The weather was rainy. Gloomy clouds covered the majestic Seoul sky, weeping with sadness. It's always rainy here this time of year.
There was hardly anyone outside. Except for the occasional car passing by on the highway, there was nothing to see.
But inside the city, in a cozy classroom at Gangnam Elementary School, 11-12-year-olds could be seen dozing off in the cozy room. There was a spring warmth in the classroom. This caused the children to relax.
"This is why the importance of magical engineering cannot be ignored. Although mana has been in our lives for three centuries, we have only begun to use it effectively. As I have explained in previous lectures, three centuries ago the world was completely different. We lived a primitive and simple life, and wars were also very simple. Let us remember from previous lessons: In 1793, King Louis XIV of France and Queen Marie Antoniette were murdered by mana by the government that came to power after the French Revolution. Marie Antoinette was the daughter of the Empress Maria Theresa of Austria, whose death made that country France's worst enemy. And in early 1796 they decided to invade France, starting with northern Italy, which at that time belonged to Austria..."
My teacher's voice was full of seriousness. But the children didn't care. Even though the History of Magic Civilization was a compulsory subject for primary schools, the children did not want to listen to it. The relaxing atmosphere and the monotonous voice of the instructor had numbed their minds.
When the teacher saw the students' eyelids drooping, she said no more. Instead, she closed the book in her hand and tapped the desk to get the students' attention.
The sudden sound startled the children, but they were unable to fully focus; they began to pretend to listen with unconscious eyes.
The teacher put her hand on her forehead and said in a reproachful tone, "You are so relaxed. You act as if you have already learned it."
The children rolled their eyes. They would rather do something more fun than listen to this boring lesson.
"Lee Joon-ho stand up."
The teacher pointed to one of the children with a slightly annoyed expression.
"How did Napoleon Bonaparte, the first to use magic strategically, defeat the Austrians even though he commanded an army for the first time?"
It had been three hundred years since humans had been introduced to mana. When Bonaparte was born, it was in its tenth year. The world was just beginning to use magic, and Napoleon, in his unique genius, used magic to make his strategies easier to execute.
As Lee Joonho tried to answer the question, all the students turned to face him. He opened his mouth to give an answer but closed it again when he couldn't think of anything.
"If you don't know, keep standing. Yoon Tae-joon, you stand up."
The boy named Yoon Tae-joon obviously didn't know the answer either. He stood up and bowed his head. He looked away shyly.
The teacher was annoyed, so she pointed to someone else among the students and spoke. Her voice was very gentle, unlike the previous ones.
"Park Soo-hyun, can you answer?"
The little boy with the striking blue eyes stood up. He had a grace that was unexpected for his age. His voice was full of confidence.
"Although Napoleon was a genius, he was not proficient in magic. And his defeat of the Austrians in Italy was simple enough to fool everyone. Faced with two armies closing in on him, he calculated that d'Alvitzi's army posed the more immediate danger. The Battle of Caldiero was the first battle in which a teleportation door was used..."
Park Soohyun spoke for a minute straight and then finished her sentence. The class fell silent.
"Bravo! Bravo!" The teacher clapped happily, "See! This is what it means to be a student. If it wasn't for Park Soohyun, I wouldn't have tried so hard to teach you brats. As expected, it was a perfect answer."
One after another, the teacher heaped lavish praise on her.
Although he was 12 years old, he was far ahead of his peers. He was a favorite of the teachers because he was hardworking, eager to learn, and calm.
For the teachers, this was a sign of maturity. But from the student's point of view, it was all 'showing off'.
"What's the big deal? Let's see who's strong." Lee Joon-ho spoke with curled lips. Even though they were elementary school students, they had already started practicing martial arts. Even though they had only learned the basics, the basic martial arts were affecting most of their grades.
"Joonho, Soohyun came first in the basic proficiency exam a week ago."
The whisper of Yoon Tae-joon sitting next to him came to his ears. Lee Joonho's face fell. He clenched his teeth and clicked his tongue.
"What matters is 'authority'. Not martial arts or how well you know history."
In this world, Authority was everything.
Strange things had happened to Mana's interaction with the world that she could never have imagined. Most of the animals evolved, monster prisons called 'Dungeons' were created in mysterious regions, and humans gained unimaginable powers.
Mana had driven man into a new evolution.
In order to control the mana gathered in the body, it was necessary to have 'authority' called Authority. Everyone's authority was different. Their characteristics were also different. Authority gave the person the ability to use mana.
And the type of authority was the basis of power.
This was Lee Joonho's way of consoling himself. because Authority was largely hereditary. And his parents were both famous heroes. If he had the authority of one of them, he could be the strongest in elementary school.
But Park Soohyun's parents were completely lower-class authorities. They were not even a hero, let alone a famous hero.
Time passed as the teacher continued to teach the lesson.
The bell rang and the children ran out cheerfully. Parents waiting at the entrance of the elementary school greeted their children with great affection.
Park Soohyun was the last one out the door. He looked quite cute in his black coat. When he stepped outside, he looked around. It was raining, so his parents must have come to pick him up.
"We're here, Soohyun."
A very elegant-looking couple was standing at the entrance, waving toward Soohyun.
Soohyun ran towards them.
"Mom! Dad!"
The couple bowed slightly and embraced Soohyun at the same time. The intimacy between them warmed the atmosphere even in this cold weather.
"Let's go to the car first, Soohyun."
"Okay!"
Soohyun walked to the car while holding his parents' hands. After sitting in the back seat of the car, he buckled his seat belt and took out a book.
It was a book called 'Magic and Technology'. It was a book prepared by one of the most famous universities in the world. It was essentially a compilation of dozens of different articles.
Park Soo-mi, his mother, looked at the book and smiled.
"Isn't it too early for them?"
The book in Soohyun's hand is difficult to understand. Even Park Soo-mi, the wife of a scientist, could not understand much of what was in it.
"I can understand it, it's not as hard as the ones in my father's library."
"You rascal, I was wondering why my books were moved."
"Dad, you're a magic engineer, right?"
"Yes, a powerful one."
Park Min-woo laughed proudly as he clenched his biceps. Even though he was driving, he was quite relaxed. This made Park Soo-mi a little worried.
"Watch where you're going."
"Okay, okay."
Soohyun asked his father a question as he read from a book.
"Dad, why didn't technology catch up with magic? It says here that oil was once used as an energy source. Now we use electricity and mana stone. But when we look at other fields; why is magic technology extremely limited, especially in the defense industry? Only heavy weapons use mana. Why is it not used in infantry rifles or guns?"
Soohyun's question caused his father Min-woo to smile.
"There are several reasons for that. But I will tell the three most important reasons. First, when we put mana bullets in weapons with a small bullet volume, such as infantry rifles or pistols, there is not much difference in the effect. Because the amount of mana we can put into a mana bullet is limited by the small size of the bullet."
"The second reason is that mana bullets are very expensive to manufacture. Each bullet goes through many processes before it is ready for use. From the processing of the mana to be added to it to the adjustment of the mana stone, experts are needed for each step. And these experts are not cheap."
"The third reason is the presence of Heroes. You know that heroes are incredibly powerful. The strongest in the world right now can shake a mountain hundreds of meters high with one attack. Their skin is so tough that it costs millions to produce mana bullets that can penetrate them."
"In short, the reason why magic technology has fallen so far behind is largely due to lack of demand. Magic technology currently exists only to serve the Heroes. Upgrading the Heroes' equipment, making large-scale weapons, and using mana to make new devices. Magic engineering will never go beyond that."
Soohyun nodded in understanding. Heroes had the power to ignore the limits set by nature.
Knowing this, Soohyun focused on the book again.
Seeing him like this, his mother and father giggled.