Chapter 8
#08. Initiation (2)
In the distant past, before the modern era, knowledge of magic was practically the exclusive preserve of a particular class.
-Magic is for mages, and mages are the chosen ones.
As is still the case today, mages in those days were little more than madmen steeped in elitism, and it was the first master of the Magic Tower who shattered that ideology.
Hundreds of years ago, he established the Magic Tower, gathered talented people from all over, and taught them magic.
Those mages then gathered dozens or even hundreds of students of their own and taught them magic.
Starting with a single accomplished mage teaching dozens of apprentice mages, the Magic Tower gradually expanded its influence.
Even today, mages are valuable personnel, but before the Magic Tower was founded, they were even rarer.
That was because old-fashioned, stubborn types who considered the martial-arts principle of passing teachings to a single successor and never to outsiders self-evident were everywhere.
Of course, even now, knowledge of magic remained beyond the reach of ordinary people.
The Magic Tower had opened its knowledge only to officially recognized talents; it did not indiscriminately teach ordinary people.
As a result, it was difficult to find information about magic even on the internet.
There were a few books on sale at bookstores, but even those covered only basic theory.
It was like buying a book called ‘Challenge: Build Your Own Cellphone!’ only to find that all it taught you was soldering.
On top of that, they were incredibly expensive.
Was it around 700,000 won for a single book?
It was price gouging of the worst kind, but since writing a book about magic without being a mage was itself a serious crime, it could not exactly be called outright fraud.
Besides, unlike other certifications, there were no online magic lectures, nor could one attend a cram school.
All that existed were books with little substance, costing hundreds of thousands to millions of won per volume. Even so, many people bought them because they wanted to become mages.
It wasn't hard to understand.
Even a second-circle mage was treated like nobility in developing countries.
I, too, had once dreamed of becoming a mage.
Even an orphan like me could seize wealth and honor if I became a mage. What greater magic could the world offer?
Of course, wanting to become a mage did not mean one could actually become one.
That was probably what people meant by the wall of reality.
Anyone without talent could not enter the Magic Tower.
It was my childhood dream, one I had lived with after more or less giving up on it.
“Magic...?”
“Yes, if you’re all right with it, Mr. Hyunwoo.”
My mind went blank.
What am I supposed to learn? Magic?
Me??
“You don't need to feel so burdened by it. If you learn magic, interpreting the barrier should become much easier, too.”
Iris cautiously continued.
Needless to say, finding something capable of replacing a holy relic was by no means easy.
What's more, using such a workaround to break the barrier here was practically impossible.
At best, we might be able to create a small opening.
But the problem was that we could not clearly identify what materials would be needed to create such an opening.
If you thought of the barrier as a dish, you could eventually get a feel for it by chewing, tearing, and tasting it a few times, even without a recipe.
But what if it were a local dish made by natives living in the middle of a jungle?
Even the head chef of a three-Michelin-star restaurant could not rattle off its ingredients without hesitation.
The best we could do was pile up materials like a mountain and attempt to recreate it through trial and error.
“It'll probably be a considerable financial burden...”
Iris did not want to burden any further the man who had come to her like a ray of light in this place where no one had ever visited her.
A mage's abilities were lucrative.
I didn't know what things were like in the world he came from, but in warfare, mages were an irreplaceable force.
They were paid extraordinarily well.
Although she wasn't certain, Iris resolved to teach him magic in the hope that it might help him to some degree.
However.
‘All of Mr. Hyunwoo’s hard-earned money would go toward material costs...’
How was that any different from telling him to learn magic and bring back the materials?
While she got to teach magic here in comfort, he would have to work hard.
‘I'm sorry, Mr. Hyunwoo...’
A pang of guilt throbbed in one corner of her chest.
Because it made her feel like a wicked woman.
‘M-magic...?’
While Iris's worries grew heavier, Kang Hyunwoo struggled to keep the corners of his mouth from creeping upward.
It was magic. Magic!
And the 8th-Circle archmage herself was going to teach me personally!
This was a heaven-sent opportunity.
A once-in-a-lifetime chance.
If I could become a mage under Iris's tutelage, her escape would be only a matter of time.
But there was one thing that worried me.
“...But don't you need exceptional talent to become a mage?”
It wasn't something to brag about, but I had already been judged talentless by a mage dispatched from the Magic Tower when I was in sixth grade.
The talent needed for magic was overwhelmingly innate, so becoming a mage after I had bombed that talent assessment in elementary school was practically impossible by society's standards.
“You don't have to worry so much. I'm sure you'll pick it up in no time, Mr. Hyunwoo.”
“Ms. Iris...”
Iris took my hand and smiled kindly.
Her green eyes, as though filled with tenderness, gave off a soft light.
More than that, I could almost glimpse some unfathomable goodwill and trust directed toward me in her eyes.
‘...’
I had thought I was past the age of craving someone's approval or praise, but experiencing it firsthand left me feeling strange.
It was a little embarrassing, but I certainly didn't dislike it.
“...I look forward to learning from you.”
“Yes!”
I felt confidence welling up from somewhere.
***
Whether before or after the Magic Tower was established, becoming a mage's direct disciple was exceedingly rare.
Even the professors at the Magic Tower did not regard the students they taught as disciples.
Modern conventions did not draw much distinction between students and disciples, but the world of mages was different.
To a mage, a disciple was essentially another self to whom they could pass on everything they possessed.
Their accumulated magical knowledge, along with assets such as cash, real estate, and stocks, was naturally passed on to their disciples.
Occasionally, a mage who was especially fond of their children would divide their wealth between their disciple and child at roughly a seven-to-three ratio.
Of course, the disciple received seven and the child three.
Anyway, returning to the point, whether one could learn magic without becoming a mage's direct disciple was another matter.
To put it plainly, yes, one could become a mage.
As I mentioned earlier, entering the Magic Tower was the first method, and the second was simply buying your way in.
There were a great many wealthy mages. No, it was harder to find one who wasn't wealthy.
There were various reasons for that. Mages were irreplaceable personnel, and they were also exceptionally intelligent even among people who were naturally brilliant.
In addition, billionaire tycoons with so much money that it made you gasp sometimes paid to bring in a mage and became mages themselves.
Of course, very few of those who took lessons that way actually became mages. If they had talent, there was no better environment for becoming a mage than the Magic Tower.
It was similar to how there were supposedly no decent people among those who skipped school and took nothing but private lessons at home.
Still, there were apparently occasional talented, silver-spoon types who became mages through private tutoring because of the bizarre reason that they did not want to send their children to the Magic Tower.
Though that was harder than a dragon rising from a ditch.
The important thing was that most mages who accepted money to teach had no affection for their students.
They simply worked for what they were paid, nothing more.
In that respect, Kang Hyunwoo was incredibly lucky.
An 8th-Circle archmage and extraordinary elven beauty—with flowing platinum-blond hair, eyes like emeralds set into them, and such beauty that medieval aesthetes might have spent a whole week praising her before collapsing from exhaustion—was giving him one-on-one lessons.
With tremendous affection, too.
But if you asked whether that affection was pure, well...?
‘Th-that’s a relief...’
Iris had told one small lie to Kang Hyunwoo—and to herself.
She had said that she wanted to teach him so he could decipher the barrier, but her true feelings were a little different.
He would leave someday. He had no choice.
He had a life of his own, after all, so he could not remain here forever.
So Iris's plan was to give him a reason he would have no choice but to return here.
There was no end to scholarship, or to learning anything at all.
Magic was no different: it wasn't something one could finish learning in a day or two. If anything, learning one thing about magic only made you curious about two or more.
She was confident.
No matter that it was another world, she was certain it would be difficult for him to find a mage as capable as her to serve as his teacher!
‘Even if I spent the rest of my life teaching magic here with Mr. Hyunwoo...’
Iris's eyes as she gazed at Kang Hyunwoo glimmered bewitchingly.
Like a predator concealed in the grass as it watched its prey.
Kang Hyunwoo shivered at an inexplicable chill, but he could not figure out its cause.
And so, in the dark cavern, a somewhat twisted master-and-disciple relationship was established.