Khadgar

At that moment, a young man who looked seventeen or eighteen asked Allen, "Teaching Assistant Allen, do you really think magic is energy?" The question immediately caught Allen's attention, and he looked at the young man. His black hair, rugged face, and fairly tall build made him look rather unlike a mage.

He had noticed this apprentice before. He attended lectures regularly and could be counted among the more diligent students. He was also completely different from the other apprentices. He seemed to arrive at the classroom on time every time, never spoke to anyone once he arrived, and came empty-handed, without even a notebook. As soon as the lecture ended, he left.

At first, Allen had not paid much attention, but the young man did this every time, and Allen could not help taking notice. His intuition told him this young man was no ordinary apprentice. Whenever Allen looked into his eyes, he always felt as though someone was prying into his secrets. Still, Allen had done nothing to him. They were merely teacher and student, and neither had interfered with the other.

Now this young man had actually asked him such a question, as though he knew Allen did not believe Antonidas's theory at all. Allen could not deny the views of Dalaran's leader in such a setting, so he gave an affirmative answer.

Not long after class, the young man came to find him again. "Teaching Assistant Allen, you don't need to worry about anything. I was only joking earlier. My name is Khadgar, and I'm already a first-rank mage." Allen gave him a puzzled look and said, "And? I have no interest whatsoever in why you're still attending classes after becoming a full mage." With that, he prepared to leave.

Naturally, Khadgar would not let him go so easily. He said, "Teaching Assistant Allen, I can tell you have doubts about Antonidas's theory too, don't you?" Allen turned and asked him, "What do you want, Khadgar?"

"I only want to discuss it. Everything about magic interests me. What do you say?" Khadgar said sincerely.

Allen considered it for a while, but ultimately agreed. "All right, Khadgar. If you want to discuss it, come to my office. Pisimai isn't around these days anyway."

They then went to Allen's office, where Khadgar got straight to the point. "Allen, I think you're like me. Neither of us believes the archmages' claims. Magic isn't a form of energy at its core. It's too special. It can do things ordinary energy cannot. Besides, we can control it, and in that respect, no other energy can replace it. It merely shares some similarities with energy."

Allen did not refute his words. Instead, he asked, "Then do you have any evidence?" Khadgar shook his head. "If you don't, you can't say the archmages' theory is wrong. You should understand that no theory in this world is completely correct. There are only theories that apply under specific conditions. Take the archmages' theory. Perhaps it cannot explain certain phenomena, but it has also solved the problem of how mana operates."

Khadgar thought it over carefully. "You're right, but shouldn't we be searching for a more complete theory?" Allen drew a breath and said, "Khadgar, you have a strong sense of curiosity, and that's a good thing. But you have to learn to control it. Don't always make yourself look like an outsider in front of others. It won't do you any good." Khadgar ignored his warning and continued doing as he pleased. Still, he did not pester Allen much further.

Over the next three months, his life returned to its peaceful routine. Although Khadgar often came to show off his new discoveries, Allen learned a great deal from him as well. Khadgar was undoubtedly a knowledgeable man, many times better than the low-ranking mages Allen had met before. Perhaps that, too, was a result of his intense curiosity.

Ever since Khadgar had first approached him, he had constantly shared the secrets he had pried out of the academy with Allen. Heaven knew how he managed it. It made Allen feel that Khadgar was better suited to being a spy than a mage.

He even knew exactly what the vice dean did every day, his interests, his habits, and even what kind of underwear he liked wearing. Naturally, he also became a target of universal hostility. Almost no one liked Khadgar. Everyone who saw him nervously kept their distance, afraid he might uncover some secret.

To be honest, Khadgar's unpopularity was entirely his own doing. Not only did he enjoy prying into other people's secrets, but he also liked showing them off to others everywhere, until everyone knew about them.

Still, Allen had already warned him, and there was nothing he could do if Khadgar refused to take it seriously. In any case, he had no desire to meddle in other people's affairs. He was now creating spells of his own, and three months earlier, he had bought a large number of first-rank spellbooks from the Association, using their principles to aid his work. Based on the rune he had discovered by chance, combined with the knowledge from his previous life, he had invented a series of wind magic spells. Most were first-rank spells, with only one second-rank spell.

This second-rank spell was called the Airburst Spell. It used the principle of thermal expansion and contraction, rapidly expanding air within a short time to produce an explosion. The spell affected a very small area and consumed more mental power than Whirlwind, but it had one advantage: it could be cast extremely quickly, requiring virtually no preparation time. With his current abilities, he could easily cast it within half a second.

The Airburst Spell also had room for improvement. Once his mental power increased again, he believed that, with some adjustments, the spell should have the power of a third-rank spell.

As for the first-rank spells, there were three: the Blade Swarm Spell, the Freezing Spell, and Scorching Wind. The Blade Swarm Spell was an improved version of the Wind Blade Spell. It used mana from the void to create multiple small wind blades to attack an opponent. It was more complex than the Wind Blade Spell and consumed correspondingly more mental power, but apart from covering a certain area, it fell far short of the Wind Blade Spell in power. It was therefore a rather marginally useful spell.

The Freezing Spell was a control spell he had created by combining Frost Breath, a first-rank spell he had bought through the Association a month earlier, with his understanding of wind magic and his research into the water elemental. It mainly used mana from the void to create a current of extremely cold air that instantly froze water on contact. Even if the spell failed to freeze an enemy immediately, it could slow their attacks and movement while draining their stamina. Its drawback was also obvious, however: it could only be used in an environment with water. In dry places, it was utterly useless.

Scorching Wind was something he had created by combining what he had learned in his previous life with Fire Breath, a first-rank spell purchased from the Association. It used vibrations of mana from the void to make air molecules move violently, generating unimaginably high temperatures to attack an enemy. Upon hitting, it could not only interrupt an enemy's spellcasting but also burn them. He had originally wanted to raise this spell to the second rank, but he still could not resolve the temperature problem. Accelerating the vibrations of the air remained too difficult for his current abilities, so the spell's temperature was insufficient to seriously injure an enemy. Even inflicting moderate injuries was difficult. In most cases, it merely burned them.

Still, the spell had considerable room for improvement. It could inflict tremendous pain on an enemy in an instant, interrupting their attack. Even if they endured it through sheer willpower, the chaotic mana it released could still interfere with their spellcasting and continue burning them.

He now planned to submit these first-rank spells to the Association, mainly because buying those few first-rank spells had exhausted all his savings. He did not even have enough money left for a single set of materials. If he did not find some way to make money, he would soon have to declare bankruptcy.

In fact, mages declaring bankruptcy was quite normal at the academy. Most of the mages there enjoyed research, and every experiment cost them hundreds of gold coins. Those supported by the academy were fine, but mages who could not obtain funding had to rely on wealthy nobles if they wanted to continue their research. Even so, many mages still frequently went bankrupt. After all, nobles could not always be so generous with their money.

Cases like his were not unheard of at the academy, but they were rare. Most of the mages were nobles themselves, with their families sparing no effort to support their development, so naturally they did not worry about money. By comparison, someone like him could only rely on his own efforts.

Before long, he arrived at the Association and went to its spell trading office. He asked the archmage whose name he did not know, "Can I sell some spells?" The old mage looked up and recognized the young fellow who had bought spells a few months earlier. "Of course, but you should know the rules. They must be spells the Association doesn't already have. I'll decide your payment based on the spells you provide."

Allen handed over the spellbooks he had prepared in advance. The old mage took them and read for quite some time before nodding and beginning to try casting the spells. With a few extremely casual gestures, he cast the Blade Swarm Spell and the Freezing Spell Allen had submitted, controlling them flawlessly. Allen knew he could not possibly achieve such control.

"Very ordinary. Three hundred for this wind blade spell, four hundred and fifty for this freezing spell. You'll also receive thirty percent whenever someone buys your spells." The price was within his expectations. He agreed without a second thought, then took the opportunity to look through the spell list. The second-rank spells were still too expensive, so he decisively gave up. After returning to the Association's main hall, he checked the mission list at the front desk. He had to complete this month's mission right away. He no longer wanted to put it off.

Although he was now a second-rank mage, he still had to complete a mission once every two months. These missions were provided by the Association and offered practically no reward. They were simply an obligation he had to fulfill as a mage of Dalaran. In the past, he had always chosen the simplest, least time-consuming missions.

This time was no exception. He chose an alchemy mission, something already very familiar to him. It only required him to brew ten vials of Purification Potion. After accepting the mission, he immediately returned to the academy. The moment he reached his office, he saw Khadgar walking toward him.