Magister

“After the last mage passed away, humanity could no longer draw on the free-floating magic particles in the air to create—also known as using magic.”

“But humans didn’t give up on the residual magical elements still lingering in the air. From early theoretical studies to the full development of the magitech system we have now, the role of magical engineers has been crucial.”

Teacher Louie stood at the podium, holding a cube-shaped object in her hand. She smiled brightly at the students seated below.

“And that brings us to today’s lesson—learning to perceive magical energy in the air.”

Wang Ning stared at the “cube” that had just been handed out. Its surface was a uniform grey, and each side looked completely identical.

How are you supposed to use this?

She stared at the cube for a while, her eyes drifting toward the doorway—and suddenly froze before quickly turning her head away, barely suppressing the urge to laugh.

—Standing by the door in punishment for being late were none other than Glassy An and the twin transfer students.

Glassy An’s eyelids drooped lazily, half-open, revealing a sliver of pale green beneath. The dark circles under her eyes looked nearly permanent. Her expression was so tranquil it gave the impression she might be laid to rest at any moment.

As for those two arrogant kidnappers from earlier, even they were obediently accepting their punishment—if you ignored the way their expressions made it seem like they might pull out a bomb at any second.

Teacher Louie continued, “The grey cube in your hands is in its inert state. But as you manipulate it, magical energy will begin to flow through it, imbuing it with an ‘invisible color.’ If you concentrate, you’ll be able to see it.”

“Our task now is to restore the cube.”

Wang Ning already heard the low murmuring of students whispering complaints around her.

A girl in the row ahead muttered, “I really don’t get the point of this class. Everyone knows you have to be born with the magical engineer constitution to sense magic. And if you were born with that, why would you even need to be here? If it were me, I’d already be with Blade of God!”

Her seatmate shrugged. “That’s why this class only lasts one semester. It’s just a screening test to make sure they don’t miss any latent talents.”

“Missing talents under the Empire’s intense recruiting system? That’s the real joke.”

Her seatmate chuckled. “You never know. There’s precedent.”

Wang Ning looked around. Most of the class wore indifferent expressions. Clearly, they were all used to this kind of assessment.

She tried digging through the original host’s memories for anything related to magical engineer testing—but came up empty.

Frowning slightly, she realized that ever since arriving in this world, the inherited memories had become hazy. The clearest ones were all related to academic knowledge.

…Well, at least the important stuff hadn’t faded.

Wang Ning stared at the cube in her hand and carefully rotated it once—nothing happened.

Ah. So this body probably doesn’t have magical engineer aptitude.

Feeling a vague sense of regret, she began observing others around her for clues.

Glassy An… also held a cube in her hands, but didn’t move at all. Wang Ning instinctively glanced at her eyes—great, still consistent—shut tight and fast asleep.

No reference value. Next.

She looked toward the twins sitting several seats away. One of them was casually tossing her cube into the air, clearly bored. The other had pulled out a small spray-bottle-looking device from who-knows-where.

Teacher Louie walked past them with a smile, said something quietly, and Rin Yue—definitely her—silently put away the spray bottle, which had “Dye” written on the label.

Still no reference value. Next.

She turned to the class monitor. The monitor’s eyes were locked onto her cube with intense focus. Then, with a single finger, she slowly turned one side. A few nearby students—including Wang Ning—watched her cube rotate with anticipation.

…Nothing happened.

The monitor said, “Hahaha, I knew this face was a Two!”

The students around her exclaimed, “Damn! You guessed right again!”

Wang Ning: ?

So they’d just stuck numbers on the cube faces, and were playing a guessing game—one person scrambled, the other guessed—and the monitor had guessed right three times already.

Wang Ning: …

That’s enough. Isn’t there anyone taking this seriously?!