In the pre-modern past, knowledge of magic was practically the exclusive domain of a specific class.
-Magic is for magicians, and magicians are the chosen ones.
Even now, but especially back then, magicians were lunatics steeped in elitism.
It was the first Archmage who shattered that ideology.
Hundreds of years ago, he founded the Magic Tower.
He gathered talented individuals from all over the world, taught them magic, and those magicians, in turn, gathered dozens, even hundreds, of apprentices and taught magic.
Starting with one complete magician teaching dozens of apprentice magicians, the Magic Tower grew its influence.
Even now, magicians are valuable assets, but before the Magic Tower was founded, there were even fewer magicians.
This was because it was overflowing with stubborn traditionalists who took the principle of "one-on-one transmission, not taught to outsiders," commonly seen in martial arts stories, for granted.
Of course, even hundreds of years later, knowledge of magic was still an area that ordinary people could not learn.
The Magic Tower only opened up knowledge to certified talents; it wasn't just indiscriminately shared with the general public.
Because of this, some groups accuse the Magic Tower of only teaching magic to privileged classes, but just like you shouldn't give a knife or gun to a child, the first Archmage's firm belief that magic should only bloom in the hands of verified individuals had spread throughout the entire Magic Tower, so it was a pointless argument.
As a result, it was difficult to find information about magic even on the internet, known as the sea of information.
Offline, there were a few books sold, but even those were limited to very basic knowledge.
It was like buying a book titled "Challenge: Building a Phone by Yourself!" but all the book tells you is how to solder.
It was basically like saying, "If you can use magic, go ahead and try it, lol."
The prices were also very expensive. One 200-page book cost about 700,000 won?
There was no exploitation like it. Of course, it wasn't strictly fraud since it was a serious crime for a non-magician to write a book about magic, but even if you bought and read the expensive book, you got nothing out of it, so it was the same as being scammed for the reader.
Magic, unlike other certifications, can't be learned through online lectures or attended at academies.
All there is are books that cost tens to hundreds of thousands of dollars per volume, but are empty of content. Yet, many people want to become magicians and buy the books.
It's not hard to understand.
Even just reaching the 2nd Circle, magicians are treated like nobles in underdeveloped countries.
I, too, once dreamed of becoming a magician.
Even a war orphan like me could hold wealth and fame in my hands if I just became a magician. What greater magic could there be in the world?
Of course, you can't become a magician just because you want to. That's just the wall of reality.
Those without talent couldn't enter the Magic Tower.
It was a childhood dream that I had half-given up on.
"Magic…?"
"Yes, if you're okay with it, Hyunwoo."
My head is blank.
What am I going to learn? Magic?
Me??
"Um… you don't have to feel too pressured. If you learn magic, Hyunwoo, it'll be much easier to interpret barriers."
Naturally, it's not easy to find something to replace a Sacred Relic.
Moreover, it's a barrier that's maintained by the magic power of the World Tree, not just any ordinary barrier.
It's virtually impossible to destroy it completely. So, creating a small gap for two people to exit might be the most realistic option. However, it's hard to say exactly what materials are needed to achieve even that limited effect.
If it's ordinary cooking, the ingredients are obvious.
There are recipes everywhere, and even without a recipe, you can get a sense of it by chewing, tearing, and tasting it a few times.
But what about the local cuisine of indigenous people living in the middle of the jungle? Even the head chef of a Michelin 3-star restaurant can't just list off what goes into it.
The best you can do is pile up potentially promising ingredients like mountains and reproduce it through various experiments.
"It's probably going to be a big financial burden…"
She didn't want to put any more pressure on him, who had arrived like a ray of light in this place where no one ever came.
The abilities of a magician are valuable.
She didn't know to what extent in the world he lived in, but in war, magicians are irreplaceable forces.
They also receive enormous compensation for that.
Although she wasn't sure, Iris decided to teach him magic, hoping that it would help him to some extent.
However.
'Hyunwoo's hard-earned money will all go towards material costs…'
How is this different from telling him to learn magic and get materials?
While she comfortably teaches magic here, he'll have to work hard.
'I'm sorry, Hyunwoo…'
Her conscience pricked, and her chest throbbed.
She felt like she had become a bad woman.
While Iris's worries were growing heavier, Kang Hyunwoo was struggling to hold back the rising corners of his mouth.
Magic, it's magic!
And the 8th Circle Archmage is personally giving me lessons!
There couldn't be a greater opportunity in the world than this. It was so unrealistic that even a novel would be criticized for its lack of plausibility.
Certainly, if I receive instruction and become a high-ranking magician someday, Iris's escape will be a problem that can be quickly resolved.
Nevertheless, if there is a problem to be concerned about, it's this.
"…But, don't you have to be exceptionally talented to become a magician?"
It's not something to be proud of, but I was already judged as having no talent by a magician dispatched from the Magic Tower when I was in the 6th grade of elementary school.
The talent required for magic is extremely innate, so it was close to socially impossible for me, who had already been stamped as talentless in elementary school, to become a magician.
"You don't have to worry too much. I'm sure you'll be able to pick it up quickly, Hyunwoo."
"Iris…"
Iris smiled brightly as she held my hand tightly.
Beyond her green eyes, which were shining so brightly that they could be seen even in this dark place, I seemed to see a belief in me.
I thought I was past the age where I craved someone's recognition or praise, but experiencing it now felt strange.
It was a little embarrassing, but it certainly wasn't an unpleasant feeling.
"I look forward to working with you."
"Yes!"
Confidence seemed to surge from somewhere.
***
Even counting before and after the founding of the Magic Tower, becoming a direct disciple of a magician was extremely rare.
Even the professors at the Magic Tower don't consider the students they teach to be disciples.
It's a modern idea to not make much of a distinction between students and disciples, but it was different in the world of magicians.
To a magician, a disciple was like another self, to whom they could pass on everything.
It was even more natural to pass on not only the magical knowledge they had accumulated but also assets such as cash, real estate, and stocks to their disciples. Occasionally, a magician who loved their children would divide their assets between their disciples and children in a ratio of about 7:3.
Of course, the disciple gets 7, and the child gets 3.
Anyway, back to the point, if you ask whether you can't learn magic unless you become a direct disciple of a magician, that's another story.
To get to the point, you can become a magician.
As mentioned earlier, entering the Magic Tower is the first method, and the second is to pay your way in.
There are a lot of rich people among magicians. No, it's harder to find someone who isn't rich.
There are various reasons for this, including the fact that magicians are irreplaceable manpower, and that magicians are especially smart among inherently smart people.
And there are tycoons who have tons of money and invite magicians to become magicians themselves.
Of course, it was very rare for those who took classes in that way to become magicians. If you're just overflowing with talent, there's no better environment to become a magician than the Magic Tower. It's similar to how there's no decent person among those who only receive private tutoring at home without going to school.
Well, there are occasionally talented, silver-spooners who become magicians by only receiving private tutoring for strange reasons like not wanting to send their children to the Magic Tower.
Of course, it's harder than a dragon rising from a small stream.
What's important here is that most of the magicians who are invited to teach for money have no affection for their students.
They just work as much as they're paid, to that extent?
In that regard, Kang Hyunwoo was extremely lucky.
Wavy platinum blonde hair and eyes that looked like emeralds were embedded in them. An ultra-premium elf beauty, an 8th Circle Archmage with beauty that would have made connoisseurs in the Middle Ages faint from exhaustion after praising her all week, is giving him 1-on-1 private tutoring.
With great affection, too.
However, if you ask whether that is pure affection, well?
'I, I'm glad…'
Iris told a small lie to Kang Hyunwoo and herself.
She said that the reason for teaching magic was for barrier interpretation, but her true intentions were slightly different.
He'll leave here someday. He has no choice but to leave.
He has his own life, so he can't stay here forever.
So, Iris's aim was to at least create a reason for him to have no choice but to return here.
Learning, as well as all studies, is endless.
Magic is the same, it's not something that ends after learning for a day or two. Rather, the more you learn, the more you become curious.
She was confident.
No matter how different the world is, she was sure that it would be impossible to find a magician like her as a teacher!
'If I'm with Hyunwoo, even if I only give magic lessons here for the rest of my life, I…'
Her eyes, looking at Kang Hyunwoo, were shining eerily.
Like a beast that has hidden its body in the thicket, watching its prey.
Kang Hyunwoo shuddered at an unknown chill, but he couldn't figure out the cause.
In that dark hollow, a somewhat distorted master-disciple relationship was established.