Although the blonde Writer Miss Louisa had arrived, the college would still send Xia De's enrollment items at the originally scheduled time.
So, for half an hour before that, the four of them still had time to chat.
Doctor Schneider, as the nominal head of the Letter-based Ring術士 group, was happy to initiate topics.
Xia De thus learned more common Knowledge about Ring術士; for example, under normal circumstances, touching a relic with unfamiliar characteristics would not immediately trigger a prompt from “the other me.”
Therefore, trying to find relics using “the other me” was not a realistic approach, and the identification of relics was a key research area for the Library Management College.
Xia De was clearly not normal.
“Outsider, your soul is exceptionally sensitive to the four elements, which is why I can easily distinguish relics.
This is not my peculiarity; it is yours.”
The whispering voice in his ear explained this, and Xia De initially thought it was an excuse, but as he pondered, he began to think the explanation made a lot of sense.
Even he himself wasn't sure if “the other me’s” peculiarity was truly unique, or if it was peculiar because he was an Outsider.
“Suren” as a middle name could be explained by her having prior Knowledge of his core Ling Rune; the “Northern Common Language Gift Package” could also be explained by her gaining fragmented memories of the original host that she hadn't obtained, due to the characteristics of “the other me”; the reminder about the ring was simply because she discovered that peculiar relic.
Thinking this, Xia De himself became confused...
“No, why are you a female voice?”
Xia De was almost confused by his own thoughts.
“Perhaps, even you yourself cannot fully understand your own personality.”
“Don’t talk nonsense.”
Xia De thought she was implying he was somewhat effeminate.
Besides the difficulty in easily discovering relics, Xia De also learned that Doctor Schneider’s group usually met on Saturday afternoons to share learning experiences, ask each other questions, and communicate with the college via Doctor Schneider’s manuscript pages.
Even without these urgent matters, they could share information, exchange items, or complain about the heavy academic burden.
The latter was usually the main content.
The group would not assign mandatory tasks to members, but if someone needed help, such as undertaking college tasks that could earn practical academic credits, then the others must first consider if they had time.
As ten o'clock was approaching, everyone cleared the tea table, allowing Doctor Schneider to place the Poet Grade relic paper there.
When the grandfather clock in the corner began to chime the first stroke for ten o'clock, a rolled parchment scroll tied with a red ribbon appeared as the light on the paper flickered.
Xia De quickly picked it up, untied the ribbon, and unrolled the scroll.
This was Xia De's first-year Letter-based Ring術士 training plan.
Saint Byron's Comprehensive College usually conducted grade promotion assessments uniformly at the end of each winter, and Xia De, who enrolled in the Summer, certainly couldn't complete all his studies this year.
Therefore, he would likely need to spend more than a year and a half to complete the courses on the customized training plan.
“Actually, the first year usually takes 1 to 3 years, as it’s about building a foundation… Oh, you’re going to be busy.”
Priest Augustus sat beside Xia De, thus clearly seeing the first-year compulsory courses listed on the training plan that he needed to complete:
“Our Familiar Herbs”
“Basic Potionology”
“Introduction to Elementary Alchemy”
“Introduction to Astronomy”
“Introduction to Mysticism and Ritualistics”
“Basic Ling Rune Theory (Part 1)”
“Ring術士 Basic Course - Miracle”
“Ring術士 Basic Course - Spellcraft”
“Ancient Languages (fifth epoch 0 ~ 2000) Introduction”
“Ancient Languages (fifth epoch 2000 ~ 4000) Introduction”
“Ancient Languages (fifth epoch 4000 ~ 5793) Introduction”
“Ancient Literature” (Serious Literature, Popular Literature, Other, choose one of three. Must be completed before fifth year.)
“Folklore, Religion, and Civilization”
“History (I)”
“Basic Time Travel Theory” (Core Academic Course)
“Time Travel Practical Training” (Core Academic Course)
“relic Containment and Management” (Core Academic Course)
“Basic Theology (Part 1)”
“History of Saint Byron's Comprehensive College and General Education”
A total of 19 compulsory courses, with 53 compulsory credits.
By the end of this year, Xia De only needed to obtain 15 credits to pass the year-end assessment and continue his first-year studies in the second year.
The books that were subsequently delivered directly exceeded 100, including textbooks, required reading materials, and some supplementary course documents.
Xia De, along with the other three, continuously took down the textbooks appearing from the poet-level relic paper and piled them aside.
Watching the continuously rising “mountain of books,” the Outsider’s apprehension about his future life suddenly vanished.
He felt as if he had returned to his hometown, back to school life.
“How about it, is the 50 pounds tuition worth it? These compulsory courses are tailor-made for you by the college, and they are quite basic, after all, the first year is for building a foundation.
But don’t worry, except for the core academic courses, other courses have three chances to fail the assessment.
Three failures mean you must postpone the assessment for another year and pay the tuition again, but you won’t be expelled.”
Old Priest Augustus thought Xia De was intimidated by so many books, so he comforted Xia De.
In this era of steam industry, illiteracy rates remained high, and as an ordinary citizen, one would probably never encounter so many books in a lifetime, which is why the Priest comforted the “inexperienced” young Detective.
However, what the Outsider was familiar with was precisely this kind of life.
Xia De's 19 first-year compulsory courses required him to submit several essays or course assignments after self-study, with some requiring exams or practical assessments.
The year-end assessments were all at the end of the year, but exam seasons were held at the end of July in the Summer and in December during the Winter.
If Xia De’s learning progress was fast, he could also pass some exams at the end of July, a month later.
The above were only the contents of the compulsory courses for Letter-based Ring術士; to complete an entire year of study, one also needed to obtain enough practical academic credits.
The first-year practical credit requirement was 40 credits, but the History Academy had strict regulations on the source of these 40 practical credits.
At least 10 credits must come from “Time Exploration” activities.
The History Academy is the college with the fewest students in Saint Byron's Comprehensive College, and most students transfer in from higher grades.
Because the core of the History Academy is time travel using the Old God Father of Infinite Trees’s relic, the time key, which requires Ling Runes related to time concepts.
Xia De’s core academic course, “Time Travel Practical Training,” involves using the time key provided by the college to conduct a time travel under guidance, and completing the course by submitting a report.
However, conducting nearly completely safe time travel through the course does not earn practical academic credits.
If one independently finds or purchases time key relics of varying grades from the college, and can bring back valuable information, history, and Knowledge, they will receive high practical academic credits and other rewards, such as relics, Miracles, spells, or precious Knowledge collected in the Saint Byron's Grand Library.
Therefore, the History Academy and the Library Management College, with their focus on time travel and relic containment, can be considered the colleges where it is easiest to obtain practical academic credits and college rewards.
“Although these basic courses look complex, once you get started, you’ll realize the difficulty isn’t very high.
Look, this is the list of elective courses you are allowed to choose.”
After all more than 100 books were finally delivered, a brand new parchment scroll appeared on the table.
The Doctor helped Xia De open it, glanced at it, and then handed it to him:
“Elective credits can be converted; 10 elective credits convert to 1 practical credit.
And these elective courses are the truly valuable ones; they are the professors’ true expertise.
Of course, elective courses cost pounds…”
“Elective courses cost pounds?”
Xia De was startled, then realized this was not his past world.
Moreover, even in his past world, while elective courses in his hometown were free, some schools in Western countries did charge for elective courses.