Chapter 25. The Secret School Appears
Radel wasn't disappointed, even though he didn't get any specific information from the restaurant. Just knowing that the last exam was a spar with a professor was a big hint.
Surely they wouldn't expect a new student to have the skills to defeat a professor.
'Let's think as if I were in charge of academy admissions.'
They tested basic mana sensitivity at the academy registration office.
In that case, they would want to see the ability to utilize mana in the entrance exam. Either using magic, or detecting and avoiding magic.
It was highly likely that they had judged that being able to do just one of the two would be enough to follow the classes at the magic academy.
'I can manage the entrance exam with my current abilities.'
Radel had recently raised his Basic Swordsmanship to D.
Since F-rank was usually the level of an ordinary person, D-rank would be a decent skill for a new student. He had the physical ability to respond to a sudden attack.
He had also mastered Hayden's Normal Mana Training Method enough to read the flow of mana. He was at a level where he could notice the change in the flow of mana the moment a magic attack flew at him.
He also had the Troll's Heart, which could regenerate even if he was injured.
Status Effect Nullification might be useless against attack magic, but it would block mental magic.
'Isn't this enough already?'
If so, it was time to do the next thing.
* * *
The night when everyone was asleep.
Radel quietly slipped out of the lodging.
It was to go to Marcellent's Bell Tower.
Although it was the middle of the night, people were still passing by in the square. There were tourists sitting on benches admiring the night view, and people who had come out for a night walk.
'It would be troublesome if I look too suspicious.'
Radel approached the bell tower as naturally as possible.
He hadn't noticed during the day because there were many people and he hadn't gotten close, but as he approached, he felt a familiar sensation. It was similar to the feeling he had when passing through the secret passage.
"Is this?"
It was so faint that Radel almost missed it, but it was definitely the same as the unique flow of mana that permeated the 8th Prince's Palace.
When Radel approached the bell tower and placed his hand on it, he could feel mana flowing between his fingers.
'It's undoubtedly a trace of my ancestor.'
Radel recalled the time he had placed his hand on the magical tool at the academy entrance registration office. Closing his eyes, Radel found the thin end of the mana and focused his mind just like he did then.
As if catching a very fine thread.
As if walking on a taut thread.
Then, with a notification sound, a message appeared.
Tiring.
[Visit Marcellent's Bell Tower(1/1)]
[The conditions for skill upgrade have been met.]
[Skill: Hayden's Normal Mana Training Method(E)]
[Do you want to upgrade the skill? (Y/N)]
"I have to."
He hadn't come to Marcellent to upgrade his skill, but seeing the upgrade notice, he felt that he had done well to come.
Tiring.
[The skill has been upgraded.]
[Skill: Hayden's Normal Mana Training Method(D)]
[The user's stats are affected by the skill upgrade.]
And at the same time, a notification that his stats were rising also appeared.
They had risen a little when he upgraded Basic Swordsmanship, but with the addition of the upgrade to Hayden's Normal Mana Training Method, it felt like his stats were rising at once.
'Wait, if that's the case, then Troll's Heart too?'
As soon as he thought of it, a notification sound rang out.
Tiring.
[Stats will increase.]
[The additional ability of Troll's Heart(D) will be activated!]
[Troll's Heart(D)]
The ability to regenerate any wound.
However, it regenerates at a slow speed. (Additional ability unlocked: Health 40)
When the trait is activated, it is accompanied by strong pain.
Pain that doesn't kill you only makes you stronger. (Health+1 upon recovery from a near-death state)
Radel was silently pleased after confirming that his Troll's Heart had been upgraded.
When it was E-rank, it had said it regenerated 'at a speed that keeps you breathing', but now that it was D-rank, it had changed to 'a slow speed'.
This alone was a huge improvement!
The faster the regeneration speed, the faster he could escape from the pain of recovery. Thinking about how he had been knocked out for half a day recovering from a single hit from the griffin, he was truly overcome with emotion.
'I was lucky.'
To get a skill upgrade and a trait upgrade just by visiting the bell tower.
It was a sufficiently satisfying result.
Just as Radel was about to leave the bell tower.
Tiring.
[An unknown magic is interfering with the user's perception.]
[Status Effect Nullification is activated.]
"What?"
Radel stopped his steps to leave after seeing the system window that had appeared from the bell tower.
Tiring.
[Condition: Hayden's Normal Mana Training Method(D)]
[A hidden space is revealed.]
[The Secret School reveals itself!]
A secret school?
After a secret passage and a secret training ground, a school as well?
A door emitting light appeared before Radel's eyes.
It seemed that Archmage Hayden had taken over not just the Imperial Palace, but the city of magic as well.
“What an amazing ancestor he was.”
Radel thought, wondering how many times he had been surprised by Hayden, and looked around.
A few people were passing by, but they didn't seem to mind the strong light. It seemed it was invisible to their eyes.
He had experienced this several times in the 8th Prince's Palace, so Radel knew exactly what to do now. It was to wait for people to pass by and then naturally enter the bell tower.
And so Radel entered the door.
The bell tower became quiet again.
* * *
The third day since arriving in Marcellent.
Inette was playing as much as she could until the academy exam, which would start in two days.
It was the first time in her life as a princess that she had spent several days so freely without a guardian, but after about three days, it was getting less fun.
“Did I come to Marcellent too early?”
After the first day when she went shopping with Radel and Gusto, the two had said they were busy and hadn't been seen.
Gusto said he was going to the Supreme Deity Order's temple in Marcellent to stay for a few days. Radel seemed to be doing something, wandering around Marcellent on his own.
“What on earth is he doing here?”
When Radel returned to the lodging, he was empty-handed. He didn't seem to be shopping, nor did he seem to be sightseeing.
Inette's curiosity was piqued.
She decided to tail Radel for the day.
Just then, she saw Radel leaving the lodging.
Unable to miss a good opportunity, Inette quickly followed Radel.
“What the?”
She thought he wasn't interested in shopping, but the place Radel was heading to was the shopping district. To be precise, it was an herb shop.
Radel greeted the shop owners as if he were familiar with them and was talking to them.
“Hey, when did he get so friendly with them?”
Was he that sociable?
Inette had a premonition that at this rate, Radel might betray her, his comrade, and make a friend first. First, he was accompanied by a strange apprentice holy knight, calling him a companion.
Looking at Radel's actions, it was a plausible story.
“What a ridiculous kid.”
Inette was fuming to herself when she noticed that Radel was gone.
He was just there a moment ago?
Where did he disappear to?
He disappeared quickly in the Imperial Palace, and it was the same now that he was in Marcellent. This speed was impossible without using teleportation magic.
"Wasn't it a lie that he didn't know magic?"
In the end, Inette's short tailing ended in a futile failure.
* * *
“Is someone talking about me.”
Radel shook his head, feeling his ears itch.
He was currently on his way back to the bell tower after going to the shop.
The ingredients Radel was looking for were only handled by a few shops in Marcellent, so even though it was only the third day, he was checking in at the same shop every day.
He had even gotten to the point where the shop owners would give him extra, saying that no one was looking for these ingredients these days, and that the young friend was full of passion.
Of course, he wasn't going there using magic, but using the passage his ancestor had hidden. He had never dreamed that there would be a secret passage in the city of magic, just like in the 8th Prince's Palace.
“What level of magician do you have to be to do something like this?”
Radel muttered as he stroked the wall of the secret passage.
It was surprising that he had connected the palaces in the Imperial Palace, but here, he had connected every corner of the city.
What did he do with this?
Radel once again became curious about his ancestor's activities.
However, to find out about him, raising his training method rank was more important than anything else. It was because the 'Secret School' had many doors that couldn't be opened without raising the rank of Hayden's Normal Mana Training Method.
“Let’s try again.”
After arriving at the bottom of the bell tower, Radel opened his skill window.
[Hayden's Normal Mana Training Method(D)]
The mana training method researched by Archmage Hayden throughout his life.
In order to be reborn as a true magician, practical experience is just as important as physical training.
Hunt weaker enemies(0/4,000)
Defeat stronger enemies(0/2,000)
Make Hayden-style Potions(0/1,000)
The question of why hunting was included in becoming a true magician was a secondary issue.
The biggest problem Radel had to solve now was making Hayden-style potions, which he had not succeeded in even once in three days.
The secret school that could be entered through the bell tower was literally divided into classrooms like a school. Among them, the room right under the bell tower was the alchemy classroom, and here, only one book was on the shelf.
'Hayden-style Potion Brewing Method.'
It was his first time brewing a potion, but Radel was confident.
It was because the brewing method and ingredients were all in the book, and most of the alchemy tools were provided.
Wouldn't it be fine if he just did as he was told?
However, it didn't take long for him to realize that was a big mistake.
Radel spread out the ingredients he had bought from the shop on the table. And he carefully prepared the ingredients while looking at the book.
Once the preparation of the ingredients was finished, it was a battle against time.
Radel took a deep breath and turned over the hourglass.
He had to finish the entire process within one minute from now.
He crushed the root of the golden grass, finely ground the shell of the magic snail, and mixed it with the slime of the poison frog.
Then, he gathered the mana contained in the ingredients, stirred it twice to the right and three times to the left, and quickly boiled it.
But even after completing the potion, he didn't hear the notification sound that his skill proficiency had increased.
"Another failure?"
Radel did not give up.
If it didn't work, he had no choice but to keep trying until it did.
Two days until the academy entrance exam.
Radel's plan was to succeed in brewing a potion at least once by then.
* * *
Time flew by like an arrow.
When he ran out of ingredients, Radel went out to the shop to buy more, and then returned to the secret school to try again and again.
In the evening when the shops closed, he would carry all the remaining ingredients he could get that day and lock himself in the alchemy classroom until dawn.
How many times had he failed?
“……I did it.”
Finally, the first successful potion was in Radel's hand.
It was the easiest beginner's potion, but it was a precious success.
Radel came outside to return to the lodging.
It was evening when he had bought the ingredients and entered the secret school, but so much time had passed that the morning was already dawning.
It was already the day of the academy entrance exam.