"Gorilla City seems much bigger than Seadot." As they entered the city, Mike looked around and remarked.
Compared to Seadot, this place seemed more prosperous, with cleaner streets, more beautiful buildings, and a stronger artistic atmosphere. However, Mike still preferred Seadot because it was wilder, and he felt that he and art just didn't mix.
"Seadot is a second-tier city, while this is a first-tier city, and it's a city the empire focuses on and is actively developing. Naturally, it would be bigger and more prosperous than Seadot," Geoff explained.
After chatting all the way, there was no longer that awkward atmosphere between them. At least not on the surface.
Mike nodded and followed Geoff and the others through the long main road into the inner city. Compared to the outer city, the inner city was more magnificent. Like Seadot, it was divided into the commoner district and the affluent district. If forced to describe it, this place was cleaner, and the artistic atmosphere was stronger.
"We're here, Heidi's Magic Academy," Geoff announced.
In front of them was a wall that seemed to be made of white marble. Through the gaps in the railing, they could see neatly manicured lawns inside, with young people in uniform and gorgeous clothes walking around. They were probably students of the magic academy.
"Can we go in?" Mike asked eagerly.
Geoff looked a bit strange. Did this big guy seem so eager?
"Yes, the buyer is inside the academy. However, outsiders entering the academy need to show identification and register, which can be a bit of a hassle."
"I don't mind. I just want to go in. I've been wanting to see a magic academy for a long time," Mike grinned.
To show identification, all he needed to do was take out his mercenary ID card. The person in charge of checking and registering was also a mage. With a wave of his hand, the blood mark on the card lit up faintly, and then a magical red line appeared, connecting with Mike, proving that the owner of this ID card was Mike.
If the card was fine, then the person was fine. When the man saw Mike's brass card, Geoff and the others couldn't help but twitch their mouths again. A brass-level mercenary, this big guy is a newcomer... But, he's also an incredible newcomer. I believe this card will soon turn into a silver or even gold one.
After the somewhat cumbersome inspection and registration process, Mike was about to enter the academy but was stopped by the mage.
"What's up?" Mike looked at him.
"Outsiders are not allowed to bring weapons inside," the mage said, glancing at the heavy hammer behind Mike.
"Oh, then please keep it safe for me. It's my treasure," Mike said, taking the hammer off with one hand and handing it to the mage.
The mage subconsciously took it, but when Mike let go, he felt a heavy force and almost fell over, but Mike caught him.
"Be careful, sir," Mike said mischievously.
The mage, "..."
It seems this big guy isn't as honest and simple as he looks on the surface. Afterwards, Mike followed Geoff and the others into the academy. After the mage watched Mike leave, he turned to look at the hammer on the ground. The hammer's head was hexagonal, with no fancy patterns, all gray-black, simple and plain, with only the pattern of an angel's wings carved on the handle. The mage was somewhat incredulous and tried to lift the hammer. However, no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't move the hammer a bit.
"So heavy?! Is that guy just a brass-level mercenary?" The mage was shocked, then had no choice but to wave his hand, and magical power surged out, trying to move the hammer out of the way. However, as soon as the magical power touched the hammer, it was immediately bounced back, unable to move it at all.
The mage was even more astonished. Does this hammer also have an anti-magic effect?! You see, anything with an anti-magic property is not something you can easily obtain. Because anti-magic materials are strictly controlled by the empire and are not something you can buy even if you have money.
It seems that this kid's background is not small... Fortunately, he didn't look down on him just now because he's just a brass-level mercenary. He's probably a young master from some family experiencing life in the countryside.
With that in mind, he simply left the hammer there and waited for Mike to come back and pick it up himself.
"What a beautiful place!" Qiqi exclaimed excitedly as she looked at the castle-like academy, the lifelike statue fountain on the square, and the gorgeous uniforms of the students, her eyes full of envy.
"It is beautiful," Mike nodded.
The environment here is nice, with students brimming with youthful vitality and a full campus atmosphere. It's much better than the corporate college in my previous life!
The corporate college, although very luxurious, had a kind of mechanical coldness to it. Moreover, the students there were half-company dogs, looking down on others, and there was a lot of immature scheming and no student-like behavior at all. So Mike quite likes it here.
In his previous life, he didn't receive any college education, only a basic education chip, and the AI teachers in it didn't interact with you; it was just rigid and stiff teaching. So Mike is quite interested in trying out what it feels like to be a student.
Of course, it's just a thought; he knows this kind of place is not suitable for him. Used to the battlefield, would you let him come back and sit obediently in the classroom and listen to lectures? No way.
On the way, many students saw them, their eyes showing a curious look. The young people who had not experienced the baptism of cruel reality were quite curious about the profession of mercenaries, thinking it was a very cool thing. It may also be because Mike's robust figure is too eye-catching.
"If only I could come here to study," Qiqi said softly as she followed Mike.
"Do you want to study?" Mike was curious.
"Yeah," Qiqi nodded and said, "Many children want to come to the magic academy to study, but many human academies don't accept orcs..."
"Doesn't the Orc Empire have magic academies?" Mike asked.
"We do," Qiqi pouted and said, "But there are fewer of them, and the magical talents of orcs are not high."
"To enter the magic academy, you either need to have great magical talent or have lots and lots of money. I don't have talent, and I don't have that much money."
Feeling Qiqi's disappointment, Mike rubbed her little head and smiled, "Then follow me to make money, and we'll buy a qualification to come and have a look at the academy!"
"Really?" Qiqi's eyes lit up.
"Of course, I also want to see what this magic academy is all about." Mike nodded, his eyes firm.
Wanting to learn magic, entering the magic academy is a good choice. But he couldn't give up being a mercenary to learn magic, so... buying a qualification or entering the magic academy through other legitimate means is necessary so that he won't be constrained by the identity of a student. Although money isn't everything, Mike believes that with enough money, buying a qualification should not be difficult.
Soon, they arrived in front of a building. This was the library for magic students, and the buyer was in the library. However, when they wanted to enter, they were stopped by the library administrator, as they were outsiders and not allowed to enter the library. If they wanted to deliver the task, they had to wait for the recipient to come out.
Mike was a little surprised; he thought these magic potions were ordered by the academy, but now it seems to be a private order.
The buyer's name is Holland, and being able to buy so many magic potions at once, he must be a wealthy person. So Geoff spent some gold coins to ask the administrator for help in calling someone.
After a while, the administrator came out and told everyone that Mentor Holland was teaching students to choose magical materials and that they needed to wait. It turned out to be a mentor; it seems that being a mentor at a magic academy is also very profitable. Hearing that they had to wait until class was over, and since class had just started, it would be about an hour before it was over. This class was long. There was no way but to wait.
Perfect, Mike took advantage of this gap to take Qiqi around the academy and see this university built in the central area of the city.