Chapter 233: Chapter 232 Teaching Methods Chapter 233: Chapter 232 Teaching Methods “But you know,” Richard looked at the girl and said, “asking me to clean means your room hasn’t been cleaned until now, right? How have you been living in a dirty room all this while?”
“I!” The girl’s eyebrows shot up in a flustered fury. “That’s none of your business!”
“That’s right!” The girl glared at Richard and said, “You better show some respect to me! You’re new here, while I’ve been here for two years. By all accounts, you should be calling me ‘senior.’ As a newcomer, you should have some manners!”
Richard’s eyes sparkled as he replied, “You know, the longer you stay, the closer you are to being eliminated, right? You’re still a First-level Wizard Apprentice, aren’t you? After two years, you haven’t advanced. The chances of you leveling up to the Second Level Wizard Apprentice in this final year must not be very high. There’s really nothing to be proud of in that, is there?”
The girl’s eyes widened, then she was at a loss for words.
Richard was right. In White Stone Tower Academy, staying longer did not constitute an advantage but rather a disadvantage. From this perspective, upperclassmen didn’t have as much confidence over newcomers as one might expect.
White Stone Tower Academy implemented a ten-year elimination system, splitting the teaching phase into three grades:
The first year, lasting up to three years, for First-level Wizard Apprentices;
The second year, also lasting up to three years, for Second Level Wizard Apprentices;
The third year, lasting up to four years, for Third Level Wizard Apprentices.
The meaning of “limit” was, if as a First-level Wizard Apprentice you stayed in the first year for three years without advancing to Second Level Wizard Apprentice and moving up, you would be ruthlessly expelled from the academy to avoid wasting resources.
Of course, with some sacrifice, those expelled could choose to stay as students with no status, but they would have no convenience at all, even worse off than auditors.
Second Level Wizard Apprentices, if they stayed in the second year for three years without advancing to Third-level Apprentice, would face the same result.
One notable exception was the Third Level Wizard Apprentice.
If one becomes a Third Level Wizard Apprentice, it signifies a certain level of strength, even though not comparable to an Official Wizard, but still much stronger than ordinary people. Therefore, White Stone Tower Academy took more patience with Third Level Wizard Apprentices, specifically allowing up to four years for them to advance to Official Wizard Level.
Even if they failed to break through within four years, Third Level Wizard Apprentices wouldn’t be expelled like students of other years but could choose to stay at the academy and become internal staff like class assistants.
Although they would face certain restrictions and need to perform some mandatory services for the academy, they could also earn Crystal Coins through this avenue and accumulate strength, attempting to break through to become an Official Wizard. Once successful, they could turn their lives around. Of course, more people just wasted time, unable to break through for ten or twenty years, becoming perpetual repeaters.
Thus, in White Stone Tower Academy, a student staying a long time had nothing to boast about. Especially upperclassmen, telling others how long they had been there indirectly suggested how poor their abilities and talent were.
Richard’s blunt words instantly struck the girl’s vulnerable heart. After being speechless for a while, her eyes reddened.
Seeing this, Richard promptly stepped back towards the door.
The girl glared as if deeply offended and said, “Why are you running away? I didn’t hit you. It’s obvious you’re the one bullying me, isn’t it?! Are you that heartless? I… I’m about to cry, can’t you just lend me a shoulder to lean on?”
“No,” Richard shook his head, firm in his stance.
“If you dirty my clothes, it’ll be troublesome. Seeing as you can’t even clean your room, I doubt you do your laundry either, so I’d better be cautious.”
“You!” The girl’s eyes bulged, glaring at Richard for a good three seconds before suddenly turning around in a huff and striding towards her room. As she went, she yelled back, “Who says I can’t clean my room! I just don’t want to do it myself! I… I’ll prove it to you right now.”
“In actuality, you don’t need to prove anything to me.” Richard said indifferently to the woman’s retreating figure, “Cleaning your room is for your own living, whether you clean or not doesn’t affect me at all.
Of course, regarding the class schedule, I still have to thank you. If there’s a chance in the future, I’ll help you with simple tasks of raising a hand. But… never mind about cleaning.”
“You…” The girl turned her head to look.
Richard then suddenly shut the door with a bang, and a faint voice could be heard from outside, “You… you… I am at odds with you! Just you wait! By the way, what’s your name? If you dare, tell me! Forget it, I’ll clean the room first and then settle the scores with you…”
Soon, Richard heard the sound of things being knocked over, followed by exclamations, screams, coughs… which lasted quite a while before disappearing.
Just when Richard thought he could have a quiet moment, someone knocked on the door.
Richard opened the door and, unsurprisingly, it was the same girl.
The girl’s appearance had gone through a radical change, completely different from her earlier arrogance, resembling a pitiful little beggar: her clothes dusty, her face smeared with dirt, shiny beads of sweat rolling down, leaving mud streaks behind. Her hands were soot-black, held in front of her chest, neither raising nor lowering, looking utterly helpless. Her brows were furrowed tightly, her eyes watery as if she could burst into tears any moment, yet she stubbornly held them back.
Looking up, the girl, with the last remnants of her noble air, said to Richard, “If you want to laugh, just laugh! After all, you are already on my blacklist of people to get back at, so it’s not over between us.”
“Um…” Richard, looking at the girl, said, “I actually don’t feel like laughing, because your current state is precisely what I expected—like I said before, you clearly cannot clean a room.
Before, you must have been paying someone to clean, right? And even before coming to White Stone Tower, it must have been servants taking care of your daily needs. In that case, not ending up disheveled from cleaning a room wouldn’t make sense. However, I’m curious… why are you knocking on my door again?”
The girl grimaced and said, “I want to ask if I could borrow some water from you to wash my hands and face. You can help me with this, can’t you, considering I brought back your class schedule?”
“Of course, I can help,” Richard replied nonchalantly, “However… I don’t have any water in my room.”
“You!” The girl felt like exploding, “I don’t believe it. How can you not have water if you cleaned?”
“The fact is, I dumped all the water downstairs earlier, which you saw. If you need to wash your hands or face, it’d be best to go downstairs yourself. Being a senior who has spent two years here, surely you don’t need me to tell you where to fetch the water, right?”
“If you could bring a bucket of water up for me, I’d be very grateful,” the girl reluctantly softened her tone, looking at Richard.
Richard said, “That suggestion isn’t bad, however… just like you asking me to clean your room earlier—I’m not interested.”
“…” The girl clenched her teeth, “Did you know that before coming to White Stone Tower Academy, I was a princess! If my male servant dared to treat me this way, I would have beaten him half to death already.”
“Oh, how coincidental? What would you think if I told you I was a prince before?” Richard said, “And if I had a maid as terrible as you, I wouldn’t hit her. She would probably die from shame.”
“You!” The girl glared at Richard, who met her gaze calmly.
One second, two seconds, three seconds…
After ten seconds, the girl retreated, gnashing her teeth and turning to walk downstairs, while threatening, “You… just you wait, we have a long time ahead, I won’t believe there won’t be a time you’ll need my help.”
“Hopefully,” Richard said slowly, “Besides, unless it’s necessary, please don’t keep knocking on my door, it disturbs my rest.”
With a squeak, Richard bluntly closed his door and went back into his room.