During the walk
“It really is big…”
Although Arum was walking through the academy at a slow pace, he could not tell which building was what kind of facility just by looking from the outside.
Arum turned to his booklet as his eyes traveled across the guide of the Academy. It was the same guide that the academy’s envoy had left on him when they came to Carrera.
Nobles whose fathers and forefathers had attended the academy never needed such guides. But alas! Arum was helpless against his fate. He had only the guide to follow and even that was just a futile preview.
According to the guide, there are six different buildings for the training of practical skills at the main branch.
There was also a library that was off-limits at this hour on the third floor of the same building, a canteen room that seemed more like a dining plaza, an auditorium room where the entrance ceremony would be held, and a courtyard at the dead center that spanned across wide adding to the beauty of the academy with its exorbitant fountains and sculptures.
There was also a large communal bath and a botanical garden.
The size of the school alone was enough to exceed the village of Carrera where Arum lived.
Of course, there were more buildings that Arum had no idea of even with the aid of the guide. But alas, he could only bear with his curiosity as there was no one else to help him figure it out.
Arum shook his head.
“No the village should have been bigger in size at least…”
A strange sense of rivalry grew in Arum as he compared the village with his school.
He wasn’t willing to accept that his village lost in size at all!
No matter how beautiful a foreign land might be it can never compare with your homeland. That was what Arum believed.
But you could only expect so much from a hunting village in the countryside.
“Even so, why are there so many buildings for building practical skills?” Arum thought.
There were two buildings that Arum couldn’t wrap his head around.
The first was the building for practical skill training.
He was more concerned about its size rather than its use.
‘Practical skills might be important. But there are too many of them here. Isn’t this supposed to be a magic school?’
Arum felt incongruity in the perfect school that he had imagined.
As he glanced at the surrounding walls it was impossible for the building for practical skill to be a small one.
The school had three grades. But there were not many students in it due to the tough selection procedure and the frequent dropout rates.
Then how could there be such a large area dedicated to practical skills alone?
‘Does that means that there are a lot of practical lessons?’ Arum thought.
And the second one that he couldn’t come to tabs with was the communal bath.
It was the facility that bothered Arum the most when he read its information.
“What is a communal bath…?”
Arum didn’t know what a communal bath meant in the first place. Being from a commoner background that was dilemmas he faced.
“Hey, what are you doing?”
As Arum wandered off lost in thought someone called out to him.
“Hmmm?”
Arum turned around and found a man standing there. With a long beard and messy hair, he had an unkempt appearance. The man was tall but with the dark circles in his eyes and the lack of etiquette in dressing he had a dull appearance.
The man stared at Arum’s face for a long time as he creased his brows.
“I haven’t seen your face before here. Are you a fresher?”
“Yes”
Arum nodded.
“There is no need to go in there yet. After the ceremony is over our personnel would guide you through the academy.”
“I am sorry but I want to take a look. I would be back soon.”
The stubble man raised his brows.
There seemed to be no filter in Arum’s words. He seemed to speak what he thought.
There was no fear and no anxiousness in his voice unlike some who have butterflies in their stomach when going through a new experience.
‘He seems to be always clear about what he wants to do. He is bluntly honest. Arrogant even.’
Under the old man’s experienced gaze that was accumulated through years of experience, he was able to discern Arum’s personality to a certain extent at the very first glance.
The strange attitude that was unheard of made the man suspicious of Arum.
“YOu are bluntly honest”
“Well, is there any problem if I speak the truth. I like to speak my mind.”
Ir was the first time that Arum saw someone frown upon getting honest replies.
Little did Arum know that in the circle of nobility deceit was as usual as breathing.
“No,” the man shook his head. “It’s good, to be honest. Speaking of which, what is your house?”
“House?”
Arum didn’t understand why he was being asked that. He didn’t know that nobles judges positions based on such names.
‘Speaking of which, Sister’s church had always been my home. But is that the house that this man is referring to?’
“I am asking for your title. The name of your house.”
“Ah!”
Arum finally realized what he was being asked. But he had no answer anyway.
“Since I am a commoner. I don’t have a house.”
“Ah? Commoner?” the man squinted his brows.
“My name is Arum from Carrera.”
Carrera.
The stubble man remembered the name. It was the birthplace of the commoner who was the topic of discussion two months ago.
The fact that Arum was among the freshmen this year meant that he was the same commoner that was being frowned upon.
The old man remembered that Arum only had a large mana capacity but his practical skill of evaluated as a complete NIL. But for whatever reason, the student passed the admission criteria anyway.
“Well, I wish you luck for your hard time in the academy in the coming year in advance.”
“Same here. I thank you for your support to us in the next three years, teacher.”
“Welcome,” the man spoke in pride.
The man turned around to leave the place since he had nothing to talk about anymore. Even a casual parting greeting couldn’t adorn his lips.
‘Even though the commoner was able to enter the school, I don’t expect anything from peasants. The imbalance in him with the practical skills at the bottom and the magical skills at the very top was indeed interesting to behold and never seen before. But it is only interesting. There was no value in it.’
‘You can never be a wizard with mana capacity alone.’
The long history of magic had already screened out the good bloodlines from the bad ones. It was a process of natural selection. The ones who were deemed to qualify as wizards were already at the top with no questions asked.
In today’s era, a noble just had to study and procreate to continue their lineage and to preserve their magic and bloodline abilities.
Even if a commoner with a little magical power is born, it makes no difference. They are doomed to live a life of worthlessness just like the others.
‘Congratulations on the fact that you are even thinking of staying here for the next three years,’ the man smirked looking down upon the boy.
But the man notices a sense of incongruity.
It was then that he turned around and watched Arum enter through the gate as instructed.
“Wait a minute! How do you know that I am a teacher?”
“Huh?”
Many people mistakenly end up with the conclusion that he was a commoner for chors because of his appearance.
The beard and hair that are always left unattended because they are troublesome seem to help him to hide his actual abilities.
And every year a fresh or two would have their jaw slacking after knowing that he was an aristocrat instead.
It was common for these haughty nobles to pick up a fight with him due to their arrogance. And it was his secret pleasure to remind them of their difference in abilities.
However, Arum in front of him seemed to be convinced that he was a teacher.
“That’s because your magical power was sealed.”
“… What!”
“My master also used to walk around sealing her mana. So I felt that every teacher had a habit of sealing their magical powers.’
Arum had a hunch but his hunch was not far away from reality.
Wizards are beings that always leak mana from their bodies.
This was common not only for wizards but for everything that had magical powers in it. And it was one of the reasons why there was more mana in places with a lot of nature.
Normally it is never a problem. But it was a problem for those wizards who had high levels of mana capacities. Their mana which was stronger than others could be detected giving away their whereabouts.
It is hard to pinpoint a specific tree in the forest, but what if the tree is several times the size of the regular trees? That was the dilemma of such wizards.
There was also the existence of spells that aided in picking up information on magical powers and if the magical power was used in an easy-to-understand way not only the location but also the nature of the spell used could be easily discerned.
Thus, a powerful wizard defends himself from such detection by controlling the mana so that the information is not leaked. That was the technique of “sealing”.
“You are correct. I am a teacher. But it’s a big mistake to assume anyone who is a teacher would have their mana sealed. Many teachers don’t prefer to seal their mana at all.”
“Oh, is that so?”
The man nodded.
“I’m sorry to interrupt you. You can leave now.”
“Yes.”
This time Arum walked away. The man saw kept his eyes on his leaving visage.
“Hey, wait a minute! The gate isn’t there! It’s over there!”
“Oh, I see…”
Arum was completely walking in the wrong direction. So the teacher had no choice but to call him again.
When the man pointed in the direction of the gate Arum apologize and stormed off in the direction of the gate.
“Hmmm… it seems he has some talent.”
The man shook his head.
“No, he has no talent since he can’t practice magic.”
In the previous evaluation, the man changed his view of Arum from useless to interesting. But he was only so- so. There was no hope for him.
The man walked away but suddenly a thought came to his mind as he remembered Arum’s application.
“Wait? Wasn’t he the commoner that only had a high mana reserve?”
“Then why …?”
“… I didn’t feel anything?”
During the walk
“It really is big…”
Although Arum was walking through the academy at a slow pace, he could not tell which building was what kind of facility just by looking from the outside.
Arum turned to his booklet as his eyes traveled across the guide of the Academy. It was the same guide that the academy’s envoy had left on him when they came to Carrera.
Nobles whose fathers and forefathers had attended the academy never needed such guides. But alas! Arum was helpless against his fate. He had only the guide to follow and even that was just a futile preview.
According to the guide, there are six different buildings for the training of practical skills at the main branch.
There was also a library that was off-limits at this hour on the third floor of the same building, a canteen room that seemed more like a dining plaza, an auditorium room where the entrance ceremony would be held, and a courtyard at the dead center that spanned across wide adding to the beauty of the academy with its exorbitant fountains and sculptures.
There was also a large communal bath and a botanical garden.
The size of the school alone was enough to exceed the village of Carrera where Arum lived.
Of course, there were more buildings that Arum had no idea of even with the aid of the guide. But alas, he could only bear with his curiosity as there was no one else to help him figure it out.
Arum shook his head.
“No the village should have been bigger in size at least…”
A strange sense of rivalry grew in Arum as he compared the village with his school.
He wasn’t willing to accept that his village lost in size at all!
No matter how beautiful a foreign land might be it can never compare with your homeland. That was what Arum believed.
But you could only expect so much from a hunting village in the countryside.
“Even so, why are there so many buildings for building practical skills?” Arum thought.
There were two buildings that Arum couldn’t wrap his head around.
The first was the building for practical skill training.
He was more concerned about its size rather than its use.
‘Practical skills might be important. But there are too many of them here. Isn’t this supposed to be a magic school?’
Arum felt incongruity in the perfect school that he had imagined.
As he glanced at the surrounding walls it was impossible for the building for practical skill to be a small one.
The school had three grades. But there were not many students in it due to the tough selection procedure and the frequent dropout rates.
Then how could there be such a large area dedicated to practical skills alone?
‘Does that means that there are a lot of practical lessons?’ Arum thought.
And the second one that he couldn’t come to tabs with was the communal bath.
It was the facility that bothered Arum the most when he read its information.
“What is a communal bath…?”
Arum didn’t know what a communal bath meant in the first place. Being from a commoner background that was dilemmas he faced.
“Hey, what are you doing?”
As Arum wandered off lost in thought someone called out to him.
“Hmmm?”
Arum turned around and found a man standing there. With a long beard and messy hair, he had an unkempt appearance. The man was tall but with the dark circles in his eyes and the lack of etiquette in dressing he had a dull appearance.
The man stared at Arum’s face for a long time as he creased his brows.
“I haven’t seen your face before here. Are you a fresher?”
“Yes”
Arum nodded.
“There is no need to go in there yet. After the ceremony is over our personnel would guide you through the academy.”
“I am sorry but I want to take a look. I would be back soon.”
The stubble man raised his brows.
There seemed to be no filter in Arum’s words. He seemed to speak what he thought.
There was no fear and no anxiousness in his voice unlike some who have butterflies in their stomach when going through a new experience.
‘He seems to be always clear about what he wants to do. He is bluntly honest. Arrogant even.’
Under the old man’s experienced gaze that was accumulated through years of experience, he was able to discern Arum’s personality to a certain extent at the very first glance.
The strange attitude that was unheard of made the man suspicious of Arum.
“YOu are bluntly honest”
“Well, is there any problem if I speak the truth. I like to speak my mind.”
Ir was the first time that Arum saw someone frown upon getting honest replies.
Little did Arum know that in the circle of nobility deceit was as usual as breathing.
“No,” the man shook his head. “It’s good, to be honest. Speaking of which, what is your house?”
“House?”
Arum didn’t understand why he was being asked that. He didn’t know that nobles judges positions based on such names.
‘Speaking of which, Sister’s church had always been my home. But is that the house that this man is referring to?’
“I am asking for your title. The name of your house.”
“Ah!”
Arum finally realized what he was being asked. But he had no answer anyway.
“Since I am a commoner. I don’t have a house.”
“Ah? Commoner?” the man squinted his brows.
“My name is Arum from Carrera.”
Carrera.
The stubble man remembered the name. It was the birthplace of the commoner who was the topic of discussion two months ago.
The fact that Arum was among the freshmen this year meant that he was the same commoner that was being frowned upon.
The old man remembered that Arum only had a large mana capacity but his practical skill of evaluated as a complete NIL. But for whatever reason, the student passed the admission criteria anyway.
“Well, I wish you luck for your hard time in the academy in the coming year in advance.”
“Same here. I thank you for your support to us in the next three years, teacher.”
“Welcome,” the man spoke in pride.
The man turned around to leave the place since he had nothing to talk about anymore. Even a casual parting greeting couldn’t adorn his lips.
‘Even though the commoner was able to enter the school, I don’t expect anything from peasants. The imbalance in him with the practical skills at the bottom and the magical skills at the very top was indeed interesting to behold and never seen before. But it is only interesting. There was no value in it.’
‘You can never be a wizard with mana capacity alone.’
The long history of magic had already screened out the good bloodlines from the bad ones. It was a process of natural selection. The ones who were deemed to qualify as wizards were already at the top with no questions asked.
In today’s era, a noble just had to study and procreate to continue their lineage and to preserve their magic and bloodline abilities.
Even if a commoner with a little magical power is born, it makes no difference. They are doomed to live a life of worthlessness just like the others.
‘Congratulations on the fact that you are even thinking of staying here for the next three years,’ the man smirked looking down upon the boy.
But the man notices a sense of incongruity.
It was then that he turned around and watched Arum enter through the gate as instructed.
“Wait a minute! How do you know that I am a teacher?”
“Huh?”
Many people mistakenly end up with the conclusion that he was a commoner for chors because of his appearance.
The beard and hair that are always left unattended because they are troublesome seem to help him to hide his actual abilities.
And every year a fresh or two would have their jaw slacking after knowing that he was an aristocrat instead.
It was common for these haughty nobles to pick up a fight with him due to their arrogance. And it was his secret pleasure to remind them of their difference in abilities.
However, Arum in front of him seemed to be convinced that he was a teacher.
“That’s because your magical power was sealed.”
“… What!”
“My master also used to walk around sealing her mana. So I felt that every teacher had a habit of sealing their magical powers.’
Arum had a hunch but his hunch was not far away from reality.
Wizards are beings that always leak mana from their bodies.
This was common not only for wizards but for everything that had magical powers in it. And it was one of the reasons why there was more mana in places with a lot of nature.
Normally it is never a problem. But it was a problem for those wizards who had high levels of mana capacities. Their mana which was stronger than others could be detected giving away their whereabouts.
It is hard to pinpoint a specific tree in the forest, but what if the tree is several times the size of the regular trees? That was the dilemma of such wizards.
There was also the existence of spells that aided in picking up information on magical powers and if the magical power was used in an easy-to-understand way not only the location but also the nature of the spell used could be easily discerned.
Thus, a powerful wizard defends himself from such detection by controlling the mana so that the information is not leaked. That was the technique of “sealing”.
“You are correct. I am a teacher. But it’s a big mistake to assume anyone who is a teacher would have their mana sealed. Many teachers don’t prefer to seal their mana at all.”
“Oh, is that so?”
The man nodded.
“I’m sorry to interrupt you. You can leave now.”
“Yes.”
This time Arum walked away. The man saw kept his eyes on his leaving visage.
“Hey, wait a minute! The gate isn’t there! It’s over there!”
“Oh, I see…”
Arum was completely walking in the wrong direction. So the teacher had no choice but to call him again.
When the man pointed in the direction of the gate Arum apologize and stormed off in the direction of the gate.
“Hmmm… it seems he has some talent.”
The man shook his head.
“No, he has no talent since he can’t practice magic.”
In the previous evaluation, the man changed his view of Arum from useless to interesting. But he was only so- so. There was no hope for him.
The man walked away but suddenly a thought came to his mind as he remembered Arum’s application.
“Wait? Wasn’t he the commoner that only had a high mana reserve?”
“Then why …?”
“… I didn’t feel anything?”
