The Nature of Magic

Orendo had ultimately discovered that he had started skipping classes on his very first day of officially attending school in Dalaran.

By the time he rushed to the public classroom, it was already completely empty.

This is going to be trouble, the mage apprentice muttered to himself as he left.

Actually, it was fine. Violet Academy did not have anything like attendance points or makeup exams, so no mage would care even if he missed public classes.

After all, if he failed to receive a mentor's guidance, diligently attending classes every day would be useless anyway.

So long as they did not violate Violet Academy's regulations, apprentice trainees could do whatever they wanted within the academy.

By the time he left the public classroom, noon had already passed.

The Harvest Moon sun hung overhead, pouring down its blazing rays.

Dalaran did not have Quel'Thalas's magical barrier to alter the climate and temperature. After wearing the same mage robe for a full day and night without bathing, Orendo was now drenched in sweat from running and felt itchy all over.

After thinking it over, Orendo simply left the public classroom and headed to the academy's public cafeteria to find something to eat.

Fortunately, due to the unusual nature of mages' work, the school's public cafeteria was open twenty-eight hours a day, and people could eat there whenever they wished.

After all, some mages became so absorbed in their research that forgetting mealtimes was perfectly normal.

Although there were arcane spells capable of creating food, food made that way could only fill one's stomach. Unless there was no other choice, not even a wild boar would want to eat it.

After having his fill, Orendo ran out of Violet Academy and, sure enough, found Jobby crouching in the shadows near the entrance.

After asking around and exchanging pleasantries, Orendo learned that his coachman had already returned home. Jobby would now remain in Dalaran and take care of the viscount's daily needs.

Jobby had brought Orendo's luggage and was temporarily staying at a paid inn provided by Dalaran's authorities.

Eager to pursue his studies, Orendo merely hurried to the inn for a bath and a change of clothes before impatiently returning to Violet Academy's library.

Once again, he plunged headfirst into the sea of knowledge.

Ever since entering the library yesterday, thanks to his body's instinctive sensitivity to energy, some basic detection, and his growing reading of Violet Academy's many books...

Orendo had already begun to sense the difference between Azeroth and Earth.

Although Azeroth's physical appearance was very similar to Earth's on the surface, the essence of matter was certainly no longer atoms and molecules, but tiny structures known as elements.

This world was filled with immense energy. It could even be said that matter itself was a combination of energy, and compared to Earth's solid atomic and molecular structures, matter in this world could be converted into energy very easily.

For example... converting arcane energy into food that could satisfy hunger. Earth's technology clearly could not achieve such a direct conversion from energy into food.

Combined with the Eye of Truth's assistance and analysis, Orendo felt that he had already gained a preliminary understanding of the nature of magic.

Magic was a form of energy that permeated the entire world and even extended through outer planes. Among certain mages and blue dragons of Azeroth, this energy was called the magic net.

The magic net provided magical power to everyone, but this provision was not free. During meditation, mages used their mental strength to draw energy from the magic net according to each spell's distinct magical structure, forming spells. Once a spell was cast, the mental energy used to construct the magic was effectively absorbed by the magic net.

Orendo understood the nature of Azeroth, and he also understood the nature of arcane energy. So he now suspected that the caster's extracted mental strength was being taken by the world-soul.

Why did world-souls exist?

How did world-souls grow?

And was the growth of world-souls related to the mental strength drawn away whenever casters cast spells?

A caster's mental strength came from their own body. It mainly depended on innate talent and acquired training. Every powerful mage possessed formidable mental strength; so-called mana was simply energy manifested from a mage's mental strength.

In any case, after reading another hundred or so tomes, Orendo knew from the Eye of Truth's reminder that he should rest.

He had read too late and become too exhausted last night, so he had fallen asleep directly in the library.

That was bad, because without proper rest, his body could not recover properly.

And for a mage, even their all-important mental strength could not fully recover.

Good rest brought good physical condition, which generated more mental strength—and thus more mana.

Besides, he had already skipped class once. He could not skip tomorrow's public class again.

Orendo was deeply interested in Azeroth's magic courses. Until now, his journey of magical exploration had relied entirely on self-study.

The mage apprentice stood up and tossed the books onto the table—library staff would return them to their original places.

As he rubbed his somewhat stiff body from sitting too long, Orendo walked outside. When he stepped through the library doors, he was startled to realize that it was already late at night.

He turned back to look at the clock hanging high above the library entrance: 2:45.

Nearly ten mechanical hours of reading had brought him into the middle of the night.

If he had studied this diligently in his previous life, getting into one of those elite universities would have been no problem, right?

After mocking himself inwardly, Orendo knew that this was different.

If he studied poorly on Earth, at worst he would fail to get into a good university.

If he studied poorly in Azeroth, with no other talents to rely on, he would most likely lose his life someday!

And when studying on Earth, he had not had a cheat like the Eye of Truth to use.

With those thoughts in mind, Orendo left the library. Guided by Elune's radiance, he headed for the shared dormitories Violet Academy provided for apprentice trainees.

The apprentice trainees' shared dormitories consisted of two small buildings located northeast of the academy, roughly between the public classrooms and the grand library.

Every officially registered apprentice trainee could use their identity badge to obtain an independent private dorm room, which came with hot water, a bed, and some ordinary daily necessities.

There were no guards or dorm supervisors outside the dormitories, only a faint blue arcane energy construct sitting there—Dalaran especially liked using them. These magically created energy constructs with rudimentary intelligence were more efficient than mages and more useful than ordinary people when handling simple tasks.

After verifying his badge, Orendo smoothly entered one of the two shared dormitory buildings.

The dormitory corridor was not dark at all, with candles lit all along both sides. The corridor was silent, and Orendo did not see anyone.

He casually chose an unoccupied room, went inside, hurriedly bathed, then lay down on the bed to sleep.

But he did not sleep until dawn.

It was the darkest hour before daybreak.

The Eye of Truth woke him.

[Combat detected near the host. For safety reasons, please remain alert...]

Orendo sat upright in bed groggily and heard commotion coming from outside the door.

Someone was fighting outside.