"Wizards thrive in a world where power rules and knowledge reigns supreme," Lucian mused as he closed the book in his hands within the dimly lit library of Greybone Academy.
This was his third day in the wizarding world. With the memories he inherited from the original Lucian and the information he'd gathered in the library, he now had a basic understanding of both the wizarding world and the organisation he was part of.
In essence, wizards were scholars who used knowledge as leverage to manipulate reality, gaining power in the process. Cold-blooded and rational, wise yet often driven to madness. The bonds between wizards were far more distant and ruthless than anything he'd known before, embodying a pure survival-of-the-fittest mentality.
To protect himself, he would need strength—enough to stand on his own.
"In some ways, my system fits perfectly in this world," Lucian thought. "After all, exchanging existing knowledge for more advanced knowledge is a great deal for any wizard."
For wizards, knowledge was power, the lever to bend reality to their will, and the core of competition between them. Lucian's eyes gleamed at the possibilities, but his excitement quickly faded.
"Without a student, though, the system can't do much for me. And to bind a student, I need someone who genuinely wants to learn from me."
Lucian sighed. Over the past few days, he'd tried every possible way to find a "loophole" in the system, but all attempts had failed.
If it were an ordinary situation, Lucian wouldn't feel the need to rush things. Once his strength returned, he'd likely find a student without much trouble. But right now, things are complicated.
His mentor, the official wizard Pinor, was dead, leaving Lucian without any support within the academy. According to academy rules, third-tier wizard apprentices were assigned mandatory missions every three years, and Lucian's next mission was less than a year away. Without a powerful backer, the academy's official wizards would be more than willing to send him on the most dangerous missions—assignments that, as he recalled from the original Lucian's memories, had a fatality rate over 50% for apprentices.
And Lucian's situation was even worse. His predecessor had sold nearly all his magical gear and resources, converting them into potions and magic stones to try to suppress his injuries. Though he'd managed to stabilise his condition, he was now left with almost nothing but his wizard's robes. His combat ability was less than a tenth of what it had once been.
If he couldn't recover his strength before his mandatory mission, he'd have to pray for a second transmigration.
In short, Lucian desperately needed to regain his power before the academy assigned him a mandatory task. Lacking resources, his only viable path lay with his system, which could provide him with knowledge and other means of support to strengthen him quickly.
So now he needed a student—urgently.
Of course, Lucian considered himself a good mentor. He believed he was an exceptionally rare kind in the wizarding world—the kind one would need a lantern to find. Here, mentors and students shared no sense of loyalty; it was all about mutual exploitation. Most mentors played the role of taskmaster, hoarding valuable knowledge and using their protection to extract benefits from their students.
Some even used loopholes in contracts or exploited the gaps in their students' knowledge to mislead or even turn them into unwitting experimental subjects.
Lucian, however, was different. He genuinely wanted to teach his students, devoted to seeing them succeed. But without students, all of his enthusiasm and sincerity amounted to nothing. And here in Greybone Academy, where students had been hardened by the brutal realities of the wizarding world, none would believe Lucian's claims of being a kind and caring mentor. If anything, they would assume he had some ulterior, malicious motive.
Thus, simply recruiting a student wouldn't be enough; he needed someone willing to follow him sincerely, or it wouldn't meet the system's binding requirements. After some thought, Lucian settled on three potential paths.
First, he could choose a commoner without wizarding talent as a temporary student. While they wouldn't be able to become a true wizard, they could at least learn the basics, which might help him through this tough period. But this method would mean sacrificing one of the limited student slots, possibly even rendering the system unusable in the future.
Second, he could buy a slave apprentice. Slaves with enslavement runes engraved on their souls were loyal to the core, and binding them to his service wouldn't be a problem. But this option came with a hefty price tag—thirty magic stones for even the weakest first-tier apprentice. With all his assets combined, Lucian barely had a hundred magic stones. Buying an apprentice slave would consume almost a third of his remaining funds. The quality of such apprentices was generally poor, with slave apprentices typically used as obedient experimental subjects rather than actual students.
Finally, the last option—new recruits.
New blood was like a blank canvas, ready for painting, and it would be easier to guide… or rather, "convince" them. Conveniently, the academy's recruitment airship was already on its way back with the latest batch of students. Within a week, they'd arrive at Greybone Academy, each hoping to one day become a great wizard—or end up as part of the natural cycle of life in Greybone Forest.
The only problem was figuring out how to attract a student from among the new blood, especially a good one.
Truthfully, in his current state, Lucian couldn't compete with the other third-tier apprentices, let alone any official wizards. If he let the new recruits choose freely, he might end up with no students at all.
But if the standard methods wouldn't work... well, Lucian would have to come up with a different approach.