Chapter 152

Chapter 152

"Did the teacher really ask us to research bats?"

"I dont want to, theyre so dirty..."

"Are you stupid? Ive seen the evaluation of that echo magic: groundbreaking, but limited by the creators power, theres a lot of room for improvement. Theres no easier magic to score points with! And its an apprentice-level magic, perfect for our research!"

"After dinner, lets go buy bats!"

"Count me in! Well go together!"

The young boys and girls walked out in groups, discussing the research topics left by the great mage. Garrett trailed behind, hearing that about half of the seventy or eighty people planned to get bats, causing him to break into a cold sweat.

After the class on sound-related magic, the great mage assigned a task to everyone: improve the echo detection magic or explore their own unique magic by referencing the ideas from bat flight experiments. A word was spoken, and lamentations arose.

The training courses schedule was flexible, with one major class per day, leaving the rest of the time for self-study, experiments, and research. Ten days for each of the eight schools, with two days off, and on the eleventh day, it started all over again.

A monthly quiz assessed mental strength growth and magic learning progress. A quarterly exam evaluated students magic research results. Although not all the post-class assignments had to be completed, anyone who had conducted research knew:

Having a mentor point out the direction for your topic in research is invaluable!

Especially in a direction with a low entry threshold, rich ideas, and relevance to current hot topics!

The students eagerly rushed towards the opportunity. Garrett also wanted to initiate research related to ultrasound, but as he searched and inquired along the way, when he reached the magical materials center in the academy, the salesperson regretfully informed him:

"Sorry, bats are out of stock."

"Not even one?" Garrett was shocked. His classmates were really good at clearing out inventory... But perhaps bats were a niche magical material, and the center didnt have much in stock?

He thanked the clerk and went out to inquire. Their training course was at the Bridge Magic Academy, right at the foot of the Magic Council headquarters. It was a bustling area. Garrett walked less than five hundred meters after leaving the school gate and found a small shop specializing in magical materials. When he entered, someone was inquiring about the price of bats:

"Bats? 5 gold coins for a live one, 1 gold coin for a dead one. Big or small, same price."

"5 gold coins?" Garrett was shocked. He did have some savings gifts received during the hospital opening, allowances received after the war, and the teachers secret fund before coming to the Magic Council. It added up to over a hundred gold coins. It seemed like a considerable amount, but if used to buy bats, it would disappear in an instant.

"In these few days... how many bats have been sold in the market?!" Garrett had a growing sense of unease.

Glancing around the shop, seeing no sign of the owner, he extended a finger and silently pushed a silver coin across the counter. The clerk glanced at him, quietly took the coin, and continued to shake his head.

"Hard to say. Our store is average, maybe two or three hundred. Just on this street, at least three stores are larger than ours. As for the academy, council headquarters, and places like that..."

He paused, tilted his head in thought, then made a sucking sound, clicking his tongue.

"Hard to say."

Garretts ominous feeling intensified.

One store, two or three hundred bats; four stores, over a thousand. Add in the academy, the Magic Council, and the like, and it might double...

How many people were messing around with bats? With so many mages, how many innovative ways would there be to experiment with bats?!

This thing was a walking virus! In his past life, he had read about bats carrying over 4,100 types of viruses, including over 500 coronaviruses!

Was Ebola not terrifying enough when it killed people? Was the power of SARS insufficient? Or did Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) lack presence?

Even the less-known Marburg virus, Nipah virus, Hendra virus, Hantavirusone after another, they were not easy to deal with...

It was fine when things were calm, but now, with dozens or even hundreds of mages all rushing to study bats, without latex gloves, without protective masks, without protective eyewear, without positive-pressure protective suits, without a P4 laboratory capable of effectively isolating the virus...

No experience, no protection, and they still wanted to study live subjects.

If even one of them got infected, by some stroke of bad luck, it could spread person to person, and the epidemic could sweep through the council headquarters!

Garrett took a deep breath, then exhaled deeply. The excitement of wanting to study ultrasound from the lecture had completely faded, replaced entirely by a sense of unease.

How could he stop this bat research trend and eliminate the potential risk of an epidemic?

---------------

Your invaluable feedback and ratings mean the world to me. Please take a moment to rate this novel at Novelupdate.If you come across any mistakes within this chapter, kindly notify me in the comments below, so that I can make the necessary corrections.