The Way of Magic

The mage tower, a wizard’s sanctuary.

Typically, upon reaching the seventh tier and ascending to the ranks of high-level mages, a wizard would construct a mage tower of their own.

Within its walls, a mage tower typically safeguarded all of a wizard’s books and possessions. Its distinctive spire shape, surprisingly, served a practical purpose: it allowed mages to transport their towers with ease during their travels.

‘Even other worlds understand aerodynamics!’

The Arcane Division of the Imperial Comprehensive Academy boasted countless mage towers, among which eight stood out as particularly magnificent.

These eight grand structures belonged to the academy’s eight legendary mages, each a master of a distinct school: Evocation, Conjuration, Transmutation, Force, Illusion, Divination, Necromancy, and Arcane.

This implied that, armed with the knowledge available at the Imperial Comprehensive Academy, one could achieve legendary proficiency without ever needing to venture out for perilous quests, a veritable paradise for those with a ‘hamster personality’ (TL Note: A slang term describing someone who loves to hoard knowledge or resources, preferring to stay in their comfort zone).

With a casual wave of Master Valentin’s arm, just as before, they found themselves instantly transported to his personal mage tower.

As Master Valentin offered his explanations, Fú Nī Yà’s gaze swept across her surroundings, filled with a burgeoning curiosity.

‘How to describe it… it was rather ordinary.’

Beyond the prodigious number of books and a scattering of unfamiliar instruments, the furnishings were decidedly modest, certainly less opulent than Albert’s own manor. There was nothing to suggest this was the abode of a legendary mage.

“Finished your inspection?” Master Valentin inquired.

“Yes.”

Fú Nī Yà nodded, a clear hint of disappointment clouding her features.

“You appear quite disappointed, don’t you? Perhaps it doesn’t quite fit your image of a legendary mage’s dwelling?” Master Valentin asked, a faint smile playing on his lips. He then turned and gestured for them to follow him upstairs. “Come now, let us proceed to the laboratory on the fourth floor.”

Fú Nī Yà, Albert, and Jo quickly fell into step behind him. As they ascended, Fú Nī Yà voiced a question that had piqued her curiosity.

“Why are we not simply ascending with magic?”

“The mage tower is laced with numerous wards and restrictions,” Master Valentin explained. “Indiscriminate use of spatial magic within its confines would inevitably disrupt these protective enchantments.”

“Ah, I understand.”

Fú Nī Yà nodded thoughtfully at Master Valentin’s reply. In the same moment, the four of them reached the second floor, having climbed the stairs.

On the second floor, several young individuals clad in mage robes quickly bowed in deference upon Master Valentin’s arrival.

“Greetings, Master…”

“Indeed.”

Master Valentin merely offered a slight nod before continuing his ascent, the three following close behind.

Glancing back at the figures they had left behind, Fú Nī Yà asked, her voice tinged with curiosity, “Are those your students?”

“They are indeed my students,” Master Valentin affirmed, adding a clarifying remark. “However, they are merely here to study and assist me in overseeing some equipment; they are not my personal, direct disciples.”

“Ah, I comprehend now.”

Fú Nī Yà chuckled softly.

‘Isn’t this just like the master’s and doctoral students from my previous life? Professing to be the professor’s charges, yet in essence, they were nothing more than free labor.’

Upon reaching the fourth floor, Fú Nī Yà’s eyes finally beheld a scene that more closely resembled a wizard’s true dwelling.

Parchment scrolls, quill pens, towering bookshelves, rows of test tubes, preserved specimens, and an array of other large, enigmatic devices collectively filled the expansive space.

Two mages were present in the room, crouched intently before an intricate instrument, meticulously recording some data.

“Record the data, power down the equipment, and then return to the third floor.”

“Understood!”

Master Valentin addressed the two mages thus, and they promptly nodded, gathered their belongings, and exited the fourth floor.

“You, too, should leave.”

Master Valentin turned to Jo, stating, “What follows is not for your eyes.”

Jo cast a quick glance at Albert. Only after receiving Albert’s confirming nod did he offer a slight bow and depart from the fourth floor.

Once he confirmed that only the three of them remained in the room, Master Valentin approached a particular instrument and began to meticulously calibrate it.

The instrument bore a striking resemblance to an atomic model Fú Nī Yà recalled from her previous life. Crafted entirely from glass, it contained a dark, gelatinous substance. At its core, a vibrant, multicolored sphere floated, flanked above and below by two oval discs—one stark white, the other obsidian black. Surrounding this central sphere, four smaller orbs of blue, red, yellow, and green orbited a grey sphere.

“So secretive,” Fú Nī Yà mused, tilting her head as she questioned Albert, who stood beside her. “What exactly is Master Valentin preparing?” Albert merely responded with, “Just observe,” before refocusing his attention on Master Valentin’s meticulous movements.

After a brief interlude, a brilliant magical radiance suddenly erupted from Master Valentin’s outstretched hands.

With a decisive clap of his hands against the instrument, he channeled a torrent of potent magic into its core.

The spheres within the instrument began to spin with frenetic energy. In an instant, the red sphere shattered its glass confines, hurtling towards Fú Nī Yà while simultaneously expanding in size!

‘!!!’

Fú Nī Yà instinctively squeezed her eyes shut. Yet, the red sphere did not collide with her; instead, it passed directly through her form, settling behind her.

“You may open your eyes now…”

Master Valentin’s voice was a low, measured tone.

Upon hearing his words, Fú Nī Yà tremulously opened her eyes, only to be immediately struck by the breathtaking vista before her.

They now seemed suspended within the vast expanse of the cosmos itself.

Beneath their feet lay a resplendent, multicolored sphere. Through its vibrant, shifting surface, they could vaguely discern pristine white clouds, alongside azure oceans and verdant continents within.

Above them, a pure white radiance shimmered, while beneath the iridescent sphere, an abyss of profound darkness stretched.

In the distance, four spheres of blue, red, yellow, and green revolved around the central multicolored orb. The space immediately surrounding them shimmered with countless minute star-specks, and upon closer inspection, each seemed to contain a nascent, miniature world.

Fú Nī Yà swiftly grasped that this entire spectacle originated from the device Master Valentin had just activated.

Looking up, she saw the device had transported with them to this ethereal realm. Its glass casing remained intact, though the mysterious substance it once held had vanished.

“This is a Starmap Instrument,” Master Valentin announced, stepping closer. “It meticulously records every known location across all the known worlds. As members of the Conjuration school, this is the very tool we shall be intimately working with in the future.”

With that, Master Valentin began to expound upon the fundamental principles essential for the study of magic.

The modern classification of magical disciplines, he explained, was not predicated upon the elemental affinities of spells or their ultimate effects. Rather, it was determined by the specific incantations and gestures employed—fundamentally, by the similarities in how magical energy circulated.

From the ancient Hénǔsī Elves, twenty-four magical glyphs and thirty-six distinct magical gestures had been passed down through the ages. These were capable of drawing forth and guiding the magical energy within a living being to flow in precise, predetermined patterns.

When glyphs were combined to form incantations and actions arranged into postures, the magical energy within a living being would flow according to specific patterns, causing the world itself to resonate with this power and manifest magic.

To shape magical energy purely through sheer willpower, without reliance on incantations or gestures, was known as instantaneous casting.

Evocation spells were intrinsically linked to the elements; Conjuration spells, to space and time; Transmutation spells, to the physical body; Illusion spells, to the mind; Divination spells, to perception; and Necromancy mages, to dark energy. The Arcane school, however, was somewhat unique.

Building upon the foundations of incantations and gestures, the Arcane school had pioneered a revolutionary system of magical script, which had vastly expanded the frontiers of spellcasting and remained a burgeoning field to this day.

If one were to pinpoint its core, the Arcane school was inextricably linked to magical script itself.

Due to the inherent familiarity of similar principles, a mage studying spells from their own school often required only half, or even a third, of the effort it would take to master magic from a different discipline.

Having elucidated the characteristics of each magical school, Master Valentin then shifted his focus to an in-depth explanation of Conjuration.

The known cosmos, he elaborated, comprised the Elemental Planes, the Plane of Light, the Plane of Darkness, the Material Planes, and the Star Sea.

The first three planes served as the primordial founts of the six fundamental elements: water, fire, earth, wind, light, and darkness. The Material Planes encompassed the Iyetta Prime Material Plane and innumerable smaller, star-speck-like demiplanes. The Star Sea, conversely, was the enigmatic substance that permeated the void between planes, sometimes referred to as the seventh element, the element of space-time, and it was the ultimate wellspring of power for the Conjuration school.

As the very bedrock upon which the six great elements existed, the Star Sea, when manipulated, allowed for the attraction, division, and combination of these elements, thereby achieving a myriad of astonishing effects.

Fú Nī Yà absorbed every word with rapt attention, yet beside her, Albert had begun to visibly succumb to drowsiness.

He was, by nature, utterly inept at magic; indeed, it was a trait shared universally by every member of the Caldwell family.

Their talents, instead, were entirely concentrated on politics, battle qi, and military strategy.

Observing Albert’s flagging attention, Master Valentin couldn’t help but display a helpless expression, immediately followed by a sigh.

‘Never mind, I’m accustomed to it.’

‘The Caldwell family, they are all cut from the same cloth.’

‘Moreover, when this boy pestered me in his youth, eager to learn magic, did he not similarly doze off after merely a few sentences?’

He then turned his gaze back to Fú Nī Yà, nodding with a hint of satisfaction.

‘This young lass, however, possesses genuine potential.’

‘Alas, it seems that rascal Albert has somehow bewitched her, for she is resolute in her desire to follow him north.’

“Hmph!”

Master Valentin let out an exasperated ‘Hmph!’, and a rift immediately tore open beside him. He plunged his right hand into the shimmering tear, withdrawing a sturdy staff, which he then brought down sharply upon Albert’s head!

‘!!!’

Albert’s body instinctively recoiled, his eyes snapping open with an alert intensity, fixing Master Valentin with a fierce, lion-like gaze.

Observing the potent aura emanating from Albert, Master Valentin’s voice deepened with inquiry.

“Have you ascended to the eighth tier?”

Such acute alertness, such formidable presence—Master Valentin doubted even an eighth-tier professional could achieve it, let alone a seventh-tier.

It was only because the man before him, Albert, had merely reached the seventh tier two months prior that Master Valentin posed the question thus; otherwise, he would have directly inquired if he had ascended to the ninth.

“No,” Albert replied, shaking his head. “I only attained the seventh tier two months ago; how could I possibly reach the eighth so swiftly?”

“Then what accounted for that sudden surge of presence?”

“Perhaps my innate talent is simply superior… all of us in the Caldwell family are like this.”

Albert’s explanation was deliberately vague.

His current aura, of course, stemmed from his previous life.

Though he had been utterly devastated by a certain individual’s actions in that past life, the relentless pressure of a brutal environment had forced his strength to far surpass that of ordinary legendary figures.

However, this was not something he could disclose to Master Valentin, leaving him no choice but to obfuscate.

Master Valentin scrutinized Albert intently for a while longer, before finally withdrawing his gaze and sighing profoundly.

“You, my boy, have suddenly become inscrutable… Lass, let us continue.”

“Oh!”

Fú Nī Yà enthusiastically refocused her attention.

After all, learning could be quite addictive.

Especially when, in the corner of her vision, the system continuously displayed [Magic Experience +12, Magic Experience +12, Magic Experience +12].

With a little more experience, she could attempt to increase her magic level by one.

She wondered what changes an upgrade might bring.

Master Valentin nodded with satisfaction, and just as he was about to continue speaking, a knock sounded at the door.

“What is it?” he asked.

“Master Valentin, His Majesty has sent an attendant to find His Highness,” Jo’s voice came from outside the door. “The messenger states that His Majesty wishes His Highness to go to him immediately.”

“His Majesty?”

“Father?”

“Uh… who was that?”

Master Valentin, Albert, and Fú Nī Yà all paused, startled, unsure why the Emperor would suddenly summon Albert.

However, Albert quickly nodded and said.

“I shall go now… Fú Nī Yà, please continue your magic studies diligently with Master Valentin.”

“Yes.”

Fú Nī Yà nodded.

Albert hastily exited the room, simultaneously letting out a silent sigh of relief.

‘Finally, free from this dreadful place…’

‘How could something so fundamentally anti-human as magic exist in this world?’

Albert left the mage tower with Jo, leaving Fú Nī Yà to study alone with Master Valentin.

Albert still held a considerable amount of trust in Master Valentin, as he was a relative from his mother’s side and had provided him with much assistance in his previous life.