Simon mumbled, "I brought this child here because I want him to receive an education."
The Dark Elf frowned, "The Mage College is not a playground for children."
"Madam, I only know that the Mage College gathers the most intelligent group of people in Skyrim. Even if this child cannot learn profound magic, being with you all will surely benefit him greatly."
The Dark Elf's cold gaze softened. She took a few more steps forward, standing in the faint light of the snowy weather, revealing her characteristic Dark Elf appearance—gray-purple skin, a pointed chin, high cheekbones, golden eyes, and sharp features that made her seem unapproachable. Indeed, almost all Elves were like this. Fortunately, aesthetically speaking, this was also a unique kind of beauty that would not cause disgust or repulsion. Additionally, her messy golden hair was tied into twin pigtails, making her look unkempt, and she hardly bothered with grooming or care, leaving her skin exposed to the endless cold winds of the Sea of Ghosts. She was very tall; even Mr. Troll standing straight did not reach her throat.
Simon nodded: He's a tough one.
The woman continued, "What you said does make sense, but some things are rules that must be followed. One must prove their spellcasting ability to enter the College."
Simon nodded, "How do we prove it?"
The Dark Elf smiled gently, which was rather uncharacteristic of her cool Elven demeanor, "This child is so young, he probably hasn't encountered advanced spells. Just cast a Destruction spell, Flame Tongue. It's a very beginner-level magic."
Mr. Troll and the boy remained silent.
The woman was surprised, "You don't even know that?"
"We really don't, but if you could teach us, we'd surely learn quickly," Jonas showed a fawning smile, and Simon also nodded vigorously beside him.
The woman sighed, covering her forehead, "Alright, alright, how about this: you can buy the Flame Tongue spell tome from me or the court wizard, study it yourselves, and come back for the test when you've learned it."
"How much is the Flame Tongue spell tome?"
"Thirty gold coins, please."
Simon counted out thirty and handed them to the Dark Elf, taking the spell tome. "May I ask your name, madam?"
"Faralda. You can call me Faralda."
"Thank you very much. We'll go study the spell now. I believe we'll see you again soon." Simon briefly flipped through the thin booklet in his hand. It contained only a small amount of text, mostly runes and geometric patterns. "However, we don't understand the text in this book."
Faralda shook her head, "That is also part of the test. Figure it out yourselves."
"Understood." Simon nodded, took Jonas's hand, and walked back. The Dark Elf glimpsed the furry hand under the black robe, frowned, but said nothing more.
"Looks like we'll have to stay in Winterhold for a while," Jonas said with a smile, swinging Simon's hand. "Mr. Troll, let's stay at the inn."
Simon had no objection, but he pulled his hand free from the boy's grasp and tucked it back under his wide sleeve. "Just call me Mister."
"Okay, no problem, Mister."
The two walked back and again ran into the pair of Guards. This was truly because Winterhold was too small, and one could walk around it in no time. When they saw Simon and Jonas, they even greeted them, "Hey, changed your minds? Good lads."
Jonas loudly replied, "No way! We just need to study some spells, that's all."
The Guards burst into laughter, "Oh! By the Nine Divines, little rascal, hurry up and learn some fire spells to warm us up!"
Jonas stopped talking. Precisely because they were going to learn fire magic, the sulking little rascal walked a few steps faster, bypassed the Guards, and ran towards the end of the street.
Simon shook his head, "I apologize for that boy's rudeness."
"No problem, you dwarf! If you weren't so sneaky, you might even be quite popular!" The Guards were boisterous, swinging the torches in their hands as they walked slowly. It was a day-in, day-out job, simple and monotonous, no wonder most of them were chatterboxes.
Simon quickly caught up with Jonas, who was already sitting on a bench under the inn's eaves. Seeing Mr. Troll hurrying, he showed a proud and cheerful smile, came up to apologize to Simon, saying he had been too rude.
Simon shook his head and pushed open the inn's heavy wooden door with a creak. They entered with the wind and snow, and several men in single-layer clothes drinking near the door shivered from the cold.
As soon as they entered, they were dazzled by the golden-red firelight. The large fire pit in the hall had several large logs burning, and waves of heat rolled out. Above the fire pit was a wooden beam, from which several cast-iron pots hung, simmering thick soup. In such dreadful weather, a hot bowl of cheese soup was simply perfect.
There were two rows of pillars in the room, hung with horn lanterns. Additionally, each wooden table also had a horn lantern, providing ample light.
To the left of the entrance, against the wall, was a counter. The owner, a young Nord, tall and strong, called out, "We have food and drink, or are you looking for a room? Just tell me what you want!"
The building was a wooden structure, all made of roughly processed logs. The counter was an L-shape, displaying two different kinds of goat cheese, and also a goat skull. The tabletop was greasy, and the owner leaned casually against the counter, his face flushed from drinking.
"One room, for one night."
"Eight silver coins, please. Follow me." The owner came out from behind the counter and led the two to a room on the south side. There were only four pieces of furniture inside: a bed covered with straw and sheepskin, a locked wooden chest at the foot of the bed, a round table beside the bed, and a cabinet by the entrance.
"This room is yours for tonight."
The owner smiled and turned to return to the counter.
There was a horn lantern on the table beside the bed, and the two began to read the spell tome by its light.
After studying for a while, they roughly understood that they needed to meditate on runes, with geometric figures representing magical energy shaping, and the text being the incantation, all very simple.
Simon visualized the Destruction runes while shaping magical energy with his mental power—first, he had to fill the planar diagrams in the book into three-dimensional figures, and then he could infuse them with magical energy.
Both runes and incantations were at the resonance stage. Simon was surprised to find that the runes would manifest in the magical energy nexus, like stars in the dark night, and would not be devoured by Mr. Troll's Blood and the Pure Land in his palm.
The specific reason was still unclear, perhaps also related to resonance.
Jonas, with a tense face, stared intently at the spell tome for a long time, then suddenly said, "Mister, I can feel it! Something in my head!"
The magical energy used by normal mages for spellcasting comes from the magical energy nexus. The nexus absorbs free magical energy and combines it with spiritual power, which is their mana bar. Unfortunately, although the magical energy nexus has always existed, not many people can truly sense it, and even fewer know how to use it.
Bretons are natural mages, and Jonas was excellent.
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