Mythology: Ragnarok

After selling the horses, Izz barely managed to make ends meet. Actually, Izz wasn't short of money. The magic crystals his father left him were worth at least hundreds of thousands of gold coins. However, Izz had nowhere to sell them. Carrying such valuable items while dressed in rags would make anyone suspicious. Izz didn't want to fall into the lion's den after escaping one. Unless it was a critical moment, he would avoid using those magic crystals if possible. Otherwise, with his current status and strength, he wouldn't be able to keep that money even if he had the life to take it.

Izzy's main goal right now is to study at a magic academy, but without any connections, she is at a loss. So she has to find an affordable hotel to stay in and then ask around for any good opportunities.

Soon, Izzy learned that the five major magic academies would be recruiting students in a year. However, the recruitment was actually just selecting people with magical talent from the local residents of Augustus. So, ordinary people could only immigrate if they wanted to join the academy, while most of the princes and nobles from other countries could only come here as exchange students through connections.

Izzy knew that her talent was only below average. In order to enter the academy, Izzy had to use some means. However, first Izzy had to become a legal citizen of Augustus. To do this, Izzy spent all the money she had to get a legal farmer's status and a lease of about five acres of land for a period of four years.

After all, Izzy doesn't have much money, so this is already the best she can do. Anyway, now that she has a legal identity, she'll see if the academy can be lenient with her during the admissions process.

In the days that followed, Iz spent her days in the small wooden house she had built, living a frugal life. It was the end of autumn, and the farmland she had rented was not ready to be planted in time. So she would occasionally go into the city to find odd jobs to make ends meet. With this meager income, Iz managed to get through that winter. Fortunately, Augustus was located in the central part of the continent and the winters were not particularly cold. Otherwise, our story would have ended here.

When spring arrived, Izzy sought advice from her farmer neighbors. People with misfortunes often have a strange sympathy for each other, and the farmers enthusiastically shared their farming experience and knowledge about what crops were suitable for the area with Izzy.

After that, Izzy listened to her neighbors' advice and bought wheat and some vegetable seeds. Izzy planted vegetables, fertilized and watered them in the rented land, and had a rudimentary experience of the life of a farmer. Even though she only planted five acres, it gave Izzy a different kind of life. The harvest day came soon.

When summer arrived, Iz harvested the wheat from the fields, hauled it into the city, and sold it at the market. Although Iz still lacked planting experience, fortunately, the overall environment was good this year. In addition, farmland was scarce in Augustus, so the price of grain was generally high. Iz sold his grain for a high price of sixty silver coins. After deducting taxes and market commissions, Iz received forty silver coins. After deducting costs, Iz made about twenty-eight silver coins on this trip.

Don't be fooled by the seemingly high income; in reality, the purchasing power of a silver coin is about the same as that of a hundred-yuan bill. For example, a farmer who cultivates fifty acres can earn about five gold coins after deducting costs after a year of hard work. This is because grain prices are relatively high in Augustus. In other regions, farmers are considered to have had a bumper harvest if they can earn three gold coins a year.

In many countries, farmers work during the busy farming season and then go out to work during the off-season in order to make a living. They dare not be idle, otherwise they will not be able to survive.

So the more Iz experienced their lives, the more pitiful they felt. But there was nothing Iz could do to help them. Now she was in dire straits herself, and kindness was a quality that only the strong deserved and could uphold.

Soon the selection for the magic academy began. Iz followed the long procession to the central square where the various academies recruited students. The square was filled with students who came to study. There were tens of thousands of people in the procession, but the five academies only had about five thousand places in total. Therefore, in order to retain talent and develop the economy, people without local citizenship were not allowed to participate in the selection.

After verifying his identity, Izzy was swept along by the crowd to the central square. As the admissions instructors from various academies announced the start of admissions, everyone lined up in long queues at the admissions offices of their preferred magic academies. Izzy didn't aim too high; he chose the Elemental Academy, which was the lowest-ranked of the five academies, and queued there.

The Elemental Academy had significantly fewer students than the other academies, so it wasn't long before it was Izzy's turn. The recruiter was a gaunt-looking old man. When Izzy came to him, the old man called out, "Put your hand on the crystal ball in front of you, and then I will determine whether you are qualified to enter the academy."

Iz, however, was not in a hurry. Instead, she handed a small cloth bag to the skinny old man in a very proper manner, saying, "Respected magic master, I know I am mediocre, but please forgive me. This is a local specialty from my home. Please don't refuse it. It's not much money, so please accept it."

The skinny old man frowned slightly, intending to refuse, but at that moment he sensed abundant magical energy from the bag. With his keen senses, he instantly realized that what the little guy had given him was no ordinary gift. When he opened the bag, there was a pile of potatoes on it, nothing special. But the old man's sharp, eagle-like eyes immediately spotted the magic crystal buried inside, with only a small corner showing.

The skinny old man immediately beamed and replied, "Alright, I quite like it, but I can't just take your things for nothing. Here, take these copper coins; consider it as me buying them from you." With that, he tossed a bag of money to Iz and then accepted the bag.

Iz then placed her hand on the crystal ball, which immediately emitted multicolored light. The thin old man shook his head as he watched this and said, "Nine-color talent, barely enough. This is your token. From now on, you are a student of the Elemental Academy. Report to the academy at eight o'clock tomorrow." With that, the old man tossed a token engraved with peculiar patterns to Iz.

Izzy hurriedly accepted the token and left the square with profuse thanks. The skinny old man watched Izzy's back with a complicated expression. Magical talent mainly depends on the number and brightness of the colors displayed on the crystal ball. The fewer the colors and the higher the brightness, the higher the person's magical talent in the corresponding color. Izzy's nine-color talent is a useless talent that every magic system can learn but can never learn to a high level.

Only magical geniuses whose crystal ball displays a single color have the potential to become high-ranking mages or even supreme mages of forbidden spells. Normally, elemental academies would never accept someone with Iz's talent. However, Iz had given him benefits and used connections, and in fact, every academy recruits some mediocre students to fill the bottom positions. After all, no one wants to be at the bottom. If only geniuses were recruited, some would inevitably have their confidence undermined. This is where someone like Iz comes in handy, allowing those talented but temporarily frustrated geniuses to find a sense of superiority in these "useless" students.