NEC Chapter 47: Belated Basic Studies

Chen Mo approached Instructor Morton again to purchase magical materials.

His instructor seemed increasingly taciturn, and the way he looked at Chen Mo grew stranger. The initial undisguised disdain had morphed into a complex mix of emotions.

Even the microexpression analyzer couldn’t parse it.

It wasn’t just the instructor. His classmates, too, regarded him as if he were some sort of dark knight, their gazes filled with curiosity and awe.

Morton led Chen Mo to a small storage room for potions. The room was dim, devoid of natural light, with air thick with the scent of herbs mixed with some kind of fur. It wasn’t unpleasant; rather, it had a refreshing quality.

Taking the wrapped magical materials from Morton, Chen Mo stuffed them into his backpack, paid, thanked him, and turned to leave. But Morton called out to him.

The middle-aged instructor’s gaze was complicated. “Why don’t you ever attend the Q&A sessions?”

“I don’t understand them!” Chen Mo answered earnestly. “All my spell basics come from your first day of teaching, so I can’t follow the questions they ask.”

Morton’s brow furrowed deeper. “Where did you study magic before? For how long?”

Chen Mo scratched his head. “At… a necromancer’s castle. About two months, give or take.”

He paused, then added, “I only learned basic meditation and altar summoning. Nothing else.”

“Damn those heretical mages, leading students astray!” Morton suddenly flared up, slamming the table, his face flushing unnaturally.

It seemed the instructor was reliving some painful memory, struck hard by the recollection.

He glanced at Chen Mo, hesitated, then spoke in a dry tone. “Er, Roy… cultivation is important, but you need to learn the basics of spellcraft. If you’re willing, come to me every afternoon. I’ll help you catch up on the foundational lessons you missed.”

“Without understanding the principles and applications of spiritual energy, you’ll never step into the true ranks of mages!”

He paused, pulled a stack of silver coins from a drawer, and slid them across the table. “I assumed you were just a spoiled young master buying materials on a whim, so I charged you extra. That wasn’t right.”

“This is the overcharge. Take it back. From now on, any materials for regular cultivation will be at the standard apprentice rate. Come to me anytime.”

In that moment, Chen Mo truly grasped the weight of Kato’s claim that Morton was “a good person.”

This stern, serious, almost pedantic middle-aged mage carried a stubborn sense of fairness and duty in his bones.

“Thank you, Instructor!” Chen Mo gave a slight bow. “I’ve always yearned to learn true magical knowledge! It’s my honor to receive your personal guidance.”

He gently pushed the stack of coins back and placed his own coin pouch on the table. “Instructor Morton, you’ve already taught the lessons covered by the tuition. My weak foundation is my own issue, so I believe I should pay extra for your additional instruction.”

Chen Mo’s logic was clear. He was here under a false identity. The original Roy had already gone through the foundational lessons, and as Roy, Morton had no obligation to reteach them.

Since the instructor was willing to tutor him privately, Chen Mo felt he should pay for the extra lessons.

Back on Blue Star, Chen Mo had attended plenty of teachers’ regular classes during the week and their private sessions on weekends.

It was an odd system: content not fully covered in official classes was taught in private lessons. But wasn’t that just how things worked?

And private tutoring, naturally, came with a higher fee.

It took Morton a moment to grasp Chen Mo’s meaning. For the first time, he felt that perhaps not all “rich people” were driven by greed and arrogance.

Thus began Chen Mo’s after-hours tutoring, adding to his already frenzied cultivation routine.

As a former spellcasting prodigy who had taught basics under Hal for years, Morton’s explanations were exceptionally clear and thorough.

“The essence of spellcraft lies in manipulating spiritual energy!”

“All our extraordinary powers don’t come from ourselves but from borrowing and harnessing the energy within the laws of the world. In essence, both warriors and mages follow this principle!”

“A strong body can absorb external spiritual energy to enhance itself—that’s the warrior path.”

“A strong mind can guide and utilize spiritual energy, triggering broader reactions—that’s the mage path.”

This was a groundbreaking lesson. Previously, whether at Black Crow Castle or among mercenary groups, the prevailing belief was that warriors and mages were entirely distinct systems. Warriors scorned “weak spellcasters,” and mages looked down on “brainless brutes.”

Now, Morton plainly told Chen Mo that in this world, the greatest barrier was knowledge.

Morton traced a symbol in the air, and Chen Mo’s eyes lit up. It was the basic spell model for an altar summoning, far more refined than his own, a geometric work of art.

“Everyone has a law domain they’re naturally attuned to, what we call talent. Unfortunately, talent can’t be detected by magical instruments; you can only sense it yourself.”

“Some spend their lives studying summoning only to discover their affinity lies with light elements, wasting their entire lives.”

“That’s why both warriors and mages emphasize building a foundation in the first three tiers and avoiding premature specialization. Choosing a path too early might lead you down one unsuited to you!”

“Those who push you to lock in a profession early are heretics!”

Chen Mo was touched by Morton’s earnest, almost pleading advice.

The instructor reminded him of his middle school homeroom teacher.

That teacher, who spent every moment either teaching or monitoring, assigning endless homework and texts to memorize, commandeering PE, music, and even break times, was universally criticized as a “menopausal old hag”!

Even now, Chen Mo didn’t think all her methods were right. But he had never again encountered a teacher who devoted every ounce of time and energy to their students.

At this moment, he studied with utmost focus.

Breaks? Nonexistent!

With his Blue Star education experience, he began to understand why Morton repeatedly stressed the importance of foundations and choices.

Without a solid foundation, you can’t make informed decisions about specialization.

Black Raven Castle’s approach was akin to teaching beauty and hairstyling from elementary school, declaring your life’s goal to be a better, richer Tony the stylist!

That could squander a potential Nobel Prize winner—a true disservice.

Yet, by a twist of fate, it had also made Chen Mo.

Had he not been limited to altar summoning, he wouldn’t have been forced to take a desperate gamble, connecting with his greatest asset in a moment of crisis.

Truly, fortune and misfortune were intertwined!

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