Upon accepting the director as his teacher, Ron had an incredibly smooth going as his new teacher directly finished up all of his paperwork before walking with him over to his own room.

"Alright, Alice. You may call me Teacher, or Teacher Loki. I do not care. Now, I am a busy man, but I will try and make as much time as possible for you, as I promised. However, I expect you to never be late, never slack off, and never disappoint me. I am not a merciful person." He said, his eyes not even looking at Ron, who still nodded anyways.

Behind them, a certain clumsy maid tried her best to keep up while carrying a large luggage, looking rather flustered.

"Teacher, I was wondering what I should focus on learning first. I do not mean to brag, but I believe myself capable of focusing on more than just a single topic." Ron chose his words carefully, trying his best not to sound as though he was bragging, which he wasn't.

Loki's eyes turned towards him art last, and they took a pensive look. "Hmm... Well, at the end of the day, it does not truly matter. I personally of the opinion that studying the myriad things gives one a lot more room to maneuver than simply studying one thing to its limits. Anyways, I can sense you've already received a meditation technique. Is there a story behind that?"

Ron blushed slightly, looking away while mumbling. "It was a gift by Professor Fiona. She said it's because she wants someone to carry on her legacy.

Loki just hummed, as though he didn't care. "I see. Well, I'd get angry at Fiona for giving you such a dangerous toy, but I can sense that it's extremely compatible with you."

Hearing this 'compatible' story again, Ron took a deep breath for some courage and then asked, "Teacher... I thought everyone needed a meditation technique to become a magus? Is there something wrong with the Ten Sacred Flames?"

As she was speaking, they'd already reached her room, which was numbered as #4819. It wasn't anything special, but the moment Ron stepped foot into it, he immediately loved it.

It was practically brimming with fire energy as well as some hints of shadow elements. It had a large, soft-looking bed in one corner, a desk with a comfy chair, a refrigerator, a stove, a couch, as well as a bathroom on one side.

Ron couldn't help but gasp in amazement, completely bamboozled at the fanciness of his room. Compared to his old college room, the one in his previous life, this was practically a 6-star hotel room. He quickly got around to poking at everything as Erika silently began working to put everything in the luggage into the large wardrobe.

"You haven't seen the best part yet, my lovely student. Follow me." Loki spoke up after a bit, interrupting Ron as he was poking his head out of a window showing the view of the land below from a terrifying height.

Ron blushed in embarrassment yet again, realizing he'd accidentally ignored his teacher. He quickly bowed and came to obediently stand by his side.

They walked together toward a door near an empty corner of the room, and Loki motioned for him to open it, which he immediately did. He allowed his teacher to enter first before also coming in, his eyes going wide when he entered.

Now, Ron had never been much of a sci-fi person or even a science lover in general, and yet, what rested before his eyes really did look like something out of a movie. Test tubes, beakers, substances, warnings, labels, thousands of perfectly clear bottles, and even a small stand that held lab coats.

"Usually, only professors are allowed to have their own labs. However, I pulled some strings behind the scene, allowing you to get one right from the start. I do hope it's to your liking." Loki joked as he casually walked around the lab, inspecting the equipment with an eye only a true expert of science and magic could have.

"It's... Perfect. Thank you, Teacher." Ron said, and he truly meant it. It was a luxury for even official magi to have their own private laboratory, and although he'd never before truly done anything science, he knew how important it was.

"Don't worry about it. I did say I wouldn't mistreat you, after all. Now, as for your previous question... Well, the simple answer is no. What you received isn't a common meditation technique, but rather, a high-grade one." Loki said, quickly changing the subject, to which Ron could only obediently go along with.

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

"Now, high-grade meditation techniques have some severe drawbacks, but also some massive benefits. For one, if you cultivate one that doesn't fit you, it will only hinder you. However, if you do chance upon one that does fit you... Hm, perhaps I am getting ahead of myself. We'll talk about this again when you become a rank 3 acolyte, which won't be far off in the future anyway if your speed of advancement continues as it is."

Ron silently cursed in his own mind, a bit sad he didn't just tell him outright. But, then again, it probably didn't matter much if Loki didn't seem too concerned.

They stayed silent for several minutes afterward as Ron explored the lab on his for a bit, before Loki began to explain some of the parts to him.

Within minutes, Ron was completely engrossed. Loki's voice just had a certain ring to it to which he could listen for days on end without feeling bored. Perhaps it was the fact his rank was so high, perhaps it was his natural charisma, or perhaps it was just the fact he was really nice to look at.

'Wait, what?' His thoughts came to a screeching halt the moment he thought of that. Loki seemed to notice his lapse of attention, setting down one of the objects he'd been in the middle of explaining. "Something wrong, dear student?"

"N-no! Nothing's wrong!" Ron eeped out, knowing full well his words were incredibly obvious and even an idiot could tell he was lying.

Nonetheless, Loki resumed his monologue, explaining everything within the lab, how it worked, and what it was used for, along with any miscellaneous information that was useful. He was a treasure trove of knowledge, and Ron didn't want to seem like an idiot again. Hence, he took his heretical and disturbing thoughts and shoved them in the deepest recess of his mind to deal with later (read: never).

Finally, around an hour later, the impromptu lesson began to wind down as Loki wrapped the thing up, explaining some parts of the academic curriculum and lessons.

"Now, as you might or might now know, magi believe in equivalent exchange. This academy reflects that, as do many others. There are free lessons every day at both 9 in the morning and 4 in the afternoon, free of charge. However, those lessons do not follow any set pattern and most students who attend them come out empty-handed most of the time."

Ron nodded, the idea that this place was nothing like her old college only reinforcing itself within her mind.

"Anyways, most students can only rely on themselves in order to acquire knowledge, either by trading it with other students or with their professor. You know what magic crystals are, yes?"

Ron quickly nodded. "Yes. They are a rare material very useful for experimentation and many other things, hence, they are the preferred form of currency for the vast majority of magi through the world." She spoke, recalling the exact words from a definition she'd read on a book some time ago.

Loki nodded with a smile. "Perfect definition, well done. Anyways, students often work at the academy or outside, doing missions or taking odd jobs to earn them and then trade them for information. I believe that this system is a good one, but it's not perfect. Furthermore, it is not appropriate for such good little seeds such as you to be put in danger so early." Ron became even more attentive at his words, knowing that whatever came next would most likely determine his future.

"As I already promised on my little advertisement paper, I will not mislead or misinform you. Although I have my own duties as a director, they are ultimately just a thing I do for fun. I can easily delegate to some of my direct subordinates. Hence, from now on, you will come and be my assistant in experiments Monday, Wednesday and Friday. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, I'll personally teach you whatever I deem relevant or important that day. Saturdays and Sundays... I don't know. I guess we'll see when the day comes."

Ron couldn't stop himself from smiling even if he wanted to as he nodded frantically. "Yes, professor. I won't let you down."

Loki snorted. "So I hope. I'm taking a big risk for you, brat. Your talent alone is not what defines a magus, but rather, if they can actually use that talent well. I have high hopes for you, so don't turn lazy on me. Anyways, I'm done here. Come to my office tomorrow at 6 and we'll begin right away." He lazily said as he got up from the table he'd been sitting on before vanishing, causing Ron to just stare dumbly for a moment before a strange surge of disappointment traveled through him.

He cursed himself for the feeling. 'Ok, real talk here, me, putting aside the fact I was male in my last life, and most certainly not gay, you're a fucking nine years old. Don't try to get into the pants of your teacher, you dumb slut'.

He never thought he'd one day call himself a slut. He immediately regretted it too, feeling horrible right away. After a minute of moping around, depressed at life and yet still strangely happy with his situation, he eventually just let out a long, insufferable sigh as he left the lab to return to his main room.

There, Erika was waiting with a bright smile. "Lady Alice! You're back! Okay, my time with you is over, but if you ever need me again, I'll be at your service. Bye-bye!" The hyperactive maid said before scuttling out the door, slamming it close on the way out.

Ron could only smile wrily before throwing himself on the very hot bed and rolling around in it for a little while. Then, after a moment, he sat up.

'Oh well. No time like right now to do some good old meditation'. He said to himself and then began to do just that.