The personal rooms given to each student were surprisingly spacious and comfortable.
It seemed that the skeletal headmaster hadn’t taken away the personal rooms, even if he hadn’t provided much else.
Of course, this was Lee Han’s standard of thought.
By now, the other nobles were probably horrified by the barren state of their rooms.
“Is this where beggars live?”
“Did someone break in and steal everything?”
The room felt even more spacious because, aside from a desk, chair, and bed, there was nothing else.
Lee Han first organized the clothes he had received, placed his belongings in a corner, and then took out a book.
About Einrogard.
It was a thin book containing a brief explanation of the school, given to each student before entering.
‘Mandatory courses must be taken, while the rest are optional.
For the first month, you can attend various lectures to decide which ones suit you best...’
The school seemed strict, yet it allowed freedom in this aspect.
Once you were here, the school didn’t care what you studied.
- A mage is one who seeks the truth of the world.
Even if seniors and mentors help, you must choose your own path and walk it. - Osu Gonadaltes.
‘So the headmaster’s name is Osu Gonadaltes.’
Lee Han, having learned information he didn’t particularly care about, finished his tasks and stood up.
He thought he’d head to the freshman lounge, as he had been told he could go there, and have a chat.
“I want to learn alchemy.”
Yoner was already downstairs.
When he noticed Lee Han arriving, he waved cheerfully.
“Alchemy?”
“Yeah. I’ve been interested in alchemy since I was in my family. My dream is to set up my own workshop and supply the royal court.”
“That sounds profitable.”
“Want to join me?”
“Hmm. I’ll think about it. Alchemy business isn’t that easy, you know.”
Lee Han didn’t immediately agree.
Just as Yoner had been interested in alchemy since his family days, Lee Han had been interested in business.
Alchemy sounded impressive, but the alchemy business in the empire was fiercely competitive.
Guilds of skilled alchemists were ruthlessly fighting for market share.
Giving out free potions to adventurer guilds, spreading bad rumors about rival alchemy guilds’ potions, monopolizing herbs used as potion ingredients to suppress competitors, and so on.
Each rumor was enough to make one wary.
‘Maybe something stable would be better.’
Lee Han’s primary goal was to become a royal official, a civil servant.
Whether in the past or now, being a civil servant wasn’t a bad choice.
“So, what are you interested in?”
“Me?”
Lee Han was slightly taken aback by the question.
Because...
‘I was thinking of taking subjects with less competition and easy grades.’
Whether it was academics or anything else, the grades here would become part of his resume when he went out into the world.
Naturally, Lee Han couldn’t ignore that.
“I have a month to look around and decide. It’s not good to judge things hastily.”
“Wow... impressive.”
“??”
Lee Han looked at Yoner, not understanding what was so impressive.
Was there something impressive?
“Usually, people come here with a specific magic they want to learn. Something that suits their taste. But that’s not always the best way...”
It was hard to know which magic suited one’s aptitude without trying it first.
And forcing oneself to learn magic that didn’t suit one’s aptitude was less efficient than one might think.
A mage seeking truth should know when to let go of stubbornness and choose a better path.
But humans have desires, and desires make one want to walk the path they desire.
Letting go of such desires wasn’t easy.
“Is that the Wodanaz family’s rule?”
‘Why does everything I say bring up the Wodanaz family?’
Lee Han was speechless.
While he was in the family, he hadn’t realized it, but now that he was outside, he felt the power of the family’s name more acutely.
The looks from the Black Turtle Tower students earlier were proof enough...
Perhaps the Wodanaz family’s image was much stronger than Lee Han had thought.
“Big trouble!”
“??”
Gainando, who arrived late, shouted in a panic.
“What’s wrong?”
“I think my room was robbed! There’s nothing in it!”
“......”
Understanding Basic Magic.
It was a mandatory course for first-year students at Einrogard.
Only students from the Blue Dragon Tower were present; students from other towers were nowhere to be seen.
“Why does everyone look so strange?”
“We’re hungry, sleep-deprived, and our clothes are so rough that it’s distracting when we move.”
Gainando nodded in agreement with Yoner’s words.
When he woke up early in the morning, Gainando thought yesterday’s events were a dream.
He had expected freshly baked white bread with butter and a hot soup with chicken and spices to be served.
But it wasn’t a dream, and what greeted Gainando when he got out of bed was hard black bread, a stiff rice ball, and a cup of cold water.
‘At least it was edible...’
Lee Han thought so.
Although he had lived luxuriously since being born into the Wodanaz family, Lee Han had originally lived a very hard life.
- Uh...
Did I see wrong? Senior.
If we work from 9 AM to 9 PM, when do we eat?
- Here.
Energy bars.
Breakfast, lunch, and dinner, so eat sparingly.
- ...
Are you kidding me?
- Don’t say that to me.
I have to survive on energy bars too.
But there’s a feast waiting after we finish.
- If you say it’s cup noodles, I’ll kill you.
- ...
Sorry.
It’s cup noodles.
- ......
- But there’s also triangle kimbap...
‘Hmm.
This seems a bit better now.’
But except for Lee Han, all the Blue Dragon Tower students looked utterly drained.
This was just after one day at the school.
Creak
The Understanding Basic Magic lecture hall was located on the first floor of Einrogard’s main building.
It was the school’s kindness to consider the freshmen.
The higher the floor, the more likely the freshmen would get lost.
“Uh...?”
“Did we come to the wrong place?”
“You’re in the right place. Come on, everyone, take a seat.”
When the students stopped at the door and whispered among themselves, Lee Han was puzzled.
Why were they acting like this? The answer came soon enough.
There was a troll inside the lecture hall.
“......”
“......”
“Come in quickly!”
“Uh... um...”
The students, with expressions mixed with fear and hesitation, slowly entered the lecture hall.
Troll.
Even students who had lived their entire lives within their families had heard of this fierce and brutal monster.
Seeing such a troll dressed like a professor and waiting for them was naturally shocking.
It was hard to tell if this was a lecture hall or a troll’s buffet.
“Alright. Let me introduce myself. I’m Garcia Kim. I’m a half-troll. I know you’re all scared, but there’s no need to be. I don’t eat people unless I’m very hungry.”
“......”
“It was a joke, but I guess it didn’t land well.”
As the atmosphere grew even more awkward, Garcia looked genuinely sorry.
“Alright! Our headmaster always says this: Time is the greatest treasure. Shall we begin the lecture?”
Garcia swung his staff, and the students who had been standing awkwardly were pushed to their seats.
“You are all seeds of mages who have earned the title of steel. Some of you, arrogant or foolish, might have secretly tried using magic, but most of you probably haven’t. This lecture is to teach you what magic is and help you find the magic that suits you best. The path of magic is treacherous and narrow, and you must walk it alone, but I want to be the compass that guides you before you start walking.”
The students’ expressions softened at the half-troll professor’s gentle words.
‘He seems several times better than the skeletal headmaster.’
“Now, let’s start with the very basics. What is magic?”
Princess Adenarth answered in a calm voice.
“It’s the act of changing the world through the mage’s will.”
“Correct. Changing the world through the mage’s will. The question is, ‘how’? How do we change the world?”
“Through the power of mana?”
“Very good. Magic power, mana... borrowing this fundamental force to change the world. Everyone here should be able to sense magic power and be aware of the magic power within themselves.”
Everyone nodded.
Since this was a place that only accepted those with talent, everyone had already awakened to their magic power.
“But that’s just the beginning. To use magic, you must go beyond that. You must summon magic power through your will, weave it delicately, and ultimately create something. People often say that magic requires incantations, gestures, or reagents... but what’s truly important is will. The mage’s will. You must never forget that. Of course, you’ll need incantations and gestures for now. You’re still very inexperienced. Alright, I’ve been talking too long. Feeling sleepy? Let’s try it out. Everyone, take out your staffs and gather your magic power.”
Hummm
The aura of magic power began to spread throughout the large lecture hall.
The young mages each began to draw out the magic power within themselves.
Lee Han also focused and started gathering magic power into his staff.
The magic power within his body flowed out and pooled into the staff.
“Now, maintain that magic power... don’t lose focus! In that state, imagine an image of light. The image of light you think of. Bright, warm, shining. Anything is fine.”
This time, groaning sounds began to emerge.
Controlling magic power was like trying to rein in a wild horse.
If you lost focus even a little, it would just scatter away.
“Imagine it more strongly... and shout. Anything is fine. Light! Bright light! The incantation that comes to your mind, anything is fine.”
“Light!”
“Bright light!”
“Light more dazzling than the sun and as glorious as my honor!”
“Don’t make the incantation too long! At your level, a long incantation will only scatter your focus.”
Focus, gather magic power, transform it through your will, and finally, shout the incantation to complete it.
Lee Han felt like he understood what magic was.
Of course, it didn’t work on the first try.
Bang! Poof! Bang bang!
“Ugh!” “Kuh!” “Ow...!”
Groans of young mages failing their magic echoed throughout the room.
The troll professor swung his staff with a smile.
If a magic casting failed, the gathered magic power would lose its master and run wild, potentially injuring the mage.
It was the professor’s role to prevent that.
“Don’t be scared if you fail, don’t panic... it’s like that for everyone at first. As long as you still have magic power in your body, try again!”
Second attempt.
Again, the sounds of bang bang and groans filled the room.
The troll professor chuckled inwardly.
Normally, it took over a month just to learn this simplest ‘light emission’ spell.
Magic was that difficult.
But the professor had no intention of telling them that.
It was something the students had to experience for themselves.
“Again!”
Third attempt.
Now, some students began to run out of magic power and collapse.
Magic consumed far more magic power than one might think.
Over half the students sat down, exhausted.
“Again!”
Fourth attempt.
This time, almost all the students sat down.
Only a few, either lucky or with good control, remained standing.
“Again!”
Fifth attempt.
“Again!”
Sixth attempt.
“Again!”
Seventh attempt.
“Uh... Professor. I’m really sorry to interrupt, but do we have to keep going...?”
The troll professor, who had been shouting without a care, realized something was off.
Normally, it ended by the fourth or fifth attempt, but one student was still standing after seven.