Poet Wesley

Tris Magic Academy had six grades. The higher the grade, the fewer the students. In fact, after studying for a year, most students realized they simply did not have the talent and voluntarily withdrew. Most of them transferred to the Knight Academy. Magic Academy students enrolled at thirteen, while Knight Academy students enrolled at fourteen. The two schools deliberately staggered enrollment by a year, probably for this very reason.

Generally speaking, anyone who had not advanced to Junior Magic Apprentice by the fourth grade would have nothing to do with magic for the rest of their life. Thus, most students above the fourth grade at the academy were Magic Apprentices. If they could advance to Intermediate Magic Apprentice before graduation, they could continue their studies at the Fermont Empire Magic Academy in the Imperial Capital.

In the two thousand years since Tris Magic Academy had been founded, only one student had advanced to Level 1 Magician while still enrolled.

"Only one person? Was he that impressive?"

"No way, Donald. You are the most ignorant person I have ever met! You do not even know Emperor Louis Fermont? Has no one told you that Tris Magic Academy produced the founding king?"

The one speaking with Donald was Wesley, the class representative for the fourth-grade Magic Array course. This course happened to be taught by Professor Victor, so he often ran into Donald, and the two gradually became acquainted. At the moment, they were sitting on the steps beside the Library, chatting.

"You are in the fourth grade, right? Then you are a Magic Apprentice too? Can you use magic? I have never seen anyone cast a spell before."

"How crude! Donald, you are far too crude. What is so interesting about magic? I... am actually a poet."

The poet sat on the steps with his knees drawn up, his hands crossed behind his head, gazing up at the sky. Passing students occasionally cast disdainful looks his way.

"Aren't you afraid your classmates will laugh at you for talking to a commoner like me?"

"Haha, you are mistaken. These mediocre people will only pity you because you are talking to me... You will understand eventually."

"I heard there is a ranking of the Top Ten Experts in the academy. They must all be powerful, right? Have you seen them cast magic?"

"Top Ten Experts, my ass. What is interesting about children fighting? Let us talk about the top ten beauties instead. Do you know the academy's top ten beauties?"

"I have not heard of them. Recite one of your poems for me."

"I... have been brewing one..."

"So you have never written a poem?"

"What do you know? Being a poet is an attitude. Prophet Yarman once said that there are only two kinds of people in this world: poets, and everyone else..."

"Can you use magic or not?"

"Donald!"

Donald did not see Wesley cast magic, but the next afternoon, he met Lucia, one of the academy's famous beauties.

"See her? By the window, reading Introduction to Ice Elements. That is Lucia, a third-year student and the number one beauty among the top ten. I have been following her for days."

"What are you going to do?" The Library was about to close, and Donald was hurrying through his cleaning, turning unused chairs upside down on the tables.

"Hehe, I finally caught her alone. Buddy, learn from this..."

As he spoke, Wesley leisurely made his way toward the window.

"Beautiful, is anyone sitting beside you?"

"Yes."

"You really know how to joke..."

"I do not want to talk to you." The red-haired beauty ruthlessly cut Wesley off.

"I think you may have misunderstood..."

"There is no misunderstanding! Your name is Wesley, right? And you are a poet, right? Please, I do not want to waste time listening to your stories."

"I am that famous?"

"Of course. In your first year, you chased fifth-year seniors. Over the past three years, you have pursued dozens of girls. The key is, you have not succeeded even once. Who does not know you?"

"Oh, that is truly an inspiring story. Do you not want it to have a perfect ending?"

Lucia finally walked away in annoyance. As she passed Donald, she rolled her eyes at him as well.

"All right, now I finally understand why you said those things during the day. By the way, what were you telling me to learn just now?" Donald had been looked down on because of Wesley too, and he was quite irritated.

"This is the first move I am teaching you for picking up girls: you need to have a thick skin. One day, you will thank me, Donald." Wesley did not feel the slightest setback, as if nothing had happened. "I just discovered that the Library is a great place to pick up girls. Starting today, I will come keep you company every afternoon."

"Do you not have classes?"

"No classes in the afternoon!"

And so, from that day onward, the cleaner-and-poet duo was officially formed. Every afternoon, the pair could be seen in the Library. The cleaner was meticulous and diligent, while the poet occasionally made his move and repeatedly failed. Most of the time, though, they did proper work. Donald reviewed the writing Victor had taught him, while Wesley browsed magic books. Whenever Donald had a question, he brought it to Wesley. Whenever Wesley found something interesting, he shared it with Donald.

Not many people came to the Library to borrow books. Only after asking Wesley did Donald learn that borrowing a single book cost dozens of Gold Coins. He could not help clicking his tongue in amazement. Yet when he took books to read, the librarian Virgil had never mentioned Gold Coins to him. It seemed Mr. Victor's influence was at work.

The language of Hells Continent used an alphabetic script, arranged according to certain pronunciation rules. Since Donald could already understand and speak it, he had basically mastered it in about a month. During that time, he opened the letter his mother had left him and read it, only to find that it was clearly not written in Hels. Donald found it strange that his mother knew this language. However, he did not take the letter to Victor.

After roughly mastering the language, Donald began studying the lower-grade courses of the Magic Academy with Wesley's help, though he mainly taught himself through reading.

There were Five Elements of magic in this world: Water, Fire, Earth, Wood, and Wind. To cast magic, one first had to chant an incantation, then use Spiritual Power to activate Magic Elements. A Mage's rank was determined by the strength of their Spiritual Power. The way lower-grade students at the academy gained Spiritual Power seemed to be related to a kind of magical diagram. After advancing to Magic Apprentice, they could accumulate Spiritual Power through meditation or increase it by drinking Potions. However, Potions had side effects, and taking too many would also produce drug resistance.

Mages activated Magic Elements through Magic Models constructed in their minds. Magic Models had certain design principles, but the details varied from person to person. Before advancing to Low-level Magic Apprentice and constructing the first Magic Model, one first needed to accumulate one hundred units of Spiritual Element.

Magic Arrays drawn by Mages could be made into Magic Items and required Magic Crystals to replenish their energy. Some powerful single-use Magic Arrays were called Magic Scrolls, while some Magic Arrays could operate independently for long periods after being separated from their Mage.

Professor Victor was a Level 1 Intermediate Fire Mage and also an expert in Magic Arrays. Most Mages were single-element Mages, a small number wielded two elements, and those with three or more elements were extremely rare.