Chapter 2

Elisa carried a small bamboo basket and walked through the central passage of the village. Not long ago, the village, which had just experienced a disaster, now looked as if it had already regained its former vitality. Along the way, the villagers would stop their work and greet this thirteen-year-old girl, who was clearly a budding beauty. Although they had watched Elisa grow up, the little girl had now become the disciple of a great magician, and after completing her studies, she might be recognized by the nobles in the city and become a member of the upper class. Moreover, since the great magician was also a benefactor of the village, it was quite normal for the villagers to be polite to his students. The little girl with golden hair, who had two small braids tied with simple ribbons on both sides of her head, would also politely return their greetings. However, her pace did not slow down. While maintaining a proper demeanor in her greetings, Elisa quickly crossed the bustling village passage and soon arrived at the outskirts of the village. At the village entrance were vast fields of wheat, now lush and green, and if nothing went wrong, it would be a bountiful year. Without the obstruction of the village houses, one could see the relatively tall stone tower on the waist of the Rock Gate Mountain not far away. That was the mage tower where Elisa's teacher lived—although there was currently nothing in that mage tower... As the saying goes, "seeing the mountain is easier than running to it," although the distance between Rock Gate Mountain and the village was not so exaggerated, the girl still took half an hour to reach the foot of the mountain, then ran up the stone steps made of the same material as the mage tower. Before she even reached the mage tower, she saw a man in a black cloak reclining in a lounge chair, resting under a tree beside the mage tower. The afternoon sun filtered through the dense tree canopy, casting only a few spots of light on him. The man's arms and legs, exposed from the cloak, were wrapped in snow-white bandages, which stood out starkly against the black cloak. He was Elisa's teacher, a magician who was said to have traveled from the East. He came to this village half a year ago and stayed to teach Elisa because he recognized her talent. Originally, this was nothing unusual. Although the villagers had some resistance to outsiders, the magician did not live directly in the village but built his mage tower outside. Moreover, as a mysterious magician with supernatural powers, the simple villagers still had some fear of him and would not provoke him. Over time, apart from Elisa, who often went to her teacher to learn magic, the villagers gradually forgot about this reclusive magician. Until a month ago, a crazed arrow porcupine suddenly rushed into the village, causing widespread destruction. Normally, the hunters in the village, who relied on the mountain, could not deal with a level 3 arrow porcupine. However, this particular arrow porcupine was unusually fierce, not only much stronger than a regular one but also with an extraordinary defensive ability. Ordinary arrows could not even leave a mark on its skin. Unless a fully armed group of heavy cavalry was available, ordinary people would die one by one. When the village buildings were partially destroyed and casualties began to appear, Elisa finally persuaded her teacher to come and help. The great magician's intervention was extraordinary. After a flurry of fireballs and lightning, the arrow porcupine was left lying on the ground, convulsing. However, just as everyone thought it was safe, the convulsing arrow porcupine, perhaps in a last burst of energy, managed to fire a volley of quills. The great magician, caught off guard, was immediately injured. If not for the quick actions of a clever villager who immediately applied medicine and bandages, the magician would have died from excessive blood loss due to his weak constitution. Even so, the great magician, named Sivi, took about a month to recover to his current state. However, probably only Sivi himself knew that the original twenty-one-year-old unlucky fellow had been replaced. "Teacher, are you feeling better?" Elisa placed her small basket on a nearby stone table, lifted the burlap covering it, and revealed a few pieces of dry bread, a large piece of dried meat, and a bottle of milk. The girl first laid a clean piece of burlap on the table, then placed the food from the basket on it: "This is the lunch my mother prepared for you." The Elisa family was not very wealthy, and this level of lunch was already the best they could offer. "Thank you, Elisa." Sivi opened his eyes, looked at the little girl standing respectfully beside him, and gave what he thought was a kind and friendly smile. Being transported to this world was one thing, but at least he had a cute and obedient little girl as a bonus... Sivi chewed on the dry bread and glanced at Elisa, who seemed pleased that the great magician found their simple food acceptable. But why did he suddenly have a magic academy system in his body! Who was the deity that would put such a cliché plot into his life! Well, that wasn't what Sivi wanted to complain about. In fact, when he first realized he seemed to have a golden finger, he was secretly happy for a while, but soon he discovered that his golden finger was not quite right... He swallowed the bread with milk, his gaze fixed on his right hand, which was holding the milk bottle. There were no bandages on his right hand, and he could clearly see a tattoo on the back of his right hand that looked like a clock face, with only one hand, which was currently pointing to the mark representing 1. He remembered clearly that when he first arrived in this world, the hand was pointing to the mark representing 12 or 0. After a month of convalescence, the hand had moved one notch. He had a strange feeling that when the hand completed a full circle, his life would also come to an end. Sivi bit into the hard piece of dried meat as if it were the prankster deity, chewing it vigorously like gum. What a joke! Only one year to live, and he had already wasted a month. How could he possibly achieve the goal of the magic academy system—establishing the world's top magic academy—in the remaining eleven months! During the month he was bedridden, Sivi did not do nothing. At least he had confirmed that only he could see the tattoo on his hand. Additionally, he had almost fully integrated the memories of the original unlucky magician. He was just a traveling magician. Most magicians would specialize in a particular element based on their elemental affinity, but this guy, lacking the opportunity to learn orthodox magic, had a bit of knowledge in various magic theories and dabbled in each element. He even had some foundation in magic engineering and potion-making. But unfortunately, he was mediocre in all of them. Not only that, but after Sivi took over the body of this already初级法师的倒霉蛋，虽然继承了他所有的记忆，但在魔法方面却只能使用最基础的魔力飞弹了。好吧，至少现在这魔力飞弹能瞬发了……原本那个倒霉鬼就算已经晋升了初阶还是得念咒呢。 Sivi偶尔也会用这种极度阿Q的思维方式来安慰自己。总而言之，照目前的进度来看，用十一个月别说是建立世界第一的魔法学院，哪怕只是把自己提升到大魔法师这个级别都难上加难。既然没啥希望了，那干脆在最后的十一个月里好好享受一下人生好了。天性乐观，或者说神经粗到没边的Sivi马上就接受了这个设定，并且打算把自己从倒霉鬼那里获得的衣钵统统传授给Elisa，把小丫头调教、咳咳，教育成年轻有为的魔法师！也算是了却了那位不到二十岁就会搓火球的仁兄一桩心愿。不过那个倒霉鬼本事平平，眼光却不差，Elisa的资质远远好过Sivi前身，许多魔纹咒语一看就明白，甚至连繁杂的魔药配方都能很快背出来，魔法水准虽然还停留在魔力感知的阶段，但只要打下了夯实的理论基础，等到魔力感知阶段一过，本身就会有一个质的飞跃。顺带一提，某前身做到这一步用了整整三年，而小丫头虽然半年前就成为了Sivi的学生，但实际上真正接触魔法才是两个月前的事……用餐完毕，Elisa勤快地整理着篮子和麻布，还顺带擦了一下桌子，Sivi看着这个在他穿越前还只是上初中的年纪的小女孩，有种说不出的感觉。“Elisa，还记得我们昨天讲到哪里了吗？”整理了一下思绪，Sivi随口问道。“老师，我们讲到了魔法构成需要注意的基本事项，以及魔力运用中的几个禁忌。”已经整理完的Elisa端正地站在Sivi身边，乖巧地回答道。女孩那一丝不苟的表情让莫名的成就感在Sivi心里滋长，难怪以前老师都喜欢听话的好学生，原来如此。“那么今天就讲一下不同魔法属性变化时几个区别点好了。因为关系到你以后选择专修的方向，所以要好好听知道吗。”事实上，如果能亲身演示的话对于理解肯定更有帮助，不过Sivi这货目前也只有理论知识可以卖弄了……而且按照目前这种进度的话，恐怕这点理论知识很快也会被掏空了。“是的老师，我知道了。”Elisa自然不知道面前的老师早就和她一样变成了法师学徒的级别，依旧是认认真真地听从着Sivi的吩咐。Sivi对Elisa认真的态度满意地点点头：“理论学完之后就是惯例的冥想时间。虽然你还在魔力感知的阶段，但记得稳比快更重要，现在是打基础的时候，只有有了坚实的地基才能建起万丈高楼。”“我明白的，不过老师，”Elisa歪着小脑袋，好奇地问道：“这个世界真的有那么高的楼吗？”“额，如果浮空岛算的话，确实有……”

(Translation continues from the last part of the original text:)

"Elisa, do you remember what we talked about yesterday?" After organizing his thoughts, Sivi asked casually. "Teacher, we talked about the basic matters to pay attention to in the composition of magic, as well as several taboos in the use of magic," Elisa, who had finished organizing, stood upright beside Sivi and answered obediently. The girl's meticulous expression made a sense of accomplishment grow in Sivi's heart. No wonder teachers in the past liked obedient good students. "Then today, let's talk about the differences in the changes of different magical attributes. Since it relates to the direction you will choose to specialize in, you need to listen carefully, understand?" In fact, if he could demonstrate in person, it would be more helpful for understanding, but Sivi currently only had theoretical knowledge to offer... And at this pace, that theoretical knowledge would soon be exhausted. "Yes, teacher, I understand." Elisa, of course, did not know that the teacher in front of her had already been reduced to the level of a novice mage, just like her, but she still listened carefully to Sivi's instructions. Sivi nodded in satisfaction at Elisa's serious attitude: "After finishing the theory, it's time for the usual meditation. Although you are still in the stage of magic perception, remember that stability is more important than speed. This is the time to build a solid foundation, and only with a solid foundation can you build a skyscraper." "I understand, but teacher," Elisa tilted her head, curious, "is there really a building that tall in this world?" "Well, if floating islands count, then yes..."