Vicente and his men didn't make it difficult for the soldiers there to lead them to the envoys of the Seidel Magic College. Knowing that they would be led to these people sooner or later, they followed the group of soldiers and entered the inner area of the Rexnelts Academy.
After passing through the outer courtyards and gardens, they entered the Academy's main building, where the administration operated.
Passing through one of the most important corridors in the entire academy, Vicente and his soldiers noticed the signs in front of some doors.
From what they could see, there were departments in this academy for each magical profession that could be pursued!
The number of possibilities for students at this institution was not small!
There was no limit to how many professions a magician could have. Many would have only one profession, the most normal thing to see. However, cases of people with two or even three specializations were not completely uncommon.
Above three, things got complicated, and such people were extremely rare.
A person's magical power was closely related to what they could do. But usually, magical powers were very concentrated in particular areas, which made them more compatible with one or two different skills.
For example, it was very common to have alchemist warriors, blacksmith warriors, and so on. However, it was extremely unusual to see a blacksmith-alchemist-doctor, as the magic form required for one of these areas wouldn't normally be as interesting to the others.
Still, there was no limit to how many activities one could learn and specialize in. So studying in a place like this could be a great opportunity for anyone!
Contrary to what one might think, having more professions wouldn't necessarily get in the way of a magician reaching their peak in each of them.
It would indeed be more work to raise one's skill to the maximum if one had multiple areas of activity. But some magic forms might be compatible with more than one profession, and the magician with such a form would only have to learn the content of two areas. They wouldn't have to develop completely different powers. They would just have to adapt to different ways of using the same power.
That would be a lot of work at first, but once done, one would only have to read the books and understand the rules behind their profession, which is relatively easy to do.
Given the large capacity for storing information that the magician's mind had, having up to three areas of expertise wouldn't necessarily make one less skilled in each of their professions.
But while it wasn't that complicated to have more than one profession, there were tremendous advantages to having more than one occupation.
Aside from the obvious ability to work in two areas and earn more coins by working in both professions, one could become stronger faster.
For example, Vicente was a blacksmith and a warrior. By training his skills in either combat or forging, he could stimulate his growth in magic in both ways.
Why was this interesting? Simple, even magical training loses its effectiveness over time.
If one practiced the same training, it was natural that one day it would produce fewer results, just like a drug would produce fewer results after the body built up a resistance to it.
Having more than one profession was an interesting way to access different stimuli more easily and thus raise your level more quickly.
But as fantastic as all this was, if you didn't prepare well before the Awakening, even learning a single profession could be more difficult, even if you had the compatibility for it.
That's why a place like this was so valuable!
'There are blacksmiths, alchemists, engineers, sorcerers, poison masters, doctors... Impressive!' Vicente thought as he saw the plaques in the rooms of that corridor.
Then one of his men said. "A place like this is incredible... But it's also a bit unfair. Ordinary people must suffer to get a master to agree to teach them something. Here, the students get it easily."
"Unfair?" One of the soldiers serving at the academy looked with a smirk at the face of the Mazzanti man who had just uttered such nonsense.
He explained, showing he was proud to serve in that post. "You don't know anything. Do you think just anyone can enter our academy? To become a student here, you must have great qualities.
When we select students, we don't care where they come from. Only those with the skills we are looking for are selected.
Even the children of nobles can be rejected if they don't meet our requirements."
That was no lie. As much as corruption and favoritism prevailed in this world, the royal family of the Seidel Kingdom took the Royal Academies and the Seidel Magic College very seriously.
These two institutions were vital to the kingdom, and their mismanagement would only lead to the decline of the state, which was unacceptable!
The kingdom had sensitive data on the surplus or shortage of certain professionals. For example, if there were a shortage of doctors in Scott Province, all the Royal Academies in the province would have more places for students with an affinity for medicine the following year.
But if there were too many blacksmiths, the following selection would have a minimum number of places for young people with skills compatible with forging.
In short, every year, the configuration of places in the kingdom's academies changed to better meet the demands of the population.
Amidst this, even favored young people from the nobility could have problems getting into the academies.
For this very reason, it was not uncommon for some children of noble houses to be sent to other provinces or even states to study at academies with similar purposes.
"Is that true?" Vicente asked when he heard that soldier.
"Of course."
Then he asked a question. "But how do the associations deal with you? I mean, do you train professionals?"
The men leading them laughed. "Of course not. The academy provides theory, useful methods to improve one's abilities after the Awakening, and contacts that can make it easier for students to find their masters when they leave the academy.
But their masters do the final part of their training, and only the associations can give them a license to operate or even recognize their abilities."
'That's why these academies have no problems with the associations... Still, these young people have many advantages. If someone like Rory had had the same opportunities as some of the students at this academy, he could have gone much further.' Vicente pondered, but he didn't feel wronged or want things to be different.
Life was as it was, and he had to deal with it!
"But you're not wrong. As fair as the academy is, some really do have advantages over others." Another soldier of the kingdom commented. "Don't forget Professor Newton, Myles."
Myles looked at the man and became more serious but said nothing, for Professor Newton was truly unique.
"Oh? Talking about our men to strangers? Where did you train those fools, Scott?" A female voice reached the ears of everyone in Vicente's group as a woman and a man appeared at the door of the room the group was going to.
