"The Omniscient" Harloys. In the mage world where knowledge was power, not only was this title quite eye-catching, it was also quite hated.
Didn't the Omniscient mean that she knew more than any other mage? In the mage world, which was also filled with scholars, this was a great mockery. However, not only had Harloys steadily carried this title for thousands of years, she had also done quite well in the Cloud City, where there were many archmages. She had taught many disciples she was proud of.
And if she intentionally taught something wrong while teaching others knowledge and led them astray, it was likely that her reputation would be tarnished, and she might even be exiled from the Mage Country.
That was why when she said that she misled her students, she had to look at it from a different perspective. She meant that she didn't give them her own personal teachings, and only taught them common knowledge from textbooks.
The Mage Country's foundational education was supported by the various academies. Naturally, the academies had their own textbooks and classes to choose from. The contents taught were all classics that had been passed down for thousands of years, which was quite suitable for building a foundational foundation. However, if one wanted to progress further, they would need to understand another truth in the mage world: knowledge had a price.
Basic knowledge wasn't difficult to learn. However, the pursuit of magical knowledge was limitless to begin with. After students graduated, if they weren't satisfied with just being an apprentice for the rest of their lives, they would have to consider joining a mage organization, taking on a personal teacher, or both at the same time … and that would also mean paying a price. The relationship between a mage and a teacher was far stronger than that between a father and a son. Not only that, the elder would have a one-sided advantage, so many apprentices would naturally follow their teacher and inherit their teacher's worldview, good and evil, research field, and social connections. They would even become their teacher's property.
That was why many apprentices would sign a contract with their teacher before taking on a personal teacher. They would either pay a certain number of years of service to their teacher, or they would use a certain amount of gold coins and magical materials to redeem their teacher's freedom. It wasn't that there weren't any stories about an old grandpa dropping out of the game for free, but the chances of that happening were about the same as those in stories.
For these old pedants, reading books that should have long since been tossed into the trash heap of history would naturally lead their students on a different path.
In the world of mages, knowledge was power. Knowledge had a price, and if you obtained it for free or at a low price, you would only be able to obtain it on the streets. If you wanted to obtain more, you would have to pay the price.
From a certain standpoint, Harloys was a generous and outstanding teacher. Over the long years, she had taught countless powerful mages. Not only was she not stingy with her magical knowledge, she was also able to teach students in accordance with their aptitudes. She would choose the most suitable spell type and magic type according to an acolyte's talent. Her limitless magical knowledge was also the source of her nickname of "Omniscient."
Unlike other "misers," Harloys didn't have high requirements when taking on apprentices. She could even promise to pay for them later in the future. After all, there was a magical contract, so she didn't need to worry about the apprentices going back on their word. She also asked for far less than other archmages.
From a certain standpoint, Harloys was the most irresponsible teacher of all. She was different from other mages who would constantly test their apprentices and only take one or two apprentices in their lifetime. She was also different from those evil mages who would have their apprentices fight each other to determine the best apprentice. Harloys didn't care about her apprentices' growth at all. She didn't care much about their apprentices' growth. Whether or not they became talented didn't really matter to her. Although she gave them magical knowledge that was worth tens of thousands of dollars, she never expected anything in return from the very start.
"… My apprentices shall take revenge on the Superior Elves and the Elven Gods as long as they have the chance."
From a certain standpoint, the human mages' enmity towards the elves really did have something to do with Harloys. After all, after the apprentices who received her help became archmages, it was quite easy for them to use their power and authority to cause trouble for the elves. No matter how simple the contract was, it still had to be fulfilled.
The Gold Princess had used her own methods to take revenge on the elves for tens of thousands of years. Now, she had even become the Elven Empress. It really made one sigh at how cruel fate was.
Harloys' teacher-apprentice relationship was obviously based on exchanging benefits. She also had a way of making use of each other, which made her apprentices feel like they didn't love or get close to Harloys. This was despite the fact that Harloys had taught the most apprentices, and that she had even chosen evil and dark seeds for the sake of taking revenge …
Actually, whenever I thought about this, I would always feel that Harloys was far too narrow-minded. If she had truly spent so much time and effort teaching her apprentices instead of simply using a contract to set up benefits for both parties, with her teaching ability, lifespan, and accumulation of knowledge, if she had a normal teacher-apprentice relationship in the mage world, she would have probably become the most famous mage in the entire mage world.
Currently, most of the Truth Archmages in the Mage Country were from mage organizations. And the most stable relationship within a mage organization was the teacher-apprentice relationship and inheritance. From a certain standpoint, the entire Mage Country was basically an academic organization (or academy). The mages would naturally be the headmaster and the professors.
Just thinking about Harloys, who had students everywhere, was quite scary. If that really happened, it would be a simple matter for her to take revenge on the elves and the Elven Gods. Mages would never fear the Elven Gods.
"… Tsk, it's all thanks to the silly cat's long hair and short knowledge. Just thinking about Harloys, the ruler of the Mage Country, is so scary."
All-knowing was an incredibly coveted title for mages. Others probably thought that Harloys was teaching her apprentices based on her many years of accumulated knowledge. However, only those who were truly familiar with her would know that Harloys was involved in far too many and varied fields, far beyond the comprehension of ordinary mages.
Undead, fire, ice, lightning, illusion, alchemy, energy, and so on. I had never seen anything that Harloys wasn't proficient in. Her accumulation of knowledge was incomprehensible, as any type of magic would require an entire lifetime of research and accumulation. Rather than being proficient in everything, it would be far more efficient to focus on something and reach the peak.
In the world of mages, being an all-element mage was nothing more than a joke. After all, a person's time and energy were limited. And when a certain type of magic or academic research reached a deep level, it would naturally take up all of one's thoughts and time. One's knowledge system would be remolded, and one's way of thinking would become fixed. Research would become one's life. Even if one had extra energy, it would be difficult to divert it to do anything else.
More than 70% of mages were single-element mages. Having one major and one minor element was already the limit. There were less than one hundred unique archmages with three elements in the entire Mage Country, and I only knew of one who had four elements. Cough, my situation was quite unique as well … Yet, Harloys was able to reach the peak in every single element, which was even more incomprehensible.
"… Where does she have the time and energy to go gather magical knowledge and historical inheritances? Not only that, magic isn't something that can be learned just by reading books. You also need to practice, practice, magical experiments, and actual combat. Theoretical mages who don't have actual combat experience are nothing more than trash. How did she accumulate all this practical combat experience? "
But today, Harloys showed me her greatest secret, the source of her power.
"This is my Soul World, the temple of the all-knowing …"
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