He Holds a Rose from the Abyss

Chapter 3 – Poor and Ignorant

The library of Saints Magic Academy was huge, taking up almost one-fifth of the entire academy’s area. Magicians revered the power of knowledge, and the library was always considered to be the most active place for intellectual inspiration.

It was filled with all kinds of magic books and excellent assignments from students.

Sheffield walked to the “Magic Formations” area. He randomly selected a book from the bookshelf and read it.

The way he took the book was so casual that Chi Lang thought he really just took a book at random. Chi Lang asked him in a whisper: “Don’t you have to pick one out?”

Sheffield raised his eyebrows: “No, I’ve read all these books before, but recently I’ve got some new ideas and want to verify them.”

Chi Lang added a note to Sheffield’s evaluation after listening to it – top student.

However, he was not idle and found some miscellaneous books in the library. These miscellaneous books include the history books of this continent, geographic knowledge, and so on, to have a rough understanding of his situation.

The city he was in, probably located in the east of the country, the climate is good, the traffic is good, everything is good, an ordinary city, and the country and the distribution of power and so on, Chi Lang only casually looked at a few, he felt that this is too far away from him.

In other respects, Chi Lang felt that this place was similar to the western fantasy world he knew before, with different races, swords and magic flourishing, and the level of industrial development was similar to that of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.

Chi Lang only roughly flipped through these books, and finally, he decided to find time to read all these miscellaneous books once. His first wish now is to be able to return to modern times, and his second wish is to live well in the other world.

Judging from his experience in attending the class today, the teaching of magic should have started from an early age. It was very likely that he would not be able to do much in magic today, so he had to try to find another way out.

When Chi Lang looked up by chance, he saw Sheffield. Needless to say, Sheffield was easy to notice in the crowd. When his pale golden hair was illuminated, it was as if even the tips of his hair were faintly shining. It just so happened that at this time, Sheffield also raised his head, he was obviously a person who liked to smile, and when he smiled, his eyes were curved in the shape of a crescent moon.

Chi Lang blinked.

Sheffield asked: “Are you going back?”

Chi Lang nodded, he very much wanted to leave this place where the magic atmosphere was unusually strong.

Sheffield glanced at the books that Chi Lang was holding – “General History of the Deyosai Empire”, “The Geographical Map of the Surroundings of Zefnaya City”, “Elementary Magic”… He genuinely found it amusing that a person who seemed to know absolutely nothing about magic or about this continent had come here for what purpose, and how he was going to live here.

After returning to the dormitory, Chi Lang discovered three things. The good thing was that he found his application for admission and finally knew how to write the original owner’s name. The application also included the identity of the original owner, a small nobleman, his home far, far away from here. He didn’t have to worry about meeting with the original owner’s relatives for the time being.

The bad thing was that when he found the application for admission, he also found his wallet, and found that he was really poor now. He only had one silver coin and fifteen copper coins, which was probably just enough to eat in the cafeteria for a week.

He rummaged through the boxes for a long time, and finally had no choice but to accept the fact that he might really only have assets of one silver coin and fifteen copper coins.

There was one more thing that was not good or bad.

Chi Lang found the black bread hoarded by the original owner in the corner. Two boxes of black bread, neatly stacked in the corner. He took out a piece and tried to break it with his hands, but he couldn’t break the bread at all. A bread can actually be so hard, he learned something today.

At this time, he seemed to understand the reason why the original owner hoarded black bread – he was really poor. Black bread was cheaper than the food in the cafeteria, and a box of black bread was enough to eat for a month.

Chi Lang took his only possessions, and without the slightest sense of security, began to think about his own food and clothing.

Definitely couldn’t eat black bread every day, he also had to eat other food, but he had no money.

He lay in bed, sighed, and said, “I want to make money.” He sat up and asked Sheffield, “Do you know of any… paid jobs on campus?”

Sheffield was lying on the bed reading a book, his voice was very soft: “Apply to be the teacher’s assistant, or go to help Teacher Phil collect the tail of the flower beast… If you want to make money quickly, you can help others write homework, draw magic circles, complete some magic experience tasks, and the like.”

But I couldn’t even write my own homework, so Chi Lang continued to ask, “Is there anything…”

Sheffield watched him.

Chi Lang tried to grit his teeth in Sheffield’s confused sight and continued: “It’s similar to moving bricks on a construction site, picking up garbage, and helping others run errands.”

Sheffield was stunned for a moment, and then the corners of his mouth turned up again.

Chi Lang’s voice weakened and added, “It’s… work that doesn’t require much brain.”

“I don’t know about the jobs you’re talking about… But there really is a job that meets your requirements… Alchemist Luth is so obsessed with research that he locks himself in the laboratory every day, and needs someone to bring him meals every day.”

Chi Lang’s eyes lit up.

Sheffield continued: “This job doesn’t require a lot of brains, but it requires you to have a strong body and an unyielding heart.”

Chi Lang asked: “Why is it necessary to have a strong body and an unyielding heart when delivering a meal?”

“Because this alchemist’s magic experiment is relatively dangerous, don’t know what he is researching these days, but he almost blew up the laboratory. The two students who delivered meals to him before were accidentally injured.”

Chi Lang lay down again and struggled for a long time in his heart: “It’s okay, I’m fearless, I’ll take this job tomorrow.”

Sheffield whispered, “But you shouldn’t have to think about part-time jobs at this time, it’s almost time for the final exam, you can wait until after the final exam to look for a job outside the academy.”

Chi Lang sat up again, as if he had been poured with a bucket of cold water, and asked tremblingly, “Final exam?” Then he said with a ‘haha’, “Ah, so there is such a thing, I almost forgot.”

He perfectly portrayed the image of a poor and ignorant little scum.

Sheffield was still very understanding, he just smiled and said nothing.

However, Chi Lang asked hesitantly, “I also forgot, if I fail the assessment, or if it is very bad, will there be any bad consequences, such as dropping out of school or something?”

“No,” Sheffield’s tone was soft. “As seniors like us, the academy doesn’t usually drop us. As long as you don’t… fail all your classes.”

“That, that, that… that’s okay.” Chi Lang looked relieved on the surface, but his heart was gloomy. He felt that those subjects that seemed like heavenly books were really too difficult for him right now.

The room was quiet for a while, Chi Lang looked at the bedroom again, and his eyes fell on the table. He is not usually a careful person, but this time, he deliberately emptied his mind, and actually found some details.

The wooden table, only the left side was clean, while the other side was covered with dust.

He suddenly remembered what Sheffield had said earlier – “I don’t spend a lot of time in the dormitory”.

“Sheffield, you are usually not in the dormitory, where are you usually?” Chi Lang asked this sentence completely subconsciously, but he felt it was inappropriate and added, “Forget it if it is inconvenient for you to say, I’m just asking casually.”

He wondered how he could learn some basic magic, at least how to open the door. He couldn’t rely on Sheffield every time.

“Usually… in the library, you can use meditation instead of sleep, then you don’t have to waste time sleeping.”

When Chi Lang was in his own university, he always scoffed at the “waste time sleeping” such statement, but at this time in this magic academy, he sincerely felt some admiration for Sheffield.

“You look like you’re trying so hard,” he praised dryly. Thinking of Sheffield’s performance in the library, thinking that Sheffield must be a good student with good character, and then plucked up the courage to ask: “Can you… help me with my final exam? Like answering my maybe simple questions, like guessing what the final exam will be about…”

“Are you worried about not passing it?”

Chi Lang almost nodded with tears in his eyes. He didn’t know anything about this world. If he could stay in the academy, of course, it would be better than staying outside, provided that he could not be expelled.

Sheffield closed the book, lowered his head, looked at the ground, and rejected him neatly: “There is no need to help you in this regard.” Then he raised his eyes with a glint of light reflected in them and said with a smile, “I can help you during the examination.”

Chi Lang was in a trance for a moment, not quite understanding.

Can cheating be said so openly?

“The final exam is originally a test of magic ability. If you can use magic to reach the level of cheating without being discovered by others, it means that the magic ability has passed the test. Therefore, cheating is reasonable.”

“Micah… don’t you know this?”

Chi Lang felt that when Sheffield called his name, there was always a sense of playfulness, and he always emphasized the pronunciation of the name “Micah”.

Maybe it was his illusion.

“Is that so? Thank you in advance.” Chi Lang felt that with Sheffield’s help, he should not be so miserable as to be expelled from school.

Sheffield said: “Actually, I didn’t stay in the dormitory very often before, because I felt very bored…”

Chi Lang didn’t understand what he meant, and followed his words: “Of course it’s boring, there is no food or games in the dormitory, so you can only sleep.”

Sheffield laughed: “Good night, go to sleep early.”

‘But I seem to have found something very interesting now, I hope you don’t let me down.’