Chapter 21: A New Beginning (1/2)

The day of the entrance ceremony was approaching.

It was a day with a light drizzle.

But I couldn’t bring myself to like it.

It was because of the magic book.

This damn thing.

I glared at the dark, weathered cover.

At first, I thought it would be easy to learn magic.

The structure was intricate and complex, but the circuits that formed it and the magical power were very basic.

But that was all just on the surface.

This old magic book hid a tremendous malice, as old as the book itself.

Every spell contained a hidden trap.

If I performed the magic as it was written, it would collapse on its own in no time.

At first, I thought I was using it incorrectly and tried practicing.

But the magic kept collapsing, and I felt something was off, so I reviewed the entire process.

That’s when I found several trap circuits that sabotaged the magic.

Damn, to hide such traps.

I complained as I fixed them.

It should be fine now.

But it wasn’t.

Whenever I removed one trap, another one linked to it would appear.

And based on that, a new problem would arise.

The whole system of magic was one giant trap.

When I realized that, an overwhelming sense of despair washed over me.

‘Did these great family mages go this far just to protect their magic?’

They had definitely hidden these traps in case magic leaked out into the outside world.

They must have been aware of them, modifying and teaching the traps as they went.

And that trap had a huge effect on me.

The idea that I would master all the spells in the magic book vanished like smoke.

After a month, I couldn’t even guarantee that I would learn a single spell properly.

I just clung to a few spells.

I spent a month deconstructing the magic circles, analyzing them, and reapplying them.

And after all that effort, I was finally able to use two spells.

I tried the environmental optimization spell.

It was the one I wanted to learn the most.

The air around me, dampened by the rain, instantly became dry.

I was very satisfied.

It was the magic I had reassembled with all my effort over the past month.

Although it wasn’t as delicate as the magic from the book, it still had enough effect.

I quickly integrated the magic I had learned into my familiar.

I hadn’t completed the professor’s assignment, but I had to show some effort.

Otherwise, I’d be beaten to death for sure.

And I could only be beaten until I was on the verge of death.

That was yesterday.

***

I swallowed as I stood before the stairs leading to the second floor.

The professor had told me to be fully prepared by 8 a.m. this morning after I had been beaten senseless the previous day.

So, I had been moving frantically since yesterday.

When I checked the time, there were less than five minutes left.

The professor would be coming down soon.

The shop was already empty.

Everything had been tidied up, not leaving a speck of dust.

All my belongings were stored in my space pouch.

I wouldn’t be coming back here for a while, maybe never again.

There was no need to leave anything behind.

Finally, I summoned my magic.

Some insects I had set up beforehand absorbed the magic and began to draw a blast magic circle on their backs.

Once they had absorbed enough magic, they exploded in an instant.

The explosion occurred underground, in the workshop.

The ground trembled slightly.

But I had already calculated the explosion’s range, so there were no issues with the surface structure.

Only then did I realize I was really leaving.

Destroying the workshop was inevitable.

It was full of traces of my magic and research.

‘What if someone used a memory retrieval spell to steal all my research?’

Having heard of such cases from time to time, destroying the workshop wasn’t a choice—it was a necessity.

Soon, the professor came down with a yawn.

The butler helped her with her hair.

The environmental optimization spell was functioning without issue, keeping the air around them perfectly clear.

The butler had tidied her up, and when she stood at the bottom of the stairs in front of me, she was immaculate, not a single wrinkle on her clothes.

“Yawn, are you ready?”

“Yes, I’ve cleared out the shop.”

She looked around.

After confirming the empty shop, she nodded.

“Hmm, then let’s go.”

“Yes. The carriage is ready.”

I opened the door in front of her and stepped outside.

There was a small turtle-like creature waiting in front of the building, lying flat on the ground.

I led her onto its shell, where a seat had been specially prepared just for her.

She leaned back on the chair, designed to support her lying down.

I stood behind the chair, standing upright.

The turtle began to move.

It was fast and steady.

Not a single vibration could be felt from the shell.

It seemed that the seating arrangement had been designed with great care.

I glanced behind me.

The shop was growing smaller.

“Goodbye, my ten years. I’ll come back later,” I muttered to myself.

***

Before long, we arrived at the heart of the slums.

The people who had been blocking the road saw the turtle and quickly fled.

Or rather, they must have fled upon seeing the professor.

Her reputation still hadn’t settled.

From a distance, I saw Evan waving.

It wasn’t exactly a friendly relationship, but it was still a bond.

I nodded slightly in acknowledgment as we passed by.

We followed the same path as when I had gone to take the exam.

Soon, a well-maintained road appeared, and beyond it, the castle gates came into view.

We steered the turtle toward it.

As usual, the gates were firmly shut.

We couldn’t pass through unless it was exam time, but today was different.

At the guard station in front of the castle gates, soldiers stepped out and blocked the turtle’s path.

“Stop, those without permission cannot enter the city.”

I got off the turtle and stood before them.

I took out a piece of paper from my pocket and handed it to them.

Their eyes were immediately drawn to it.

A smile naturally spread across my face.

I had spent a lot of time and effort to get this.

The soldiers took the paper and began to examine it.

After a careful inspection, they nodded slightly.

The path was cleared.

One soldier handed the paper back to me with a smile.

“Congratulations, Magician!”

“Hehe, thank you. Good luck,” I said, carefully putting the paper back into my pocket.

This was it—the university.

These people who wouldn’t let me anywhere near this place before now bowed to me.

Was this what it felt like to be reborn? With my acceptance to the university, I shed my old self.

The new me? A university student.

The thought made my chest swell with excitement.

The gates slowly began to open due to the magic.

I passed through them.

The city was enormous.

It also held the civilization I had seen before.

The multi-story buildings, built with magic, cast gigantic shadows on the ground, while people moved incessantly between them.

Above, magicians flew through the sky.

When I had gone to take the exam, I had been blocked by soldiers and could only watch from afar.

But now, I was moving forward, defying those people.

There were so many people, I felt like they could have been ants.

As I passed by, I felt countless eyes on me, glancing at the turtle.

Watching this scene, memories from my past life were triggered, and several scenes began to surface.

This bustling city didn’t fall behind compared to the memories of my previous life.

If anything, it might have been even greater.

The atmosphere was completely different from the dark air of the slums outside the city.

I continued deeper into the city.

In the center of the city, a massive gate stood tall.

Through that gate, people were constantly coming and going.

Especially magicians—there were many of them.

They came out of the teleportation circles and naturally headed for a small door beside it.

I too led the turtle toward that door.

A small, shabby wooden door appeared.

The magicians placed their hands on it.

As soon as they did, the tightly shut door slowly opened, swallowing them inside.

I stopped the turtle near the door.

“Are we here?”