Chapter 10 (2/2)
Sadly, he had to give it all up. After all, he had no knowledge of even the most basic breathing techniques, let alone some secret breathing technique that had been pa.s.sed down for generations. All he had were small pockets of wisdom he had gathered from the many novels he’d read.
No matter how much he tried to sense his mana through meditation, all he felt instead was drowsiness and a cramp on his leg. He was in every aspect, normal.
Isaac’s dream and talent had met a dead end before it even began. But he told himself that it’s ok. There was no point in training mana, because working in an office with a pen in hand is much less taxing on the body. Isaac convinced himself with that rationale, but he couldn’t help but remember the story of the fox and the grapes in the corner of his mind.
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PR Note: The Fox and the Grapes is one of Aesop’s fables in which a fox attempts to reach a delicious bunch of grapes hanging from a vine to no avail. In the end, the fox gives up and dismisses the efforts, saying that the grapes were never worth it. To read the full tale, click on this link to the Library of Congress.
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Isaac was surprised to hear that there was no grades on magic such as ‘circle’ or ‘cla.s.s’ when he did his research on this world’s magic. Only one thing was necessary, which was the amount of mana the caster held in his body. That meant even a child could cast catastrophic spells like h.e.l.lfire or Meteor if they had the mana.
The more he learnt about magic, the less he understood the people who trained for magic. There was no need for any revelation or epiphany to cast magic. Of course, in order to cast devastating spells, you needed knowledge of complex magical theories and invocations to match it, but there was nothing stopping an amateur wizard from using a famously destructive spell on their own. However there was a catch; if the magic they cast was beyond their capabilities, death was certain.
Difficult spells required considerable mana to cast and sustain it, and if the caster could not provide for it, the magic will begin to drain the energies of the caster themselves. Like a loan shark collecting due debt.
By the time the spell had absorbed the energies of the caster, not even a corpse would remain of them. Magic was a skill that killed you the moment you overestimated yourself.
This fact helped Isaac let go of the last of his regrets on magic. He also understood that it was impossible for him to become proficient with a sword. The day after he was rejected by the Military school, Isaac headed for the School of Administration.
“You want to learn administration?”
“Yes. My dream is to become an administrator in a small rural city.”
“… That’s a rather special dream.”
“I think it suits me, considering the position I’m in.”
“Hm. Well I guess there’s no need to reject you if you want to learn.”
“Thank you. I’ll do my best.”
“No need for your thanks. I have nothing to teach you anyway.”
“What?”
“You know that you will be a Campus graduate if you survive for 5 years right?”
“That’s right…”
“Once you graduate the Campus, you are given the rank of a Rank 2 Knight. The Empire’s basic administrative jobs begin from Rank 2 Knight, so you can pick and choose any rural administrative work you want.”
“So you’re saying I can get any administrative job so long as I graduate?”
“That’s right.”
“B, but I’d still need to know something…”
“That’s basic knowledge on administration. It’s mandatory that you know the basics before you enter the Campus, so there are no lecturers who would teach such thing in here. Nor would we make a special lecture just for you.”
”…”
“I’d also like to add. Even if you are the administrator of a rural village, if the Inspection Bureau of the Empire deems you inadequate, you will be given 3 warnings before you are fired. Once you’re fired, you cannot reapply for the job for 3 years. And if we find a hint of corruption at any time, you are fired immediately, punished by the Empire, and it will be impossible to apply for any jobs related to the Empire itself. Understand?”
“…Yes.”
“If you still have the desire to learn, then go to the library. There should be some books on basic administration in there.”
“Thank you for your advice.”
The 7 days of Calamity.
On early summer, a disaster of a scale that had never been or ever will be recorded swept across the continent. Holy men and women went mad, the wise old sages went senile and the mana of the world was whipped into a turbulent storm. All sense of order had disappeared and in its place was greed and frenzy. Although this disaster lasted only 7 days, its aftereffects lasted for many more years.
The world changed. Deities from heaven, h.e.l.l and the spirit realm had disappeared and the pathways which they travelled through were severed. Societies broke down and nations fell.
While all of the sentient races despaired at the sight of impending doom on this world, a hero rose from its ashes. It was the first emperor Erukaph. His sole aim was the preservation of this world, and he rallied citizens of all races under his banner of Phoenix. All the memories of ideology, history and grudges were swept aside for the survival of this world. And within the fence called the Empire, the world united.
In order to recover from the ma.s.sive death toll the disaster created, all the races shared their secret knowledge to be taught in a single school, and that was the beginning of the Campus.
To make a school befit for the most talented individuals in the Empire to become its leaders, they had created the College.
While many in the Campus questioned the establishment of the College, the Empire deemed it necessary to create an inst.i.tution capable of proving that certain individuals are indeed suitable to be the future leaders. And so the College became a prestigious school which all wish to enter yet many are denied their…
“You call this a history book?”
Isaac muttered to himself as he quietly closed the book. Isaac had followed the rude and unhelpful advice from the last School he asked for permission, The School of Administration.
There was no need for him to obsess over power like a sword master or a grand magus. It’s just that it’s much more convenient to have power. Those who have strength can be relaxed in the face of danger, but the weak can only hide from the dangers or suffer the consequences. He just wanted to act ouf a clichéd scene where the main character would send an arrogant man flying after the man boasted how strong he was.
So after a month of constant rejections from all of the schools, Isaac lost all interest and began to visit the library frequently. He believed knowing the history of this world would help him make future decisions, but it only added to his confusion.
All the history books started on the same day – 300 years ago when the 7 days of Calamity began. Not a single piece of history before that time remained. Well, let’s say that is possible since they believed the world would end back then. But achieving this kind of civilization in just 300 years? Impossible. Plus, there was not a single history book which even mentioned anything before 300 years ago.
All historians dream of finding an artifact of a lost civilization. If they truly couldn’t find any, then it would mean the world really was that close to ending or the Empire as a whole was hiding it from public.
Isaac was convinced it was the latter, but he could do nothing about it nor did he feel any reason to. His survival was his main goal after all.
“What do I do now?”
Isaac muttered again. He couldn’t find any books worth reading in the library. Just as the Campus was a place full of die-hard scholars, all the books in the library were textbooks or thesis. All fiction books were artistic literature, and to Isaac, it was just page after page of incomprehensible poems, similar to poems in medieval time in the old world.
When Isaac attempted to read a book about the theory of magic, the book was filled with equations more complex than what he remembered in a calculus textbook. Isaac was convinced that students who treated this as basics weren’t to be looked down upon.
Isaac’s attempt at learning administration was futile. It was a given since he was never a studious person in the old world. His lack of pa.s.sion coupled with the knowledge that he will get what he want in time had led him to a life of indolence. He had no reason to do anything.
Isaac’s daily life was a routine of 3 course meals and chatting with Mazelan whenever he came to visit.
Just as Mazelan had promised, there weren’t many attempts or schemes to kick Isaac out of Campus. Isaac’s first year in Campus had been a peaceful one.
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