CHAPTER 15

Early in the morning, after donning a practice wizard's robe and stretching, I stepped out of the dormitory's main entrance.

A light rain was falling from a sky blanketed in gray storm clouds. In the south, where the climate was influenced by the Red Mountain Range, even the rain carried warmth, making southern rains rather mild.

After savoring the sound of the rain for a moment, I tucked Lynn's Diary deep into my chest pocket and walked into the drizzle.

"Are you looking for a place to freely practice magic? If so, the Battle Dragon Arena (戰龍場) would be perfect."

According to the dormitory supervisor, the Battle Dragon Arena was an outdoor combat training ground designed for practicing powerful and wide-area magic.

It was surrounded by high-level magic barriers such as Damage Absorption and Area Restoration, allowing users to unleash magic freely without worrying about collateral damage.

The entrance to the arena was sealed by a barrier of flames. As I pressed my student ID ring—worn on my left index finger—against the magic circle, the flames parted with a roar, opening a path.

"1388th cohort, Rain Ludwig, welcome to the Battle Dragon Arena."

"Currently, all 30 training rooms are vacant."

A voice emerged from the guiding magic.

I felt a bit intrigued.

When I first created Rudien, embedding voice into guiding magic had been impossible. Magic had advanced over the past 300 years.

"I'll take Room 15. It's right in front of me."

Choosing Room 1 or 30 would mean walking all the way to the far end. I hate unnecessary effort.

"Access granted."

The Battle Dragon Arena had a fan-shaped layout, with 30 training rooms sectioned off by three-star magical barriers.

Each training room also followed a fan-like structure—the space was narrow at the entrance but widened as it extended forward, making it ideal for launching wide-area spells.

"Give me a target. A sturdy one."

A dazzling light filled the summoning formation among the intricate magic circles on the ground. Soon, a golem rose from it.

"A semi-second-tier magic construct? Well, that's not bad."

This was just an experiment for runes and mathematical formulas. Facing a higher-tier opponent wouldn't provide meaningful data.

"Let's begin."

I opened Lynn's Diary. The first rune I ever created: Yun (蝡).

"Yun, grants the property of 'twitching molecules.'"

The flaw of fire magic is that while its immediate damage is powerful, it becomes ineffective if nullified by a defensive barrier. My goal was to counter that weakness.

I wanted to make flames writhe.

Instead of burning out instantly, they would persist—slowly and relentlessly eating away at the target.

"Constructing the magic circle—triangle."

A crimson ring floated above my open palm. The triangle was the foundation of fire magic circles.

"Imbuing the rune—Yun (蝡)."

The rune barely began to engrave itself in the circle before dispersing into particles of light.

"As expected, it won't work with a first-tier spell."

After taking a deep breath to steady my mana, I spread my palm again. A rush of heat surged to my scapula.

At the same time, sparks of lightning crackled around my hand, and a triangular magic circle emerged. Then another. And another.

The overlapping circles radiated a bewitching glow, spinning rapidly. At their core, Yun (蝡) was engraved.

"Since this is a third-tier spell, I should ideally use three runes."

Yet Yun occupied all three slots by itself, making it highly inefficient. But that was expected—it was still an unfinished rune, closer to a child's doodle than real magic.

"Calculating mathematical formula—matrix mechanics."

As I shattered the three-layered magic circle, the law-defying force of sorcery rewrote reality.

A seething mass of flame, writhing like a swarm of insects, surged toward the golem.

There was no signature explosion typical of fire magic. Instead, the ember-like flames clung to the golem's massive frame and began to glow ever more brilliantly.

"What kind of garbage spell is that?"

Someone had unintentionally been observing from a distance—Hubert. He had come for his morning training, hoping to relieve the stress from the day before.

"The rune he used was a single one, meaning it must be a first-tier spell. And yet, is he unable to properly cast even that?"

Fire magic was defined by its brilliance. A silent fire spell could only be the most basic of basics.

"Coming all the way to the Battle Dragon Arena just to practice that?"

Three years as an instructor?

That must've been nonsense.

The fear I'd felt when he looked me straight in the eye yesterday must've been an illusion. This guy was nothing special.

"A noble from one of the great families, yet he's this pathetic? How disgraceful."

Scoffing with a mix of derision and disappointment, Hubert shook his head and headed toward Room 3, his designated training area.

Then, a few seconds later—

Crash!

The golem shattered into pieces, its impact making the ground tremble. Though the Shock Absorption spell prevented the force from spreading elsewhere…

Deep within the fragments of broken rock, something was melting—liquefying.

The Yun (蝡)-enhanced flames had seeped into its core and incinerated it from within.

"Hmm. It's working as intended…"

But taking 30 seconds to melt a semi-second-tier golem was excessive. Was the issue the rune's refinement? Or the mathematical formula?

"Figuring that out is the real fun."

Alright, let's tweak the rune a bit. Or maybe I should try a different mathematical approach?

Yonbatrikibre.

"Yun (蝡) rune revised based on matrix mechanics. Now modified to Yun (蜦)."

One of Rudien's four functions, aside from detecting nearby magic research, was summarizing the day's experiments.

Socrafres.

"Progress in researching a unique magic technique can be inherited from the surrounding environment."

"Progress: 37.1%."

Interesting.

A 0.1% increase in progress? But what was the criterion for this progress?

Did it mean the mathematical formula was perfected? That the rune was more refined? Or that merely practicing was beneficial?

"Well, no need to overthink it."

There was plenty of time. And I had made progress today.

Just as I smiled and closed my notes, I heard the sharp sound of wind being sliced. Curious, I looked up and saw a familiar figure.

'What was his name again? Hubert something. That rookie from the Roheinom school.'

Every time the fan-shaped magic circles shattered in Hubert's hands, wind blades howled through the air, shredding the moving targets to pieces.

"Not bad. His skills are decent, but…"

Why did everyone look like casting magic was such a painful and frustrating task?

I couldn't understand it, so I just shrugged and turned away. It was time to head back to the dormitory and prepare for class.

[The process of casting magic consists of three main steps:

Setting up the magic circle. Imbuing the rune. Performing mathematical calculations.

Most mages can handle steps 1 and 2, but the real challenge lies in step 3: recalculating the world's natural equations to manifest miracles...]

A week had passed since entering university. The third-period lecture was on quadratic equations and discriminants.

Seeing my own name in the textbook made me chuckle dryly.

"Now, solve five example problems using the Lynn Discriminant! You have 10 minutes!"

"...Yes, sir."

As Professor Owen spewed his usual barrage of insults, I furrowed my brows in deep thought.

'Who did this?'

Lynn never had a chance to publish his theories. Yet, here they were, fully integrated into the empire's magic system…