Lith's interest was really piqued, so he let Nana continue, keeping his questions for later.
"Based on how a student performs, they are able to gain or lose points…"
"Individual points or group points?" Lith felt so dumb. He had not even finished his previous thought when he had already been forced to contradict himself.
'I swear, if there's some kind of retarded household competition, I'll take back every doubt I had about my choice.' He thought.
Nana raised her eyebrows in disbelief.
"Do you even remember what I told you the last time about the academies and their students? Should you put a juicy slab of meat in front of ferocious hungry beasts, do you expect them to cooperate for it?
"No! They would rather tear each other's hearts out and eat it. Of course the point system is individual. It's very similar to the merit system, but instead of gaining credit from the Kingdom, you gain it from the school itself.
"The points are the only currency allowed inside the academy, and with them, you can afford lots of things. Magical potions, enchanted items, and even rare ingredients for your experiments. Obviously, the higher the value, the higher the price."
From the long pause, Lith assumed that she had finished and was waiting for his questions.
"What are magical potions? It's the first time I've heard about them."
"Magic potions are like special spells in a vial. The most basic are akin to healing spells, but between the infirmary and the fact that everyone knows light magic, they are rarely purchased.
"The more precious potions are those that allow the user to become temporarily faster, stronger, or even harden their skin if they suspect they will be forced into a melee fight."
"What about mana potions?"
"Mana what?"
"Isn't there any kind of potion to quickly restore one's mana?"
Nana laughed heartily.
"Kid, knowledge is shared on a voluntary basis. If any master Alchemist ever discovered something like that, he would keep it for themselves. At least that's what I would do."
Lith was underwhelmed, potions seemed like a poor imitation of his fusion magic.
'Not only are they consumable items, but you even have to waste your time to haul them around and replenish your supply when needed. Plus, fake mages don't even have something like Invigoration.
'The only good thing about potions is that I can pretend to use them while I use fusion magic instead. Aside from that, they are not very interesting.' He thought.
(AN: Invigoration is the breathing technique that allows Lith to quickly regain mana and stamina, to the point that he is able to go on for months without needing to sleep.
The longer he uses it, the shorter its effects last. The only way to reset its effects is to actually sleep. See chapter 8 for more details)
"I understand." Is what he actually said out loud.
"What kind of magical items can be purchased?"
"Every academy has at least ten Forgemasters as residents. They act as both teachers and researchers in the magical field.
"They usually put their lesser works out for sale, but they can sometimes bring out high-grade magical items. Especially when the academy wants to stir up a rat race, like right before the final exams.
"The most useful items I had, were a dimensional amulet and rings from tier one to three. The dimensional amulet allowed me to bring around whatever I needed without suffering its weight, while the rings were able to store spells of the same tier, allowing for an instant cast."
Lith didn't miss the strict use of the past tense while referring to her possessions. He felt sorry for her, but instead of hyping him, her speech was having the opposite effect.
"A dimensional amulet? Is it some kind of magical storage item?" He played dumb.
Nana nodded.
"Brilliant as usual. Yes, dimensional rings and amulets can store anything inanimate up to a fixed volume of space, regardless of the weight.
The lowest class has only a few cubic meters available, the highest class can even store 50 cubic meters (1766 cubic feet). The size of a whole small house."
The underwhelming feeling was getting deeper.
'Solus, how much can our pocket dimension store?'
'At the moment the storage can hold thrice as much as the so-called highest class and is still expanding. The library space, or Soluspedia, as you call it, is now around thirty cubic meters (1060 square feet) big. And it's also expanding.'
Lith's poker face was good, but not that good. Nana could see that he wasn't impressed at all.
"What's with that face? Do you not understand that whatever you get during your studies, you get to keep once you graduate? Do you have any idea how difficult and expensive it is to purchase even the lowest tier magical item?"
Lith closed his eyes while rubbing his forehead.
'How can I even pretend to be interested in something that I already have or that I can do better? Sure, those things would help me greatly keeping my true magic hidden. Whenever I employ an instant cast, I could use the rings as a cover. But that's it.'
Being an expert liar, Lith knew what his limits were. So, he changed the topic.
"The Forgemaster's job seems really interesting. Is it possible to specialize in such a field? Does one need to also be a blacksmith to become a Forgemaster?"
"Yes, it's among the available choices. And no, blacksmithing is not required. A Forgemaster does not create anything, they just imbue objects with magical properties, be it a ring, an amulet, a chair, or even a day dress.
"They can't possibly master all the craftsmen jobs. Most of them prefer to learn just the basics of their favorite trade. So, a Forgemaster specialized in rings will know something about goldsmithing, and so on.��
"That's really interesting." And for once Lith wasn't just pretending.
Out of the three topics, the only ones that really interested him were the books and the specializations. With an endless supply of knowledge, he could easily recreate or invent all kinds of spells with true magic.
But that was still something that he could figure out on his own, with time and experience. Becoming a Forgemaster, instead, would be a priceless treasure for him.
Lith had no knowledge about such arts, hence he could never grasp even the basics without some external help.
Once he had uncovered the underlying principles of forgemastering, coupling them with true magic and the academy's library, he would be able to unlock infinite possibilities.
Just the ideas about magical items that came to him on the spot were enough to give him an adrenaline rush.
Unfortunately, when his excitement was at his peak, a sudden thought sent chills down his spine.
"Before getting my hopes up, can you please explain to me how one would go about getting points? There is no such foolishness like daily challenges between students, tournaments, or something like that, right?"
Nana laughed her a*s off.
"That's such an idiotic idea! Not even the wildest rumors would go that far. Otherwise they would be called magic graveyards instead of academies. There's already enough violence going around as it is.
"If any Headmaster started to reward students for their violent behavior, only a dozen mages would graduate each year, and no one would make their children enroll. A war battlefield would be a much safer environment."
Lith could finally sigh in relief, one of his biggest worries had just faded away.
"Points are earned mostly through how a student performs in class and during practical exercises. Any feat that benefits the academy, like sharing personal spells, gives additional points.
"But the real motherlode is the quarterly exams and the finals. All points can be converted anytime, even after graduating successfully, that's why there is so much competition for the top spots.
"Beware, though. Even if discipline won't give you any extra points, it can easily make you lose a lot of them. Aside from failing tests repeatedly, it's the only way to lower your score.
"If it goes to negative, you'll be forced to compensate by giving back everything you might have already bought. That's how I lost everything I had."
Nana sighed, her voice filled with sadness and regret. She tormented her neck where her dimensional amulet probably used to be.
Count Lark intervened, explaining their reason for hiding such things from him.
"We didn't tell you any of this before, to keep you from being stressed and also so you would not get your expectations up about your future too much, in case you failed to get in.
"Most of the applicants get rejected. In the past, when such knowledge was publicly available, there had been countless suicides among the youths that either couldn't bear the pressure or handle the failure.
"Especially for those of humble origin, being admitted in a magic academy is the only way to escape their destiny. To a lesser extent, the same could be said for nobles' and merchants' sons that are not in the line of succession."
"I can see that happening. But honestly, I don't see the point in telling me all this. It's not like I got rejected for a lack of trying." Lith lied.
"What do you expect me to do? Travel through all the County looking for magical beasts? Cause disasters just to be able to solve them? Honestly, I don't think there is any amount of merits that could change my situation."
The Count shook his head.
"We don't expect you to do anything but your best. You have spent years trying to dissuade me to not send you to the academy, and don't think that I didn't notice your total lack of enthusiasm during our trip.
"You spent the whole time acting like it was all about someone else, someone you didn't care about. You didn't stand up for yourself, you only wanted to get out of that room!"
"Well, maybe you are right. But maybe, I just wanted to avoid the Headmistress killing you on the spot. Also, you were the one telling me to keep quiet. It would have been beyond stupid to add oil to the fire." Lith wasn't lying.
In that moment, when he had seen the Headmistress' eyes overloading with mana, he had been seriously worried about the Lark's family destiny and had decided to drag the Count away as soon as possible.
"Point taken. You are right." Count Lark sat down with a depressed face.
"Bottom line, we still have a few cards to play. Most likely, nothing will come of them. Yet if by some chance we succeed, we need you to do more than sit on the side-lines. That's the point."