## Chapter 8 – 08. Introduction (2)
#08. Introduction (2)
In the past, before modern times, knowledge of magic was almost exclusively the domain of a specific class.
-Magic is for magicians, and magicians are the chosen ones.
Even now, but especially back then, magicians were lunatics steeped in elitism.
And it was the first Archmage who shattered that ideology.
Hundreds of years ago, he founded the Magic Tower.
He gathered talented individuals from all over the world to teach them magic, and those magicians, once grown, gathered dozens, even hundreds, of disciples to teach magic in turn.
Starting with one accomplished magician teaching dozens of apprentice magicians, the Magic Tower grew in influence.
Even now, magicians are valuable personnel, but before the founding of the Magic Tower, they were even rarer.
This was because there were too many stubborn old fogies who took the principle of “one-on-one transmission, not taught to just anyone,” common in martial arts stories, for granted.
Of course, even hundreds of years later, knowledge of magic was still an area that ordinary people could not learn.
The Magic Tower only opened up knowledge to certified talents; it didn’t indiscriminately share it with the general public.
Because of this, some groups accused the Magic Tower of only teaching magic to the privileged class, but just as you shouldn’t give a knife or gun to a child, the first Archmage’s firm belief that magic should only bloom in the hands of the verified had spread throughout the Magic Tower, so it was a pointless argument.
As a result, information about magic was hard to find even on the internet, known as the sea of information.
Offline, there were a few books sold, but they only covered very basic knowledge.
It was like buying a book titled ‘Challenge: Make Your Own Cell Phone!’ but all the book taught you was how to solder.
It was basically like, ‘You can use magic? Go ahead and try, lol.’
The prices were also very high. One 200-page book cost about 700,000 won?
That was extreme price gouging. Of course, it wasn’t strictly fraud since it was a serious crime for a non-magician to write a book about magic, but even if you bought and read the expensive book, you wouldn’t gain anything, so it was as good as fraud to the reader.
Unlike other certifications, you can’t take online courses or attend academies for magic.
All there are are books costing tens to hundreds of thousands of won per volume, with no substance. Yet, many people want to become magicians and buy the books.
It’s not hard to understand.
Even a 2nd Circle magician is treated like nobility in underdeveloped countries.
I, too, once dreamed of becoming a magician.
Even a war orphan like me could gain wealth and fame if I became a magician. What greater magic could there be in the world?
Of course, you can’t become a magician just because you want to. That’s the wall of reality.
Those without talent couldn’t enter the Magic Tower.
It was a childhood dream I had half given up on.
“Magic…?”
“Yes, if you’re okay with it, Hyun-woo.”
My head is blank.
What am I learning? Magic?
Me??
“Well… you don’t have to feel too pressured. If you learn magic, Hyun-woo, barrier analysis will become much easier.”
Naturally, it’s not easy to find something to replace the holy relic.
Moreover, it’s a barrier maintained by the power of the World Tree, not just any ordinary barrier.
In reality, it’s virtually impossible to completely destroy it. So, creating a side path that two people can get through is the best realistic option. However, it’s hard to say exactly what materials are needed to achieve even that modest effect.
For ordinary cooking, the ingredients are obvious.
There are recipes everywhere, and even without a recipe, you can get a feel for it by chewing, tearing, and tasting it a few times.
But what about the local cuisine of indigenous people living in the middle of the jungle? Even the head chef of a Michelin 3-star restaurant couldn’t rattle off what goes into it.
The best you can do is pile up potentially promising ingredients like a mountain and reproduce it through various experiments.
“It’ll probably… be a big financial burden…”
I didn’t want to burden him any further, the one who had come to this place, where no one ever visited, like a ray of light.
The ability to be a magician is valuable.
I don’t know how much it is in the world he lived in, but in war, magicians are irreplaceable forces.
They receive enormous compensation accordingly.
I wasn’t sure, but Iris resolved to teach him magic, hoping to help him to some extent.
However.
‘All the money Hyun-woo works hard to earn will go to material costs…’
How is this relationship any different from telling him to learn magic and get the materials?
While she comfortably teaches magic here, he will have to work hard.
‘I’m sorry, Hyun-woo…’
Her conscience pricked, and her heart ached.
She felt like she had become a bad woman.
While Iris’s worries grew heavier, Kang Hyun-woo was struggling to hold back the corners of his mouth from rising.
Magic, magic!
And the 8th Circle Archmage herself will personally teach me!
There couldn’t be a greater opportunity in the world. It would be criticized as lacking plausibility even in a novel.
If he received instruction and became a high-ranking magician someday, Iris’s escape would be a problem that could be quickly resolved.
Nevertheless, if there was a concern, it was this.
“…But, don’t you have to be exceptionally talented to become a magician?”
It’s not something to brag about, but I was already judged as lacking talent by a magician dispatched from the Magic Tower when I was in the sixth grade of elementary school.
The talent required for magic is extremely innate, so it was close to socially impossible for me, who had already been stamped as talentless in elementary school, to become a magician.
“You don’t have to worry too much. I’m sure you’ll be able to pick it up quickly, Hyun-woo.”
“Iris…”
Iris held my hand tightly and smiled brightly.
Beyond her green eyes, shining clearly even in this dark place, I seemed to see faith in me.
I thought I was past the age of craving someone’s recognition or praise, but when I actually experienced it, it felt strange.
It was a little embarrassing, but it definitely wasn’t an unpleasant feeling.
“I look forward to working with you.”
“Yes!”
Confidence seemed to surge from somewhere.
***
Even considering the time before and after the Magic Tower was built, becoming a magician’s direct disciple was extremely rare.
Even the professors at the Magic Tower don’t consider the students they teach as disciples.
The modern concept doesn’t differentiate much between students and disciples, but it was different in the world of magicians.
To a magician, a disciple was like another self to whom they could pass on everything.
It was even more natural to pass on not only the magical knowledge they had accumulated, but also assets such as cash, real estate, and stocks to their disciples. Occasionally, a magician who loved their child would divide their assets between their disciple and child in a ratio of about 7:3.
Of course, the disciple gets 7, and the child gets 3.
Anyway, back to the main point, if you ask whether you can’t learn magic unless you become a magician’s direct disciple, that’s another story.
To get straight to the point, you can become a magician.
As I said before, entering the Magic Tower is the first method, and the second is paying your way in.
There are many wealthy people among magicians. No, it’s harder to find someone who isn’t wealthy.
There are various reasons for this, including the fact that magicians are irreplaceable personnel, and that magicians are exceptionally smart among already smart people.
And there were tycoons with tons of money who invited magicians with money to become magicians themselves.
Of course, it was very rare for those who took classes that way to become magicians. If you only have talent, there is no better environment to become a magician than the Magic Tower. It’s similar to the principle that there are no decent people among those who only receive private tutoring at home without going to school.
Well, there are occasionally talented gold spoons who only get private tutoring and become magicians for the strange reason that they don’t want to send their children to the Magic Tower.
Of course, it’s harder than a dragon rising from a ditch.
The important thing here is that most of the magicians who are invited with money and give instruction have no affection for their students.
They just work as much as they are paid, that’s all?
In that respect, Kang Hyun-woo was very lucky.
Wavy platinum blonde hair and eyes that looked like emeralds were embedded in them. A super-express elf beauty, an 8th Circle Archmage with beauty that would have made medieval enthusiasts faint from exhaustion after praising her all week, is giving him 1:1 private tutoring.
With great affection, too.
However, if you ask if that is pure affection, well?
‘I-It’s a relief…’
Iris told a small lie to Kang Hyun-woo and herself.
She said that the reason for teaching magic was for barrier analysis, but her true intention was a little different.
He will leave here someday. He has no choice but to leave.
He has his own life, so he can’t stay here forever.
So, Iris’s aim was to create a reason for him to have no choice but to return here.
There is no end to learning, let alone academics.
Magic is the same; it doesn’t end after learning it for a day or two. Rather, learning one thing makes you more curious about two or more things.
She was confident.
No matter how different the world is, she was sure that it would be difficult to find a magician as good as her as a teacher!
‘If I’m with Hyun-woo, even if I only teach magic here for the rest of my life, I…’
Her eyes, looking at Kang Hyun-woo, were shining seductively.
Like a beast hiding in the bushes, watching its prey.
Kang Hyun-woo shivered at an unknown chill, but he couldn’t figure out the cause.
Thus, a somewhat distorted master-disciple relationship was established in the dark cave.
