There were a total of three Majors in the Imperial Magus Academy:

Runecrafting

Spellcasting

Magia Engineering

These three were completely different fields and had distinct elements about them. As a result, students usually picked one of them, and focused on selecting a more diverse list of Minors. This was mainly because, no matter how skilled or powerful a Mage was, they could only have one area of specialization.

Runecrafters and Spellcasters were the most common examples of this, but the Magia Engineers also had equal prestige—especially in the modern era. With the improvement of technology over time, Enchanted Items also had a rise in sophistication, causing an increase in demand, which resulted in more attention being given to the field of Engineering.

This was the popular trend in the world at the moment, so there was a common assumption that the best way to become rich and successful as quickly as possible was to go through the route of Magia Engineering.

‘I’m ruling this one out…’ Dan thought to himself as he shifted his eyes away from the most prospective course for the students of his generation.

Considering how lucrative the industry was, most students would have jumped at the opportunity to give a shot at the very least. It was also a contemporary Course, which meant it was relatively newer compared to the other Majors. Due to this, the Magia Engineering community was yet to be saturated.

In fact, due to the growing demand for the Enchanted Items, Potions, and other highly pertinent materials that was the specialization of Magia Engineering, there were not enough Engineers at the moment.

It was the perfect industry to get into, especially for someone of commoner status.

But—

‘I don’t know enough about the modern world to get into something like this.’ Dan told himself with a sigh. ‘No… even if I did, I don’t think I would still choose it.’

Of course, he had valid reasons for this.

‘For one, I have no interest in that field at all. Magia Engineering isn’t my passion, and I don’t think I’ll be good at it, so there really isn’t a point in going for something like that.’

From the little he understood about the course, it involved the merging of various subsets of Mage Arts that couldn’t strictly fall under Spellcasting and Runecrafting. Fields such as Alchemy, Forgecraft, and a few other Non-Combat sub-classes were combined to form Magia Engineering.

‘I took a few classes on those fields back then, but they were never my forte.’ Dan thought to himself. ‘With the advent of modernity, I’m sure they’ve gotten exponentially more complex than I remember. It’s better not to push my luck.’

Besides, despite having the status of a lowly commoner, Dan wasn’t particularly moved by the allure of money.

Having lived a life before this one, in which he was wealthier than most men in the world at the time, he had a calm approach to the subject. Money was not something he greedily craved, though he still understood it to be a useful resource.

‘When it comes to passion, though, making money shouldn’t be the prime priority…’ He closed his eyes for a moment, remembering how empty his life was, even when he had all the money he could ever need.

In the end, he left all his wealth and prospects behind to chase after his ambitions.

Sure, he died at the end of that road, but he had no regrets.

‘And I don’t plan to have any regrets in this life either.’ The only thing remotely close to regret that he suffered from was the fact that he didn’t start his passion-fueled journey sooner.

Now that he was in the body of a young boy, that problem was solved.

‘I can only imagine how much I’ll be able to learn… how much I can accomplish with this new life that I’ve been given.’ He smiled, returning his gaze to the form before him.

With Magia Engineering now ruled out, there remained just two Majors left to choose from:

Spellcasting and Runecrafting.

Each of these fields had their positives and negatives, so there wasn’t particularly a superior one to choose. Besides, with each having its place in the world, neither was useless to study.

‘As long as I perform sufficiently well in either of them, I should be able to get a decent job somewhere…’

This was yet another reason why Dan wasn’t too concerned about money.

He already knew his future—at least, regarding money—was guaranteed if he excelled in his Academics.

‘The reason things didn’t go so smoothly for me last time was because I switched from my Spellcasting Major to Runecrafting, which really affected my grades. It was a miracle I didn’t fail, but… well… I didn’t particularly graduate with distinctions.’

Anyone who knew him in the Academy back then knew how talented and brilliant he was, so they knew his grades didn’t reflect his actual abilities. Still, such was the reality of life.

Sometimes, pursuing passion ends in disaster.

‘Which is why I have to be careful with my decisions this time around.’ Dan told himself as he carefully read through every detail about the courses—both Majors and Minors.

Most of the students around him were already done filling their forms, and they were already submitting them, but he hadn’t even started with his. A few of his classmates shot him a curious glance, but he ignored them.

‘I may appear indecisive to them, but right now I’m carefully weighing my options.’

Runecrafting had been his main field of expertise in his past life, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t opt for something else this time. Due to the limited lifespan of mere mortals, one which Mages weren’t exempt from, no single person could ever fully master Runecraft and Spellcasting to its utmost.

However, Dan had been presented with a rare opportunity.

‘I have all the knowledge of my past life, which means if I choose Spellcasting, it’s actually possible for me to be a master in the two fields.’

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Despite how alluring this prospect sounded, he still recognized it to be childishly optimistic. There were a lot of problems that could arise from his choosing a different field in this new life, one of which was the constraints of his body.

‘This body barely has any Magia. That means his talent for Mage Arts is very low, and that’s an especially bad thing when it comes to Spellcasting.’

Even if he tried his hardest, Dan realized he would never be able to reach the pinnacle of Spellcasting if he chose that field. This realization was further supplemented by the fact that he wouldn’t be able to apply the bulk of his past life’s knowledge, which meant he’d have no advantage whatsoever.

‘Unless I am ready to accept the possibility of remaining a mediocre Mage for the rest of my life, Spellcasting alone isn’t an optimal choice for me.’

Even if he wanted to use his Runes, he would need some degree of education to prove his competence. Without education, so many places would not be available to him, so he needed formal study on Runes regardless.

‘Plus, who knows how much Runecraft has changed over the years. All my knowledge could be archaic, for all I know.’ He rubbed his chin. ‘For that reason alone, isn’t it best to play it safe and just go for Runecrafting?’

By adding new knowledge to his already existing one, he could become a much better Runecrafter. Plus, even with a very small Magia capacity, he could still become a highly distinguished Mage.

‘It just feels like such a waste, though.’ Dan was biting his nails already, watching as most of the students were done submitting their forms. ‘If only I could learn Spellcasting too, I would have been… h-hold on…’

He placed both hands down, his eyes widening in realization, as he remembered the words of their Instructor.

‘Fifteen Units is the maximum… right? Back in my day, there was no such system in place, so I subconsciously continued thinking like that. But, since this is how things are…’

A bead of sweat appeared on Dan’s face as he looked at the paper before him.

‘... Can’t I just choose both of them as Majors?’

He spent a few seconds thinking about what it would mean for him to do such an absurd thing, but the more he got engrossed in the details, the more he realized it wasn’t so absurd.

‘I-I can do it!’

Sure, it was going to be extremely stressful, and he was probably going to overwork himself in the process, but it wasn’t an impossible task.

‘How hard could it be? My Internship was hellish, and let’s not get started on my first few years as a Junior Lecturer in this Academy…’ Back then, they were highly understaffed, so Dan—Arthur as he was called back then—had to take multiple classes and coordinate too many students.

He was also highly underpaid for the amount of work he put in, but back then it didn’t matter. He was simply grateful to have a job.

‘I also had to make time to work on my personal research so I could advance in the community and get more recognition.’ Dan smiled as he indulged in a bit of nostalgia. ‘More recognition from the Magus Community meant a promotion and a well-deserved raise—all of which I eventually got after working myself to the bone.’

Compared to such hardships, the life of a student wasn’t very difficult.

‘I’m sure most of my peers would play it safe, especially in their First Year, and go for the bare minimum—one Major and maybe two Minors. They’d probably look at me like I’m a madman, since I’ll have to choose two Majors and at least two Minors.’

Did Dan care about all of that, though?

Not at all!

‘People will always look at those who dare to be different as though they’re insane. However, once the time for results arrives, they won’t help but be amazed—maybe a little envious.’

He had seen this play out many times, and in many ways. A prime example was when he overworked himself as a Junior Professor while his colleagues took every opportunity to slack off and did the bare minimum.

After only a few years, he was leagues ahead of them—both in reputation and status.

‘Plus, I was able to advance a lot in my journey as a Mage, so their experience and overall abilities couldn’t be compared to mine.’ He nodded, smiling to himself as he finished reminiscing about his past.

All notable examples of success can only be achieved by applying oneself.

‘Pure hard work! There’s no other way to advance as a Mage!’ With that thought echoing in his mind, he went ahead to choose his Majors.

Fshh…

His index finger glowed with a dim white light—the color of base Magia—and he pressed it on the boxes that stood beside each Course.

‘It looks like the means of Course Registration hasn’t changed much.’ He noted to himself as he made his final choice. ‘That’s a relief.’

The paper that was passed to them was made by Magia Engineering—a very basic one. It involved draining the Magia from the paper, leaving it as a blank canvas that was sensitive to any imprint of the energy.

As such, if anyone imprinted their Magia on the paper’s surface, it would stick to it and be visually evident.

‘Magia exists everywhere and in pretty much everything, so by making the paper devoid of that energy, you make it special.’ Dan smiled. ‘The process is so simple.’

The technology for making Magia Sensitive Paper—as well as other Items of similar nature—was pretty common. Of course, the speed and sophistication could always be improved on through special means, but it was pretty common knowledge.

‘And it’s useful too…’

This method was preferred over ink because the visual imprint couldn’t be erased or eroded through any other means but through Mage Arts, hence many Institutions used this method as a way to preserve sensitive or important information.

If, in any circumstance, a Mage erased the Magia Imprint on one of the papers, they would be leaving their own Magia Imprint on it, which meant the culprit could be apprehended. Hence, forgery couldn’t be done on such paper.

The only way to get rid of such papers without being caught was by destroying it completely.

Of course, some papers could be made indestructible through some other means, but those were rare and expensive—certainly not the kind to be used for Course Registrations.

Dan smiled at the simplicity, yet versatility involved in a single innovation of Magia. Mage Arts were generally this as well, which made the whole thing incredibly fascinating to him.

‘Even if I die and get reborn a million times over, I will always be a Mage!’

“One more minute, so please hurry with your Course Registration!” The voice of the Supervising Officer rang loudly in the classroom, waking Dan up from his deep thoughts.

“A-ah!”

He appeared a little frantic, just so he wouldn’t appear unaffected by his senior’s words.

‘It looks like I’m the only one who is yet to submit.’ He thought to himself as he looked around.

At this point, almost everyone was looking at him.

‘I better hurry.’

Dan wasn’t pressured by the stares to submit, but he understood the implications they held. In the Magus Community, it was impossible to go very far without making friends—or at least acquaintances.

Allies were very important, especially when it came to difficult research and very tasking projects. Even in the Academy, they were bound to have group assignments and practical activities that required some sort of team.

Dan couldn’t afford to have everyone disliking him now.

There were bound to be enemies, no matter what a person did, but he had to at least salvage his reputation so that he could get along with most people.

Plus… time was running out, so he had to hurry either way.

‘For Minors, the ideal option would be to choose one Three Units Course and one Two Units Course.’ He thought to himself. ‘But… I don’t think I’ll be going down that route.’

He had read through the list of Minors, so he already had a few prospective candidates.

‘Out of all of them, though… I think the best options remain Basic Spell Combat and Basic Rune Grafting.’

These were 2 Units each.

‘I could stop there, but… I think I have to reach the Maximum Unit requirement.’ And this was due to a particular Course he had his eyes on.

‘It’s still surprising that this is just one Unit, but I’m glad that is the case.’

After all, this was the one Course that Dan wished he had learned early on in the Academy in his past life. It was something that most Mages would grow to learn the importance of, but since he had learned from his past mistakes, he could make the right choice this time.

‘Basic Martial Arts Training… I’ll choose you as my third Minor.’

With that choice made, Dan was done with his Course Registration, and he couldn’t be more satisfied with his choice.

‘Runecrafting, Spellcasting, Basic Spell Combat, Basic Rune Grafting, and Basic Martial Arts Training…’ He smiled, rising from his seat as he went to submit the form.

‘... I already look forward to learning here.’