Chapter 11: Chapter 11：The Difference Between Apprentice and Assistant
This morning, Jess made his way to the Mage District, feeling that after a few days' rest, he was presentable enough to be seen in public again.
Although there were still some bruises on his face and his walk was a bit unnatural, at least he had taken the bandages off his arm and appeared to be a normal person, ready to plunge back into life's routine.
Arriving at the Mage District, he knocked on the door of Marin, the master wasn't there, but inside was a young woman in her twenties cleaning the room.
She glanced over, her face square with well-defined features, her dark brown hair neatly combed back. Jess thought she bore a striking resemblance to Marin.
"Hello, you must be Mr. Jess, right? My father has gone to the Redridge Mountains, it might take him a week to return. He mentioned that you might be coming soon but did not foresee your youthfulness..."
"Are you Master Marin's daughter?"
"Yes, I'm Amy, an apprentice mage at the Wizard's Sanctum. Speaking of which, you encountered gnolls at Westbrook Garrison a few nights ago, didn't you?"
"Yes, if it weren't for Master Marin, I might not be alive."
Amy said anxiously, "I didn't expect the gnolls to resurface at this time. The orc invasion inflicted severe damage to their tribes as well, they too benefitted from the orcs' defeat. To think they would turn to attack us, it's infuriating."
"Perhaps with their intelligence, they can't grasp gratitude or cooperation," Jess said.
"I hope to simply regard them as pure beasts, but gnolls do possess warlocks. Even dark magic will accept anyone willing to embrace it, but one must possess a certain degree of intelligence to comprehend spells. Sorry, I digress. The recent event left me shaken, worrying about my father getting injured. He asked me to orient you with the job once you arrived, so let's start from here..."
Watching Amy put down her duster and washing her hands in a basin set aside, Jess said, "Actually, I came today to discuss my remuneration."
"Do you not know the apprenticeship stipend for mages at the Wizard's Sanctum?" Amy asked as she dried her hands. "You're a northerner, right? Your accent sounds like you're from the Kingdom of Lordaeron."
Jess responded affirmatively. When he first arrived in this world, he had memorized languages like Chinese and English, having painstakingly worked to avoid a strange accent. He had never expected that everyone would be able to tell he was from Lordaeron after growing up.
Amy explained, "Let me give you a brief overview, and you can share your thoughts. Six silver coins per month. You can join the mages in the Sanctum's dining hall for meals. Living arrangements, the Mage District has free dorms specifically for apprentices and assistants. They are usually full, but with the expeditionary force's departure, some apprentices have followed their mentors to Nethergarde Keep, so rooms might become available. I'll keep an eye out for you. You might be able to move in as soon as next month."
"Thank you, you've been very helpful."
"Not at all, I thank you for assisting my father."
"Are meals free as well?"
"They are, but might be quite monotonous, just a few pastries and bread. If you want something better, you can go to a tavern outside. I wouldn't recommend The Slaughtered Lamb; the atmosphere there always feels odd."
Listening to Amy's description, Jess felt it aligned with his expectations. Another month of renting wasn't an issue; after all, he could soon move into the free dorms.
Nevertheless, he had hoped for a higher salary, especially considering the job was in the Mage District, but six silver was already better than many other places in the city.
Most importantly, he saw an opportunity to become a mage.
"Now, for the work," Amy said, picking up a mop. "Every morning, before my father arrives, around this time, you need to clean his study; sweeping the floor, dusting off. Ever since the ogres came through here, there's been a lot more dust than when I was a kid. The books usually don't need sorting, Father arranges them himself, it's much simpler than having to sort the library..."
Tidying the study and dusting were certainly no issue for Jess, who had served as the hygiene commissioner for several years in middle school.
"The detailed tasks, my father will explain to you upon his return. Today, you can start by cleaning this place up." She then wiped the sweat from her forehead with relief, "Now that I think of it, I finally have someone to help. Ever since my father sent his last apprentice to Redridge Mountains, all these chores have fallen on me."
"No problem, ma'am," Jess replied, unable to help but ask, "When can I start as an apprentice?"
"An apprentice?" Amy paused, then asked, "You mean, a mage apprentice at the Wizard's Sanctum, to become one of my father's pupils?"
"Yes."
"Being an assistant is not the same as being an apprentice... Assistants help with the mages' day-to-day tasks, apprentices are here to learn magic."
Jess felt as though he'd been struck by lightning. How could an assistant of a mage not become an apprentice? What kind of reasoning was that?
It turned out this was why Marin was willing to take him in; he just wanted someone to help with physical labor and had no intention of taking on an apprentice after all.
So why ask all those mystifying questions? Jess felt cheated, but getting emotional over an old man was indeed odd.
Seeing the boy's apparent surprise, Amy asked, "How old are you this year?"
"Seventeen, almost eighteen."
Shaking her head, Amy said, "To become a magic apprentice, one must ideally start training at a very young age, entering schooling around the age of eleven or twelve. If you reach your age without prodigious talent, it might already be impossible to train to be a competent mage. I entered the Wizard's Sanctum to study at the age of twelve, and I'm twenty-six now without having become an official mage. If I fail to advance by thirty, my father might be disappointed."
She sighed, then continued, "But there are many apprentice mages over thirty in the Sanctum, most of whom became apprentices before fifteen."
"What if," Jess said, "I mean, what if I had a strong talent? Exceptionally strong."
"Have you never tried casting spells before? Master Medivh could skillfully wield various schools of magic at the age of ten..."
Goddammit, being overpowered much?
Got the Demon Lord, Sargeras, inside you? Big deal.
Got a Guardian of Tirisfal over 800 years old as your mom? Big deal.
Jess clenched his fists, feeling the agony of not possessing a golden finger, being ridiculed by innate talents from this dimension.
He took a deep breath to calm his emotions and said, "I guess someone like me... can't compare to the greatest mage in human history. But I'd still like to try, is there a way to test my talent?"
"Of course," Amy replied. "The foundation of all arcane abilities is to establish a connection with the ley lines."
She pulled a book on arcane runes from the shelf, opened it to a rune page that Jess recognized as an arcane symbol.
Amy expertly drew on another blank scroll, swiftly completing a rather complicated new rune.
Jess felt a bit sheepish, he felt he couldn't reach such expertise in ten years.
While she drew, Jess even sneaked a peek at the top of her head to see if she'd secretly added an Arcane Intellect buff or something, because this apprentice was extraordinary.
After finishing, Amy handed the extended scroll to Jess and said, "Please, make it glow."
"What?" Jess looked at the rune scroll in his hand and asked, "Isn't there a method of guidance?"
Amy responded, "A child with talent would tune into the ley lines during their growth and habitually practice this resonance, much like nail biting. It's not painful; it's addictive... So it's rare for children to deliberately suppress this, with high elves as the extreme example of such habits. If you don't know how to proceed, perhaps it means you're not suited to be a mage."
"Is that so?"
Jess was vexed. He grasped the scroll, trying to close his eyes and sense the so-called "ley lines."
The ley lines could be understood as the lifeblood of Azeroth.
Azeroth in fact was a nascent titan, whose blood vessels flowed with not blood, but the purest arcane energy.
The ancient elven-guarded Well of Eternity was a wound accidentally inflicted by the Titan Pantheon's leader, the Father of the Gods, Aman'Thul, in an attempt to cleanse the evil aberrations infesting Azeroth.
It could be said that every creature born on Azeroth was influenced by the ley lines to different extents, and those able to harness the ley lines, in turn, influenced the ley lines and Azeroth itself.
Jess refused to believe he couldn't resonate with the ley lines.
Perhaps his golden finger lay right there—awaken, supreme magical talent.
He concentrated hard, so much so that he ignored the throbbing pain in his lower abdomen where Hogger had kicked him.
However, after intense concentration, the scroll remained unchanged.
Was the problem her rune drawing, apprentice?
He thought of asking directly but was too embarrassed to speak out.
Amy took the scroll, glanced at the rune, and it immediately emanated a faint white magical glow, casting a soft purple luminescence across the room's walls and all objects within.
"Just like this," Amy raised her eyebrows, "I'm sorry, Mr. Jess."
Jess's mind buzzed. He couldn't believe that this was the result.
What kind of crossover was this?
Not only did he lack any talent, but he was also even less than a common apprentice?
This dissatisfaction, however, was fleeting. In his past seventeen years, he had grown accustomed to such disappointments.
In fact, he had conducted similar arcane tests as a child, not as reliable as this time, but they indicated something, after all, he had hoped for some change.
In the end, there was none.
He realized that the path to becoming a mage was likely closed to him.
"Thank you, Miss Amy," Jess said. "Actually, I didn't necessarily want to become an apprentice to study magic, but rather to broaden my horizons and learn about things I don't understand."
Amy smiled with narrowed eyes, "I'm glad to hear you say that. The library is open to all who work in the Mage District. Come by this afternoon, and I'll give you a badge that will identify you. With it, you can move freely within the Wizard's Sanctum."
"That's exactly what I was hoping for."
As Jess spoke, an idea emerged in his mind; he must revisit The Slaughtered Lamb... no, more than once.
He intended to go again and again, not only for the money, but for something much more important.
Dark magic, unlike arcane, as Amy said, 'Dark magic is willing to embrace all who embrace it.'
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