Chapter 6

"In this way, this is my daily life at the Atlas Alchemy Academy, where there are not only teachers who are enthusiastic about vivisection and midnight terror calls, teaching you how to toy with the living and the dead, but also muscle-bound brothers and war maniacs teaching you how to effectively combine magic and martial arts and fight for air superiority in battle. Oh, air superiority, I have never read in any web novel about magic schools in my past life that being a mage also requires you to learn the cobra maneuver and air superiority..."

Under the dim light, Sigma sat at a large desk, holding a fountain pen and writing earnestly in a meticulously crafted notebook. If someone were to watch, they would understand nothing, for the language Sigma used did not exist in the Noren continent but was from another world, his native language from his past life.

"There are many similar courses that have run through our college life over the years, such as the linguistics for rapid spellcasting, the human behavioral studies, the geometric drafting necessary for constructing spell models, and the fluid mechanics as the foundation of aerial combat theory... These subjects are somewhat familiar to those on Earth, yet they are not entirely the same. After all, this place truly puts humans at the center. The sole purpose of fluid mechanics is to make our flight spells easier to cast."

"This is what makes me feel out of place. Perhaps influenced by the web novels from my past life, I imagined magic schools to be more relaxed than third-rate universities, with a lack of teaching experience beyond arena battles and ancient ruins explorations. Students just needed to cast fireballs, flirt with beautiful mentors, and strive to level up, and after graduation, they would be assigned good jobs, becoming stepping stones for the protagonist and the antagonist to drive the plot—Noren is different. The academy gives me a sense that the mages' sense of crisis is unprecedentedly strong. They treat every dangerous place as a battlefield for self-honing, summarizing the lessons of countless battles into experience for new students. Almost all courses, at their core, are designed to help us survive in various dangerous environments and continuously grow. My intuition tells me this is a problem. This isn't about cultivating talent; it's about preparing for war."

"Who is the hypothetical enemy? I think it's forces outside of humans. More and more magic academies are supplying fresh blood to the entire human world without bias. Every year, graduating mages are poached by various factions. Mages can take on any role, meeting the needs of the ruling class, from military to civilian life. The Noren continent seems to lack the soil for science to exist; mages represent the direction of advanced productivity. Various new spells give mages increasingly important and... peculiar positions. At least my instructor, Hartmann, has this foresight; he has already begun to classify aerial combat mages in detail. Mages take on roles such as long-range artillery, infantry support vehicles, main battle tanks, fighter jets, bombers, radar vehicles, weather satellites, irrigation channels, telegraph machines, super bodyguards, large computers, massage sticks... Yes, if nothing unexpected happens, I will return home after graduation to get married and diligently become a human massage stick."

"Yes, I have been reborn in this world for about twenty years now. I have my own family, my own friends, and a beautiful, gentle, and capable fiancée—though I suspect she is after my family's wealth. They say when in Rome, do as the Romans do; a new beginning is a new life, but I still don't want to forget my past and don't want to become a complete Noren. Over the years, especially since coming to the academy, many things have continuously challenged my worldview. I don't like Noren customs. Yes, except for polygamy being legal, I don't like any other customs."

"If I could, I would rather be a priest or a paladin than a necromancer. After all, necromancers, due to their unique profession and power, are not very well-liked. Even the fact that necromancers can openly exist and recruit students worldwide is the result of compromises from all sides. They say that once you become a necromancer, you must have the resolve to distance yourself from the world, walking between life and death, understanding the power of death from the cycle and balance, and ultimately becoming a guardian of the world's balance—though it sounds good, the reality is more brutal. Necromancers walking in the human world are always met with distance and fear. Every living person suspects you of digging up or wanting to dig up their family graves. They also say that foolish mortals are shallow and not to deal with them, that humans don't understand our cause and dreams, but vampires and werewolves do. Go make friends with the creatures of the dark; we actually belong there."

"But I can't do that. I like green, I like the sun, and I like living in a fresh and warm place. I don't like bloody things, and I don't want to draw power from negative emotions like resentment, curses, and despair. I like dealing with kind and simple people and don't want to mix with cruel and bloody dark creatures because the former's smiles are warm, while the latter, no matter how elegantly they disguise themselves, their disregard for life makes me shudder."

"I've heard that practicing a certain mystical power will be influenced by its attributes, so mages who specialize in fire are passionate and violent, those who specialize in frost become expressionless, druids' tempers improve, paladins become single-minded, and priests become healers. As for necromancers, they become madmen who don't take death seriously."

"I think I would rather be a deranged pervert than a heartless butcher."

"I understand myself. My biggest problem isn't being afraid of the undead but being unable to think like a necromancer. I enjoy the privileges that power brings, the respect of others, the courting of the ambitious, and the resources of the powerful... Once you have power, money, influence, and beauty will follow. But the deeply ingrained education from my past life makes me unwilling to build everything on the foundation of contempt, trampling, and even toying with others' dignity. If one day in the future, I use others' despair, curses, and pain as invincible weapons, turning the dead into invincible power, and become the most powerful necromancer in the world, I would surely be a source of regret."

"So, over the years, I have always wanted to escape this place, to escape the necromancy academy that is gradually assimilating me. However, things have not gone as I wished. Due to my connection with the necromancers, my family's influence in the frontier has become more stable, and her guild has also connected with Atlas. The cunning old guys couldn't tempt me to betray the revolution, so they threw sugar-coated bullets at my family... The masters are always lenient, and the mentors teach with all their heart. They have no complaints about me, and I am not an ungrateful person, but I just don't want to learn... I don't want to disappoint myself or them. Now, I can only grow at my own pace, hoping not to disappoint many people."

"Alright, that's about it. I should become stronger. After all, the reason I can sit here and complain, pick and choose, be overly sentimental, and skip classes is indeed that unique necromancy talent. Over the years, most of the principles the mentors have instilled in me, I don't agree with, but they are right about one thing: my talent in necromancy is truly unparalleled. This talent is so powerful that it even scares me. Maybe it's the golden finger of a穿越者 (穿越者 means '穿越者', a term for someone who has been transported to another world)? Unfortunately, it was chosen in the wrong place."

Sigma wrote up to this point, stretched a big yawn, and placed the pen aside. Over the years, he always wrote his thoughts in the notebook because at the age of twelve, he had been horrified to realize that he was almost forgetting the faces of his loved ones from his past life. Thus, he developed the habit of recording things. The memories of his past life should not be forgotten. The possibility of returning is very slim, but at least he wanted to remember some things because it was a place filled with warm memories.

Luluwei quietly appeared in the shadow of the room. She noticed that Sigma was motionless, staring at the notebook with a calm yet sad expression. With her vast experience, she knew that this was the look of someone reminiscing about something forever lost. In such a state, Sigma's vigilance would drop to the lowest. At this moment, even a slightly more vicious ghost could scare him to death, achieving the greatest shock effect. However, perhaps the sadness emanating from Sigma affected the semi-ethereal ghost queen, and she hesitated, calming her magical fluctuations, and quietly left.

As a result, due to Luluwei not coming to attack as usual, Sigma was suspicious and restless, tossing and turning, and didn't sleep well all night.

***

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PS2: Perhaps my previous book left a deep impression, so I should clarify that the content of this book is original and not a fanfiction. Since I'm on the main site, I should write something of my own.

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