“Reward?!” Bexia froze for a moment. With everything that had happened with Christine these last few days, he’d completely forgotten there was even such a thing.

“This whole affair counts as a scandal of our own Asman royal family. For the sake of our reputation, it’s not suitable to make it public. So I can’t give you much in the way of an official reward. I can only give it to you privately.”

“Just tell me what you want. As long as it’s not too excessive, I can agree to it.”

“Uh…” Bexia instantly felt awkward. Honestly, he didn’t have any special demands. Life at the academy was pretty good.

“You’d better think carefully. Whether it’s a title, money, or high-level meditation methods, combat arts, spells—anything like that is fine. This old man’s hoarded a few things over the years.” Bor saw Bexia’s expression and reminded him. These were exactly the things most people dreamed of getting.

“I really don’t need anything. But Sis Dragon’s shrine collapsed. Dean Bor, could you help her rebuild it? Otherwise she won’t even have a place to live.”

“You don’t need to say that kind of thing. That girl did a lot too. Even if you didn’t mention it, the kingdom will send people to repair the shrine.”

“You should still think about what you want.”

“I honestly don’t have anything I really need. If I have to say something… I just want to raise my strength faster.”

“Raising your strength quickly isn’t necessarily a good thing. Steady and solid is what matters.” Bor pinched his chin as he spoke.

“I don’t mean shooting up all at once, just… I feel way too weak right now.”

“It’s good you can see that. Chasing power too hard can backfire sometimes.”

“I know.”

“But since you insist, I won’t just ignore it. I’ve got a high-grade magic item I got back in the day. It should help you quite a bit.” Bor took out a wooden box, opened it, and revealed what was inside.

“This ring is called The Converging Magic Ring. It’s forged from a very special elemental magic stone. It boosts your mana perception and mana absorption speed. At the same time, it has an auto-condensing effect—it can gather a large amount of pure mana inside the ring. Whether you use it for cultivation or to recover in battle, the effect is excellent.”

“It’s yours now.” Bor finished and pushed the box toward Bexia.

“This is way too valuable.” Bexia wasn’t exactly sure of the ring’s worth, but he’d read about magic stones in books. Even an ordinary low-grade one was worth several hundred gold coins. A high-grade magic stone? Its price grew geometrically—thousands or even tens of thousands of times a low-grade stone.

He estimated this ring was worth at least tens of thousands, maybe more. He couldn’t even picture how many actual coins that would be. Poverty really limited his imagination.

“This thing’s useless to me now. Better to give it to someone who needs it. It is a pretty decent treasure, after all.” Bor smiled kindly. Back then, he’d spent over a million gold coins to get this ring. Its true value was far beyond Bexia’s guess.

“Then I’ll accept it. If you ever need it back someday, Dean, I’ll return it to you.”

“I’ve already given it to you. How could I take it back?” Bor was amused by Bexia’s words.

“So what’s the second thing you wanted me for, Dean?” Bexia stopped being so stiff about it, decisively put away the box, and asked about the second matter.

“The second thing is actually just a question.” A faint smile rose on Bor’s face.

“I want to take you as my disciple. Would you be willing?”

“Huh?!” Bexia blanked out.

Become Bor Asman’s disciple?

Anyone else in his place would’ve agreed on the spot without a second thought. This was basically a pie falling from the sky.

Bor was the dean of Asman Academy. Becoming his disciple would instantly raise one’s status. It meant wide connections. And as a crowned champion–level elementalist, just his name alone was enough to make any power take his disciple seriously.

And behind Bor stood the Asman Kingdom. With Bor as a bridge, you could easily step into the noble circle, shed your commoner status, and climb into high society.

On top of that were the resources. After becoming Bor’s disciple, there’s no way he’d leave you with nothing. All kinds of magic materials, potions to boost mana, high-level meditation methods, powerful spells and combat arts—once you became his disciple, all of that would come.

Even Bor himself thought, if he and Bexia switched places, he’d agree without hesitation. The temptation was just too strong.

But today he’d actually run into someone who refused.

“I’m afraid I’ll have to refuse.”

Bexia’s quick rejection left Bor—the crowned champion who’d seen every kind of scene—completely stunned. He stared blankly at Bexia, not even sure what to say next.

“……………”

“I actually really want to know why the Dean wants to take me as a disciple.”

“Has anyone ever tested your elemental talent?”

“Uh…” Bexia thought back, then shook his head. “I don’t think so.”

“Then try it now.” Bor flipped his hand and took out a transparent crystal ball. “Put your hand on it and focus your mind.”

“Okay.” Bexia did as Bor said. Before he could even concentrate, the crystal suddenly flared with blinding light. Seeing this, Bor’s expression turned into one of “just as expected.”

“Do you know what that means?” Bor put away the crystal ball, his face surprisingly calm.

“...My talent’s pretty good?” Bexia guessed.

“Pretty good? You’re selling yourself way too short. From the way you understood magic that night, you’re practically a born elementalist. You probably don’t know that the spells you saw were all at least high-level magic. A regular elementalist might study them for months or even years and still not explain them as clearly as you did.”

“And your way of understanding magic completely goes beyond human thinking. I’m not afraid you’ll laugh—these past few days I’ve been experimenting with the methods you mentioned. The results were beyond what I expected.”

“I was just talking casually…”

“Casually? Do you realize you’re about to open a new era of magic? Using your theory, I’ve hugely cut down the time needed to cast spells, and the power is even stronger than before. Do you know what that means?”

“As long as we can shape this into a concise magic theory, then with your ideas we can ignite a full-on revolution in magic!” Bor’s face flushed red with excitement.

The way Bexia grasped magic didn’t feel human at all. He’d simplified insanely complex spells into something extremely straightforward, without weakening their original power. The more someone understood magic, the clearer they were on what that really meant…