Chapter 14

Alter began by teaching the boy how to use the magic tome, then moved on to explaining a few basic magical theories.

As if to prove his innate talent, the boy absorbed Alter’s teachings as easily as a sponge.

…For ordinary children, it takes over a week just to understand a single word Alter says. But this boy, as if proving his worth, took every sentence Alter uttered and made it completely his own, without missing a single syllable.

The moment he heard the explanation.

And so, at some point, Alter discovered that the lesson he had intended to be short and simple had stretched on for over an hour, then two.

Before he knew it, Lier, his own disciple, had quietly poked her head in and was listening to her master’s words with her long ears perked up.

Even as the carriage rattled and shook, Lier had pulled out her notebook and was diligently transcribing her master’s words.

Alter’s lecture continued as the carriage wheels turned. And the carriage wheels, ever since the expedition departed the capital, had yet to stop even once.

“Um… excuse me, but could we rest for a bit?”

It was Bean who interrupted Alter, of all people.

The boy seemed exhausted by Alter’s lecture, which had lasted for over two hours. He sighed, leaned against the carriage wall, and began to rub at his eyes.

“…Oh dear, it seems I lost myself a bit.”

Alter had only intended to offer a light word or two of guidance, pleased by Vin’s responsible efforts as a member of the Sword Saint’s party.

But the way the boy grasped those teachings, making them his own, was far from ordinary.

After hearing about the usage of the grimoire, the boy posed probing questions, which then led him to point out the subtle differences between Alter’s magical theories and those found in common texts, even going so far as to re-explain them in his own words.

It was truly a peculiar feeling.

The boy clearly seemed to be learning magic for the first time. There were quite a few gaps in his understanding of basic theory.

Yet, at the same time, there were aspects that made it unbelievable that he was a novice. Profound theories and knowledge that ordinary mages struggled years to comprehend, he absorbed as if they were self-evident.

“…He accepts this theory with such ease. Those who hear this for the first time usually just stare at me, eyes glazed over…”

Suspecting the boy was only pretending to understand, Alter deliberately mixed in some incorrect information.

Then the boy, as if determined to prove his talent, would pinpoint the deliberately false parts, questioning whether they created contradictions.

“…Hmm, he’s already far more talented than I was in my twenties.”

Admiration, along with a curiosity to discover the extent of the boy’s limits, stirred within Alter’s heart.

And so, Alter began to explain increasingly difficult theories, almost testing the boy…

“Magic is the power of thought. Fundamentally, it’s the overlaying of cerebral reasoning onto the magical energy within your body.”

Before he knew it, he was discussing intermediate level topics…

“The names of spells were developed to aid complex magical calculations within the brain. You can cast magic without uttering the spell’s name, but the difficulty of the calculation greatly increases. It’s similar to how writing down calculations on paper is much faster and more accurate than simply doing mental arithmetic. It’s the same principle…”

Finally, he found himself expounding even advanced theories.

“Such impressive comprehension. Even those who have studied magic for over forty years struggle to grasp this so easily…”

Alter cast a faint smile toward the boy, who was leaning against the corner of the carriage, groaning softly while simultaneously massaging his temples and eyelids.

The boy, with his eyes closed, didn’t notice, but his foremost disciple, Lire, quickly understood the meaning of that smile.

Alter, it seemed, desired to take this boy as his own apprentice.

Just the way the lad absorbed countless theories and made them his own was enough to confirm a sliver of his talent.

…Now, the Bolt itself hardly mattered.

Even if the boy’s Bolt turned out to be frightfully awful, Alter intended to make this boy his disciple.

Just as that conviction settled perfectly within Alter’s heart, a truly audacious sound escaped the lips of the boy, who was massaging his eyelids with both hands.

“If I master magic, would developing new spells also be possible?”

* * *

I was cornered in the carriage, massaging my temples and eyelids, letting out a sigh of relief.

‘I’m going to die.’

When I first encountered Alter, I felt like I was teetering on the edge of a precipice.

He demanded to see my Bolt the moment we met, and then he stared at me with such blatant suspicion…

At first, Alter’s sudden demands and suspicion only felt bewildering.

But the thought that this was both a crisis and another opportunity flashed through my mind.

The expedition to the Enker Plateau would be a long journey of about two weeks, round trip.

On the way, we might encounter failed variant creatures abandoned by the Mazoku, or even monsters like goblins.

Elite infantry would be able to handle most of the low-level monsters near the capital, but as we got closer to the Enker Plateau, the level of enemies we encountered would rise. Even elite soldiers around level 20 or 30, and elite squad leaders at level 40, might face difficult battles.

Since I was only a half-baked mage who could only use ‘Bloom’, I naturally couldn’t offer any help in those minor skirmishes.

However, the situation completely changed when the 8th Circle mage Alter and his apprentice, Lire, joined our infantry squad.

In particular, Alter, the former Master of the Magic Tower, was an exceptional monster who could easily win even if he faced all the monsters appearing on the road from the capital to the Enker Plateau at once.

Whether he was trying to test me, or looking at me with suspicion, it didn’t matter.

Just bringing him along on the expedition, under whatever pretext, would bring the party’s survival rate close to one hundred percent.

Though having to act all clever and extraordinary while with him was a headache, and drained my stamina…

‘Still, the harvest wasn’t entirely barren.’

As befitting a former Archmage, Alter was incredibly skilled at teaching people.

Even for me, who’d lived my whole life avoiding study, he explained things easily, to the point where I vaguely understood why people spent millions of won on top tutors in Daechi-dong for their kids.

‘I’ve grasped the basic mechanism of magic.’

According to Alter, when mages used magic, chanting the magic’s name wasn’t just for show.

Magic was a kind of… mathematics.

Magic was fundamentally a power that came from the brain. The brain refined the intrinsic mana within the body through a kind of calculation, then expelled it outside the body – that was magic.

Fast and accurate ‘calculation’ was directly linked to the speed and power of the magic.

The magic names they chanted were used as a means to aid these calculations.

It was the same principle as remembering the calculation method for the formula more easily and reflexively solving it by using the name ‘quadratic equation’ instead of reciting the equation ‘a𝒙2+b𝒚+c=0’ every single time.

…I don’t really know what quadratic equations are for. Setting aside dropping out of high school, I’d given up on math long ago.

Anyway, the important thing is that I understood the mechanism of the power I had to use.

If I understood the principle by which this power operated, I could unleash even greater power.

The kick of someone who simply kicked a ball as instinct dictated and the kick of a soccer player who refined, and refined again, their posture based on systematic research and theory were bound to be fundamentally different.

Furthermore, this systematic study and training would open up new horizons for me.

“If I become proficient in magic, would it also be possible to develop new spells?”

I’d set all magic in the skill selection window except for ‘Bloom’ to a ‘locked’ state, preventing me from using them.

But what if I developed new spells? Surely, I would be able to use those.

Even as I was configuring my character, locking skills that shouldn’t have existed in the first place, the magic itself was nonexistent.

How can one lock something that doesn’t exist?

While it wouldn’t measure up to the classics like ‘Bolt’ or ‘Lightning Strike,’ being able to develop and use my own magic would drastically improve my chances of survival.

“But the current system is the optimal result, honed and refined by countless ancestors over hundreds, even thousands, of years. It’s been 200 years since a new magic was developed. If something like that were possible…”

Alter trailed off slightly, speaking with a hint of apprehension.

“Sir Bean will etch his name into the history of our Electrical Magic School.”

Hmm.

This method isn’t going to work.

For someone like me, who’s never really studied properly in my life, to suddenly create a sophisticated calculation system like the ‘Boiler Formula’… it was close to impossible.

Therefore, instead of wasting time on such a pointless endeavor, it would be much easier and faster to simply collect the ‘Artifacts’ and the blessings of spirits scattered throughout the world.

I quietly sighed, regretting pointlessly, ‘I should have at least set it so I could learn Bolt…’ and closed my eyes.

I have no idea why my body is so tired when I haven’t even done anything.

Eventually, this abnormally weak body of mine succumbed to a deep sleep, almost a fainting spell, inside the relentlessly rattling carriage.

It was only around sunset.

* * *

‘…Probably, he didn’t utter those words with much significance.’

Alter watched the boy sleeping, shrouded in the twilight of the setting sun, and furrowed his brow deeply.

‘With such immense magical intelligence, and even the finesse to manipulate mana…’

It wasn’t entirely impossible.

No, perhaps the possibility of this boy bringing a new era to the Electrical School was higher than the possibility of him failing.

“You seem… excited.”

Lier checked that the boy was soundly asleep before carefully parting his lips.

Though the small voice was almost swallowed by the rumble of the carriage, it resonated clearly in Alter’s ears, the elf having raised him for so long.

“Does it seem that way?”

“Yes. You have a… joyful expression, Teacher.”

“Hmph.”

A joyful expression, was it?

He couldn’t even recall the last time he’d heard such a thing while instructing students.

“Lately, there are only… half-baked ones, it seems.”

“…Like that herd of Tauros that’s been closely following us since earlier?”

Lier quietly placed the quill and notebook he had been using to transcribe his teacher’s words onto the carriage floor and readjusted his wizard’s hat before speaking.

Beneath the sky where moonlight was just beginning to emerge, a faint, alien tremor mingled with the sounds of horses’ hooves.

“Indeed. After teaching only such near-misses, teaching a vessel capable of becoming a dragon for the first time in ages… it seems I’ve become excited without realizing it.”

“You won’t wake him? You were curious about this boy’s magic, Teacher….”

“Let him rest. I did not climb aboard this uncomfortable carriage to watch this boy cast magic on almost-monsters.”

Originally, he had only intended to witness a few simple ‘Bolts’. Even such basic magic was enough to gauge a mage’s potential.

However, after exchanging words with the boy a few times, unknowingly offering instruction, and witnessing him absorb that instruction instantaneously, Alter’s mind had changed.

Alter was bordering on delirious with curiosity about the boy’s limits.

He wanted to see the boy fight a dragon with his own eyes, to fathom what level of monster he would become.

As he had said, he truly wanted to ascertain if this was a genius who would develop new magic… a prodigy who would be etched in the annals of magical history.

“I am curious to see you fight a dragon at your full potential.”

Enthralled.

Yes, Alter was utterly enthralled by the boy’s talent.

“Taurus herd detected to the rear! Approximately 30 to 40 strong!”

At that moment, a booming shout rang out from the back of the formation.

“Here it comes. How far are they from the main column?”

“Approximately 50 to 60 meters!”

“Too close to shake them off. No choice, everyone prepare for batt—”

*Swish!*

Just as the squad leader was drawing his blade, about to halt his words, a faint flash of lightning streaked past his eyes.

“Ah, just ignore them and continue on.”

The 8th Circle Archmage, Alter Heindel, poked his head out of the carriage, offering a kindly smile as he spoke.

“…Did you take care of them?”

“We have a long journey ahead. Can’t have those sorts tying us down.”

The squad leader and his men, who had just drawn their swords on horseback, exchanged glances, grinned, and slid their blades back into their scabbards.

“This is just ridiculous, a free expedition thanks to those mages.”

“Archmage Heindel… along with Vin, the rising star of the hero party… and Heindel’s own disciple. Just those people in that carriage alone could easily defend two or three cities.”

“Things are so much smoother now that Vin-nim brought Heindel-nim along. When Heindel-nim suddenly said he would join the expedition, I thought I misheard! The Archmage I had only heard tales of is helping us!”

Due to Alter Heindel’s actions, the reputation of Vin, who was sprawled out asleep in the corner of the carriage, rose even higher.

“To think he’d bring the Archmage Heindel on an expedition. I don’t know what method he used, but Vin-nim is not only skilled in magic, but his connections are truly amazing…”

Of course, it was Vienna’s choice to bring Alter Heindel to this place, but…

“Isn’t it obvious? Do you think the Sword Saint would take him into his party just because he’s good at magic? He must possess something outstanding besides magic.”

“That’s true. That position is definitely not a trivial one.”

This… the conversation was taking a strange turn.

Vienna, exhausted and fast asleep in the carriage, wouldn’t even dream that his stock was soaring among the soldiers.