Life of a Magic Academy Mage – 4



Chapter 04

Each individual was assigned a surprisingly spacious and comfortable private room. Despite the Skull Principal’s reluctance to provide anything else it seemed they had at least spared the students from losing their personal chambers.

To Yi-Han this was merely an assumption. Meanwhile the other nobles were probably aghast at the barren rooms devoid of any furnishing.

“Is this a place for beggars?” one exclaimed in disbelief.

“Could someone have stolen everything from inside?” wondered another.

The room felt even larger with just a desk a chair and a bed devoid of any other belongings.

Yi-Han set about organizing the clothes he had received placing his luggage in a corner and then pulled out a book titled “About Einroguard.” It was a thin volume given to each student upon arrival offering a brief introduction to the school.

‘Required subjects must be taken while the rest are elective. For the first month one can roam around to attend different lectures and decide what suits best…’ Yi-Han mused appreciating the school’s unique blend of strictness and freedom. Once enrolled it seemed the school didn’t concern itself with the students’ choice of study.

‘A mage is a seeker of the world’s truths. One must forge their own path even with the guidance of seniors and mentors’ quoted Os Gonadaltes the Principal.

‘Ah so that’s the Principal’s name’ Yi-Han thought gaining a piece of information he wasn’t particularly interested in. He finished up his tasks and stood up planning to visit the freshman lounge he’d heard about.

—

“I want to learn alchemy” Yonaire declared having arrived at the lounge before Yi-Han. On seeing Yi-Han Yonaire greeted him warmly.

“Alchemy?” Yi-Han echoed.

“Yes. I’ve been interested in it since my days in the family. Dreaming of setting up my own workshop and supplying the royal family” Yonaire shared his aspirations.

“That could be quite profitable” Yi-Han mused.

“Would you join me in this venture?”

“Hmm I need to think about it. Alchemy business isn’t as easy as it seems” Yi-Han didn’t immediately agree.

Like Yonaire’s longstanding interest in alchemy Yi-Han had been interested in business from his time in the family. Alchemy might sound promising but the empire’s alchemy business was fiercely competitive. Guilds of talented alchemists vied for market share resorting to ruthless tactics such as distributing free potions to adventurers’ guilds spreading rumors about rivals’ potions and monopolizing ingredients to stifle competition.

Each rumor was as menacing as it was fascinating making Yi-Han wary of jumping into the field without knowing more.

‘Maybe a stable career would be better’ Yi-Han considered his primary aim being a royal official i.e. a civil servant which had always been a respectable path.

“So what interests you?” Yonaire asked.

“Me?” Yi-Han was momentarily taken aback.

‘I was thinking of taking easy courses with less competition for good grades.’

After all the grades earned here would become a part of their credentials outside. Yi-Han couldn’t afford to ignore them.

“I have a month to explore and decide. It’s unwise to make hasty decisions in such matters.”

“Wow that’s impressive.”

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“??”

Yi-Han looked at Yonaire puzzled. What was so impressive about that?

“Most people come here with a specific type of magic in mind something that suits their preferences. But that’s not always the best approach.”

Indeed understanding one’s aptitude for a particular magic required firsthand experience. Forcing oneself to learn magic that didn’t align with one’s aptitude was often inefficient. A true mage in pursuit of truth knew when to bend their will and choose a better path.

But as humans they all harbored ambitions and with ambition came the desire to follow their own path. It was not an easy task to relinquish such aspirations.

“Is this also a rule of the Wardanaz family?” She asked.

‘Why does everything have to involve the Wardanaz family?’ Yi-Han was incredulous. Only after stepping outside the family’s domain did he truly realize the influence their name wielded.

He remembered the stares from the students of the Black Tortoise earlier…

Perhaps the image of the Wardanaz family was far stronger than Yi-Han had thought.

“There’s trouble!” exclaimed Gainando who had just arrived in a flurry.

“??”

“What happened?”

“I think a thief broke into my room! Everything’s gone!”

“…”

—

<Basic Magic Understanding>.

It was a mandatory course for first-year students at Einroguard. Yi-Han noticed that only students from the Blue Dragon were present; none from the other towers were in sight.

“Why does everyone look so strange?” he wondered.

“We’re hungry didn’t sleep well and these coarse clothes are irritating to move in” Yonaire explained and Gainando nodded in agreement.

When Gainando woke up early that morning he thought the previous day had been a dream. He had expected warm buttered bread and a spicy chicken soup. Instead he was greeted with hard black bread stiff rice balls and a cup of cold water.

‘I thought it was decent’ Yi-Han mused. Born into the Wardanaz family he had lived in luxury but originally he had come from a life of hardship.

-“Did I read that wrong Senior? How do we eat if we work from 9 AM to 9 PM?”-

-“Here take this energy bar. It’s for breakfast lunch and dinner so make it last.”-

-“You’re kidding right?”-

-“Don’t blame me. I have to survive on these too. But a feast awaits us at the end.”-

-“If you say it’s instant noodles I’ll kill you.”-

-“…Sorry it’s instant noodles.”-

-“…”-

-“But there’s also triangle kimbap…”-

‘Yeah. It’s a bit better here.’

But aside from Yi-Han all the students from the Blue Dragon looked utterly depleted. This transformation had occurred in just one day.

Creak-

The classroom for Basic Magic Understanding was located on the first floor of the main Einroguard building. A thoughtful gesture from the school considering the higher the floor the more likely freshmen were to get lost.

“…Uh…?”

“Did we enter the wrong room?”

“You’re in the right place. Come on everyone sit down.”

As students hesitated at the door murmuring among themselves Yi-Han was puzzled.

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Why are they acting like this?

The answer became clear soon enough. Inside the classroom there was a troll.

“…”

“…”

“Come on in!” someone urged.

The students with a mix of fear and apprehension slowly made their way into the classroom.

A troll. Even those who had lived their whole lives in noble households knew of these fierce and ferocious monsters. The sight of one dressed as a professor and waiting in the classroom was understandably disconcerting.

It was hard to tell if this was a classroom or the troll’s buffet.

“Let me introduce myself. I am Garcia Kim a troll with mixed blood. I know you’re all frightened but there’s no need to be. I don’t eat humans unless I’m very hungry” the troll said.

“…”

“It was just a joke but I guess it wasn’t taken well” Garcia lamented noticing the further decline in the room’s atmosphere.

“Alright! Our Principal always says that time is the greatest treasure. Shall we start the lecture?”

With a wave of her staff a mysterious force pushed the students who had been standing awkwardly to find their seats.

“You are all seeds of mages having earned the title of ‘iron’ upon entry. While some of you either arrogant or foolish might have secretly tried magic most of you have not. This lecture is to introduce you to what magic is and to help you find the magic that suits you best. The path of magic is treacherous and narrow and it must be walked alone but I wish to be your compass before you embark on that journey.”

The students reassured by the gentle words of the troll professor softened in their expressions.

‘Is she several times better than the Skull Principal?’

“Now let’s start with the very basics. What is magic?”

Princess Adenart replied with a calm voice “Magic is the act of changing the world around you according to the will of the mage.”

“Correct. Changing the world around you with the will of the mage. The question is ‘how.’ How do we change the world around us?”

“With the power of mana?”

“Very good. Magic mana… It’s about using this fundamental force to change the world. Everyone here can feel mana and is aware of the mana within themselves.”

Everyone nodded in agreement. As a place that only accepts those with innate talent they had all experienced an awakening to mana.

“But that’s just the beginning. To use magic one needs to go beyond. You must call forth mana with your will delicately weave it and ultimately create something with it. People often say that chants gestures or reagents are necessary for magic… but the most important thing is the will of the mage. You must not forget that. Of course you will need chants and gestures as you’re still quite inexperienced. Now the talk has been long enough. Sleepy aren’t you? Let’s try it out. Take out your staffs and gather your mana.”

Whooosh-

Mana began to fill the large lecture hall as the young mages started to draw out the mana within themselves.

Yi-Han too concentrated and began to gather mana into his staff. The mana within his body flowed out and accumulated in the staff.

“Now maintain that mana… Don’t lose your focus! With that imagine a light. Your own image of light. Bright warm sparkling. Anything is good.”

Groans of exertion started to fill the room.

Controlling mana was like trying to rein in a wildly bucking horse. The slightest loss of concentration and it would scatter.

“Keep imagining more intensely… Shout it out. Anything is good. Light! Bright light! Dazzle!”

“Light!”

“Bright light!”

“A light more dazzling than the sun and as splendid as my glory!”

“Don’t recite too long a chant! If you attempt to chant too long for your level you’ll lose focus.”

Concentrating to gather mana transforming it with one’s will and finally uttering a chant to firmly conclude the process.

Yi-Han felt like he was beginning to understand what magic was.

Of course it didn’t work on the first try.

Bang! Boom! Bang!

“Ugh!” “Cough!” “Ow…!”

Throughout the room groans of young mages who failed in their magic attempts could be heard. The troll professor with a smile waved her staff.

When a magic casting failed the gathered mana would lose its master and run wild potentially injuring the mage. Preventing this was the role of the professor.

“Now don’t be scared or flustered by failure… It’s normal for the first time. As long as you still have mana in your body try again!”

On the second attempt the sounds of explosions and groans echoed once again.

The troll professor chuckled inwardly. It typically took over a month for students to master even this simplest ‘Light’ chant. Magic was that difficult.

But the professor had no intention of disclosing this. It was something the students had to experience and learn on their own.

“Again!”

On the third attempt some students began to falter completely drained of mana. Magic it turned out consumed far more mana than they had anticipated.

Over half the students sat down exhausted.

“Again!”

The fourth attempt saw almost all the students collapsing. Only a handful either fortunate or skilled in control remained standing.

“Again!”

Fifth attempt.

“Again!”

Sixth attempt.

“Again!”

Seventh attempt.

“Um… Professor I’m sorry to interrupt but do we continue…?”

The troll professor who had been nonchalantly repeating her command realized something was amiss. Normally students would not last beyond the fourth or at most the fifth attempt yet someone had stood through seven.

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