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Getting forced offline from Earth Online wasn’t a big deal because when Lynn opened his eyes in a new world, he had a brand-new identity in a place with magic.

— A freshman apprentice mage accepted into a magic academy.

Lynn fell into contemplation as he looked at the script on his acceptance letter.

As everyone knows, learning magic is expensive.

And Lynn’s new identity had pockets that were even cleaner than his background as a lone wolf with no family to feed—he couldn’t even afford a basic magic staff.

Lynn: “…”

He was forced to take on part-time jobs. As a new student with no power, influence, or special skills, he couldn’t brew potions and no one would teach him alchemy. After tearing out countless hairs over his empty wallet, Lynn finally found the fastest way for him to earn money.

— Taking classes for others at the sword academy next door.

So, it should be pretty normal that he ended up becoming a plain-looking mage who can lift a cauldron, right?

Excerpt:

“Distinguished royals and nobles, mages and warriors, welcome to the Elite Academy Joint Competition! We are currently in the 1v1 single-person duel mode!”

“We can see a fantastic duel between a mage and a warrior. Both are top seed players from their respective academies. So, will the mage defeat their opponent with magic before the warrior can close in and interrupt the spell? Let’s wait and—wait a minute?! Why is the mage charging forward with their staff?!”

“??? What’s happening? Is my vision under a hallucination spell? Why did I just see the delicate and frail mage catch the warrior’s greatsword with one hand?!”

“The mage just sent the strongest warrior from the other academy flying with a single swing of their staff?! Why does that staff look so much like a greatsword?!”

“Oh, my goodness! By the Holy Light! What am I seeing?! The mage just pulled a sword out of his staff?!”

Notes:

1. The main character isn’t Merlin; he just inherited the excellent tradition that mages should be good at close combat.
2. The main character is a pure human, 24K pure human. Not a non-human race, just a plain little genius who can cultivate both magic and martial arts.
3. The plot takes up more of the story. The romance is less prominent but it exists.
4. It’s not a no-CP story and won’t be changed to one. It’s a 1v1 with Toran as the partner, who is dark and socially anxious. There will be supporting character unrequited love, but the main couple will not change.