Chapter 10: Mission
'A mission?'
Raze looked at the notification, surprised. He immediately tried to look into it further. The message opened and displayed all the details.
[Mission Update: A useful henchman is always needed for a villain]
[A good feature of a villain is their ability to find useful pawns and use them to get the desired result.
Jade has become your first target. Do whatever you need to ensure that she becomes your pawn.]
[Reward: A new spell, information about your coming to this world]
As he read through and made it to the last reward, he immediately felt a wave of conviction flow through him. If there was anything he really wanted right now, it was to find out who was actually behind all this.
'I guess I'll have to win Sage over as fast as possible,' he thought. He closed the system interface and placed his book on the table. He hadn't brought any material to read. With more than twenty minutes before class started, he decided to meet the teacher.
He got up and made his way to the teacher. The man looked up at Raze, wondering what kind of trouble he had come to stir this time.
"Sir, I'd like to borrow one of your textbooks. I left mine in my room, and I don't want to spend the next twenty minutes here doing nothing," he said in a respectful and confident tone.
The teacher was shocked. He hadn't expected that to be Raze's request. When Raze first arrived, he was a smart student, but he had changed, and now everyone saw him as a troublemaker.
The teacher nodded and pulled open a drawer. He picked a textbook from inside and handed it to Raze. Raze took it and headed back to his seat.
As he walked back, he made sure to watch Jade and see her reaction to his movements, but she didn't even flinch. That led him to form a theory.
The only way for him to enter her radar would be to rise back to the top of their class. Becoming the number one student—or at least a top student—would make her see him in a different light, as competition rather than a jealous bum constantly fighting the protagonist.
He got back to his seat, placed the book down, and sat. Opening it to the first page, he realized that all the knowledge he had now was from what the book provided. And for a fast-paced story, it didn't really explain much when it came to class scenes.
But he was living here now, and he needed all the information—for exams, tests, and day-to-day application.
The Theory of Magic.
That was the first thing he saw when he started reading, so he went on.
*(Magic—the ability to use an energy form called Mana and manipulate it to achieve the desired results.
For over a thousand years, magic has been used and refined through the ages, improving with each passing generation.
Some old practices have been abolished, while new ones have been discovered, leading to the continuous evolution of magic.
To this day, it is believed that humans have only studied a mere two percent of what magic has to offer. Research to uncover more continues on a daily basis.)*
As he read, the classroom door swung open. The protagonist and his group walked in—Mia, another boy, and a girl.
The boy was a well-built sixteen-year-old with short black hair. He wielded a greatsword and aspired to become an Arcane Knight. His name was Roger, and in the story, he eventually became a renowned Arcane Knight.
The girl was named Lily. She had golden blonde hair and a petite frame. If Raze recalled correctly, she died during a class assignment that went wrong in their second year.
Finally, the protagonist himself—Alex. Calm, powerful, and blessed in every way.
"How did I even make it through the whole book with such a pretentious asshole?" Raze muttered to himself as he watched them walk in. After a brief glance, he removed his attention from them and refocused on his reading. They weren't his problem right now.
*(Magic was first discovered when the first Mana vein was found.
Its discovery triggered a chain reaction, causing Mana to spread throughout the world thousands of years ago.
Since then, humans and other races have continuously studied magic, using it to accomplish feats that were previously impossible.)*
"Huh? So magic wasn't originally part of this world? It was discovered later?" Raze muttered. He reread the line before continuing.
*(Mana veins are node points of the massive Mana network believed to exist deep underground, connected to the core of this world.
This network is said to stretch infinitely across the planet, and at certain points, it branches upward toward the surface.
These branches, when discovered, are referred to as Mana veins. A single vein contains such potent Mana that an average person would instantly die if exposed to it in close proximity.
After the discovery of Mana, years of research followed to learn how to harness this energy, and soon, magic was birthed into the world.)*
Raze was glad to be reading this. In the story, the author had explained the birth of magic, but not in as much detail as this textbook.
However, one question lingered in his mind. The textbook didn't specify who had discovered the first Mana vein. He knew this world contained many intelligent races, so which one had found the vein and introduced Mana to the world?