[Toran]

Lynn didn’t pay too much attention to Isaac’s hesitation. He was completely focused on his new magic staff, working quickly and efficiently to snap off all the branches that might get in the way of his grip. Then he took out a file from the toolbox to smooth down the rough ends.

Wood shavings and iron filings from the file fell to the floor. As the file, which should not have been a consumable, gradually became smaller, the staff’s body also became much more refined. At the very least, it looked like a magic staff now, without any branches sticking out. But Lynn left the few ferocious, sharp corners at the head of the staff untouched.

Isaac asked him, with an unnatural expression, why he didn’t get rid of those few branches. Lynn told him truthfully that it gave the staff a bit of a designed feel. After all, his staff was quite plain to begin with, and without some unique features, it would just blend in with everything else.

Isaac: “…”

The Western fantasy continent had a very Western vibe, and everyone valued their individuality. Lynn might have brought some stereotypes from his previous life, as he was always worried that if he was too unremarkable, he might face an otherworldly version of American-style bullying. It seemed this fear was about to come true, as that “Bol-something” was planning to disrupt his peaceful school life.

With this thought, Lynn sighed inwardly.

Although this kind of bullying could probably be solved with a beating, he still felt that in his previous life, he was from a land of propriety. It would be better to subdue people with “reason.”

With this in mind, after the staff was fully shaped, Lynn returned the toolbox. He paid for the broken saw and the file that he had used up as if it were a consumable. Tools unrelated to magic were relatively cheap, and a few dozen copper coins were enough to cover the cost.

After this important task was done, Lynn tried a quick test of the staff’s compatibility with his magic. The results were very pleasing. The grade-two water-element magic core was exceptionally light and quick in drawing water-element magic. With just a thought, the rich water-element magic could flow through the staff’s body.

The first water-element spell new students learned was the Water Ball spell. When Lynn had been using his fake staff of a random branch and a glass bead, he had to strain with all his might to conjure a tiny, unstable water droplet the size of a bottle cap. If his attention wandered for even a moment, it would dissipate into the air. But with a proper staff, casting a water ball was much easier. In fact, Lynn had to hold back, or he might have flooded the dorm. The water ball he summoned was almost as tall as a floor, filling the spacious living room of the villa.

If Lynn hadn’t reacted quickly and withdrawn most of his magic, Isaac, who was watching from the side, would have been caught in the giant water ball.

“…Don’t put so much magic into the Water Ball spell.”

Isaac, who had retreated to a corner, patted his chest in fear and said:

“Did you just dump all your magic into it, Lynn? How did you create such a huge one?”

He was now completely confused about Lynn. He clearly had an arm strength that a mage shouldn’t have. Recalling how Lynn couldn’t cast a decent spell before, he had even been speculating that Lynn was a swordsman disguised as a mage. But now he could actually cast a real spell… What was going on? His brain was about to short-circuit!

“It feels even more handy than I thought.”

Lynn, however, was completely lost in the smooth casting of his spell. Thinking back to the difficulty of his magic flowing when he used a branch, he found his gray staff more and more pleasing to the eye. He couldn’t help but say to himself:

“The feel of the staff body is also very good. If I ever replace the magic core with a higher-grade one, I feel like I could use this for a long time. I should give it a name.”

‘Its stability and reassuring weight, combined with a simple, back-to-basics appearance—isn’t this the perfect staff to reason with others?’

‘How about I call it “Reason”?’

The night passed with Isaac in a state of shock and disbelief. But he didn’t have time to be surprised by his roommate’s oddities for too long, because he also had to participate in the magic test the next day. Although he wasn’t being groomed as an heir to the Ventus family, he couldn’t just mess around and fail the academy’s tests. It would be a huge embarrassment if the second young master of the Ventus family couldn’t even pass a simple test.

Every mage had their own elemental affinity, which was determined during the enrollment test. While most mages exhibited a leaning toward specific magical element, the path of spellcraft demanded specialization. So, only in the apprentice mage stage would some students with equally strong affinities for different elements learn all the spells for those elements. Once their area of expertise was more or less solidified, they would abandon the weaker elements and specialize in one.

The water element was a common affinity; about five out of every ten mages had an affinity for it. Lynn and Isaac were among them, and so were some “others.”

As soon as Lynn entered the classroom, a hostile gaze was fixed on him. The owner of the gaze, a boy with an arrogant expression, had been giving a student a hard time, who was looking terrified and shrinking back. When he noticed Lynn entering, he immediately looked over, but upon seeing the yawning Isaac beside him, the look was quickly withdrawn.

“Trying to cozy up to the Ventus family…”

A boy surrounded by a few sycophants, also with blond hair but with a darker shade than Isaac’s pure, golden color, muttered to himself and spat. The hostility in his eyes grew even stronger.

“Does he really think he can get protection just because he was lucky enough to be in the same dorm? A mere commoner—”

‘Lowly commoners shouldn’t have the right to share my noble learning resources! They can’t even pay a few copper coins in taxes, yet they have such excellent talent and don’t even have to pay tuition. They can even enter such a prestigious institution and enjoy the same treatment as me. Why do those poor, lazy leeches get to have such good talent?’

A student named Bolton thought this, filled with jealousy.

He had been receiving an elite magical education since he was a child, all to restore the glory of the Bolton family. Bolton’s ancestors were great nobles honored by the empire, but after several generations of mediocre talent in the family, they were now just a middling noble family with a title. They used to be on par with the Ventus family!

The thought made Bolton’s back teeth grind with a bitter, metallic taste.

But even with his great ambitions, his talent test was mediocre. After he enrolled, there was an endless stream of talented commoners and poor nobles whose families couldn’t even afford two bags of gold coins, all showing off in front of him. It was enough to make him die of jealousy.

The one he disliked the most was that black-haired commoner who didn’t even have a last name. His face looked so easy to bully, his clothes were made of common fabric, and his robe was patched at the hem. The staff he brought to class was the worst of the worst, barely emitting any magical fluctuations. The magic core inside had long been depleted, and its color was a turbid, nearly colorless hue. Only a staff that should have been thrown in the trash would have these characteristics. If he hadn’t seen the black-haired commoner awkwardly cast a spell with it, he would have thought it was just a broken branch with a glass bead stuck on it.

These commoners were the perfect targets for a lesson, but that guy always disappeared after class. And since his dorm was with Isaac Ventus, Bolton, no matter how arrogant he was toward commoners, wouldn’t dare to cause a scene in front of a Ventus family member. So he could only suppress his anger and look for an opportunity to catch him alone—but he never found one.

‘Ventus won’t be following you around forever. Practical training is coming up soon, just you wait, you low-life commoner.’

Bolton shot him a vicious glare, and still feeling angry, he kicked the shrinking student he had been bullying. Only then did he lead his group of followers back to his seat.

“…”

Lynn thoughtfully withdrew his gaze from over there. He then poked Isaac’s arm with his fingertip and asked in a puzzled tone:

“That guy, Bol-something, did I offend him before?”

He had been busy with classes and had face blindness, so he had never paid attention. It was only after Isaac’s reminder that he had taken a few glances, and that look in the guy’s eyes, as if Lynn owed him eight million, had genuinely shocked him. ‘Dude, I didn’t dig up your family’s ancestral grave, did I?’

“You’ve already offended him just by standing here.”

Isaac shrugged:

“Unless a great noble comes knocking on your door one day to tell you you’re their long-lost child, or a count’s daughter wants to marry you and won’t take no for an answer, he’s always going to dislike you.”

After witnessing his roommate’s oddity last night, Isaac decided to change his attitude toward him. No matter why Lynn had such terrifying strength and could still cast magic, he decided to befriend the guy. The kind of acquaintance-level relationship he had with him before was for ordinary talented students. But Lynn clearly had a secret, and his potential was beyond Isaac’s expectations. So today, Isaac immediately chose to hang out with his roommate, and their communication became friendlier and more equal. After all, he had nothing to lose by being friends with him.

“This is…”

Lynn pondered for a moment, then commented:

“Resentment towards the poor?”

“That’s a very fitting description.”

Isaac was first stunned by the concise yet direct description, then nodded in strong agreement. He then gestured for Lynn to look at a table in the corner:

“Bolton hates commoners and poor nobles. See that guy? He’s the son of a minor baron and is pretty unlucky. Bolton and his gang have been using him as a punching bag. Actually, Bolton probably would have preferred you for that role, but you leave class too quickly, so he can’t find you. Otherwise, you would be the one getting bullied.”

At this point, Isaac paused. He remembered the staff that was impossible to lift last night but was now being held effortlessly by Lynn. He quickly changed his words:

“Or you would have been expelled for beating up a classmate to death.”

Lynn: “…I wouldn’t go that far to get expelled.”

‘I know how to hold back, okay?’ ‘What kind of misunderstanding does Isaac have about me? How could a delicate and helpless apprentice mage like myself beat a classmate to death? Three-quarters dead would be more like it.’

Muttering this to himself, Lynn followed Isaac’s gesture and looked in the direction he pointed. He didn’t know if his gaze was too obvious or if the other student was particularly sensitive, but in an instant, the student also turned his head and looked back.

He had a head of slightly messy black hair, and his back was hunched as if from fear and low self-esteem. His neck was a little withdrawn, his skin was pale, and there was a bruise on his face. His eyes were a dark green. When he noticed Lynn looking at him, he flinched and turned his head back, then shrunk in his seat and didn’t move.

‘Speaking of which, this guy looks a little familiar. I think he was in front of me during the talent test. He kept turning around to look at me even though it wasn’t our turn yet, which left a faint impression on me.’

Lynn glanced at the guy again, then quietly asked Isaac for his name.

“That guy is from the Lorcan family, which used to have a very famous alchemist. But in recent years, no one has had the talent for alchemy, and a notorious criminal came from the family a few generations ago, so the family has fallen into decline.”

Isaac thought for a moment and said,

“I think his name is Toran.”