So the reason for me staying in this town is to attend Magic University?

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Why would Father want me to learn magic on a professional level?

After all, I’ve spent so much time polishing my swordsmanship.

Wouldn’t it be better for me to go to some Knight Academy or something?

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Well…

I’m glad I can spend more time with Naty now.

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But…

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Can you even bring a sword to the Magic University?

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“Father, I have a question.”

“We don’t have much time, so be quick.”

“Why Magic University?”

“... Did you want to get more sword practise?”

“That is not the case. I just don’t understand your decision. I simply do not possess enough talent to study there. And on top of that my mana capacity is pretty low…”

“Well… Let me ask you this. What magic can you use already?”

“I have mastered second circle spells of my element and am able to use simple first circle spells of all other.”

“That is… More than I expected… I saw you use a second circle spell on the way here, but… Say, Mix, do you know what is one of the main tests on the Entrance Exam?”

“I have never heard of the Entrance Exam before.”

“It’s to cast a simple first circle spell of your element. And… If you can do it, you will most certainly get into the University. They take in even those who can not use any spells. As long as you have magic in you.”

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Does that mean that kids that can use second circle spells are considered talented?

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I’m confident that I could use fourth circle spells if I had enough mana! I almost succeeded in casting a small third circle spell once!.. I just lacked a bit of mana…

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So what does that make me? A genius? A prodigy? Maybe a future Sage?

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But it’s all useless because of my limitation in mana…

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“Son… I know it seems unfair that you have so little mana… But you are still lucky to even possess it. I know that you will not let that slow you down. Just as you’ve done it before, put effort into learning magic and nobody will rival you!”

Stop reading my mind, dad!

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It isn’t often that Father encourages me…

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“Thank you… Papa.”

I’m soon to be an adult… This is a bit embarrassing to say in the public.

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But I know Father likes when I say it…

“Guh… A-Anyway… I need to go already. I will be sure to be back before the Exam. Here is some money. Make it last till the start of September.”

He gave me a pretty heavy bag of silver coins… In this world, you can get bread for 1 copper coin, and spend a night in a proper inn for 1 silver coin… So ten loaves of bread for a proper sleep…

“I know this is your first time handling money… So don’t waste it.”

Oops, my train of thoughts went in the wrong direction.

“Of course, Father.”

“Take care then, Mix.”

I did a small bow.

“Be safe, Father.”

Then he left.

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I forgot to ask where will I live…

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Okay then here is the University.

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It’s huge. If I were to describe it… It’s a big-ass castle that has towers randomly placed on it… It gives out a bit of a Hogwarts vibe. Did it have a lot of towers? I don’t really remember.

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I can see a line in front of it. Fortunately, it isn’t big so I won’t have to wait for long.

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I am pretty close to the entrance. I see two men sitting near a table. One looks young and has something similar to a school uniform. The other looks a bit older and has a proper robe.  Probably a supervisor and his assistant.

“Next!”

My turn.

“Your documents, kid.”

“Here.”

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“Everything seems to be alright. Now you need to provide the fee.”

He gave documents to the man in a robe.

“The fee?”

“Yes, it’s 5 silver.”

Good thing I’ve got some money with me.

“One second…”

I went for the bag but…

“W-Wait!”

The older man suddenly shouted.

“Is y-your name Mixen?”

“Like the document says. Yes.”

“Y-Your fee was already paid. No need to p-pay it again.”

Really? Did Father pay already?

“A-And… You w-will be living in the d-dorms, r-right?”

That fixes one of my problems.

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But why is he stuttering so much?

Father probably overdid it again…

“Yes.”

“Then c-come with me. I-I will show you your r-room. D-Do you have any luggage?”

The more I speak with him the more embarrassed I get…

“No, I have everything with me.”

“Wait! Am I supposed to do this alone?!”

The Assistant is clearly confused.

“Shut up! If you can’t do it without me then take a break or something!”

Father… What on Earth did you do to this man…

“I-I am deeply sorry for the delay.”

It wasn’t even 10 seconds.

“It’s okay.”

“T-Then let us proceed.”

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The dormitory is connected to the Magic University itself, which is very comforting to see, as I hate long walks to school.

My guide showed me my room and was quick to escape my sight.

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It seems I got a higher class room than others… While going here I looked into some rooms with open doors. I saw a small room with 2 beds, one table and a door, that probably leads to the bathroom… But my room is different. Mine only has 1 bed, a table, a couch and my bathroom is neat, with a clean toilet and a shower. I can’t say if others have the same bathroom, but I am still glad it is this clean. The guide said that there is no kitchen, but we get a free meal every day in the cafeteria.

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Now that I look around a bit more… It seems that only the second-year students live in the dorms at this time. Which is logical. Why would they allow a person, who hasn’t yet passed the Entrance Exam into the dormitory?

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Then why the hell am I here?

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Father really overdid it…

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Okay, as I have nothing better to do, let’s go out for a bit.

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I went around the city. I was in many areas, and it seems that the city is roughly the same everywhere except from three places: the Magic University, the castle of the Duke… and the slums… The slums is what got me excited. The place where all filth of the city gathers… And that means that the black market should exist here…At least I hope it does…

So let’s put my hood on and look for it.

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It seems I found it. And I was slightly lucky, so I managed to get the password for the VIP guests. It was something stupid about dolphins. I would need to pay 5 copper every time I entered if not for that. The black market has many uses: buying and selling illegal items, an underground arena with bets on fights just outside the city, you can buy a slave and most importantly for me… I can buy information here… There is this group that calls itself The All-Seeing Eye. Pretty bad name, but who am I to judge. They deal exclusively with information and can find out something or even someone for a sum of money. The prices wary depending on the information, but I can get it for free if I just stand quietly inside the room… It might’ve been a bit of a risky move, now that I think about it… My gift does not hide every sound I make, so if I step on the wrong plank… It’s a game over for me…

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Ah… I forgot to ask Father about his stealth skills!

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I’ll definitely ask him next time he’s here…

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It’s been a month. So another month till the Exam. It seems that Naty won’t come until then. And even if she will, I have no idea where she’ll live, so it would be hard to find her.

I also properly entered the Black Market. Of course, I don’t want my identity exposed there… So I stole something… It was a mask that has some concealing properties to it. And honestly, I don’t know what they are exactly, as I only heard the seller say it to the buyer. And it seems to be a pretty often used item, I saw it in the streets in the city a few times… And a lot in the Black Market. So I won’t be found out if I steal it. I also bought a cheap set of clothes that I will use only when going here. And a new hood too, to hide even something like my hair. With this, only my height is showing. So it’s still obvious that I am a kid… But the guards that heard the password doesn’t seem to mind. But the only boon of being a VIP is that I can freely go into every building and use every service there is. Fortunately, the Black Market is not that big, it’s about the size of a small street, so I don’t need to repeat the password to every guard while I’m there. I guess they have some kind of communication device to inform every guard about a VIP guest entering.

I also managed to find out a lot about Magic University and what they will teach us there. First of all, you can enrol at the University only if you are 8-10 years old. You become an adult at the age of 16 in this world, so the University provides exactly 8 years of studying. But to properly graduate you need to become a Skilled Mage, and you can graduate sooner if you manage to become one early. To actually become one you need to either master fourth circle spells of your element or to be able to hunt a B-ranked monster alone, without the use of traps or something else, purely magic… So that makes me an Apprentice Mage already huh…

Just a reminder

Apprentice<Intermidiate<Skilled<Master<Grandmaster<Titled

The students are divided into commoners and nobles. Although they attend the same University, they don’t meet almost at all. And it seems that the dormitory is also separate for nobles, I don’t know how their rooms look, but I’m sure they are much better than even my high-class room. And nobles, obviously, don’t need to take any Entrance Exams. 

There is an unspoken rule, that every student is divided into battlemages or scholars. It is not an official rule, so it will not change the lessons you’ll take. But every teacher makes notes, and depending on your results in practise or theory, they may be more lenient towards you. For commoners, this division starts right from the Entrance Exam. The exam goes like this: we get examined by the Magic Sphere, then we have a 30-minute written test, and lastly, we show what spells we can cast, but the last part is not mandatory. 

Father wasn’t wrong when he said that this was important. If a kid can do a second circle spell at this age, he will be welcomed with open arms even if he failed the written test.

The biggest division is by affinity. That one is obvious, as the way each element is used is different from element to element. So classes don’t go like 1-A, 1-B, 1-C etc… Instead, we have Wind Class, Fire Class, Water Class etc… And there is no Unstable Class, as there are too few people with it, so finding someone with the same one to actually teach you about it is too hard. I don’t know what the University does with students that enrol with an Unstable affinity, but I do know that there is one teacher in the noble part of the Univesity who has an Unstable affinity, but he is a professor of Theory of Fighting and Duel classes.

And, yeah, nobles have different teachers, dorms, building and even director with vice-director are different from ones for commoners. We only cross our path in a few events.

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Honestly, I am not at all scared of this Exam. So I have a lot of free time on my hands.

I train every day in father’s swordsmanship, but also try and recreate Gerda’s last move. I think I already mastered her entire Style, apart from the last move. It is much harder than her whole swordsmanship, but the strength is formidable. If the Ferocious Bear Style is all about attacking your opponent without rest. Then Master’s Style is a combination of using attack and defence at the right time. And the last movement’s key point is to steadily parry every attack while looking for an opening to counter-attack… This suits me a lot more than just blindly attacking, but I will never tell that to Father.

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I have a lot of free time on my hands. And only training 24/7 is boring.

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What should I do..?

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Hmm, maybe try and make friends with my future seniors?

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I honestly don’t want to explain to them how I got into the dormitory while not being an actual student…

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I’ve got an idea! I always skipped literature when Father brought me it, as I thought that it was just a waste of my precious time… But that is exactly what I need right now!

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Here stands an old library. I was here before to get some books on fifth circle wind spells, the librarian is an old grandpa who probably was a mage in his youth. When I tried to rent that book, he asked me why would I try to read something so hard and said that I need to start with something easier, so he recommended me a book about the overall use of circles and also a “First Circle Wind Spells And Their Efficient Use”. I didn’t want to offend him, as he seemed very kind. So I took those books but said I’ll still read one about fifth circle spells. He shrugged and said that I won’t get past the first page… Jokes on you old man! I already got the gist of fifth circle spells, and I am only halfway through the book… If only I could try and use them…

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Oh, and I need to ask the old man about the books he gave me. I tried reading them out of boredom the other day, and… They were like no other book about magic I’ve read before. The methods to produce a circle are similar to ones I know of but polished to the extreme. And when I got to the book about the use of spells… I got shocked by its contents… Not only did it explain in more detail about Wind Element, but it also had many more spells in it! They may seem useless at first, but even producing a simple wind is hard without knowing the proper placement and shape of the circle, so every spell is passed from long ago… Nevertheless! The author of those books managed to create not one, but many new spells! Yes, they are only of the first circle… Still, even while working with one circle you can injure yourself, so nobody dares to draw a circle carelessly… Why is this author not known to the world? When reading about magic I saw many names, but not this one… 

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Theodore Miller, why aren’t you famous yet?

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I hope the old man has more of his books…

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*Creeeeak*

This door is old…

“Welcome to the… Oh it’s you kid, did you come to return the book? Took you longer than I expected… Ahh, maybe you wanted to read those other books and then return them all at once? Or…”

This habit of his…

Even though I know him for a very short amount of time, I still got to understand why he talks so much…

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He speculates out loud…

“Stop it, Grandpa. I did come to return the books, but not the one about the fifth circle spells, I’m not done with that one… I’ve come for another reason.”

“*Siiigh* Why do you have to rub it on my face? I get that I’m ageing… Anyway, you don’t have to be so stubborn about those fifth circle spells, if you finished reading the books I gave you, try and properly understand them when you will master the first circle spells I can give you a book about second circle ones. But I think it won’t be soon…”

“Perhaps… Is it from the same author!? Theodore Miller!?”

“Y-Yes? Why are you yelling?”

“Give it to me! Please!”

“S-Stop yelling. A-As I said,*Cough* you need to master the first circle spells to properly understand it. And with your talent, it will take some ti…”

“I have mastered it a long time ago! Please give it to me! I will even buy it if necessary!”

“P-Please, get off the desk.”

Oh sh*t, I got too excited… I didn’t even notice when I started to climb the reception desk…

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“I-I’m sorry old man… It’s just that the books he wrote are exceptional. I don’t know why such a genius isn’t known to the world… I think he might be even better than even those court mages that work for the king. I’m not sure if he has a title yet, but maybe he’s more of a scholar than a battlemage…”

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That habit is probably a virus of some sort…

The old man started laughing.

“Ha… HaHaHa… Oh my… If only others would have the same opinion as you… But I’m truly glad someone recognizes my work…”

His? Does that mean..?

“A-Are you..?”

“Let me introduce myself properly. My name is Theodore Miller. A retired mage. Currently managing this library.”

N-No way…

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This is embarrassing…

I bowed.

“M-My name is Mixen Z… Just Mixen! I’m about to become a student at the Magical University! I-It’s a big honour to meet you!”

My tongue almost slipped…

“Then… Mixen, you said you already mastered first circle spells, is that true?”

“Yes! I also mastered second circle spells and most of the first circle spells from other Elements!”

“What!?”

He looks surprised and confused…

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.

Is it that of a feat?

“*Cough* Say… How old are you?”

“I turned 10 not long ago.”

“So young and yet… How did you do it with so little talent? At what age did you start learning magic?”

What does he mean by so little talent?

“I think I was 3 at the time…”

“Well… That explains it to some extent, but… Was I mistaken? Wait here for a second.”

He quickly ran into the room behind him.

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He brought a Magic Sphere.

“Place your hand on it.”

So I did.

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A weak yellow light. Very weak. A bit lighter than the last time, but still…

“I wasn’t… Then… How on Earth did you progress to this extent with so little talent, kid?”

I look at him with a confused look.

“What does my mana capacity has to do with my talent?”

“You don’t know? Ah… They don’t write that in their books, do they? Listen here, kid. The ones who call themselves proper mages don’t want to acknowledge my research and my books because of a few reasons… Let’s not dwell on it. In any case, I’ve done a lot of research in my life, and one thing I manage to discover is the connection of one’s talent in magic to his starting amount of mana. This is something I confirmed time and time again. So you mastering second circle magic at the age of 10 doesn’t make any sense!”

Talent is equivalent to mana capacity?

That… Makes a bit of sense… But how about Lance? He couldn’t properly use magic!

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Did he ever try to learn it?..

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Naty on the other hand is confirmation of that theory…

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“So I am that unlucky huh? How would Father react if he knew I’m talentless? Do I need to drop out of University while it’s not too late? But Father already paid for tuition…” 

“Kid.”

“And what do I do now then? Training more with a sword probably is a better option for me. Then I will need to enrol into Sword Academy in the capital… But what will I say to Naty? I promised her…”

“Mixen!”

“Huh?!”

“Your thoughts were leaking!”

Did I say that all out loud?!

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This is shameful…

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Now I’m even more depressed…

“Say… Did you have a teacher or a Master?”

I did have a Master… But, he probably means magic.

“No, All I had is books that Father brought to me.”

“Great! *Cough* I mean… Kid, do you know about the existence of elixirs?”

“Yes… I even took an E-ranked one…”

“So it was even lower…”

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I don’t think my expression can get any worse…

“And when I was born, Magic Sphere couldn’t any trace of mana in me…”

“N-No need to make that sort of face… M-My theory must have a flaw in it! Yes! Aren’t you an example of it?”

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What am I even doing?

I am almost crying in front of a respectable elder! Even though I’m an adult! (Inside)

*Slap*

I hit myself on the cheeks.

“You’re right, Mister Theodore!”

He lightly smiled.

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He looks like a caring grandpa when he smiles…

“So… As I was saying. Elixirs. I can bring some F and D ranked ones.”

“I don’t think I can take a D ranked one yet…”

“That is true… But I still will bring an F-ranked one from the storage.”

He didn’t wait for my answer and went to the room behind him, I guess it’s a storage room.

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Now that I think about it with a calm mind…

I was probably born with no mana in me…

But I managed to do that stunt and get mana circulating in my body.

So does that mean that the theory on talent doesn’t apply to me?

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Or does that mean that I have no talent in magic at all?

“Here, you have barely enough mana to properly digest this F-ranked elixir.”

I was in the middle of thinking so I didn’t notice when Theodore came.

But, I obediently took the flask and drank it.

“Good, now we need to wait a bit for it to take effect…”

Nah, I’ll just do that thing again.

I started circulating newly acquired mana to my hearth and through my body.

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My breath got heavier…

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And pain starts to kick in…

“What is happening?!”

It’s okay, old man.

Not my first rodeo.

“I’m *Cough* fine.”

Bad timing for a bloody cough!

“You’re not! This is not supposed to happen!”

Why is he worrying so much about me?

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Why is he so kind to me in the first place?

“It’s… Fine… It… Happened… before…”

My God, this pain is unbearable…

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But I have no idea what will happen if I’ll stop…

“Wait… Are you doing it?!”

How can he tell?

“Y… Yes.”

Can’t talk…

Too painful…

“You reckless brat!”

He yelled that as he placed his hand on my head.

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I feel better…

It still hurts, but less than before.

I can now do it more precisely.

“I cast some healing spells on you. It should help a little.”

It did…

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I think it’s done.

“Unbelievable… You absorbed almost all mana from the elixir… From barely F-rank to the middle of D-rank…”

“Middle of D-rank!? Does that mean I can use D-ranked elixir already!?”

*Thump*

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I got hit on the head.

“Idiot! If you take the elixir of higher rank and do this trick of yours, you will most certainly die without a proper healer!”

That might actually happen…

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But do all old people hit the same?

This brings back memories…

“I understand… Say, Grandpa, do you perhaps have a wife?”

“W-What kind of question is that?”

“It’s just that I have a Master that hits exactly the same… Or maybe she’s your relative?”

“Master?! You said you have no Master!”

Ah, tongue slipped.

“I indeed have no Master in magic. But I do have a Master in Sword… But she never asked me to bow to her…”

I heard it randomly in the pub when I ate. It’s a common thing for a person to bow to his Master to become a proper Disciple. Some have a different ritual, but almost always there is something.

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Sadly, Gerda never asked me to do it...

“I see, I see… That’s good.”

He nodded a few times while crossing his arms.

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Wait, why are you even concerned if I have a Master or not?

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Perhaps…?

“Mixen.”

“Yes?”

He has a serious look… 

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Will he…

“Become my disciple.”

Thought so!

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But isn’t it too sudden?

“Isn’t it too soon for that? We met a few weeks ago.”

“It does not matter. I was searching for a disciple for a long time. Nobody understands my methods of research so they discard my discoveries without even properly checking them. So when I decided to look for a disciple, I had no willing candidates. I even lowered my expectations to the minimum. That is to have an affinity with Wind, and not look down on my research… But, there still were none… So eventually, I gave up… But you! The moment you acknowledged the worth of my books, I understood, I need to steadily make him close to me and take him as a disciple. I didn’t want to scare you by suddenly proposing as I did now, and I also wanted to check your capabilities a bit more, as you have little to no mana and talent. But after hearing your feats, and seeing you absorb the whole elixir, I decided.”

That was a long monologue.

But it clears out some things.

And I don’t think it is a bad idea to take Theodore as my Master in magic… I saw his books, and they were great. I was ready to improve my magic by reading his books alone… And now I have a chance to learn from him directly…

“So! Will you, Mixen, take Grandmaster Mage Theodore Miller as your Master?”

Grandmaster Mage?! I hit a jackpot!

“Yes!”

“Good!”

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“Umm, so… What do I need to do now?”

“Ah right, A ritual… Hmm… I don’t really have any in mind, but… I do have a thing I want you to do. I want you to swear that you will not keep any secrets from me!”

“Can’t do that.”

I’m sorry but I really can’t, not only my powers or the fact I reincarnated but also all the shady business I might do in the future…

“... That was a quick denial… Maybe at least all secrets related to magic?”

That… 

Can be done.

“Okay. I Mixen swear upon my name that I will never keep any secrets related to magic from my Master!”

I think this is enough.

.

Now I have a Master in magic!

This feels good and nostalgic.

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But why does Master have a frown…?

“Mixen.”

Did I say something wrong?

“Y-Yes?”

“Don’t you think… That when swearing on your name… You need to use your full name?”

Ah… He didn’t miss that…

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Can I tell him?

Will Father be mad?

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But he was so kind to me…

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And I just can’t miss this opportunity.

“I… I’m sorry… Can Master keep this secret of mine safe?”

“I will take it to the grave if necessary!”

“No need to take it that far… Let me introduce myself properly. My name is Mixen Zyckor. Son of Michael Zyckor. Currently an Apprentice Mage… I hope to be in your care…”

In the end, I bowed.

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When I looked at Master I saw… A frown… A deep one… As if he is angry, or very sad, I can’t tell…

Does keeping my last name a secret has other purpose than enrolling as a commoner in the University?  Did our family do something so bad that even a child like me will get killed for their deeds? Is that why Father was living in seclusion all this time? Does…

“First time hearing about it…”

Huh!?

You stupid geezer scared me to death!!!

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“*Sigh* I see.”

“Anyway, now let’s put your pledge to actual use!”

“?”

“How the hell did you absorb the whole elixir!?”

“Oh, that. It’s easy, I just circulated the mana that entered my body till its flow became natural.”

He had… A weird expression…

“Can you freely control mana in your body? No… Can you even feel it?”

“I can control the flow to some extent, but it hurts when I try to even touch the natural flowing mana. And I can feel not only mine mana but yours too.”

“You can feel my mana?!”

“Yes? But… Can’t Master do the same?”

“I… Can… But I can’t feel it, I see it with my eyes.”

“See it?”

“Every member of the Miller family is born with eyes that can see mana. This is our gift.”

That is quite useful.

“Isn’t it hard to see though? With all this mist in the air…”

“What are you talking about?”

“Well, you know… When you try and see someone else’s mana you need to look at the mana essence in front of you.”

“Silly kid, It’s impossible to see or feel mana essence. You can do that only in areas where it is really dense.”

“But I can feel it even now?”

“What?”

“I can even describe a part of the city from here.”

“What?”

“Hmm, if I were to describe it… You could say it is like a sixth sense. That’s why I named this skill of mine Sixth Sense!”

“What?”

“Master, are you okay?”

“*Cough* Yes, I’m fine. But It sounds unbelievable…”

“How about I describe what is inside that door?”

I point at the door that leads to the storage room.

“Let’s see… There is actually a regular room there? It’s very unkept, a lot of papers lying on the ground, in the cabin to the left we have a bunch of materials of some sort, and also elixirs are kept there too…”

“S-Stop, I get it… But how? How did you learn to do it?”

“At first I…”

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So I told him. I told him everything as it was. But I omitted the parts about my actual age when I did it, and about Loki’s Gift.

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He took a few minutes to process the information.

“Okay… We’ll talk about it more some other time. Now let me explain your future training.”

“Yes!”

Great!

“As you already mastered second circle spells, so I’ll give you a book on third circle spells that I wrote.”

“No!”

“Huh? Why?”

“I need to have a book about second circle spells too! What you write in your books is much better and more detailed than the ones I read! So I will surely find new useful information in it!”

He smiled while looking all proud of himself.

“Then I’ll bring both of them. And after you manage to properly understand some third circle spells, I will help you put it to use.”

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Wait!

“That’s right! I should have enough mana to cast it now!”

“What? Cast what?”

I started drawing circles and pointed my arms to the wall.

“Wind Bomb!”

*Boom*

Success!

“Did you see that Master?!”

“How the hell..? Perhaps…? That book on the fifth circle spells? Do you understand even fourth circle spells already!?”

“Yes! But I can’t cast a fourth circle spell yet! I still don’t have enough mana.

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“My disciple is a monster…”

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It feels good to be praised…

*Thump*

“Idiot disciple! Showing off is good. But who will fix the wall!?”

There were a few passersby that looked at us weirdly from the street.

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Oops.

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It feels nostalgic…

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I wonder how everyone’s doing…