I was immediately happy to see the twenty-four-hour timer appear.

I had been worried that the second year would take more time to complete. That the time skip I had bought would not have worked on it.

With a hesitant breath. I chose to use the time skip.

[Congratulations on your first Second Year Graduating Class. Eight Students have passed the test and graduated.]

[Congratulations you have drawn the chance to recruit a [Elite Teacher]]

That was more than I was expecting. It seemed that the Elite teachers did their job well.

I took an eager look at the level of the second-year graduates. It wasn't a surprise that most were now Mages. There were only two outliers.

[High Mage Woodard:

Skills: Pure Magus Core, Earth Magic, Fire Magic]

[High Mage Park:

Skills: Pure Magus Core, Earth Magic, Enhancement Magic]

It seemed that the elite teacher had been quite effective. While I had somewhat expected Woodard to do well. The other student seemed to come out of nowhere. It seemed that he was a late bloomer with a real talent in Enhancement Magic.

I was left with a choice of who to imbue for myself. After all, it would probably be a while before I had a third-year class. Even with the bounty of cores, I had. I would have to unlock all of the academies to even attempt a third year.

I was only left with the dilemma of whether the mage should be the only student I should imbue.

First I focused on drawing my reward. Another Elite Teacher that I hoped I would be able to make use of immediately.

[Elite Teacher Rivers,

Speciality: Aura(Foundation),

Secondary Skills: Swordsmanship,

Teaching Ability: High]

I immediately placed the teacher into one of the available slots. While I didn't have enough Aura students to start a second year yet, I knew that the time was coming. I hoped that by tomorrow I would have a far more comprehensive second year.

While I was tempted to use the time skip on the first years. I decided to save it for the moment.

With that done I was left with the decision of which Mage to choose. Ultimately I had to go with High Mage Park. While Fire Magic would have been nice to learn. I could learn it from one of the other mages at any time. I knew that Enhancement Magic would work well with my aura skills.

The rush of power was once again intoxicating. The power of a High Mage was now flowing through my veins.

A level I had only dreamed of reaching before. The difference between the levels was stark. That much was clear.

I was also glad to see that Park had focused on different spells compared to the first mage I had imbued.

Mage Lauren had been focused on summoning spells. While Park had set his sights on defensive spells.

In combination with his enhancement magic, he was a formidable talent. I felt a lot more confident heading down into the city, even without imbuing the Knight.

Stolen novel; please report.

The mix of the defensive and enhancement magics with Bronze Skin was a potent combination. I would expect anyone under the level of a Grand Core would have difficulty dealing any damage to me.

After writing a simple note to Eddie about what I had done with the Cores. I left the villa. After all, I didn't want an angry Arch-Knight chasing after me.

Douglas was currently dealing with the scouts of the Dread Beasts. Harold was searching for any people with even a slight bit of power to help out in the coming days.

I assumed at one point there were several guards stationed at the entrance to the villa. But at this point, they were long gone. So I had no problem walking straight out of the gate and out into the noble quarters.

Which was closer to a ghost town at this point. There were still a few guards patrolling around. But they ignored me. It seemed that the clothes Harold had bought me were good enough to pose as a noble.

There were still a few guards at the entrance to the noble quarter. After asking for a token to be able to use to return. I began to walk into the centre of the city.

The main streets were far busier than the noble's quarter. With countless people walking around going about their business.

I could tell that they still knew something was coming, as there was a tense air around most people. Everyone seemed a little too serious.

Any shopkeep or worker I tried to talk to, didn't seem to want to answer any of my questions.

It seemed that my new attire was a double-edged sword.

It was only after flashing a few coins that got one of the shopkeepers to engage with me.

"Any news? What's happening in the city?"

He gave me another look-over after asking the question.

"I'd say you know better than me lad. But trouble is brewing. That much is clear to everyone. A beast wave is coming, and not just a small one. Worst in decades according to anyone in the know."

It was about what I had been expecting, and it was echoed by quite a few of the people around us.

They all knew that hard times were coming. They only didn't know how hard they would be.

I tried my best to spend most of the coins I had on hand, helping people where I could. But there was only so much I could do.

For now, I had to focus on finding the people I would imbue with the power of a Mage. People who would stick around even with their newfound strength.

A few questions around brought me closer to the walls. To a Magic Academy.

Rae's Great Mages Academy.

It was quite the grandiose name. Unfortunately, it didn't match up. The Academy was in a large rundown building that had seen better days decades ago.

It didn't look like the place that a Great Mage would be teaching at.

I also knew from both the Teachers and Eddie, that there was no one above the level of a Mage in the entire city.

That only made me more curious about who this Rae might be.

Walking into the Academy, I was immediately met by a class being taught in the courtyard. A group of malnourished children sat in front of an eccentric-looking man.

His grand robes and pointy hat made him the very image of a powerful Mage.

This was the only Mage Academy outside of the noble's quarters. So I couldn't be too choosy. But I could sense that the man teaching didn't even have the power of a Mage.

I listened to the lecture for a few minutes. To see if what he was teaching was sound. While my theoretical knowledge was lacking. I knew enough to tell that the man was no hack.

He knew what he was talking about. He was only lacking the power to back it up.

"If everyone has understood. Then I will end the lessons for today. Now repeat after me the tenets of our school."

"Magic is the best. Magic is the coolest. With Magic anything is possible."

The chant from the students was a little endearing I did have to admit. I did wonder what possessed the man to choose such a chant for his academy.

I let all of the students leave before I approached the man.

He seemed a little preoccupied behind his desk. The one place in the courtyard that was under a cover of any kind.

As soon as he noticed me, a smile lit up his face. While my control wasn't the best, I knew enough to make sure that the Adept in front of me wasn't able to sense my level of power. As such I was a little curious as to why he was happy to see me.

"I hope you enjoyed my lecture. I assure you that if you choose to invest in my academy, I won't let you down."

It seemed that my attire was doing me a service once again.

As an investor asking a few questions certainly wouldn't be too strange.

"I only have a few questions for you, sir Mage. How many graduates have you had in the past five years? At what level of power have they graduated?"

He only laughed in response.

"Come now, business talk should come later. For now, let me treat you to a meal."

I could only follow him into the rundown building. I could see why he didn't want to host the class inside. The building looked like it was on the verge of falling down.

After a few moments of walking, he brought me into one of the rooms. I had expected a dining table or something of the sort. So I was a little surprised to see it empty.

Not only that, the walls were also inscribed countless times over by runes. I hadn't learned what any of the runes meant thus far. But the now locked door behind me meant that they were probably meant to do some damage.

Rae's voice came in through the door.

"There is enough power in that room to kill a High Knight. Tell me why you are here?"