Chapter 1651 No Time to Die (XIV)
Chapter 1624 No Time to Die (XIV)
As expected, the development of tourism is also good for the construction of the School of Magic, or for the construction of all schools in Gotham.
The most important goal of industrial development is to liberate productivity. In the past, it took three people to work hard to barely make ends meet, but now one person can earn it, and the remaining two people can naturally find other ways. When the family income increases sharply, the children in the family are of course the first to be liberated.
In the past, there was no prohibition on hiring child labor in Gotham. Except for very young children, as long as they could run and jump, they could help the family, help in the kitchen, help with the housework, or even drive and deliver goods. They could do it.
But setting up a stall is obviously not a job that requires a lot of manpower, especially setting up a stall to sell tourist souvenirs. These things are not heavy, and except for a little bit of miscellaneous, they do not consume a lot of physical strength and energy. Most of the time, only one person is needed to watch the stall. Even when the flow of customers is relatively large, one person selling goods and one person paying the bills is completely enough, so the children can naturally go to school.
The desire for a better life is the biggest driving force that drives people forward. Although it is good to set up stalls and sell goods now, no one does not want their children to be those who buy goods in the future.
Wearing exquisite and expensive shirts, with a wife who is also well-maintained and beautiful, and a white, tender, lively and cute child, the family travels leisurely and elegantly, buying souvenirs worth dozens of dollars without blinking an eye. Although not everyone has such a life through studying, at least they have to go to a technical school to have a distinction between weekdays and holidays. There is no such consideration for dropping out of school and joining the gang directly.
In any case, the enrollment day of the magic academy has arrived. The teachers and professors released the bats that had been prepared long ago from the school. They will fly to the real world through Gotham and a special magic channel and deliver the admission notice to the children.
This process is indeed not beautiful, because bats are indeed difficult to be called cute, but it can indeed lower the psychological expectations of children and prevent them from having too many beautiful fantasies about the magic world, because whether now or in the future, the magic of the DC world will inevitably be accompanied by pain.
There are more children in Gotham who received admission letters from the magic academy than you can imagine. This dark city always breeds many seeds of darkness. As long as the bizarre dark curse is not lifted, Gotham will always be the home of the dark magic master.
The reason why Gotham's admission rate is high is also related to the acceptance of Gotham parents. The city was invaded by darkness for three days and attacked by demons and monsters for five days. The citizens have seen too many scenes related to magic.
They know very well that magic really exists in this world, but because they know too much, they don't have much awe for it. To put it bluntly, most of the demons that invaded Gotham left crying, and it is difficult for anyone to feel awe when they see it.
Gotham parents regard magic more as a skill that can save their lives. If they really can't study well and still have to join the gang, then can magic help them block more bullets? If they happen to study well and become a magic master, won't they have no worries about food and drink?
In the spirit of pragmatism, 80% of parents agreed to their children's enrollment. Although they had some complaints about boarding schools that let children go home for holidays in semesters, they still bought the items on the enrollment list and sent their children to the designated gathering place, which was a small square next to the Gotham River.
There was almost no need to buy anything for enrollment. Clothes, sheets, quilts and spare clothes were all issued by the school. Just bring a few sets of underwear for replacement. The most important thing was to bring a note with the home address, otherwise the bats would not be able to find the way when sending letters back.
The gathering was at eight o'clock in the morning. The weather was still gloomy and there was no sunshine. The children were like newly hatched chicks, and were driven by their parents and teachers to line up.
Most of the children here were between seven and eleven years old, and some gifted ones were only five or six years old. They would be divided into three grades, receive seven years of basic education and three years of higher education, and graduate at the age of seventeen to eighteen.
At present, at least the employment direction of graduates within the first ten years will be to rebuild the order of the magic world and maintain the magic defense network of the earth. After that, they may form an official organization of the magic world, or stay in school to teach, build schools, etc.
Because the first day of school is inevitably busy, many professors of Gotham University come to help, including Victor and Anna. Although they know nothing about magic, they are experienced in managing students.
The children were taken to the edge of the river beach of Gotham River in the city center. The Dark Night Master waved his hand lightly, and the river surface flashed with ripples. Then he took the lead to step into the water. The children widened their eyes in surprise, not understanding why he suddenly wanted to jump into the river.
But when Jim stepped down, his clothes were not wet. He slowly disappeared under the water. It didn't seem to sink, but like walking into a new world.
Following closely behind were other people in the magic world such as Constantine and Zatanna, while the professors of Gotham University lined up with the children to walk in.
The smaller number of children from other places were somewhat terrified. They could not understand what was happening before their eyes, but many local children in Gotham were eager to try. After all, they often went to the river to swim when the weather was hot, and they were much more aggressive when they dived in.
The slightly older Gotham children called their friends and walked forward. When they stepped into the water, they were shocked to find that they did not feel the coldness of the river water as before, but more like stepping into a sticky substance. As they continued to move forward, the stickiness became heavier, followed by a dizzying feeling of weightlessness.
The feeling of weightlessness lasted for less than a second, almost a moment that the human brain could not detect. The next second, their feet landed on the ground, and then they found themselves standing on another foggy river.
The whole inner world was full of white fog, which seemed very humid, but not dark, and even brighter than the outer world. This white fog seemed to have its own light, making the world look light and dreamy.
The children walked to the shore from the solid surface of the lake somewhat at a loss. Looking at the familiar yet unfamiliar buildings in the distance, even the most daring children became a little restrained.
More and more familiar faces appeared, and the arrival of the professors made the children a little quieter. They gathered in teams on the ice-like surface of the lake, and then were led by the professors to the magic academy.
Gotham School of Magic is a courtyard-style manor castle. As Strange commented, Schiller borrowed part of the structure of Hogwarts, but did not add so many fantasy elements, because the magic in this world is indeed not that beautiful.
After the children walked in from the castle gate, they saw a wide Gothic auditorium. All the children together had about 300 people. According to different grades, they were divided into three teams and lined up neatly in the center of the hall.
"Nice to meet you, kids. I'm Jim, the Dark Master, and the current acting principal of Gotham School of Magic. We really can't choose a qualified principal right now, maybe he will be one of you in the future."
Jim was very patient with the kids. He stood at the front podium and said with a smile, and his words immediately triggered a buzzing discussion below.
"I believe you have seen some precautions for entering the college in the admission letter, but I still want to emphasize some details to you. Now you have about three hours to visit your dormitory, put away your luggage, collect school uniforms and daily necessities. After you are basically settled, there will be a welcome banquet at dinner time, and then you will get to know the professors of each course."
"Believe me, this is definitely a wonderful encounter. You will never see so many strange people in the magic world. Of course, there may be some familiar faces among them, especially for the energetic local calves, don't shout out in surprise and spit out your food."
Some brave children laughed out loud, and some shouted at you "Do you think we are three-year-old children?" The atmosphere became more lively, and the previous restrained and tense atmosphere was dispersed.
"Then what we have to do now is to divide your colleges. In the process of basic education, you will be divided into three colleges. The dean of each college will offer a special course different from other colleges. Everyone can take the classes of all deans, but students of this college can get more preferential treatment in this major."
"Now you may be more interested in one of the colleges, so sign up boldly."
"But in the first three months of learning, everyone has to take all courses. There will be a round of assessment after three months. At that time, everyone can readjust the college according to their interests and abilities, and the dean will also select you according to your grades. This is a two-way choice."
"One year after starting to study, there is another opportunity to change the college, but this time the difficulty of transferring to another college will increase. It is not easy to start from scratch in another college."
"Come on." Jim nodded to Mrs. Shangdu standing next to him. Mrs. Shangdu waved her hand gently, and one piece of white paper after another flew out of the door of another room and fell in front of the children.
"Use your fingers to write the name of the academy you want to go to on a piece of white paper. Listen carefully, the academies you can choose are the School of Magic Power, the School of Magic Crafts, and the School of Magic Theory..."
The names of the academies are very straightforward and easy to understand. Even these children can hear the general tendency of the academy's majors. Someone raised his hand to confirm again. No matter which academy, you can take any class. So the children began to chatter about which academy they want to choose.
Mrs. Shangdu cleared her throat and said, "Children, I must remind you that the teaching and accommodation conditions of each academy are different. The School of Magic Crafts has to conduct experiments and preparations frequently, and the school's laboratories and alchemical item warehouses are underground, so the dormitories are also arranged underground."
"But don't worry, because there is magic, the dormitories will not be damp and cold. At the same time, the dormitories of the School of Crafts are the closest to the classrooms and laboratories. If you move quickly, you can get to the classroom in three minutes after getting up."
Some children below immediately exclaimed. The biggest difficulty for them to go to school at this age is getting up early, especially some local Gotham children who don't mind whether they can get sun or not.
"The dormitories and classrooms of the School of Magical Theory are in the circular French tower area on the eastern side of the courtyard. The dormitories are on the top floor of the wizard tower. The advantage is a wide view and plenty of sunshine, but before you learn to fly, I'm afraid you can only climb the stairs."
Immediately, some other children were tempted and chattered with their companions about whether it was worth climbing the stairs every day for a clean and bright dormitory.