Chapter 40 "Old Man" Bernardino

The young apprentices surrounding Bernardino obviously didn't have much respect for Bernardino.

——It would be fine if he entered the Tower of Black Glory as a teaching assistant purely because of a bad background or because he had nowhere to go. Sooner or later, they will become their classmates, or just passers-by who pass by them.

After all, this "unnamed apprentice" can be regarded as a job in itself.

If teaching assistants can be regarded as regular employees, then "unnamed apprentices" can also be regarded as "temporary teaching assistants". Although there are some more dangerous "teaching tasks" to be performed, wages will still be paid after all.

And because the teaching tasks performed are more dangerous, there will be some additional subsidies. The final income will be slightly higher than that of the assistant church.

There are indeed some apprentices in the Tower of Black Glory, who really have no money but have a strong "desire to rise".

After they have experienced the life of "unnamed apprentices", they will not be excluded by other apprentices when they become formal apprentices.

At that time, apprentices will even hold a banquet for new apprentices to celebrate. And their experience during this period will also become their valuable experience... After all, not all soul-snatching wizards have been used by other people to use various types of soul-snatching spells.

The rich experience they had when they were released would actually help them when they learned the soul-snatching spell.

But for Bernardino, who has "tried and failed repeatedly", these wizard apprentices have no good attitude.

This decadent, always stooped, homeless stray dog ​​who has been staying in the Tower of Black Glory since a long time ago... is only middle-aged but still dreams of becoming a wizard one day.

For them—especially those wizard apprentices who gradually felt the gap between people during the learning process, the very existence of Bernardino was an insult to them.

Most of them have already deeply realized that it is impossible for them to step into silver in their entire lives, let alone become a wizard of the golden rank. Even the graduation exam is extremely difficult...

Just entering school, the joy and excitement when I was exposed to magical spells... After realizing that I am only a mortal after all, it has been diluted a lot.

At this time, a middle-aged man who had studied hard for more than 20 years and failed to become a formal wizard said that he wanted to become a wizard apprentice.

As we all know, the wizard's apprentice doesn't make any sense. If you can't become a wizard, you will be just an ordinary person who can't stay awake even in your dreams. The significance of a wizard's apprentice is that it can advance to a wizard.

So, what does Bernardino want to do?

What is he trying to prove?

Did he think spells were so easy to learn? Does he want to be a wizard? Does he think that he can learn this knowledge more easily than them and become an official wizard by doing chores in the wizard tower for more than 20 years and listening to the same class from the experimental table for more than 20 years? ?

This is like the old man who cleans the dormitory toilets in the university. If he has nothing to do, he asks the students in the mathematics department for math problems, and wants to study on his own to be admitted to the mathematics department and become a mathematician.

His behavior can indeed be called "motivated and eager to learn", and his attitude is also worthy of encouragement-but it will undoubtedly bore and even irritate the students.

Especially after they failed their final exams.

At this time, just seeing Bernardino studying spells seriously with his notes in his hands, the blood pressure of those apprentices was about to explode...

Therefore, although Bernardino was actually only in his early forties, the students still called him an "old man". In wizard towers full of young men, even mentors rarely have long white hair and beards like in fairy tales.

Because the aging body is really uncomfortable.

As long as conditions permit, great wizards will use various rituals to adjust their bodies to a healthy level as much as possible, so that they will not be too old; and if they are too old to save even rituals, they will not come at all. The Wizard Tower teaches.

Even though he was only in his early forties, Bernardino already had white hair and looked like he was in his fifties. He was almost the oldest person in the Tower of Black Glory.

—but that's not all the reason for calling him "old man".

The apprentices of the Tower of Black Glory can understand people's hearts better than other towers of wizards.

If their enemies are as calm as water, they seldom reveal themselves. Compared with forcible attacks, it is naturally more effective to use verbal means to make the enemy lose their minds and generate more emotions.

In other words, the wizards of the Tower of Black Glory had to learn the skills of "taunting" and "provoking".

For Bernardino, the most vicious words are not "idiot", "lunatic", "weird"... but "you are old".

The title "Old Man" reminded him all the time - he had wasted most of his life in the Tower of Black Glory, but he hadn't even become a wizard apprentice yet.

And he has entered the aging period.

As his brain becomes dull and his learning ability and physical strength further deteriorate, the possibility of him becoming a wizard will become less and less.

A lifetime of wasted time, suffering and torment--with no one to blame. Because this is not because he was imprisoned here by someone, or because of someone's assassination, he lost his talent...

From the very beginning, it was all his own fault.

He could have been a good sculptor, but he wanted to study natural philosophy; he could have gotten into Denisaua Theological Seminary, but he lost his stuff.

He can even go back to his hometown - as long as he admits his mistake to his adoptive father and asks his help, he can still become a sculptor. But he has a good face, he doesn't want to and dare not go home... He would rather wander the streets, and even become a living teaching material for the Tower of Black Glory.

For so many years, he didn't even write a letter to his adoptive father...Because many years have passed, Father Ludwig must have known for a long time that Bernardino brought his money and letter of introduction back then. Didn't get into seminary anymore.

Even Father Ludwig might be dead.

When Bernardino was thirteen or fourteen, Father Ludwig was forty-five or sixteen. And he is now forty-two years old, and his adoptive father may have died of illness or old age.

He was more and more afraid to go home—for fear that when he returned to his hometown, all he would see was the grave of his adoptive father. He wasted his whole life, he didn't learn any crafts, he didn't master any skills, and he didn't earn enough money to live a stable life until his old age... He didn't even have time to bury his adoptive father before his death.

"Old man" is an unremarkable nickname.

It was the most vicious words for Bernardino.

At first, it was only used by one or two people, but later it spread more and more. In the end, even the other tutors, and the new students will call him that... because he has gradually become a real "old man".

—Bernardino lives in a hell of his own accord.

Today's second chapter is finally delivered...

Ok, let's start writing tomorrow's update woo woo woo