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 nned to get bats, causing him to break into a cold sweat.


    After the ss on sound-rted 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, andmentations arose.


    The training courses schedule was flexible, with one major ss 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-ss assignments had to bepleted, 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 rted 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 ssmates 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 beforeing 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.


    And that didnt include the money for other experimental equipment and animals!


    Researching magic really burned money, indeed.


    "What? 5 gold coins?" the magician asking the price eximed, "Are you kidding? It was only 1 silver coin eachst month!"


    "Buy or not?" The clerk urged a bit impatiently, "Only 12 left!"


    "Why did they sell out so quickly... Hey, look, the sizes of bats here are all different,pletely different species. Not very useful... Can it be cheaper?"


    "A lot of people have been buying recently, and theyre all sold out!" The clerk replied very skillfully, obviously having answered countless times in these past few days. "So, are you buying or not?"


    The magician hesitated for a while but still paid the bill, buying up all the remaining stock in the store. Garrett had no choice but to go out and ask another store, only to receive the answer:


    "Themon ck bat is 5 gold coins each, fox bat is 10 gold coins, fruit bat is 8 gold coins, and blood-sucking bat is 25 gold coins. How many do you want?"


    Garrett: "..."


    Too expensive. When he asked a third store, the clerk answered with a pleasant smile:


    The boss has gone to restock, if you want, pay a deposit, and well reserve a batch for you.


    "Well... When will the next batch of goods approximately arrive?"


    Garrett Nordmark tiptoed, ncing at therge cabs behind the store clerk. The merchandise cabs at the Materials Center looked quite simr to the traditional Chinese medicine cabs he had seen in his past lifetowering cabs reaching from floor to ceiling, each drawer neatlybeled with material names.


    Each drawer was notrge, about seven to eight inches wide and three to four inches high. As Garrett pulled one open, he noticed that inside, it was further divided into at least twopartments...


    "One can only imagine how much eachpartment can hold," Garrett thought.


    "As for the delivery time? Hard to say," the clerk leaned against the counter, arms crossed. With the current low customer flow, there was some idle time, and Garrett, with a warm smile, inquired further, eager for a bit of gossip.


    "This stuff wasnt in high demand initially, maybe selling a dozen in a month at most. But suddenly, a lot of people are buying. Not just here, every small store in the city is getting wiped out. Rumor has it that adventurers are going into the mountains to catch bats..."


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


    ncing around the shop, seeing no sign of the owner, he extended a finger and silently pushed a silver coin across the counter. The clerk nced 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 arerger than ours. As for the academy, council headquarters, and ces 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 Eb not terrifying enough when it killed people? Was the power of SARS insufficient? Or did Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS)ck 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, withouttex gloves, without protective masks, without protective eyewear, without positive-pressure protective suits, without a P4boratory capable of effectively isting 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 hadpletely faded, reced entirely by a sense of unease.


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


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