about.
It was like how UP Masters who shared niche, cutting-edge knowledge would captivate even lazy viewers who usually ignored lectures.
Eivass deliberately veered into the conflict of Paths and then focused on alchemy, all for this moment.
He remembered that even an excellent student like Senior Haina couldn’t resist its charm. While partly due to her rebellious nature and her strong Adaptability to the Transcendent Path, it also indicated that despite the Queen’s decree allowing alchemy, it was still an extremely mysterious existence, even at the Royal Law University.
Naturally, these first-year students, having just entered, would find it even more irresistible.
Eivass himself was two months behind, was the professor’s son, and had a close relationship with Haina. This would normally cause his classmates to distance themselves from him.
But he knew this much.
Hidden among these students were numerous side quests—though he had forgotten many of the details and triggers, he clearly remembered the dense cluster of white question marks on the map. He also remembered the most crucial rewards.
When he first entered the school in the original plot, right after skipping the opening CG and seeing these question marks, he couldn’t help but exclaim, “Holy shit!”
In the game, as an outsider with an unknown identity and no old classmates, interacting with these students involved at least two quests. The first quest typically involved resolving some problem or trouble to gain their trust. For some difficult classmates, it might even require a complex quest chain.
The second, or rather, the final quest of the chain, was the real “mission.” Completing it would reward a large amount of money, items, and books, or unlock reputation with certain locations and secret shops.
Doing them one by one would be too troublesome and a waste of time.
Eivass’s dazzling entrance had one of his goals to boost his presence, make his classmates remember him, and establish a persona of “mysterious, gentle, and knowledgeable…” He would later establish another persona of “powerful and helpful,” effectively skipping the initial “trust quests” with his reputation.
Looking at the exceptionally friendly and welcoming reactions of the students before him, Eivass knew his primary mission had clearly been completed!
It was all thanks to the timely assistance from Senior Haina and the professor.
With this maneuver, Eivass, imbued with the mysterious buff of a “transfer student,” achieved far more than he would have through a normal enrollment!
