Chapter 7 - The academy and it occupants

After entering the city we immediately went to the academy, which was an awe inspiring sight. It was a huge castle with numerous courtyards, spires and various buildings littered across its area. It even had a small forest near the back end of it, presumably for a safe training environment. As we enter the campus I notice a distinct lack of people, Charon tells me it's due to all the student being on break which after is fairly obvious following the conventional summertime weather. I found it only slightly surprising that this world shared the same convention regarding breaks, perhaps others had reincarnated previously and introduced these concepts, however this was not easily found out due to the situations characteristics so I elected to forget about it. He did however inform me that the teachers were still around, of which he would gather the few who pertained to special administration and they would admit him and decide a teaching plan.

It took a few hours, I practice my spout spell a few times by making water for me to drink I even used combination mana to make a boiling water spout that towards an unsuspecting victim would be quite painful. Finally charon took me to a random building and in front of me where 5 old men, 6 including charon.

“Brothers, I have found a magus who has talent, yet is also under the age of ten which I will remind you is a record” Charon introduced me, what is this an audition.

“Yes yes charon, he might be a good sensor but is he worth the effort of making a magus, after all you're standing at the moment isn't the best after the book incident” Said one of the wannabe gandalf.

“Speaking of the incident, he is the reason I lost it, I may have been intoxicated and gifted it to him leading to this fortuitous day” Charon replied smoothly, a point I only laughed at a little earning a glare from one of the old dudes.

“Be that as it may, we would need proof of true talent before admitting as you wish, with a full scholarship”  One of the more silent ones spoke up.

Charon nodded to me, I used the spout spell at first with only fire mana. Doing so raised eyebrows I wanted more than raised eyebrows. Deciding to something stupid I lined three spell formations, two facing forward and one facing backwards, in a line they were pure air, a mix or fire and air and earth. It created a stopper effect with the fire beam building up power behind the stopper of the earth element fount spell.

“Ha a stalled spell, true talent charon” The gandalf wannabe spoke up, He became the target.

Maneuvering the spell line up towards him, well over his shoulder I released the earth spell and the compressed fire beam which was boosted by the pure wind spout behind it was unleashed. It shot passed his shoulder and deep into the stone wall behind him, leaving only the man with a now slightly singed beard and a head sized smoking hole in the wall. There was silence for a moment and then the man I shot at spoke up.

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“That was reasonable response, I would have done the same” He spoke sagely, apparently he was the type to solve situations with a sarcastic remark or a sarcastic attack. His sentence elicited a chuckle from those around him and full out laughter from charon.

Following that they released their judgemental council aura and resumed with what appeared to be their everyday behavior, that of lazy old men, they then started joking with each other about bets that they had made beforehand. I realised that the tough cynical old men appearance was for interviews only while in reality they were what you would call a chill teacher.

After the interview a few things about the academy were made clear to me. Like the qi users who had to complete missions in order to gain credit I as a magus student had to do the same thing however unlike qi students it would be very rare for me to leave the school, at least while in the elementary stage. I would mostly be doing repair work, after gaining the necessary mana cores and studying magic itself.  I would also get a private villa instead of a dorm room due to the fact that including myself there were 8 magi on the campus, a revered occupation it seems.

I was guided to my villa by Charon and then was left alone, before he left however he told me that the next day is when the rest of the school arrives. At the opening ceremony the fact that the school now has another magus will be announced, I find it slightly strange it's such a big deal after all people in the inn knew I was trying to become one, was their lightheartedness stemming from a belief that I could not succeed?

I explored my villa and discovered a study, a library, a small kitchen and pantry, 3 guest rooms, a great room and the master suite which was a very nice room to be honest. The entire villa was made of stone, like a renaissance italian home, the interior felt warm with a mix of stonework and wood. The villa was lit up by what I assumed to either be light emitting stones or some sort of spell.

I see the sun sink below the horizon and I decide to read a book from the library before going to bed, well at least start a book. I see a book called elementary acolyte being a new elementary acolyte I was intrigued. The book had a lot of interesting anecdotes and various stories about the different ways people had progressed through this stage.

Elementary Acolytes

The elementary stages are divided into 9 basic levels. To progress into the next level one must shatter then reform it by condensing it further. Of course to achieve the highest possible effect it is recommended that one fully exploits the highest natural growth of each level before shattering then reforming as the more energy contained within your core at the 9th level which will heavily influence your entrance into the apprentice level.  

Note: To grow your core at a faster natural rate it is recommended to constantly use spells and reach the mental limit of casting spells when training. Living in an environment with high amounts of natural energy, doesn't matter if it is qi or mana.

Qi puts pressure upon your spiritual control, using magic while in the presence of cultivators increases your growth if you actively resist the pressure.

To cast spells while in the elementary stage one must use spell formations and the deus-en script. Different ways of using spell lines/ circles increase and control the power of spells as does the usage of the deus-en script. Note: this is how one will typically cast powerful spells even after the highest stages.

Story of Ronald “The Speedy” Corron.

The story of Ronald is one of teaching a mgus not to rush through the elementary stage, of which he did in two short days. Shattering his core and reforming it 9 times in a row did indeed allow him to progress to the apprentice stage however as he reached it his permanent spell limit (the exhaustion limit) was exactly the same as a elementary lvl 2.  A quote from him was “apparently power really doesn't come quickly” after this quote he made the mistake of trying to become an alchemist and promptly blew himself up.

Never forget the story of Ronald “The Speedy” Corron.

Finishing the very interesting read and chuckling over the story of Ronald the Speedy I looked forward to the years and months ahead, I look forward to learning more about spell lines and this deus-en script in the future, however now I sleep.