Klyde walked with steady steps through the corridors of Twilight Sun Academy.
The hallways were wide and the ceiling was arched.
Klyde had a calm expression, taking in his surroundings.
As he was walking, a loud thump suddenly echoed ahead of him.
"Ack!"
Papers fluttered into the air like autumn leaves. A girl had bumped into a corner and dropped the towering stack of books and parchment she was carrying.
Without much thought, Klyde reacted and moved forward. He bent down and picked up several books and papers, stacking them neatly.
His eyes fell on the girl.
She had slightly dishevelled green hair, and wore thin-rimmed glasses that had tilted from the fall. Her expression seemed flustered.
"Thank you!" she said quickly, pushing her glasses up with a finger. "I wasn't watching where I was going!"
"It's fine," Klyde replied, handing over half the stack. "I'll carry the rest."
The girl blinked at him, then gave a sheepish smile.
"I'm on my way to the Rune Magic archives. Professor Veera asked me to collect these."
"Rune Magic?" Klyde raised an eyebrow.
"Yes! It's on the east wing. I can lead the way. It's hard to find if you're unfamiliar with the layout."
Klyde nodded, and the two walked together.
They passed several arched doors, their surfaces engraved with unique symbols.
As they arrived at the place, the girl placed her stack down on the counter.
She exhaled with relief.
"Thank you for the help. I'd have dropped them again if I were alone." She gave a polite bow. "I'm Rynella, by the way."
"Klyde."
"What field of magic are you studying?" Rynella asked.
"I haven't chosen yet. I'm heading to the Apprentice Hall now."
"Oh! So you're part of the recent batch of Magi!"
Klyde nodded faintly.
"Then you must be new to the Academy. Let me lead you there. Twilight Sun Academy is like a labyrinth for newcomers."
Klyde didn't reject.
Rynella smiled and gestured toward a driection. "It's this way."
With a nod, Klyde followed her down the dim corridor.
He glanced at her as she walked just ahead of him.
'Rynella... if I remember correctly, she appeared in the novel as a worshipper of an Evil God. She had likely been corrupted, though the Academy discovered her condition and had quickly silenced her.'
Klyde's expression remained neutral, but his thoughts churned. 'I didn't expect to meet her... but I'm quite curious at why she was corrupted.'
In this world, a corrupted Magus wasn't a rare occurrence.
Most corruption stemmed from errors in drawing one's star sequence during modelling, creating misalignments that tore open their sea of consciousness.
The backlash wasn't just painful; it fractured the very essence of the individual. The sea of consciousness was a sacred convergence of soul, spirit, and vitality.
Other than that, there were vile arts too. Demonic rituals that sacrificed the lives of others to quicken star modeling or as an ingredient to make artifacts.
Side affects of demonic rituals tend to make the Magus lose their rationality, and if not treated immediately, may even lead them to go into a frenzy and become crazy!
Klyde's gaze lingered on Rynella's back.
'Although she may be hiding something... her demeanor doesn't fit the image of someone who'd worship an Evil God. It's more likely she stumbled upon the remnants of a Dark Magus, perhaps an artifact, or even a spell... and had done something reckless with it.'
As Klyde was contemplating, Rynella's voice broke the silence.
"We're almost there. The Apprentice Hall is just past this hallway. You'll find most new students gathering there for orientation."
Klyde nodded.
They stepped into a broad chamber lit by soft amber stones embedded into the walls. Students could be seen walking in and exiting.
What was peculiar was that they each seemed to be following a little skeleton.
Rynella quickly pointed and said, "You don't have to worry about those little guys. They are created from magic to guide students around the academy."
Klyde nodded.
"Well, here we are," Rynella said with a small smile.
They had arrived at the Apprentice Hall.
Klyde and Rynella stepped into the Apprentice Hall.
At the center of the vast circular room stood a cluster of bulletin boards, each packed with notices, coloured parchments, and fluttering scrolls.
Dozens of apprentices surrounded them, murmuring excitedly as they scanned the options available.
Klyde's gaze swept over the crowd briefly before falling upon the boards.
A neatly penned heading read:
Fields of Magical Study:
Choose wisely. The path of magic is not forgiving to those who stray in ignorance.
Below it were papers, each listing a school of magic, its requirements, and a brief description.
Elemental magic like fire, lighting and water magic, as well as other forms of magic like illusion, necromancy, beastbinding, and rune magic were displayed.
Klyde's eyes flicked past them all before pausing on two fields of magic.
Potioneering:
The art of alchemical manipulation. Slow to master, dangerous in failure. Requires patience, precision, and resilience. But once mastered, a Magus is able to make potions that can produce numerous effects!
Trap Magic:
A field often overlooked both by Magi and victims alike. Strategic, delayed, and situational. Lacks immediate uses but has powerful results. Requires foresight, preparation, and a keen intuition.
Klyde stared at them for a moment.
'As I thought... potioneering and trap magic. While I expected potioneering, I didn't expect trap magic to be taught by a professor here.' His thoughts moved quietly.
Beside him, Rynella followed his gaze.
"Is there something you're interested in?" she asked lightly.
Klyde nodded, not taking his eyes off the parchments. "I think I've found them."
Rynella had a thoughtful expression as she shared her opinions on good fields of magics to study: "These are all great! Well... I wouldn't recommend potioneering. And obscure fields like trap magic is also not the best choices—"
"I'm choosing potioneering and trap magic," Klyde said suddenly.
For a moment, Rynella looked at him as if he had said something ridiculous.
"You're... what?"
Klyde turned to her and feigned his puzzlement. He smiled and asked, "Why? Is there something wrong with what I picked?"
Her eyes widened slightly, as if realizing he wasn't jesting.
She quickly waved her hands. "No! Well, yes! Your decision isn't wrong, it's just that potioneering, out of all the magical fields, is one of the most difficult to master. It requires years of practice and is very hard to gain experience. And trap magic, while clever in theory, is so niche that barely anyone bothers with it. Most battles won't give you the time needed to set traps effectively."
She inhaled. "Not to mention potioneering has its own risks. Explosions, misbrews, poisoning... and it wastes valuable resources every time you fail. You could be spending hours trying to craft a single stable concoction only for it to explode in your face the moment a single gram is off!"
Rynella rattled off reasons in a tone of genuine concern. Her words weren't wrong. If anything, they were precisely the same reasons most apprentices stayed away from such disciplines.
Klyde listened to it all silently.
Finally, he nodded once, lightly.
"Hm. Is that so."
Without further comment, he turned and strode toward the registration desk near the corner of the hall.
An old man sat behind the desk. He had wrinkled skin and a white beard. He glanced up, eyes half-lidded with boredom.
"Name," he said gruffly.
"Klyde Lucival."
The old man wrote the name down and motioned lazily. "Fields?"
"Potioneering and trap magic."
The old man's brow twitched. He paused his writing and looked up.
"Potioneering? You do know it's not as simple as mixing herbs and stirring it in a cauldron, right? Precise ratios of ingredients, control of flames, volatility... these are some of the things you have to consider before you even think of making an effective potion. Moreover, failure, often than not, leads to accidents such as explosions."
He continued, "And trap magic? It's outdated, slow, and unreliable unless you know what you're doing. Combined with potioneering, you're setting yourself up for failure. Brat, I recommend choosing something else."
Klyde remained still, his expression unchanging. "I'm certain about my decision."
The old man clicked his tongue.
With a sigh, he said, "Suit yourself. But don't come back crying when you stunt your growth as a Magus!"
He scribbled something on the rune-etched scroll, before rolling it up and tossing it in the air. The scroll suddenly combusted into flames and quickly disappeared.
He then pulled out a black stone and tossed it to Klyde.
"This is a summoning stone. If you tap it on a surface, it summons an undead. Tell it where you want to go and it'll guide you there. There's only three uses of it. If you want more, come back here, however, it'll cost two magic crystals. Since you're a new apprentice, that one's free of charge," the old man explained.
With those words, the old man quickly waved Klyde off.
After offering a bow, with the black stone in hand, Klyde stepped away.
Behind him, Rynella approached. She had an expression of puzzlement. Despite both her warning and the old man's, Klyde had still picked potioneering and trap magic!
"Did you really...?" she began.
Klyde offered a faint smile.
"In my village, I learned a thing or two about herbs and medicine so potioneering's not unfamiliar. As for trap magic... it sounded interesting. Even if it's obscure."
Rynella stared for a long moment, then sighed, exasperated.
"Well... if you're that determined," she said, rubbing her temple, "then I suppose it's fine. Just don't blow yourself up."
Klyde lightly chuckled.