In the past, before the modern era, knowledge of magic was the exclusive domain of a specific class.
-Magic is for mages, and mages are the chosen ones.
It's still somewhat true today, but back then, mages were little more than madmen steeped in elitism. The one who shattered that ideology was the First Tower Lord.
Hundreds of years ago, he established the Magic Tower, gathered talented individuals, and taught them magic.
The mages who grew under his tutelage then gathered dozens, even hundreds, of their own disciples and taught them magic.
Starting with a single fully-fledged mage teaching dozens of apprentice mages, the Magic Tower expanded its influence.
Even now, mages are a valuable resource, but before the Magic Tower's founding, they were even rarer.
This was because the world was full of stuffy old-timers who clung to the principle often seen in wuxia novels: one-person transmission, never taught to an outsider.
Of course, even after hundreds of years, knowledge of magic remains beyond the reach of the average person.
The Magic Tower only opened its doors to officially recognized talents, not to the general public indiscriminately.
As a result, it was hard to find any information about magic even on the internet.
There were a few books sold in bookstores, but they only covered the most basic theories.
It was like buying a book titled 'Challenge: Build Your Own Cellphone!' only to find it just teaches you how to solder.
On top of that, they were ridiculously expensive.
Wasn't it something like 700,000 won for a single book?
It was blatant price gouging, but since it was a serious crime for a non-mage to write a book about magic, you couldn't exactly call it a scam.
Moreover, unlike other certifications, you couldn't take online courses or attend academies for magic.
All that existed were hollow books costing hundreds of thousands to millions of won each. And yet, many people who wanted to become mages still bought them.
It's not that I don't understand.
Reaching just the 2nd Circle is enough for a mage to be treated like nobility in a developing country.
I once dreamed of becoming a mage myself.
For an orphan like me, becoming a mage meant I could grasp wealth and honor. What greater magic could there be in the world?
Of course, you couldn't become a mage just by wanting it.
The wall of reality, I guess.
Someone without talent couldn't enter the Magic Tower.
It was a childhood dream I'd half-given up on ever since.
"Magic...?"
"Yes, if you're okay with it, Hyun-woo."
My mind went blank.
Me? Learn what? Magic?
Me??
"Uh... you don't have to feel too pressured. If you learn magic, it will make analyzing the barrier much easier."
Iris continued cautiously.
It went without saying, but finding an object that could substitute for a holy relic was no easy task.
Furthermore, using such a workaround to break the barrier here was practically impossible.
Creating a small side path would likely be the best they could do.
The problem, however, was that she couldn't specify exactly what materials were needed to create such a path.
If you think of the barrier as a dish, even without a recipe, you can get a feel for it after chewing, tearing, and tasting it a few times.
But what if it were a local dish made by an indigenous tribe living in the middle of a jungle?
Even the head chef of a 3-star Michelin restaurant couldn't just list the ingredients off the top of their head.
The best they could do would be to pile up a mountain of ingredients and try to recreate it through trial and error.
"It will probably... be a significant financial burden..."
Iris didn't want to burden him any further—the man who had appeared like a ray of light in this place where no one ever came.
A mage's abilities were profitable.
She didn't know to what extent in his world, but in war, a mage was an irreplaceable asset.
They were compensated handsomely for it.
Though she wasn't certain, Iris resolved to teach him magic, hoping it would help him in some way.
However.
'All the money Hyun-woo works so hard to earn will go toward materials...'
How was this relationship any different from telling him to learn magic just to bring back materials?
While she comfortably taught magic here, he would have to work tirelessly.
'I'm sorry, Hyun-woo...'
A corner of her heart ached with guilt. She felt like she had become a wicked woman.
'M-Magic...?!'
While Iris's worries deepened, Kang Hyun-woo was struggling to keep the corners of his mouth from turning up.
It's magic, magic!
And an 8th Circle Archmage is going to teach me personally!
This was a fortuitous encounter.
A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
If I could really learn from Iris and become a mage, her escape would only be a matter of time.
But on the other hand, there was one thing that worried me.
"...But don't you need to be exceptionally talented to become a mage?"
It's nothing to be proud of, but I was already judged as talentless by a mage dispatched from the Magic Tower back in sixth grade.
The talent required for magic is purely innate, so for someone like me who had already failed the talent assessment in elementary school, becoming a mage was considered socially impossible.
"You don't have to worry so much. I'm sure you'll be able to learn it in no time, Hyun-woo."
"Iris..."
Iris grasped my hand and smiled gently.
Her green eyes, which seemed to hold kindness itself, gave off a soft glow.
More than anything, beyond her gaze, I could glimpse an unidentifiable favor and trust directed toward me.
'...'
I thought I was past the age of craving someone's approval or praise, but experiencing it firsthand felt strange.
It was a little embarrassing, but definitely not a bad feeling.
"...I'll be in your care."
"Yes!"
Confidence seemed to surge up from somewhere within me.
*
Whether before or after the Magic Tower was established, becoming a mage's direct disciple was extremely rare.
Even the professors at the Magic Tower don't consider the students they teach to be their disciples.
While modern thinking doesn't draw much of a distinction between a student and a disciple, it was different in the world of mages.
To a mage, a disciple was another version of themselves, someone to whom they could pass on everything they had.
It was only natural to bequeath not only their accumulated magical knowledge but also their assets, like cash, real estate, and stocks, to their disciple.
Occasionally, a mage with great affection for their child might split their inheritance between their disciple and their child at a 70/30 ratio.
Of course, the disciple got the 70, and the child got the 30.
Anyway, to get back to the point, if you were to ask whether you could learn magic without becoming a direct disciple, that's another story.
To put it bluntly, you can still become a mage.
As I mentioned, entering the Magic Tower is the first method. The second is to pay your way in.
There were many rich people among mages. No, it was harder to find one who wasn't rich.
There were various reasons for this. Mages were irreplaceable assets, and they were also the ones who stood out as exceptionally smart among a group of already smart people.
And sometimes, an incredibly wealthy tycoon would hire a mage with money to become a mage themselves.
Of course, it was extremely rare for those who took such lessons to actually become mages. After all, if you were overflowing with talent, there was no better environment than the Magic Tower.
It's similar to the principle that kids who are only privately tutored at home instead of going to school rarely turn out well.
Well, they say there are occasional 'golden spoon' prodigies who become mages through private tutoring alone, for the strange reason that their parents don't want to send them to the Magic Tower. It's harder than a dragon rising from a stream, though.
The important thing here was that most mages hired for money had no affection for their students.
It was more like, 'I'll do the work I'm paid for,' and that's it.
In that respect, Kang Hyun-woo was incredibly lucky.
A super-elite, beautiful elf, an 8th Circle Archmage with flowing platinum blonde hair and eyes like embedded emeralds, possessing a beauty that medieval connoisseurs would praise for a week straight before collapsing from exhaustion, was giving him one-on-one private lessons.
And with great affection, at that.
However, if you were to ask if it was pure affection... well?
'Th-Thank goodness...'
Iris had told a small lie to Kang Hyun-woo and to herself.
She'd said the reason for teaching him magic was to analyze the barrier, but her true intentions were slightly different.
He would leave this place someday. He had to. He had his own life, so he couldn't stay here forever.
In that case, Iris's scheme was to create a reason that would compel him to return.
In all learning, not just academics, there is no end. Magic was the same; it wasn't something you could master in a day or two. In fact, learning one thing about magic only made you curious about two or more other things.
She was confident.
No matter what kind of world he came from, she was certain that finding a mage as great as her for a teacher would be a distant dream!
'If I'm with Hyun-woo, even if I spend my entire life just teaching him magic here, I...'
Her eyes, gazing at Kang Hyun-woo, shone with a bewitching light, like a predator hiding in the bushes, watching its prey.
Kang Hyun-woo shivered from an inexplicable chill, but he couldn't fathom its cause.
And so, within the dark cavern, a somewhat twisted master-disciple relationship was formed.