Supreme Magus novel Chapter 44

The next day, Lith was happy and relaxed. He kept humming the whole time while he cleaned the house and prepared breakfast, reheating the pastries to make them regain some of their fragrance.

The long permanence in the Count’s manor had proved to him how stressful it was being constantly forced to hide his skill and powers. Being born in a backwater village, were no one knew jack about magic was a blessing in disguise.

He had got too used to the freedom and isolation living in a farmhouse guaranteed him, to the point that holding back and constantly pretending to use fake magic for a prolonged period was akin to torture for him.

After a long discussion with Solus about the problem, they decided that the best course of action was to find a way to not attend any magic academy.

According to the magic annuals he had read in the last weeks, it was possible to become a member of the Magic Association despite being home-schooled. It just required a longer and more difficult exams session.

The biggest difference between a home-schooled and a magic academy graduate amounted only in a matter of fame and prestige.

By being admitted and successfully passing the tests devised by famous and talented magicians, the student was bound to have an easier time whatever was the path of his choosing.

A home-schooled, instead, no matter the score he could achieve, would always be seen like a rogue magician with no references. He would first need to prove himself, by either performing voluntary military service or becoming an adventurer.

Achieving merits was the only way for a rogue magician to have access to a prestigious and well-paid job. Lith didn’t care for any of that, he just wanted to develop his powers, staying away from the spotlight until he reached sixteen years.

At that point, he would be considered an adult, and could finally leave Lutia to start exploring the world in search for a solution to his reincarnation problem.

If achieving true death turned out to be impossible, he would need to work his way around by either becoming an immortal or binding his soul to the current world.

That would be the worst-case scenario, but at least if he died, he would still be reborn with all his magic knowledge and have Solus by his side.

Thanks to the money he got from the Count for saving his family, Lith had no need to keep working as a healer. Only when Nana was on house calls or away for personal matters, he would take her place in the home office.

Many farmers relied on his presence and discounted prices to afford all the medical care they needed, Nana’s fares were too expensive.

Just because at the moment he had no need for an extra income, it didn’t mean he had already forgotten how bad it was for a family being forced to watch one of their loved ones suffer, the helplessness felt when money dictated the difference between living and barely surviving.

Lith would spend most of his mornings exploring the Count’s library, in search for tomes to borrow.

It was a room twice the size of his house, at least one hundred squared meters (109 squared yards) big, located in a corner point of the main building.

Both the west and north side of the room had huge windows, arranged so that the sun would manage to perfectly light it until dusk.

The bookshelves were placed from wall to wall, parallel to each other, and spaced so to avoid ridiculous domino effect in case one fell over, creating four corridors. In the center of the room there was a luxurious desk and a couple of armchairs.

The books covered all the topics, not just magic, it was the sum of all the knowledge the Count had accumulated through the years. Every time Lith returned home from the library, he would carry over a small chest full of delicacies.

Hilya would never let him go away empty handed.

The first book Lith picked up, was the Lightning Griffon Academy rulebook. Together with useless information, like how submit your application and what were the most common admittance tests, he found an answer to an old question.

The academy would last five years, and each year the student would need to prove a rising level of mastery of magic. The first year required learning at least twenty tier one spells, the second one thirty tier two, and so on.

"So that’s why spells are divided into tiers. It’s to identify the skill level of the magico compared to the official academic course."

Tiers from one to three were comprised of simple spells with a single effect. Tier three was basically the same as a tier one, but much more powerful and with higher requirements in terms of talent and skill.

From tier four, the effects would be much more complicated, like when Lith weaved together different spells with true magic. Tier four and five, based on what he could find, seemed to be greatly similar to true magic.

"That’s probably why most mages never learn the truth about magic. Once they think they have reached the pinnacle, they simply stop asking themselves questions. They put too much attention to the destination and too little on the trip itself."