{Solovok History I, Mage Academy of Efthimia, Kingdom of Solovok}

Professor Irida was very different from Professor Marios. I liked her as she was quite easy on the eyes, the fact that she was an elf might mean that the history that we might learn in class will probably not be factually correct, but considering that I'm going to spend this next life of mine bound to the Kingdom of Solovok anyway, it wasn't a bad idea to have a one-sided view of history.

'At least it would make me feel better about being a part of the kingdom. Nothing like war crimes to turn someone away from forced employment.' I hmmed as I looked at the pink box floating above Professor Irida's head. The surname Goldsheen made another appearance. This was my third time seeing it, so it seems like they have quite some influence in this class.

...

 

...

'Her Lust index is a lot less than the other two, though, even though she's a professor.' I looked as she finally gave her introduction and began the lesson. I had also begun to classify the number attached to the pink box as the Lust index.

"...the history of our continent is divided into three different periods. Each of the transition periods was marked by large wars fought among the five dominating factions. Our continent is divided into 5 kingdoms. Our Kingdom is situated at the southwest corner of the continent. Surrounded by ocean on three sides, our only point of exposure, other than water warfare, is from the forests North, where we share borders with both the Human Kingdom, led by the Royal family of Faunus, and the Gnome and Dwarven Kingdom, led by their mixed council."

She snapped her fingers, and slowly, an illusion formed in front of the class. It was a map whose dimensions were vaguely familiar with those of Earth. Well, it wasn't 100% accurate, but I was pretty sure that the basic structure of the landmass was similar by 20-25%.

As the lecture progressed, I learned more and more about the world and its brief history. Most of the actual history is lost to time, with the Elf kingdom having written records for just the past 10,000 years. The fact that there have been only 3 wars in 10000 years was quite impressive, but at the same time, the fact that the last war was 5000 years ago raised some flags in my mind.

If one compares the geography of the Solovok Kingdom to Africa, one can see that Africa was divided into two parts. While our kingdom resided in the eastern part, the human kingdom resided in the western part. The Gnome kingdom took the place of Europe in comparison, with that entire terrain filled with mountains and deep caves. The Animal Kingdom was toward the South-East, and the Demon Kingdom was toward the North-East, farthest away from us.

The Kindom of Solovok was allied with both the Kingdom of Óengus, ruled by Gnomes and Dwarves, and the Kingdom of Nisus, the human-dominated kingdom. The presence of humans in the Solovok Kingdom had increased after the first marriage alliance between the two kingdoms, 7500 years ago.

'Why are all these names so stupid? Couldn't they have gone for easy-to-remember stuff?' I complained as the lecture dragged on; now that I had some basic information regarding what the neighboring terrain was like, I wasn't that interested in this class. I looked to the side and sighed when I saw Alex openly sleeping in class.

'Never mind, I think I'll manage.' I thought. Professor Irida continued the lecture without stopping, not caring if someone was sleeping or not, as she described the symbols of faith of each Kingdom, which got my attention.

"While many of you may know that we worship Goddess Tasia, she represents the goddess of fertility and life. The other kingdoms have their own beliefs. The Gnomes and Dwarves worship the God of Flame, Vulcan. The name of the Fire faction is set forth in honor of his name. Similarly, the Humans of Kingdom Nisus worship, Belenus, the God of Creation in their culture." Her eyes roamed around the classroom for a moment before she continued.

Her words were quite sharper this time, "The Animal Kingdom has tribes as hundreds of spiritual gods and goddesses that they worship; almost certainly every tribe has a different patron god. The demons worship the demons. Their own powerful figures in History who have set pushed their mark upon the world."

With the way she glossed over both Animal Kingdom and especially Demons, I could only conclude that we are not chummy with those two factions.

'Which makes sense. If the two neighboring kingdoms are our allies, then the other two have to be the antagonists. Plus, I wasn't really expecting us to be buddies with the demons. That would make this world far too peaceful for there to be this much emphasis on Mage training instead of focusing on inventions and innovation.'

Something like the tablet would have been more widespread if that was the case. The lecture then took a strange turn as Professor Irida spent the next half hour describing the wars from a very one-sided point of view. With plenty of atrocities that the Demons and supposedly Half-beasts committed upon the pure elves of the Solovok Kingdom.

...

'Was this the brainwashing part?' I thought as the lecture ended. Apparently, since this was our first day in the academy, there were supposed to be only two lectures today. As we shuffled out of the class, Alex stopped me from going back to my room.

"Dude, a couple of seniors invited me to a secret meeting. They promised they would show me some magic, wanna come along?" He asked with an excited grin on his face.

"Nah." I bluntly refused. Maybe it would have been fun, but right now, I had something else on my mind, "You enjoy. I'm dead tired and need a bit of sleep. I overused my mana, so I'm sleepy."

My excuse was flimsy, and it seemed like he bought it; after giving me a look and then a nod, he waved goodbye before rushing toward his red-robed factionmates.

'Now, how do I find the library,' I thought as I looked around for anyone knowledgeable. My eyes met Leonidas's blond hair, and I shifted my direction.

"Hey," I greeted and then looked at Leonidas's face. It seemed it took a moment for him to register my face before he nodded and smiled, "Hey."

"Do you know where the library is?" I asked.

"Uh yeah, it's in the second-floor east wing..." He hesitated before he spoke. "Don't you want to go to the castle grounds? According to the seniors, the first day is a unique day of leisure that we would have. Some seniors would even show us some advanced Tier-1 Magic spells."

'Hmmm, so not so secret meeting?'

"Nah, I'm cool with that. I already saw some advanced magic yesterday. Thanks for the info," I nodded before I backed away. Now all I had to do was figure out how to get to the east wing since I was already on the second floor.

The academy castle was quite large, and it took me another 10 minutes to get to the library. It was big. With shelf after shelf stacking behind one another, where to start was a real conundrum. Unlike what I expected, there was no librarian around. In the close right corner of the room, students could be seen holding onto books and reading in peace, so I walked over to the shelf as well.

'I'll just take a single book and read it in the library. I can ask later what the procedures of taking a book out of the library were.' I thought as I walked over to the first shelf. The names written on the spines of the book clearly indicated that I didn't need to search much more.

'''Mana: Understanding the World'''

'Huh, jackpot?' I thought as I read a few more covers. Almost every book that I could see had a similar core concept.

'''Mana Control: The strength of a Mage'''

'''Controlling Mana: The truth behind the simplest skill'''

My eyes traced the names for a bit before I picked the book that looked the most worn out. While it may not be the best way to choose, it wasn't a bad way to start my search.

'Let's understand the world then, shall we?' I picked up the very first book I had encountered and walked over to the tables lined in the corner of the room. There was plenty of room. It seemed like a lot of students were interested in the show planned by the seniors.

I opened the book and started reading.

'''Before I ramble on...'''

I skipped the introductory paragraph.

'''Now that I have introduced myself, let's focus on what mana is. I have asked this question myself a hundred times, and every time I gain insight into something, I will ask the question again. After seeing my own understanding of mana evolve, I began asking the same question to other successful people around me. The crudest way in which I have ever heard someone describe mana is that it's a form of energy in your body that lets you do shit. It could be anything or anything, depending on what you want it to do... And yes, you've guessed it right, this answer was given by a Tier-5 Warrior.'''

'...Is he roasting warriors in a book that no warrior will ever read?'

'''While the words may be crude, the answer that my friend arrived at isn't essentially wrong. Everyone gains a different understanding of mana, so while crude, the words do hold some degree of credence. Mana is a form of energy that our soul generates that lets us do shit. For a warrior, it lets him enhance his body, weapons, or other skills. For a mage, it lets him bend reality to his desires.'''

'''So the answer to the question of what mana is, is different to everyone. What I'm hoping is for you to be able to see the experiences of your predecessors who walked the path before you and learn from them. To understand your mana and to understand your world...'''

...

I flipped the page and arrived at the first entry into the book.

"'So, how was my dramatic introduction? Let me tell you, I spent a full two weeks working on catching your attention, so don't quit on me now. Before I tell you about others' experiences, I'll dedicate this chapter to mine.'''

'''To me, mana represented freedom. I wanted freedom from the destiny that was laid before me, not to feel like the sole objective of my life was to water plants and wait for them to grow. I won't share my life story with you, but for me, the first connection with my mana was instant; it is like that with some people when all of a sudden, you are aware of this massive well of energy flowing inside of me...'''

...

I closed the book and leaned back. That had been an absolutely stupid waste of perfectly good 5 minutes of my new life. Maybe reading more could have helped, but I don't want to read the author of the book describe his first orgasm in detail. I looked at the book for a moment before I stood up and walked back to the shelf.

'I need something with hard info, not some spiritual bullshit... the world is governed by the system, for god's sake. My understanding of mana will deepen as I level the skill up. What I want is the most efficient way to level the skill up.'

I shoved the book back into the place I got it from and looked at the other names on the shelf.

'''Controlling Mana: The truth behind the simplest skill'''

Instead of taking the book back, I opened it and skip-read through the first page; upon finding that there were no insane ramblings inside of this one, I took it and walked back to my seat. I collapsed onto the comfortable leather and opened the book once again.

'''Unlocking access to your Mana Pool'''

'''There are multiple ways to access your mana pool, but the common essence of the experience lies in getting in touch with and sensing your own mana. Several possibilities make reaching this state efficient; having a high level of Meditation skill(>Level 5) helps. Along with that having a higher grade in your {Processing Power} than your {Memory} is the only other surefire way I know how. Nevertheless, if you are having trouble connecting with your mana, either you need to level up or increase the level of your Meditation skill-'''

...

"There you are. I knew I'd find you here." I heard a familiar voice breaking my concentration. I looked up to find Kornina looking at me, a smile on her face as she looked at me.

'What now? Why is she acting so chummy? She isn't expecting me to wash her clothes for a smile, right?'

...

---

AN—The first part of the book is quite peaceful, with the MC working on understanding Magic, all the while romancing girls and becoming stronger. Only after a while will he find a couple of loose threads in a plan that would lead him to something major. This is just a warning if someone was expecting instant death duels with arrogant young masters.

P.S- 3 extra Chapters on Patreon!