‘I have several Runes that are inscribed on my body.’
Some were Runes he couldn’t activate at the moment, while others were ones he didn’t really need yet. However, there were two in particular that were of utmost pertinence, and they were the first ones he inscribed.
They existed among the others all over his body, but seemed to be more pronounced on his chest and his stomach.
‘Magia is usually concentrated at the abdomen area in the body—though it is like an invisible organ that exists in a separate dimension as the physical organs.’ Dan allowed his thoughts to flow as he closed his eyes in the room. ‘The quantity and quality of a person’s Magia represents the level they have reached as a Mage.’
For Apprentices like Dan, who were just starting out, their Magia had the base white color and varied in size.
‘Mine in particular is pretty small, since the volume of Magia I have is incredibly lacking.’
A lot of other Apprentices his age had much larger clusters of Magia—most of them doubling his own. That was how unimpressive and weak he was.
‘Then, there’s also the issue of Magia Flow.’
Since Magia was normally clustered at the stomach region, it had to flow to respective parts of the body that it was being used in. For Runecrafters, the pathway usually led to their hands and legs, while for Spellcasters, their pathways led to their vocal organs—lungs, trachea, and up to the larynx and finally the tongue itself.
Whether it was Spellcasting or Runecrafting, the pathways were still complex networks which Magia flowed through, and the Casting or Inscribing speed of a person was very contingent on how fast the flow was.
‘Casting is still much faster, though, since it’s easier to do.’
As such, the type of Magia cluster a person had, as well as the speed flow involved, was what determined how powerful a Mage was—or, more accurately, could be.
‘These aren’t strict determiners, since experience and knowledge are equally as important—if not more important—for a Mage, but without the right ability to complement those skills, one can’t go very far in Mage Arts.’
That was why the Academy existed: to nurture potential Mages to achieve their full potential.
‘Those with talent have a large cluster of Magia and faster flow, while untalented ones like me have very little.’
There were those who, despite having Magia existing in them—just as it existed in pretty much everything—had no cluster at all. Those were the ones that didn’t have any potential at all and could be labeled Inept.
Dan was beyond happy that he didn’t fall into this category of people, but that didn’t mean he was out of the woods yet.
‘My body’s natural affinity makes it so that, even if I do my best as a Mage, I can’t advance very far. My flow is slower than the others, and since I am focusing on both Spellcasting and Runecrafting as my Majors, it means the flow will be even slower.’
This was why his Supervising Officer and most students thought he was foolish for choosing the path that he chose, and he couldn’t blame them.
Common sense made it clear that he was doomed.
‘But… am I really?’ He smiled, once again attempting to sit upright. This time, due to the pain subsiding, his body listened to him and he was able to do so.
‘With the two Runes I’ll be using for now, I can solve the problem of Flow and Volume.’
The first was Flow.
‘The first Rune I inscribed is the opposite of the kind used to remove Magia from a surface or place.’ Usually, the Rune functioned as a way to drain the energy in a particular target and disperse it outside the object.
It could also be channeled into another target, or a specific location.
However, by creating its inverse, rather than the target being the one drained, the surrounding was being sucked of its Magia… channeling all of that energy into the target.
That target was himself.
‘I applied this Rune all over my body, which means upon activation, it will suck in the surrounding Magia and impart it into my body.
Since everyone had their individual Magia signature, introducing external Magia was only going to cause complications for the body. The pathways would have conflicting energies, which would lead to a disturbance or deviation.
In severe cases, such a person could become crippled for life or even die.
It was for this very reason that Mages didn’t use this method to improve their abilities, even if it had been discovered quite a while ago. It was practically suicide, and the ones who stubbornly attempted to try this method regardless paid dearly for their greed.
Dan was different from them, though.
He wouldn’t have used this method, knowing of the risks, if he didn’t have a way out.
‘This is why the second Rune exists. It converts the external Magia to my Magia signature, which allows me to use it properly. Of course, this also prevents any suspicion to fall on me, since to any prying eye, all they’ll see is my Magia Signature.’
How was he able to achieve such a feat, though?
‘It’s the same way I’m able to Inscribe Runes on an animate surface, defying the general consensus on what is considered a viable surface.’
Normally, Runes could only be inscribed on inanimate and tangible surfaces. Intangible surfaces like air, and animate surfaces like the bodies of a living thing could not be used for Rune Inscriptions.
However, thanks to his Universal Rune Inscription, not only could Dan Inscribe on intangible surfaces, but animated surfaces were not exempt from him.
‘The method for the latter is different from the former and considerably more difficult.’ His thoughts flowed as he looked at the Runes on his body.
‘To inscribe a Rune on a living person, you have to adjust the Magia Signature being applied to the Magia Signature of the surface being inscribed on.’
Since inanimate surfaces didn’t have unique signatures, this wasn’t a problem for Runecrafters. All they had to do was imprint their own Magia Signatures on the surface, and they could successfully activate their Runes.
But it was different if there was a pre-existing unique signature.
After constant research into the field, the general consensus in the community was that it couldn’t be done. As such, everyone accepted that only inanimate surfaces that were tangible could be considered viable.
‘However, what they failed to realize was that it is indeed possible to alter Magia Signatures. The answer comes in the form of a Rune that allows the person inscribing to successfully imprint a corresponding Magia Signature to the surface of something with an existing Magia Signature.’
This wasn’t the fault of the Magus Community, though.
After all, Dan—or rather, Arthur as he was known in his past life—was the one who discovered it.
‘It doesn’t seem like anyone has discovered it yet, though, since I haven’t seen it being applied anywhere.’ He smiled. ‘Should I be relieved about that? Probably.’
In any case, this was why he could imprint Runes on the surface of living beings. There was no risk of any complications arising, and the fact that he was able to successfully use it on himself was enough proof of that.
‘By collecting the Magia around me and sending it to my pathways, I improve the quantity of Magia it can take in at once, improving its capacity and quickening its flow.’
Also, since this Magia would be gathered from various points of his pathways, not just from his stomach region, the time it would take for the Magia to be transported to its needed area would be considerably reduced.
All of this was going to greatly improve his speed.
‘With that, the Flow issue is resolved. If applied well, and in the right circumstances, my Magia Volume won’t even be a factor—except when I want to activate the two Runes.’
Once the Runes were activated, the Magia that flowed through them from the surrounding would make them self-sustaining, putting less strain on his own Magia Cluster. Even with these benefits, though, Dan wasn’t satisfied with stopping here.
‘I have to also work on the volume of my Magia Cluster.’
There could be situations when he couldn’t absorb Magia from his surroundings, or the Magia being absorbed wouldn’t be sufficient for the job. To compensate for such moments, he needed to have enough stockpile to still function desirably.
‘Which is why I’m going to improve my Magia Cluster’s volume.’
He was still a long way from raising the quality, but quantity was something he could manage.
‘That’s why I have those Runes especially embedded on my chest and stomach.’
The Runes on his chest and stomach were much more powerful than the ones on the other parts of his body, and as a result, the Magia it would absorb was much more. They were also connected by a new pathway that he just created—which was why he was so exhausted and his body ached.
New pathways couldn’t just be created, since the body already had its existing pathways, but there was a reason he had to do it.
‘Transferring foreign Magia in such a large quantity requires a lot of room for absorption and transportation. I can’t afford using my other pathways, since it would cause a disruption, and I also can’t use the Rune that changes the Magia Signature anywhere near that area, since it will affect how much I can absorb.
That was why he positioned the Magia Signature ‘Altering Rune’ all the way on his stomach region and connected the two with a unique pathway.
‘That way, all of the energy is directed towards my stomach, which the Altering Rune will transform into my Magia and send it off to the cluster right beneath it.’
By directing all of that Magia to his Cluster, it would vastly increase its quantity over time.
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It would also help with his Magia Recovery speed.
‘Still, improving Magia volume isn’t easy.’ Dan sighed. ‘Like every other organ in the body, it has to be exercised.’
That meant he had to keep depleting the Magia, and then pumping more Magia into it, increasing its capacity every time this happened. Usually, this would take forever as a result of the recover speed issue, but since that wasn’t a problem—thanks to his new method—he could practically recover his small volume instantaneously.
‘All of this depends on how rich in Magia my surroundings are, but considering how this is the Imperial Magus Academy, I shouldn’t be too concerned.’
By continuously going through this process, Dan was assured of real growth.
‘I should probably get something to eat now, and immediately after that… I’ll commence!’
*********
[The Next Day]
“Erm… welcome to the Runecrafting class. My name is Darwin Levantis… and I’ll be your Instructor for your time here as First Years.”
A rather aged man—about fifty years of age—gave a rather unenthusiastic greeting to the students who sat opposite the podium that he stood on. Due to his old age, his posture was slightly hunched, and he had a slightly gnarled staff that doubled as his walking stick.
His ashen hair draped down his face, and his Mage Hat appeared slightly wrinkled—almost as if it also suffered from old age. His attire was a dark brown cloak, with deep blue wear underneath. He had a few rings on his wrinkled fingers, as well as an amulet that was tied around his neck.
Overall, his rough, baggy attire and long cloak covered most parts of his body. So, other than on his face and wrinkled hand, no other part of his skin was exposed.
“Why don’t you introduce yourselves?” He gave a forced grin as he looked at the students in front of him.
There were just two of them.
One of them, the girl, rose to her feet and sharply introduced herself. Unlike the boy, whom he couldn’t fully read, she seemed quite impatient to begin her journey as a potential Runecrafter. Just from how she rose to speak, and the tone of her voice, it was clear that she wasn’t there to mess around.
“My name is Lyla Raeven… first daughter of the Raeven Family, one of the six Noble Households in the Empire, and I look forward to your teachings, sir!”
Darwin Levantis kept up his forced smile as he rubbed his long beards while analyzing the student before him.
‘Even though it is presumed that the Instructors know the identities of their wards, she still found it necessary to tell me of her lineage, huh? I can tell she didn’t say it as a sign of disrespect, though, since there’s still a fair amount of reverence in her tone.’ His thoughts flowed smoothly as a glint flashed in his eyes. ‘She was probably taught to introduce herself like that in formal settings.’
Still, he could sense that she had a strong desire to learn Runes.
‘The Raeven Family is in competition with the Kornelius Family when it comes to Runecraft. Those two have been at it for generations. The latter Kornelius Household has the lead for now, but I hear that they might fall behind very soon.’ He gave a wry smile.
‘The fact that their ward—Sylvia Kornelius—chose the Spellcasting path rather than Runecrafting also adds to the credence to the rumors, but I suppose it’s too early to judge.’
After all, he still didn’t know if this Lyla Raeven was capable in Runecraft.
‘Having a strong desire to learn something and being capable in that thing are two completely different matters.’ He smirked to himself. ‘Besides, life isn’t as straightforward when it comes to things like this.’
It wasn’t like a single student would be able to make or break a family that had stood for centuries.
‘And now… for the next student.’ Darwin Levantis thought to himself, nodding slowly as he acknowledged the introduction of the girl.
As soon as she sat, the boy rose to his feet.
“My name is Dan Nilrem. I look forward to learning from you.”
There was nothing particularly special or interesting in the kid’s introduction, but that didn’t mean old Darwin hadn’t noticed a few things worthy of observation.
‘Even now, it’s difficult to completely read him, huh?’ He thought to himself as he eyed Dan. ‘On one hand, it seems he’s just as prepared to learn about Runecrafting, but on the other… it almost feels like his heart isn’t fully here.’
The reason Darwin thought about the latter was because of the expression that the young man had been hiding throughout their exchange.
He had noticed it ever since he entered the classroom.
‘Is there something he’s dissatisfied with? What a guy… he’s being a little cheeky, isn’t he? It seems I have rather interesting students this time.’ Draven nearly chuckled to himself as he had the thought.
One was a Noble who had the zeal to learn, and the other was a mixed bag.
‘They’re both problematic wards… but not very difficult to handle. Still…’ He sighed. ‘... I was really hoping there wouldn’t be any new blood this Year.’
For some years now, there had been no Year 1 Students who picked Runecrafting as their Majors. As someone who had specifically selected his current position for that very purpose, this suited his agenda.
‘I thought I’d be able to slack off without doing much in this Academy until I retired, but these ones just had to ruin things for me.’
Old Darwin tried his best to hide it, but their interest in Runecrafting was a bother to him.
‘It would have been better if they chose Spellcasting or Magia Engineering… damnit! Now I actually have to put in work.’ He gritted his teeth silently. ‘It can’t be helped, though…’
In this Academy, much was expected from the Instructors… and that included Darwin.
Back when he didn’t have students, he was free from scrutiny because there were no Apprentices to be responsible for. Despite him not doing anything, though, the Academy couldn’t just lay him off because of his qualifications.
He was one of the few high-ranking experts in Runecrafting, and the only one interested in Education. With the Academy’s emphasis on quality, they had no choice but to retain him and keep him on a high salary.
Any other Magus Academy would have just let him go and not have hired another Runecrafting Instructor, but the Imperial Magus Academy couldn’t do that. They had to make sure every facet of their academic curriculum was accounted for, and that included having Instructors readily available.
Low-ranking Runecrafting Instructors—like Junior Lecturers or Part-time Lecturers—were put in charge of Minor Courses, while he was responsible for the Majors.
And because there were no students who chose Runecrafting as their Majors, he had an easy life.
… Until now.
‘The girl is a Noble, and she’s very interested in the course, which means her expectations are high. As for the boy, he seems like someone with a keen eye and a skeptical nature. He also got a perfect score in the Runecrafting Exam. If I mess up, these two could report me to the top brass and I might get into trouble…’ A bead of sweat formed on Darwin’s face as he considered this.
In the Imperial Magus Academy, students held a lot of power.
Due to them being assumed to be among the best—as well as having the potential to be powerful Mages in the future if they were taught well—their opinions carried great weight.
‘Low-ranking staff could get immense disciplinary measures, or even lose their jobs if a student successfully lodges a valid complaint on them and it is proven to be a serious matter affecting that student. Depending on the severity of the complaint, the staff could even be imprisoned for their actions.’ Darwin sighed to himself.
For Senior Lecturers like himself, though, the rules were less gruesome.
It wasn’t very easy to replace Senior Lecturers, so the Academy would have to be lenient on them. Punishments like pay-cuts, public apologies, or other kinds of disciplinary measures could be taken on them—though severe cases would still result in a loss of their jobs.
A Senior Lecturer losing their job meant a loss of prestige in the Magus Community as a whole, which dealt a double blow to the few who had this action taken against them.
The reason for this was simple: the higher one is, the harder the fall.
For Junior Lecturers, even if they made severe mistakes and got fired, it would be assumed that they were either too young, naive, or careless. Their experience and positions also made it so that they couldn’t even be responsible for too much.
As such, their wrongdoings didn’t have much of an impact on both the students and the Academy as a whole.
But… Senior Lecturers were different.
With the astronomical increase in pay and prestige came a high cost of responsibility.
Senior Lecturers were highly respected, and so they handled very important and sensitive matters in the Academy—an example being teaching a Major Course. Due to this, they couldn’t afford to mess up.
Even if they did mess up, due to their status and importance, the Academy would try its best to seek measures and alternatives that didn’t involve letting them go.
And so, in the rare case of a Senior Lecturer being fired, it would be clear that they must have committed something incredibly foul and unforgivable—even by the standards of the Academy.
For this reason, the Magus Community would distance itself from such a person.
It would be the end of their career as a Mage.
‘I normally wouldn’t get fired for any misconduct, since the Academy needs me due to my qualifications as a Runecrafter, but… the current circumstances make me a little worried.’ Darwin swallowed his saliva.
For one, he wasn’t well-liked by the top brass of the Academy.
He was just being tolerated by them because there weren’t any other viable options, and he knew it. The moment they found a passable candidate, as well as sufficient reason to get rid of him, they would do so without a second thought.
Even now, he knew the Academy was actively searching for someone to take his place.
‘They won’t find any, since I know every single Runecrafter in my level, but even at that… I’m not indispensable.’
He was simply hard to get rid of without proper justification.
But all of that could change now.
‘If the daughter of one of the six Noble Families finds great fault in my performance as an Instructor, and she is supported by the boy who got a perfect score in Runecrafting… then it’s very possible I could lose my job.’
If that happened, he would be finished as a proper Mage.
‘I’m too prestigious to become a local Runecrafter and too old to be an Adventurer.’ Darwin also knew that he didn’t have a lot in his savings due to his lifestyle. ‘In order to protect my interests… I have to hide any weakness that they can exploit.’
This was easier said than done since Darwin Levantis had not taught a single class in years and was out of practice.
Just the previous day, he had thought this practice would continue, so he didn’t even bother checking his desk for any list of students that would be taking his Course.
‘… Not until this very morning.’ He could still remember how sober he became once he realized he had a class in just an hour.
This was going to be a severe pain for him, but Darwin knew he had to endure.
‘Let’s just hope these two don’t give me much trouble…’ He looked at the girl and boy, whose eyes were plastered unblinkingly on him.
“Nice to meet you two. Now then… shall we begin with the basics?”
*************
‘Is this man really a Senior Lecturer?’ Dan did his best to hide his frown throughout the lecture even though he was tempted to break his facade many times.
‘How disgraceful!’ His thoughts echoed internally. ‘Has the Imperial Magus Academy degraded in quality this much since my death?!’
He simply couldn’t believe the pathetic display that the old man before him was exhibiting.
‘I tried my best to forgive him for coming late for the lecture, since it was only a few minutes of tardiness, but he couldn’t even be bothered to attend class properly?!’
Everyone knew Instructors had to wear fresh clothes and also have a clean appearance when coming for Lectures. Yet what was the case with this so-called Senior Lecturer?
‘His outfit is rough, and so is his hair. Overall, he has a very shoddy appearance. He also used a Rune to hide the stink of alcohol all over his clothes, but he can’t fool me with something so blatantly obvious.’ Dan did his best to control his rage, suppressing the veins that were slowly popping out of his head.
If he was still Head of Runecrafting, such a thing would never happen!
‘I hoped he would be able to redeem himself once he properly began the class, but what is this? You call this a lecture?’ He gritted his teeth. ‘This washed-up old man thinks saying a bunch of big words and throwing around questions to answer counts as teaching?’
Not only was he mixing up the topics that they were supposed to be learning with more advanced ones that weren’t in their curriculum, but he was hiding his severe unpreparedness in sophistry and over-exaggerations.
‘How does he expect anyone to learn anything from him like this?’ Dan fumed. ‘He’s a fraud!’
He glanced over at the girl who sat on the other row of seats next to him. Both of their seats were divided by stairs that led to higher platforms where other seats were positioned, which was the design of their classroom. This was the same space they used for their Orientation, and Dan assumed it would be where the other Major Classes would hold, but that wasn’t his concern at the moment.
He narrowed his eyes as he watched the girl take notes and maintain a serious facade throughout the class.
‘She’s writing a lot of things down. Does she understand what that old man is saying?’ Dan wondered to himself, a little worried. ‘New students often make the mistake of writing down everything they hear, assuming the Lecturer must have said something profound if they don’t understand it.’
This was due to the respect and authority that Lecturers commanded in the Academy.
It was assumed that they knew a lot.
‘As a result, even if this old fool says a bunch of rubbish, it’s possible she might think he’s making sense and she simply doesn’t understand it yet.’
Dan felt this was wrong.
‘A lecture should be done in a way that the audience understands… else what’s the point?!’ Due to his past experience as an Instructor, he understood the importance of communication and proper understanding when it came to education.
In all of these regards, the Instructor before him could be regarded as nothing short of a failure.
‘I can never learn from someone like this.’