The powerful had their glory, while the weak had their struggles.
Due to poor business, the previous tenant held on for more than half a month before finally giving up. He owed Caelan two months' rent, packed up the valuable goods from the shop overnight, and fled, leaving behind only worthless scraps.
Actually, Caelan could have taken him to court, and if he did, the man would most likely not escape justice. But the coin, time, and effort spent would simply not be worth two months' rent, so he could only let it go.
After a period of scattered thoughts, Caelan opened the status panel he'd previously created for himself, utilizing the illusion knowledge from his memories, as if he had some kind of System:
Name: Caelan Ashford of House Ironfist
Age: 19 years old
Family: Only son, parents alive (in poor health, farming at home)
Appearance: Handsomely approachable (the only point both Caelans were satisfied with)
Talent: Two-star Fire, one-star Lightning, one-star Water, one-star Wind, one-star Earth, one-star Light, ten-star Illusion (Caelan specifically added a shimmering golden effect, and every time he saw this talent, a voice would echo in his mind: "Wow, a golden legendary!")
Combat Power: Unranked
Magical Power: First Circle Illusionist, First Circle Fire, First Circle Wind, First Circle Lightning
Overall Power: First Circle
Mana Level: First Circle (approaching Second Circle)
Wealth: 7 gold crowns, 43 silver marks, 137 copper bits (exchange rate 1:100); one shop of approximately twenty-seven square meters in a relatively prosperous area; hundreds of various books; sundry goods in the shop... Wait. Oh right, my parents are alive, so I'm not an orphan. Does this mean I don't have the protagonist's fate?
Caelan frowned, lost in thought... If magical development was like traveling a certain distance, then generally, a six-star talent was like a person with healthy limbs running; five-star was like a person with a leg injury limping; four-star was like a person who just broke a leg slowly hopping; three-star was like a person with both legs broken, only able to crawl with their hands; two-star was like having only one hand left; one-star was a standard limbless torso, slightly better than a person with no stars and a broken spine—at least they could see where the finish line was, and wiggling like a worm wasn't impossible to reach the end... As for ten-star, the limit Caelan could imagine was not just having wings to fly, but also carrying a propulsion engine.
Alas. The above was Caelan's personal understanding of talent star ratings. It was a bit exaggerated, but the principle was the same.
Thinking of crawling to the finish line with one hand.
Caelan sighed, slowly lifted his right hand girlfriend, looked at her, and decided not to make her work so hard.
Actually, there were no absolutes in life; talent didn't determine ultimate achievement. The founding emperor of the Moonwatch Empire, his highest talent was a mere four-star Fire affinity, but he eventually became the foremost person below Legendary rank at that time, single-handedly using his abilities to transform the Five Great Empires—which had been passed down for tens of thousands of years unchanged—into six.
Speaking of this legendary emperor, Caelan, who had transmigrated, felt a strong sense of familiarity, not only because this legendary emperor was a well-known transmigrator, but also because he was highly likely from Earth.
First, after he became famous, he adopted the name "House Ashborn." Based on some of his later actions, Caelan believed that it must have been inspired by some concept from Earth culture.
Secondly, not only his House name, but he also changed his given name from the previous "Yaros" to "Aldric," with his full title being "Aldric the Sage, Emperor of Moonwatch." Furthermore, the first part of all his descendants' names followed a similar pattern—for example, the second emperor's name was Aldric Xander of House Ashborn.
Influenced by the founding emperor, most of the people in the Moonwatch Empire also changed their names to this style. The First Emperor was also happy to provide naming templates to various regions. As a result, if you also transmigrated from Earth, you would see people of various skin and hair colors throughout the Moonwatch Empire calling themselves with Earth-like given names combined with their unique House surnames.
Caelan himself had blue hair and blue eyes, but fortunately, his skin color was similar to his previous life.
Besides name-related matters, the founding emperor also had many great achievements: for example, he abandoned pure combat aura and created the Spellblade techniques that combined martial prowess and magic; he pioneered the academy model to educate the Empire's citizens and cultivate talent; he invented the enchanted crystal receiver and founded a news agency; he collaborated with druids of various races to develop many high-yield crops, leading to explosive growth in the world's population; he improved laws and enhanced civil rights, and so on... He was truly a protagonist template.
The people of this world seemed to lack "creativity"; many things had been passed down for an extremely long time. For example, the otherworldly version of a nuclear weapon, the "Cataclysm Spell," most of what had been passed down originated from the creations of the Divine and Infernal races countless years ago. Since humanity had dominated the world for over a hundred thousand years, they had only barely managed to create two new "Cataclysm Spells."
Therefore, the reforms and inventions of the founding emperor Aldric were absolutely world-shaking. Unfortunately, the only drawback of such an amazing person was his short life; he lived for less than two hundred years before passing. The cause of his death was widely debated: some said he died from overwork due to his diligent governance, some said he died suddenly from having too many women and exhausting his body, some said he was assassinated by the Divine and Infernal races, and some even said he didn't die but went to another dimension... But no matter what, in less than two hundred years, he rose from a commoner, built a sixth Empire from scratch that could stand on equal footing with the Five Great Empires that had been passed down for countless years, and invented and created many things and laws that changed the world, benefiting countless people. Such achievements were so great that even the perpetually hostile Lion Kingdom had to admit that decades after he died, he was listed as one of the greatest emperors in history.
Gathering his thoughts slightly, Caelan checked the time and realized that most of the morning had passed, making it unnecessary to report to the academy. According to the regulations of the First Emperor, regardless of basic, intermediate, or advanced level, for 360 days a year, twelve months, students would attend classes for nine consecutive months, studying diligently for four hours each day, and could do whatever they wanted with the remaining time; after every seven days, there would be three days off, and they could do whatever they wanted during those three days; after completing nine months of study, there would be three consecutive months of vacation, during which they could do whatever they wanted.
All this merely illustrated one point—students in this world were particularly idle. Due to the systematic improvement of training methods by the First Emperor, the previous practice of solitary, arduous meditation was proven to be ineffective and risky. Ten minutes of full absorption in their respective mana-rich chambers each day was sufficient; excessive absorption was ineffective and harmful. After absorbing the mana from the enchanted arrays, the rest was up to their individual abilities to convert it into their own power.
So, what was taught during the four hours each morning, besides the ten minutes spent absorbing mana from the corresponding magical arrays? In addition to the relevant magic and combat knowledge, students could also choose elective courses such as alchemy, potion-making, runecraft, herbalism, and other specialized subjects. Furthermore, there were cultural aspects; academies in the Lion Kingdom, Shadow Reach Empire, and Frostpeak Empire generally spent more time on things like praying to their respective deities; academies in the Dragonspire Empire could teach some small dragon-taming tricks; as for the Phoenix Empire, this country had more women who held absolute dominance, and it was said that their advanced academies had specialized courses teaching students how to win over men.
And as the birthplace of Spellblade techniques, the three academies of the Moonwatch Empire, in addition to systematically teaching magic and combat arts, also taught mathematics.
This was strongly promoted by the First Emperor and written into law. However, from Caelan's current perspective, the First Emperor's math level was probably only that of a normal person after ten years in society; he hadn't forgotten everything, but didn't remember much. As a fellow transmigrator, Caelan naturally understood the importance of learning mathematics. The First Emperor's strong promotion of mathematics was certainly in the hope that mathematics could develop like it did on Earth, thereby changing the world again. However, people in this world apparently didn't understand, and coupled with a seeming lack of creativity, after the First Emperor's unexpected death, it seemed no one in this world cared about such knowledge anymore. When it came to this class, students didn't know what to learn, teachers didn't know what to teach, and the law stipulated that it couldn't be canceled, so everyone could only self-study.
A few seconds of sadness for the First Emperor... After the sadness was over, Caelan casually ate some dry bread with water, then collapsed onto his bed, continuing another day of doing nothing. As a special admission student with the weakest (no other contenders) combat power in the entire academy, although he was famous, no one would say anything about skipping class, let alone for just a few days; even if he never went to the academy, no one would comment...
"It is known that the world currently has ten main magical energies:
Fire, Water, Wind, Lightning, Earth, Nature, Light, Shadow, Space, Time.
Leaving aside rare ones like Illusion, Sound, Image, and Force.
Among them, Fire, Water, Wind, Lightning, and Earth are called the Five Elemental Schools. Any flesh-and-blood creature in this world will possess at least one-star talent.
Nature magic, also known as Life Energy, is a talent generally possessed only by specific racial creatures, such as Elves, Minotaurs, Centaurs, and a few other groups. Humans, Dwarves, Divine races, Infernal races, and most beast races cannot possess or use it. Of course, there are exceptions; there was once a pure human in the Dragonspire Empire who possessed eight-star Nature talent, and he eventually became a renowned Druid legend..."
"As for Light and Shadow talents, there is still no absolute conclusion on how they are acquired. The Church of Light claims that only those with righteous and kind hearts can possess Light talent, while those with Shadow talent are all dark-minded and twisted... This argument is not accepted by the Shadow Reach Empire, nor do we agree with it..."
In Crimson Academy, first year class eight, the over-hundred-year-old yet vigorous teacher spoke eloquently on stage, while below, dozens of students were sleeping, whispering, or exchanging glances, with only a few listening attentively. Caelan watched with concern, deeply worried about the future of the Empire: with such a failing younger generation, how could they compete with the fierce students from the other Five Great Empires in the future?
What? Students from academies in other countries were also like this? Oh, then it was fine.
Just as he was lost in thought, the bell for class dismissal rang. The instructor stopped speaking, immediately announced the end of class, and quickly ran off, clutching an enchanted crystal. Yes, Caelan wasn't mistaken—he ran.
"Hey, Ironfist illusion god, what are you thinking about? Why haven't I seen you at the academy these past few days?" Someone came over, patted Caelan's shoulder, and asked mockingly, sitting beside him.
Caelan turned to look and found it was his fellow provincial, Theron Darkgrain of House Blackbean, also from Western Rivers Province. This guy also came from a common background. It was said that his family's legacy Blackbean dish was especially delicious, but he personally hated this House name and swore that once his power reached Sixth Circle, he would immediately change it. His highest talent was six-star Earth affinity. Through hard work, he was admitted to an advanced academy, and his combat ability was estimated to be nearing Fourth Circle, surpassing many first-year students. He was very proud of this and once looked down on other common-born classmates. Caelan, as a special admission student, was naturally no exception. From his mocking tone when he just called Caelan "Ironfist illusion god," "Ironfist" naturally referred to his House name, and "illusion god" referred to that legendary Illusionist from back then.
Caelan didn't want to bother with him and casually brushed him off: "Working as an escort."