Versatile Mage c1-2021, page 8
Basically, there were no students who could release magic yet. This was because what the students had studied during the nine years compulsory education were general theories, concepts, and abilities.
This was actually the same as Junior High School graduates in the former world—no survival skills whatsoever.
To Mo Fan, this is definitely good news. After all, this world of magic was completely alien to him—he practically had to relearn everything.
The most crucial point to become a Mage as a Magic student was the "Magic Awakening".
The "Magic Awakening" was similar to an opening ceremony. During the opening ceremony of Magic High School, every magic students were to receive their one-time "Magic Baptism" which was the Magic Awakening!
Different people awakened different elements. Mo Fan had heard from Guan Gu that the awakened elements were mostly chemical elements. These were the ones you usually learn in class: Wind Element, Fire Element, Water Element, Light Element, Lightning Element, Ice Element, and Earth Element.
The ones Mo Fan had witnessed before,"Wind Trail"and"Wind Wings"were divided into low rank magic and high rank magic. If the people who awakened the Wind Element were to strive hard, then it was possible that they could learn this magic.
...
Thus, if one wanted to become like the Mage who could fly, then the first thing one needed to do was to get admitted into high school and receive what every high school magic students got——the Magic Awakening!
...
"Mo Fan, don't tell me you actually want to take the exams for Magic High School, and become a Mage?" Guan Gu asked sincerely.
In Guan Gu's opinion, Mo Fan never struck him as a person who loved studying, but suddenly he seemed to be genuinely studying magic. This was an atrocious matter.
Mo Fan was too lazy to explain to his classmate. However, he had already decided that he would definitely be admitted into the Magic High School and obtain the extremely precious opportunity to awaken.
"Even if you were to study now, it'd be useless. You should just stop wasting the time, after all, you've missed several years of homework." Guan Gu said in persuasion.
Guan Gu was very clear on the fact that Mo Fan only got six points on the last Magic mock exam—the lowest of the entire year group. How could he get admitted with this kind of grade?
"You've already messed up, there's no use to put in effort now, just accept it."
"Guan Gu, you should be the one to study more."
Having Guan Gu chattering in his ears made Mo Fan feel somewhat irritated.
"Why?" Guan Gu asked.
"Guan Gu, did you know that you look ugly?"
"I did," Guan Gu admitted with a sincere face.
"Yeah, then there's a saying that you should know: If one is ugly then one should have more….hiccups, if one is ugly then one should learn Magic!" Mo Fan said these heartfelt words with sincerity.
"F**k off mate!"
Guan Gu wasn't wrong, however. There was only twenty something days left, even if one was a genius, they still wouldn't be able to compensate for all the classes from years past. Additionally, the content of the exams and what was learned were two different concepts.
Mo Fan knew that he didn't have much hope left, but the reason for him cramming was not because of exams. It was because he was genuinely moved by Magic, causing him to feel an intense d.e.s.i.r.e to study.
...
...
The time passed quickly, twenty or so days flew past in a flash.
Mo Fan did not wake up from his so-called Magic Dream, instead, he began to believe in the real existence of this world. Furthermore, he welcomed the Junior High Exam which had turned into the Magic Junior High Exam.
On the day of the exams, the people outside of the school were filled with worry. It didn't matter whether they were having exams on Magic, or Science, the parents of children were still coming to pick them up; those who drove cars came in cars and those who drove pedicab came in pedicabs. This was because the parents were very clear on the fact that the exams this time were going to decide whether their children would come in cars to pick up the next generation, or in pedicabs.
As Mo Fan walked out of the exam room, he saw the endless streams of people, and in his heart he thought, "Why are there cars and electric scooters in a Magic World?" He walked out as he was puzzled over this, but his thoughts quickly returned back to the contents of the exams.
After twenty or so days of studying hard, Mo Fan have finally reached the level where he can understand the subjects of the exams. However, whether the answer was correct or not—— Sigh, as long as I am happy.
"Mo Fan, Mo Fan….." Among the crowd, a yellow-faced middle-aged man looked toward Mo Fan with his left hand raised above his head.
As Mo Fan saw this familiar face, he accidentally called out, "Father, why did you come here?"
"To pick you up of course. After you've finished your exams, you have basically graduated. I found you a job in the next city district as a construction worker, you'll be under Uncle Guang Feng. Once you've worked there for a few years and gained experience, then you can start doing it on your own. If you're lucky, then there shouldn't be a problem for you to earn up to four to five thousand RMB. It's also better if you start working early." Mo Jiaxing said as he smiled wholeheartedly.
The world has changed, but Mo Fan remained bad at studying. Whereas Dad was still Dad; Mo Fan felt like he had retained an unchanged family.
If Mo Jiaxing had mentioned the matter of becoming a construction worker to Mo Fan about a month ago, Mo Fan would choosen the road his father had arranged for him without hesitation—this was because he had to walk this road to enter the society.
However, the Mo Fan of now was different.
In this society, there are cars, mobiles, computers and even refrigerators. However, scientific merchandise didn't exist because it was replaced by Magic. If you don't become a Mage, then you will become a worker that handles and produces those kinds of things. Damn, that's no different than the former world, thus, I will definitely study magic!
"Dad, I want to continue studying." Mo Fan remained silent for a long period time before he told Mo Jiaxing about the thought in his mind.
"I thought you didn't like studying magic?" Mo Jiaxing said, with a raised eyebrow and his face filled with surprise.
"Uh…." Mo Fan felt caught between a rock and a hard place. How was he supposed to explain this thing. He was so screwed.
Mo Jiaxing looked at his almost sixteen year old son as his face once again contained a straight and honest smile, while he said, "Don't worry, your father won't blame you for not putting effort into studying magic. Every individual has their own ambitions."
"No, I genuinely want to study."
"Are you able to pass the exams?" Mo Jiaxing asked.
"No." Mo Fan said in in certainty.
Whether it is having exams in English language or Magic, Mo Fan would definitely not pass, there was no doubting this point.
"Then that's that. Don't worry, Although the ancient people have said, 'Magic is above everything,' there's also a saying for those who are a jack of all trades."
As Mo Fan finished listening to this, he unconsciously smacked his lips.
At the moment, there was a lot of information that Mo Fan had to process. However, during the period of time he was processing this information, Mo Fan was particularly silent. For example, Mo Fan remembered there was one time where the history teacher had told the students, "The Light Element Magic's earliest user was "Edison", and at that time, it had caused Mo Fan to curse over and over again in his mind.
When Mo Jiaxing patted Mo Fan's shoulders to console him, he suddenly realised that his son maintained his silence. His son's expression showed he was not in a normal state.
No one understood their son like their father. Mo Jiaxing slowly retracted his smile, his voice turned lower pitched as he asked, "Are you for real?"
"Yeah, I want to obtain the opportunity to awaken. I do understand that it's already too late, but I genuinely want to study and become a Mage." Mo Fan sincerely said.
Mo Jiaxing remained silent.
Mo Fan also didn't say anything.
"You really want to continue studying?" Mo Jiaxing confirmed once more.
"I do." Mo Fan nodded his head without hesitation.
Originally, Mo Fan also thought it was on impulse. However, it has been a month and the restless sensation the Wild Wings had brought into his heart had yet to cool down. He really was not kidding, he seriously wanted to study!
"In that case, alright, I'll think of something." Mo Jiaxing said no more.
"Dad, I found a temporary job at the Tian Lan Magic High School, looking after the library. It starts the day after tomorrow." Mo Fan said.
Since he has decided to study magic, Mo Fan had no intentions of giving up due to himself being unable to properly study. Whether he could enter the Magic High School and obtain the opportunity to awaken would have to depend on his father, while he would depend on himself to fill in the knowledge that he was lacking. He was very clear on the fact that he had no hope to be admitted into Magic High School—thus, Mo Fan found this job in advance.
There was practically no salary, just food and residence. However, to Mo Fan, this was very important as he could find many things he lacked in the library.
Mo Jiaxing was astonished, he didn't know what had caused his son's great change of mind. However, since Mo Fan has wholeheartedly begged for magic, then he had no reason to be unhappy. After all, in this society, the ones who truly held a status were the Mages. A construction worker could get a house and a car, but their value and respect still couldn't be compared to a Mage who graduated from a Magic School.
"Let's go home first, we'll talk at home." Mo Jiaxing nodded his head, no longer saying anything else. Mo Jiaxing did not worry about his son at all. Mo Fan wasn't sixteen yet, but in Mo Jiaxing's heart, Mo Fan had already entered a.d.u.l.thood.
1. Mo Fan's 'Fan' is also used in the chinese 'Ping Fan' which means mediocre/average
2. Duan Yu is a famous character in the Jing Yong novel of Tian Long Ba Bu
Chapter 2 - The True Social Class
On one half of the mountain lay a residential area. If one were to follow the road with the iron fences, and walk to the end of that small road, one would find Mo Fan’s home.
It was a small, one-and-a-half-story house; the exterior wall had cracked paint, which revealed the red bricks underneath. There was junk in the houses surrounding it.
The other houses in the neighborhood were all about three-and-a-half-story tall. After going through renovations and after being decorated, the houses looked more like actual homes. Whereas Mo Fan’s house—furthest away in the corner—seemed even more like a wretched and old-fashioned house.
“Brother Mo Fan, you’re back…. I brought you some good news.” As Mo Fan arrived at the entrance to his home, a monkey-like youth sprung out, his face filled with joy.
This monkey was Zhang Hou, one of the children of the families that lived near this block. One could say that he grew up with Mo Fan.
“What’s the good news?” Mo Fan asked.
“Little Princess is back, I saw her when I was by the entrance to the mansion. Wow, you have no idea how much prettier Little Princess has gotten—she’s just like a little angel.” Zhang Hou said with some excitement.
Mo Fan glanced at the mansion across the street. The mansion was exquisite to the point where it caused everyone to feel envious. Every inch of the flowers, plants, and trees had been through careful enhancement, causing it to reach the level of a real garden park.
However, the beautiful mansion’s garden was currently being surrounded by tall iron fences.
When he reminisced back to his childhood, the iron fences were not there. He had regularly brought along the kids from this street to the mansion’s garden to play.
At the highest location of the residency, there existed many extremely exquisite european-style villas. In the eyes of these children, they looked like a castle from a fairytale, and within the castle was indeed a Princess so beautiful that made them forget to breathe. She was at a similar age to them and Mo Fan would frequently sneak the Princess out to play with them…..
He couldn’t remember when the iron fences appeared around the residency, and the a.d.u.l.ts in the neighborhood no longer allowed their children to go into the mansion. In addition the make-believe Princess had turned into a real Princess in the castle. Following the passage of age, they became more and more distant, and the number of times they met became less and less.
“Did you know? I heard that Little Princess is currently the Ace of the renowned Imperial Magic School, her innate talent toward Ice elements is simply incomparable with her peers. She is able to utilize Ice magic at the tender age of 15.” Zhang Hou said in mystery.
Mo Fan was astonished. If Zhang Hou were to tell him that the Little Princess received a medal in the Olympics, then he probably wouldn’t feel anything. However, if it was about becoming an Ice Element Mage, then that was something completely different!
Most people had to wait until they turned sixteen—in their first year of High School—to receive awakening before obtaining their first Elemental Magic.
After obtaining that, it didn’t mean you had become a real Mage yet. You had to go through a long process of training, obtaining a Magic Book, and diligently practicing before being able to release magic. _Little Princess sure was impressive, she became a real Magician at the age of 15!_
_Could it be that she is the so-called Child Prodigy? The Child Prodigy of the Magic World!_
“Brother Mo Fan, I feel sorry for you. If only you put in more effort to take away the naive and innocent Little Princess back when we were younger. Now she’s talented and good looking, tsk tsk tsk… it sure makes us quite envious.” Zhang Hou said as he raised his eyebrow.
“That was when we were young, stop talking about useless things.” Mo Fan said cluelessly.
As Mo Jiaxing heard the two youths talk about this, he coughed and dragged Mo Fan back home.
As he just returned back home, Mo Jiaxing said, “I’m going out for a bit. Xin Xia is living with your aunt, she’s probably not coming home.”
“Alright, I understand.”
……
After Mo Jiaxing left in a haste, Mo Fan walked around his house and realized his home hadn’t changed at all.
Although the world had changed, the bitterness of being poor hadn’t changed. _How come my family didn’t trade with the family with the mansion? Really God? You went through all that trouble to turn Science into Magic but you couldn’t do something as small as changing this?_
The only thing he rejoiced over was the fact that his own appearance did not change—it was still as outstanding and elegant as before!
Sitting at home was boring—there was nothing to do. Mo Fan was so bored that he decided to go out and take a stroll. He also wanted to see what else had changed.
As he followed the mossy road that no one walked on, he saw his father’s pickup truck as he was about to meet the main street.
His Old Man was a chauffeur. He used to drive the Master of that Mansion; however, he didn’t know how his father ended up being transferred into the logistics section. There was a day where he went to purchase things on the behalf of the Mansion, and ever since then, the family’s condition had gradually gotten worse.
“Jiaxing, this request of yours is a bit rude, isn’t it. You should know that I treated your family quite well in the past. Despite the kid from your family committing such a deed, I still left some work for you to do. If it was someone else’s family, I’d just have had them pack up and leave immediately.” A middle-aged man’s tone slowly sounded.
“Brother Mu He, just look at this as the last time I request help from you. If I were to try and buy our way into Tian Lan Magic High, then that’d be too expensive. You should already know of the situation of my family, we really can’t afford it.” Mo Jiaxing said, slowly and humbly.
“You—why are you doing this for your failure of a son. He himself doesn’t have the qualifications to pass the exams to enter the Magic High so you might as well let fate run its course, he’s almost 16. Besides, even if I were to help you get your son into Magic High, just based on his character, he will definitely slack and not become a genuine Magician. Becoming a Magician is not that easy, not only do you require talent and hard-work, but those Magic Books, Magical Devices and Magical Tools are not something your family can afford. Without these things to support him, he can’t even become a Primary-level Magician….” The man called Mu He said with sincere tone, but Mo Fan could hear a sliver of arrogance in it.
“This time, he genuinely wants to study. Brother Mu He, if you help me out this time, then I will move far away from Master Mu per his demand. This way, we would also make Master Mu feel at ease, and I will also guarantee that my little brat will certainly not interact with Lady Mu Zhuxue.” Mo Jiaxing’s voice sounded.
“Oh, in that case, I’d have to consider it.”
As soon as he heard they were willing to move away, this man called Mu He seemed to have more interest in the discussion.
……
A youth leaned onto a wall as he listened to the conversation; his heart felt incredibly complicated.
He thought that when the world changed, the many terrible connections he had would also have changed. However...it seemed like nothing had changed.
Like a ruler, the rich people of the Mu Mansion were at the very top, whereas the very bottom was this father who had to go through hard work and needed help from other people. This Mu He was the Chairman of Tian Lan Magic High, and the truth was that he only needed to say a single word and it’d allow Mo Fan to enter Tian Lan Magic High.
However, after hearing his own father—Mo Jiaxing—being willing to move away, Mu He quickly agreed with a heavy sigh.
At the end of the conversation, his father was incessantly thanking Mu He. While Mu He got into his luxurious car and left, he left behind the seemingly old pick-up truck with dust, and his seemingly as dusty and old father, Mo Jiaxing.
