Solas Magic School

What could be stronger than the heart?

In this world where calamities trample upon humans, what fills the fist that an empty-handed human ultimately clenches?

Fel seemed flustered.

“Have you forgotten? I am the heir to Lanciel City.”

I stared at him without answering.

“Moreover, I belong to the Academy. I can’t decide my own path freely.”

My eyes asked a silent question.

Is that all?

He became even more flustered.

“Well, I can accompany you for a while. I need to stay in the Tower of Covenant for a few years anyway. But the Academy is a different matter. I would need approval. For that, you would need to be recognized by the Academy.”

Fel’s eyes, which had seemed on the defensive, suddenly changed. He leaned his upper body forward and made a counter-proposal.

“Yes. I had something to propose as well. Mage Baek Jun-woo, would you formally join the Academy? You can’t move freely anyway due to magical power addiction, right? During that time, enter an Academy-affiliated school and graduate. Then we can move together.”

He glanced at me nervously, then continued.

“If attending school doesn’t appeal to you, there’s another way. Share your magical knowledge with the Academy and receive formal sponsorship. Your knowledge could save countless lives. The Academy would support you generously in return.”

Amidst all the practical conditions he was seriously laying out, I became even more certain.

“Very well, Fel. I’ll consider joining the Academy positively. But that’s not the answer I’m looking for right now.”

‘Realistic’ conditions.

Of course they matter. But the hell I’ve experienced this year couldn’t be survived with realistic thinking alone. Before realism, there must be something else. The motivation behind everything. A force that sometimes changes reality itself. What separates truth from falsehood. That’s what I wanted.

I leaned forward and looked directly into Fel’s eyes.

“I’m asking you now, Fel. The rest doesn’t matter. We can work those details out later. What I want to know right now is about you. What do you think? How does your ‘heart’ feel? Do you want to join my nomad? Do you want to uncover the world’s secrets with me? For my task, I need your strength.”

Fel’s pupils trembled greatly.

His lips quivered. He tried to speak, stopped, tried again, stopped, then finally swallowed hard and answered.

“I, I want to join you. No… not just me, but all the members of our caravan would feel the same. The magic you showed that day was truly… like a dream.”

I smiled.

Fel hastily added:

“Ah, but as I said earlier, right now, realistically…”

I cut him off.

“That’s fine. That answer is enough for now.”

I took my eyes off him.

The singing of Yuria and the Jack Caravan people surrounding her was growing more intense.

“We’re heading to the nearby Academy branch anyway, aren’t we? Let’s see what happens when we get there.”

This is enough for now.

What matters is the heart.

Plans? Those are like notepads that can be erased and rewritten at any time.

The future that comes is always different from what I imagine, and our path staggers. We can’t go far by fixating on uncertainties.

But the constellation drawn by the heart doesn’t change.

Even when Sena School Nomad was wiped out and I lost all my family, I still made it to the Tower of Covenant.

The thousand paths said to lie before a nomad. Even if I end up choosing the most miserable one, even if the destination differs from my expectations. If I don’t lose heart, that place too will inevitably be near what my heart had pointed to all along.

That’s what I believed.

So, if Fel has the heart to join my journey… for now, that’s enough.

.

.

That night. After the singing ended and everyone returned to the campsite, alone in the empty ruins, Fel muttered to himself:

“Is he really fourteen years old?”

The gaze from that white-haired boy still stung his heart. His heart was racing.

It wasn’t pretense, nor was it bluster.

“He’s the real deal…”

Fel unconsciously echoed the words the magical powers always muttered when watching Baek Jun-woo.

+ – + – +

In the [Simulation] I had run earlier, there was no scenario where Fel immediately accepted my proposal.

So I planted a seed in his heart. This work would become a variable creating new possibilities in the future.

I also deeply considered Fel’s proposal.

The Tower of Covenant isn’t easy enough to climb alone. To uncover divine secrets with a human body, I too needed an organization to support me.

‘But magic school is rejected.’

Of course, the magical theory taught in the Tower of Covenant would be incomparably more advanced than what Teacher Sena had taught me. But no matter how I thought about it, it didn’t seem more valuable than what I had discovered with my own eyes and ears in the relic sites. Our definitions of magical power were fundamentally different, weren’t they?

That left obtaining Academy sponsorship.

This option appealed to me more.

I had no resistance to sharing my knowledge. After all, wasn’t it thanks to Academy mages that I first learned magic? Magic is humanity’s greatest asset for survival. I had no intention of monopolizing it. This world isn’t easy enough to navigate with such an attitude.

I wasn’t worried about my value diminishing either. Unless someone could see and hear magical power like me or had a Gift like [Simulation]… it would take others a long time to apply my knowledge. If they managed to apply it quickly… they deserve praise.

‘The real issue is whether they’re capable of understanding and accepting my knowledge.’

My theories that completely overturn current magical theory.

Could they really accept them?

Depending on that, my attitude toward the Academy would change. At that point, I would have to force Fel to make a choice. Perhaps this would be a test for myself as well. Am I truly the vessel capable of creating my own followers?

‘Well, I’ll just have to take it one step at a time.’

With these thoughts organized, I pressured Monggu.

“This time I’ll use about half an ogre’s strength. Keep your eyes wide open.”

Monggu exhaled heavily as he gripped the beam hilt. His synchronization with the equipment must have been significant, as the red beam that extended was more intense and violent than when I had handled it. Wearing the 10th class combat suit, Monggu had grown strong enough to defeat even a 1st Circle mage under normal circumstances.

But he couldn’t withstand this attack.

Bang!

“Kuhek! Kek! Kuhuuk…”

Monggu clutched his completely crumpled chest plate and rolled on the ground. The beam hilt that had been emitting light gradually dimmed.

If it had been an ogre’s attack, he might have dodged it. Ogres are large, after all. But even with half an ogre’s strength, when it comes from my small body, the speed is on a completely different level. Should I praise him for not dropping the beam hilt throughout all this?

I looked at Monggu with mixed feelings, then spoke.

“Monggu. Why not just learn magic again?”

“Kuheh… kuhuuh… n-no. I, I can do this.”

“We don’t know when we’ll find another relic site capable of physical enhancement. How long can you last with just level 2 enhancement?”

“But… you said you c-can now retrieve 7th class equipment… If I k-keep upgrading my gear… it’s possible.”

All sorts of weapons from Arsenal #7 slept in my subspace storage. Theoretically, I could retrieve everything in there, but equipment above 8th class somehow didn’t respond to my Transportation spell. However, after reaching 3rd Circle, I became able to Transport up to 7th class equipment. It seemed that the more magical power I possessed and the more complex it became, the more I could imitate the authority of the ancient gods.

Anyway, if Monggu could handle 7th class equipment instead of his current 10th class equipment, he would become incomparably stronger. But… when would that be?

I sighed.

“Why not just train in magic? Wouldn’t that be faster?”

Monggu smiled bitterly.

“I, I know myself. M-magic doesn’t just grow with s-steady training, right? I don’t have that g-greatness like you or Yuria.”

I had nothing to say to that. Magical power truly was like that.

Perhaps it’s similar to singing. Some people can never sing well no matter how much they practice.

Meanwhile, others can move people with their singing without any training.

“But ancient warrior equipment increases s-synchronization the more you use it, right? So… this is the r-right path for me.”

Monggu had already stopped coughing and was standing. He glared at me with the beam hilt emitting its beam.

I acknowledged his fighting spirit and raised my fist again.

“Then do it properly. If you can’t be worth the equipment, I’ll cut you off immediately.”

Whoom!

Crack!

“Guaek!”

Monggu made another strange noise as he fell with a thud.

Well, should I praise him for not closing his eyes throughout?

Eventually, Monggu lost consciousness.

“Huff, huff… that’s completely cruel.”

When I roughly tossed him aside, Yuria spoke in an exhausted voice. I looked at her with a twisted smile.

“You’re not in a position to worry about others.”

“Demon…”

Yuria was currently overlaying a mana sword onto her blade and swinging it vigorously. Though it’s called a mana sword, from my perspective, ‘magical power sword’ would be more accurate. It’s a phenomenon where extremely concentrated magical power seeps from the body into the blade.

So the mana sword, symbol of elite Mana Users, would be classified as blood channel magic.

“Why are you suddenly making me train Ki-blood magic… huff, huff…”

Maintaining the mana sword while performing 10,000 swings in proper stance. Reeking of body odor from this brutal training, Yuria grumbled.

It can’t be helped. Training both Circle and blood channel magic is the right approach.

That’s why I too maintained both 3rd Circle and 3-star.

If I gave up one side, I could immediately become a 4th Circle or 4-star mage, but I didn’t think that was the right decision for the long term.

The ancient gods’ entire bodies were made of magical power. If mages perform miracles by imitating ancient gods… then creating only the Circle corresponding to the mouth makes no sense. If you’re going to imitate, do it properly.

Create a god.

That’s why I decided to pursue both Circle magic and blood channel magic simultaneously. I intended to pass on everything I had learned to Yuria.

“But isn’t it inefficient in the long run to develop blood channel and Circle separately? Even you… huff… Fel was worried that you can’t properly use either 3rd Circle or 3-star…”

“Don’t worry about that. I’m looking for a solution.”

“Huff… huff… Alright. I’m sure you are.”

“You’re talking a lot, so you must have energy to spare? Are you almost finished? Good. When you’re done, rest for 20 minutes, then 10,000 more!”

“Demon!”

It can’t be helped, even if she resents me.

Unlike me, Yuria couldn’t directly perceive magical power, so it was impossible for her to freely move magical power to open blood channels.

We had to use a crude method.

If she keeps swinging, her unconscious mind will eventually find the path where magical power flows best, even if her conscious mind doesn’t. Then she can open the blood channels along that route.

See? Her magical power flow is already better than before.

Unlike Monggu, Yuria’s improvement was visible day by day.

A good sign.

‘Now, let’s think about my own problem.’

The path to Solas, the Academy’s magic school.

The path toward the real Tower of Covenant, not this unexplored wilderness.

Facing an uncertain future, I needed to become even stronger.