Chapter 4: Academies of Arcmania

Lucifer's main target for coming in Arcmania is to gain knowledge. And the best way to gather knowledge is to be admitted into an academy. Lucifer wanted to enroll in an academy and scour for knowledge from there. So he had to choose which academy he wanted to enter.

Academies that had great reserve of books and researches and a good course system which gave more independence would be the most suitable for him. And this would be the entrance of him in the wanderer world. 

"Now then, tell me about the academies in this city." 

"That will use one of your 99 free information. Do you want to proceed?" 

"Yes." Lucifer replied calmly. 

"There are 13 wanderer based academies, 27 non-wanderer academies inside Arcmania. The wanderer's academies are:

Number 1 in overall ranking, St. Aron Acadmeny. The best academy for magicians. The students of this academy are highly talented in magic and specializes in magic oriented combat. 

Number 2 in overall ranking, St. Garos Acadmeny. The best academy for engineers. The students of this academy are highly proficient in handling all sorts of machines and technology. 

Number 3 in overall ranking, Academy of Sages. The best academy for researchers. Students of this academy are highly intelligent and knowledgeable. 

….. 

The non-wanderer academies are:

Number 1 in overall ranking, St. Youns Medical College. The best academy for doctors. The students of this academy are highly proficient in medicinal arts. 

Number 2 in overall ranking, Agricultural Academy of Arcmania. The best academy for all sorts of agricultural divisions. Students of this academy focuses on agricultural productivity and are highly creative. 

Number 3 in overall ranking, Arcmania Academy of Laws and Politics. This is the sole academy for law studies and politics. Students of this academy are cunning and treacherous. 

….. 

….. 

"

A long list of academies were presented in front of Lucifer. He calmly read through all the information. This long list contained a general overview of the academies. But Lucifer needed a more specific explanation. 

Then he asked, "Give me a list based on the most amount of knowledge and books the academies possess." 

"That will deduct one of your remaining 98 free informations. Do you want to proceed?" 

"Yes." 

"Number one in terms of book possession, overall ranking 3, Academy of Sages.

Number two in terms of book possession, overall ranking 2, St. Garos Academy. 

Number three in terms of book possession, overall ranking 6, St. Helena Academy. 

Number four in terms of book possession, overall ranking 5, Arcmania Academy. 

….. 

….. "

The mechanical voice sounded and on the holographic screen many information regarding the academies appeared. One by one he calmly read through the details of all 40 academies. He did not want to miss any opportunity just because of negligence. And if there was one thing that no one in the world could compete with him, it would be patience.

After he finished reading, he sorted out 4 academies. Academy of Sages, St. Garos Academy , St. Helena Academy , St. Felona Academy. These 4 were most suitable for him. Especially the Academy of Sages. It seemed tailor made for him. 

Now he had to decide which one he could enter. The requirements for entering into the academies were of no problem to him, with his talent he could enter any academy. The number one academy in Arcmania, St. Aron Academy did not even enter his eyes. St. Aron Academy had an insane amount of talent requirement for its students. Many could only hope for such talent but could never have.

The reason why Lucifer did not even consider the number one academy is simple. It was magic oriented but he wanted knowledge. As for talent, he had enough to not even consider the talent requirements. 

St. Garos is an academy focused on engineering. Most of its majors are on engineering. It was greatly famous for building up world class engineers. It was only natural that It possessed lots of books in its library. But because engineering was rather tough, the students were not allowed to read books from other majors beside their own. The world was fascinating and engineers being engineers would certainly try to get their hands on more knowledge. But this would in turn harm them instead of benefiting them. So if they really wanted to read other books one must do tasks given by the authorities. 

Academy of Sages is an academy which focuses more on knowledge, it had both magic and engineering knowledge and much more. But this academy was more focused on research. They were famous for bringing up world class scholars and researchers. The education system in this academy was a little unique. Each student after admission must be under the tutelage of a professor. They would still have to attend classes and learn from other professors but they would have direct access to their own professors. Normally the students and professors wouldn't have much intersection beside classes and projects. But this direct pupil system enables professors and students to interact on a personal level. As such it was beneficial for the students when they had any doubts. Besides, the professors in this academy believed "teaching is the best way to learn". So it was in fact not just students but the professors who benefitted too. 

To read the books, one must gain the permission of the professor. The good part about it was, being a pupil of a professor would help students learn more systemically and under supervision the students wouldn't be led astray by their curiosity. 

St. Helena Academy is an academy famous for its diversity. It had a wide range of subjects and courses. It had both magic majors and engineering majors. And it accepted all sorts of students, both human and demi-human but as an academy located on a human city the human students were the majority. There was certain requirements to enter the academy. To read books in this academic, one must become a member of the library committee and perform the duties of librarians. One would not have any restrictions to the books one could read. 

St. Felona Academy is an academy famous for its lavish operating structure. This academy's principle was 'money rules supreme'. One can get into any course and any major one wants with enough money. There was no restriction to things you could do in this academy. The only restriction this academy had is money. So it was quite popular in the upper echelon of humanity. To read books one simply had to pay for the book. One could read as many books as one wants without any restriction. The only limit was one's pocket. 

These 4 were the most suitable for him. Now he had to decide on which one should be better. 

So, Lucifer started crossing out his choices. "In St. Garos, I can read the books of my major but to read extra I need to do tasks, I can't focus on gaining knowledge if I have to be busy doing tasks. Same goes for St. Felona. Though I can read as many books as I want to, but sooner or later I will run out of money. I will then have to focus on earning money. This won't do either. They are not suitable for me."

"Two remains. Both have pros and cons. If I choose St. Helena then I won't have any restriction, I can read books freely, but being a librarian means I need to do lots of job as a librarian. The 3rd largest library in this city of knowledge is no joke. If I choose Academy of Sages, I have to become a pupil of a professor, while it can provide me with a mentor and show me a clear path, I will have to follow the professor's instruction, causing me to loose my freedom."

Lucifer looked up. Above there was just the ceiling of the floor. There was nothing remarkable on the ceiling. His hand was still, his posture was straight yet relaxed and serene. His eyes looked upward calmly, a closer look would finally reveal that he was thinking, thinking which academy was the best for him. 

This was Lucifer's habit. He had formed the habit of looking upwards to ponder and make a decision. This was the habit of the past 14 years of staring at a lifeless object hanged onto the ceiling which was his only reason for existence. 

10 seconds, 20 seconds, 30, 40, 50, 60!

Exactly 60 seconds later, Lucifer turned around and left the booth. He had made up his mind. This 60 seconds, decided the fate of countless lives……