The class began with an introduction to magic. As they were now, the players’ basic understanding of magic was heavily influenced by games and bore little resemblance to what this world possessed. They couldn’t just go ahead and shoot magic without understanding it like in most RPG games. So, it was time for Victor to burst their magical bubble and show them the real deal!
“To become a Magus,” Victor began, “you must first have a suitable meditation technique. This meditation technique enables you to perform ‘mana infusion,’ a process where you harness mana by infusing it within your body. The reason why Magi’s constitutions become stronger and more resilient as they progress higher is because the infused mana becomes their life force and the source of their magical abilities, hence the term ‘infused mana.’”
Then, he conjured a small flicker of his infused mana on his fingertip and drew two circles on the magic-enchanted board behind him. “The source of mana is the ‘Primordial Nexus’ — an ethereal realm brimming with ancient and raw magical energy. It is basically a plane that exists parallel to the physical world, accessible only to Magi.”
In layman’s terms, meditation techniques were used to gather mana and infuse it into the body. It might seem like mana existed in the air, but that was merely an illusion; the Primordial Nexus existed parallel to the physical world — much like the infamous Schrodinger’s cat, it was both there and not there at the same time, hidden from ordinary perception.
“In essence, meditation techniques are your magical roadmap, and the Primordial Nexus is your treasure trove of power.”
He looked at the players, ensuring they were following along. “Understanding this fundamental aspect of magic is crucial on your path to becoming a Magus. Furthermore, there’s one more important thing you have to remember: A Magus’s meditation is a continuous journey, and only with daily devotion and perseverance could one infuse enough mana to become a being that could control mysterious powers. All right, if you have any questions, you may ask them now.”
The room fell silent as the players tried hard to digest the mind-boggling information that Victor had dumped on their heads. They exchanged glances, their minds racing to grasp the concepts they had just been introduced to.
Finally, the player named Storm bravely raised his hand and asked, “Sir Astralium, are you going to teach us a meditation technique?”
“Naturally,” Victor replied, offering a small smile. “The academy has given the five of you a free meditation technique, and you can access it through your Shadowlink Marks. Feel free to review it once the class ends.”
Victor had, of course, converted the meditation technique into its e-book form to make it easily accessible to the players. This was far more convenient than procuring and handing out physical copies to each of them one by one.
The free meditation technique was called the “Myriad Elements Method,” and it could be meditated upon until the third-stage Initiate Attunement. Victor had yet to try the meditation technique himself, but from a brief introduction he had read, it was significantly better than even the basic meditation technique of the Arcane Radiant College. On top of that, the content had various sub-parts where acolytes could choose to focus based on their specific elemental affinities, making it extremely versatile.
“Now, let’s delve deeper into the prerequisites to become a Magus,” Victor continued, addressing the enthusiastic players. “Remember, becoming a Magus requires a specific kind of gift, and among tens of thousands of people, it’s possible that there isn’t even one with such potential.”
The players’ expressions immediately shifted, the harsh reality they were facing making them feel uneasy as they gulped. In almost every game, their characters were almost always conveniently “the chosen ones.” This was not a game, however, but a reality. Though they appeared initially taken aback by this, curiosity seemed to outweigh their concern.
Grinning, Victor assured them, “Don’t worry. I believe that each of you has the necessary aptitude to be accepted into this academy. Since you acolytes are so eager to find out about your aptitudes, I just so happen to have a magic tool here to do just that.” He then took out a crystal ball from his interspatial ring and placed it on the front table.
Among the items given freely in the starting pack was a crystal ball used to grade people’s aptitude for magic. Normally, acquiring such a magic tool would not have been easy, even with enough mana crystals. However, it appeared that his predecessor had planned things through.
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“I will call your name one at a time. When your name is mentioned, come here and place both of your hands on the crystal ball; I will tell you the result afterward,” Victor instructed.
He had memorized the usernames of the first batch of players, yet it dawned on him that once the number of players exceeded one thousand or more, memorizing them all would be impossible. As the headmaster of a Magus academy, there was little need for him to know every single player by name, and he doubted it would be expected of him either. It was better to act like a typical NPC and not know someone until formally meeting them.
That said, Victor called the first player — “ZeroXScyth.”
Zero stood and walked nervously toward the front table, then placed both of his hands on the crystal ball. His face twitched as soon as he touched the icy cold surface, and a faint glow was emitted from the ball.
“Good. Don’t let go. Hold your stance as long as possible.”
However, as the crystal ball grew brighter, an expression of pain appeared on Zero’s face. “Sir Headmaster…! I can’t! I can’t hold on any longer!” He gritted his teeth, struggling to endure the pain and looking like he could pass out at any moment.
This was strange. Lizbeth had previously mentioned that the players had a pain limiter, which should have prevented such extreme discomfort. Victor wondered if there were exceptions to this rule and decided to discuss it with her later.
“Okay. Release your hands.” Victor nodded and glanced at the glowing crystal ball. Whoa! This is…
“…Not bad,” he slowly said. “The aptitude of the acolytes is called ‘mana aptitude’ and is categorized into seven grades: mundane, faint, ordinary, glimmering, bright, shining, and radiant. Basically no one has had a radiant-grade aptitude for tens of thousands of years. As for your aptitude… it’s not bad. You have an intermediate glimmering-grade aptitude, a solid middle-ranked grade.”
Victor’s tone might have sounded like it wasn’t anything extraordinary, but even his own mana aptitude did not exceed Zero’s by much, being a superior glimmering-grade aptitude. At the time, he had regarded himself as a genius among many, which was a given considering that it was well above average.
To put things into perspective, a prestigious Magus academy that essentially controlled an entire kingdom, like the Arcane Radiance College, accepted individuals with an inferior ordinary-grade aptitude at the very minimum. Those with lower aptitudes could never hope to join the academy unless they had a powerful background or settled for smaller and more obscure academies. In such a case, they would be doomed to the lowest of the rung.
“Esteemed Headmaster. Is my aptitude good?” Zero asked carefully.
“Yes, you have a high chance of becoming an official Magus, and rather swiftly at that. But don’t be complacent; your aptitude won’t decide everything,” explained Victor. “Now return to your seat.”
“Yes, Headmaster!” Zero replied, barely containing his excitement.
“Next… You.” Victor pointed at Prominence, who looked to be exceedingly eager to try as he practically jumped out of his seat the instant he was called on.
“Yes!” He rushed forward and placed his hands on the crystal ball, just as Zero had done.
This time, the crystal ball glowed even brighter, causing Victor’s brow to twitch. On the flip side, Prominence’s countenance showed even more strain than even Zero’s.
“Very good. It’s an inferior bright-grade aptitude. You can consider yourself fairly gifted.” Those words at the end of his sentence were really difficult for Victor to force out.
“Yeess!!” Prominence was unable to hold himself back from bursting into hearty laughter. In fact, his excessively smug face was practically screaming, “Don’t you hear that?! I’m the chosen one!” Even Victor, who was confident in his acting skills, was struggling to maintain his poker face and had to order him to shut up and go back to his seat.
“Next.”
The same process continued with the rest of the players. Each of them showing at least inferior glimmering-grade mana aptitude, causing Victor to feel some doubt over whether his own aptitude was anything special after all. He had known that the bodies created by the Nexus Tower wouldn’t be normal, but he never thought that each of them would be so exceptionally talented that they could easily pass any Magus academy’s admission test with flying colors.
With these… Won’t the dream of creating the best Magus academy in the world be feasible? It’s no longer a pipe dream! As long as Victor was able to come up with the necessary resources, qualified mentors, and suitable environments, he could make a force that could rival — no, trample — the Arcane Radiance College and proclaim hegemony in this kingdom and its surroundings!
Victor quickly calmed himself down by taking a deep breath before saying, “Your results are all quite satisfactory. But without diligence, forget about becoming an official Magus, even reaching Initiate Attunement acolyte would be impossible. With that said, we’ll move on to test your elemental affinities.”
Storing the crystal ball, Victor took out a silver standing mirror from his interspatial ring. It wasn’t large, with a diameter of about half a meter, yet it had an entrancing quality to it that made anyone who stared too intensely at it feel dazed. After all, this was no ordinary mirror; it had the power to reveal one’s elemental affinity.
“All right. You five, get to the front in the same order as before.”