Razart Hall, where Zaroth had just finished his lecture, was built over a decade ago. Thanks to a donation from the Kaldar family. It was the third largest building on campus. Since it was vacation period and most of the students were away, he decided to take a walk around the campus after leaving the bathroom in the Razart Hall building.
"It's quite spacious."
The university campus was much larger that he had anticipated. The entire area was mostly flat , and the gardens, recreational fields, buildings, facilities and pathways all reminded him of the Chinese campuses he and his team had used as models.
He headed towards the Mage Tower. For context, the highest ranking university in this game was The Dexurial University, and the Mage Tower was its most prestigious department.
As he walked, he suddenly noticed someone following him closely. The thought of an assassin briefly crossed his mind, but it was just the mage who accompanied him since the car ride. He was to busy in his own head to realize the mage had been following him around since the e d if the lecture. Although he didn't know who it was the mage kept his head down and well hidden under a cloak.
"What's your name?" He asked.
"S-sorry?"
"May I know the name to which you identify with?..." Zaroth asked again
"Oh... My name is Hakai, sir." The mage replied with a stammer.
Zaroth didn't say a word and kept on walking. Hakai sensed the tensed mood and suddenly started speaking.
"Professor! T- the way you walk, it's like you're having your pictures taken... I should have brought a camera..."
"There's no need for that anymore. Just talk comfortably, I don't bite." Zaroth replied.
"Ah, o...okay sir..."
He thought maybe the former Zaroth would have instructed him to say such things before.
The Mage Tower was visible from anywhere on campus due to its height, and he reached it rather quickly by just following his line of sight.
Head Professor: Zaroth Kaldar. Identified.
Authentication Complete
The Magitech gate of the Mage Tower recognized his body and iris, and opened automatically. As soon as he entered the lobby, many people lowered their heads towards him. He nodded in acknowledgement and then spoke to Hakai.
Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
"Let's head to the office."
"Yes, sir!"
Hakai hurried to press the elevator button in the lobby. His office door was on the 75th floor. The elevator, powered by mana crystals, arrived in merely a few seconds.
Head Professor: Zaroth Kaldar
Written boldly on the door of his office which took up nearly half the floor, making it a spacious and luxurious area. The interior was a spotless as a sterile needle, with shelves filled with numerous books. The desk held a crystal orb, a pen, a diamond name plate, the seal of the grand university professor, a golden staff, and more.
He surveyed the space, trying not to show any reaction.
"What is this?"
He asked as he sat in the chair, a document on the desk caught his attention.
"Umm, it's the list of funded novice mages of this year Sir!" Hakai replied.
He opened the document and skimmed through the contents.
__________
Novice Mage (Debutants)
Name: Leslie
Age: 19 Years Old
Properties: Elemental
Category: Support
Sponsorship: 30,000/500,000
Scouting Report: NIL
__________
"Hmmm..."
He nodded his head as he looked at the document easily understanding what it meant.
In this world, The Mage Tower was a research institution where research funding was essential. In fact, mages required far more money than modern scientists or engineers.
They needed astronomical resources not only for developing practical, destructive or useful magic but also fur the basic living expenses, training cost and materials necessary for their advancement.
As he skimmed through the names, he noticed some of them were written in gold ink. He realized they were profitable names, likely due to the combination of attributes like Wealthy Magnate and Compass Needle.
__________
[Wealthy Magnate]
?Grade
:Rare
?Description
:A born magnate and exceptional financier with an unrivaled intuition for profitable things.
: The more information provided, the more accurate the intuition becomes
__________
[Compass Needle]
?Grade
:Rare
?Description
:The ability to visually perceive intuition, attributes, mana points, and similar elements.
: It's primarily used in conjunction with other traits rather than on its own.
__________
It was a combination of attributes that reacted exceptionally well to profitable matters and the ability to see attributes with ones own eyes. In other words, by simply analyzing the scouting reports of mages' names and strengths, he could determine which one would be profitable.
"This name looks familiar..."
__________
Novice Mage (Debutants)
Name: Seraphina Nightshade
Age:18 years old
Properties: Material
Category: Destruction And Support
Sponsorship: 0/10,000,000
Scouting Report: NIL
__________
He looked at the girl in the photo, she had light gray hair and jade coloured eyes filled with discontent, staring straight ahead. She was beautiful yet very much unrefined, like sour dough or a young cub that was released into the wild too early.
Although he hadn't come across this character in his passed life, he remembered hearing from the writers that she had a deep seated enmity with Zaroth apparently relating to her father. Despite this, her sponsorship remained at zero, while other novice mages received funding of at least 10,000 Drayth
"Why doesn't she have any funding?" Zaroth asked.
"Sorry?"
"The name is Seraphina Nightshade."
"Uh... I'm sorry?" Hakai flinched.
"What's the issue here?"
"Um... The other professors and the sponsors at the Mage Tower, they were all being cautious because of ..."
It was because of him, Zaroth. Nodding, he continued to scan Seraphina's report and discovered something that picked his interest.
__________
Sponsorship: 0/10,000,000
__________
"Hakai, do you know how much a meal in the cafeteria costs these days?" He asked.
"Ermmm..." Hakai stammered while adjusting his dressing.
"A king sized cutlet costs about 3 Drayth. It's delicious, you should probably try it sometime... "
Zaroth fell silent for a few seconds after Hakai's statement.
"Then, this girl really seems like she's naive about how things work... Or she probably doesn't care at all".
The maximum request able funding was about 10,000,000 Drayth.
"Funding..." He said rubbing his lower chin while deep in thought.
The young Mage named Seraphina Nightshade was Zaroth's enemy. Or more accurately, Zaroth was her enemy. However, regardless of her grudge against him, even if he left things as they were in the original game, he would have still ended up meeting the same fate with someone else.
Villain's Fate.
He was predestined to die in this game no matter the scenario. The character Zaroth was to die in many ways: a sword through his chest, poison, bomb attacks -
whatever the method, the fact that he would die remained unchanged. Therefore, he needed to make different choices, choices the original Zaroth Kaldar would never have made...
