"Are you injured again?" A beautiful long-haired woman looked closely at the naked upper body of a young man. Her voice was so gentle that it made everyone who heard it feel amazed.
"I am sorry, Ms. Rosaline," said Vale. In his previous life, Vale was a human from the earth, where he lived peacefully. Until someday, when he was driving a truck, the bus accidentally hit him and made the truck fall into the gorge. He died at that time.
Instead of waking up in the afterlife, he realized that he had been reincarnated as a baby. Unfortunately for him, his parents were feeble, and the worst thing was that he was born in a world where magic existed. When he was 6 years old, the system appeared, but Vale chose not to activate it. He always thought the system was a scary thing that could control human's mind and body.
When he was 12 years old, both of his parents in this life died, and he desperately tried to get some food. At that time, he was too young, and everyone would rather not employ him. When he was about to die, he met a magus, and the magus was bringing him to the magic academy. Now, he was 17 years old, and he had been in the academy for 5 years.
"It's done, but Vale, do not train for at least 3 days; you must take some rest or your injury will become worse," Rosaline said after treating Vale's injury, and he put his shirt back on.
"I don't know whether I can take a rest or not. Ms. Rosaline, I have only one month left before the annual exam, which is my last chance. If I don't pass the test, I will be stuck as an apprentice magus stage one forever," Vale explained his situation.
"I remember that."
Rosaline knew that Vale had no talent for magic, despite her personal lessons, and was always stuck at the apprentice magus stage one. However, Vale excelled in theory class and had learned all the basics of magic better than anyone else.
"You have no talent for magic, but you are intelligent and smart. If you like, I can help you leave this place and live as a normal person," Rosaline offered, concerned for Vale's well-being. She knew that the magus path was dangerous, especially for someone with no talent like Vale.
However, Vale knew that living as a normal person was not an option for him. His parents had died because of a monster in this magical world, and danger lurked in every corner. He needed to become stronger to protect himself and others around him.
"I want to be a strong magus like you, Ms. Rosaline; I would rather not live without you."
Tak!
Rosaline knocked Vale's forehead with her hand.
"Nonsense. Think about your future carefully. Now, go back to your dormitory room."
"Okay, Ms. Rosaline, good night."
Vale walked out of Ms. Rosaline's office. After he knew he had no talent and predicted that other students might bully him, Vale decided to be under the protection of the teacher. It was a normal thing in this magic academy. He had seen some young girls offer their bodies to a male teacher. After thinking about who was the right person to protect him, Vale chose Ms. Rosaline.
She was different from other teachers; she would not protect the student just because the student wanted it, but she would protect students who needed protection.
Vale investigated what Ms. Rosaline liked and disliked; he observed her life, and subsequently, he acted and planned to get the attention of Ms. Rosaline, and he successfully got her attention. Now, Ms. Rosaline cared about Vale and helped him in many situations. So, even if somebody sometimes still bullied him, the bully never crossed the line.
This magic academy had two types of students: the first was an orphan like himself, and the second was a noble descendant. Magic Academy would not give money, room for rest, and other things for free; it was not a problem for noble descendants; their families had money to pay for that; but for orphans like him, it was big trouble.
The magic academy counted all whatsoever they had given to the orphan in the past, and they would charge that amount of money when the student became a magus. The difficulty existed when someone had no talent to become a magus. Students who could not become magus would be forced to work at the academy for free for 20 years.
When Ms. Rosaline said that she would bring Vale out of the academy, she meant she would pay all of his debt to the academy. That was how kind she was.
Vale finally arrived at his room. The room was narrow; it could just accommodate the bed and one small table. Vale entered his room and sat on the bed.
"If I fail again on this test, I will be judged to be unfit to become a magus by the academy, and I need to work for free for 20 years."
"It's the bad thing."
Vale heard that no one had worked without pay for more than five years. Not because the academy let them go, but because all of them have died.
Working for the academy meant being the object of a human experiment and becoming the slave of some magus in stage one, and the academy would not protect or forbid every student to kill or do anything to them. Many workers committed suicide because they could not bear their situation.
"The existence of this system makes me confident I will become the strongest magus in history."
"What about the hidden purpose of the system? As long as I become the strongest magus, I believe I could be free from the system." Vale's cold voice echoed through his room. Sharp eyes and a smirk graced his face.
He had read in several novels that the protagonist had become a system slave. He wanted to avoid being like that. For him, the system is just a tool to make him stronger—no more than that.
"Everything in this world has a reason behind it. Likewise, your existence in my body is a system."
"I'm sure you won't help me for free; you have your own goals too," Vale continued.
"So, it's a game between you and me."
"I am going to use you to make me stronger, while you will use me to achieve your goals."
Vale took a deep breath and calmed himself for a while before saying, "System."
[Do you want to activate the system?]
"Activate."