Geometric Mage: First Spell, Circle

"Let's recap," Inside the walls of the Rune Forge, Torin and Lian were discussing the artifact thief.

The atmosphere was tense, but the usual gruff Torin was nowhere to be seen. In his place was a different person. It was still Torin, but his attitude toward Lian had changed.

He was looking out for him almost like a father—no, an older brother. And as such, he did not want Lian to be a victim of bullying.

"A Bronze 5 Mage with wind affinity. His name is Plammer—" Torin paused for a second. His gaze was odd as he looked at Lian. "Explain to me how a guy named Plammer could be real? It is clearly a fake name, a joke. How the hell did you fall for it?"

"I told you!" Lian replied with an embarrassed expression, scratching the back of his neck. "It all happened so fast! He pulled out those sacks full of gold coins—"

"Sacks full of gold coins? Where do you live, Lian, under a rock? Who the hell carries around that many coins? Nowadays, there is the card, an artifact you get from the bank where you deposit all your gold coins…"

Torin took a deep breath before continuing. "Is it possible you know nothing? You should take a basic course on how to live in the world—"

Lian did not respond. His skin was not thick enough to argue back. Not that he could, anyway; he was completely in the wrong.

"Anyway," Torin continued with a resigned look as he relaxed the tension in his fists. "I do not know any Plammer. Sure, I am not the best when it comes to knowing people… I spend all my time here. Still, I am fairly well-known in the academy. I may not reach Master Corvan's level, but I am appreciated."

A glimmer of hope sparked in Lian's eyes.

"I will issue a request to the association that handles it. In the meantime—" Torin pulled another sword from his spatial ring, identical to the previous artifact. "Take this. A wind element artifact, Bronze 5. Not bad, right? But this time, be careful. Do not lend it to the first person who comes along."

Lian nodded, his face flushed. "I know. It was a stupid mistake. But I have learned from my errors."

"Good, now you can go. I have work to do." Torin turned, casting one last glance at Lian.

"Torin, one last thing. Could I have some normal weapons? You know, I plan to practice…" Lian lied blatantly. He did not want to practice; he wanted to enchant them, turn them into artifacts.

"Oh, right. Besides being a Mage, you are also a Knight. But be careful. My advice is to focus on just one path. With the times we are in, time is a luxury we do not have, kid."

Torin led Lian to another room, where countless weapons of all kinds were gathered: spears, swords, hammers, staves, staffs…

Lian grabbed several weapons before thanking Torin and leaving the Rune Forge.

The sun was still in the sky, a light breeze ruffling his hair.

"Ah, finally." He took a deep breath. "I cannot wait to try enchanting the staff. I should be good at creating the matrix; after all, all I do is draw geometric shapes…"

The street was not as crowded as usual. Fewer students were walking through the academy's paths.

What is going on? he thought while continuing to walk, nibbling on some dried meat. Do not tell me there is an important event today that I know nothing about…

"Speaking of people… I wonder what Rick is doing today. I have not heard from him since yesterday. Come to think of it, I feel a bit like an idiot…"

Reflecting on the theft, Lian smiled slightly. Not even a day had passed, and yet he had in his hands an artifact even better than the one from yesterday, not to mention that he could create others.

In short, from this perspective, the loss of the artifact was not a huge loss.

"Sigh, I just hope he has not blamed himself too much… I think I will go check on him."

Strolling through the academy's streets, Lian overheard many conversations of all kinds. Most were nonsense, but one voice caught his attention.

"Have you heard? The number of Gates appearing in our territory lately is constantly increasing. They are mostly low-level Gates that stabilize after a day or two, but there are many. Should we join the Raids too?"

What? Gates are appearing more frequently? Why did I not know anything about this?! Lian thought to himself.

"I think it is risky. We could run into some unknown danger," replied the girl beside him. Her gaze was slightly frightened as she thought about facing monsters. "After all, to properly assess a Gate's power, you have to wait for phase three, when the monster waves come."

"I say we should participate! We are too weak to handle it alone, but I heard the Gates appearing are not that dangerous," a boy with a braver demeanor spoke boldly while dismissing the concerns. "Besides, if we run into something dangerous, it would not even be a problem. We will not be the only Mages entering; there will surely be stronger students. They will handle it."

The sturdier boy nodded. "Exactly. Plus, Iron Knights will also participate to support Mages like us."

The girl did not respond immediately. Her gaze seemed hesitant as she listened to the two speak with such enthusiasm.

I should ask them for more information… now that I think about it, I know nothing about the academy except what Rick told me… what have I been doing all this time, playing with dolls? Lian thought ironically as he approached the trio.

"I think it is dangerous… Fois and I should at least reach Bronze 2. In the end, it should not take us long, maybe just a month—"

"Excuse me,"

The three turned simultaneously toward the newcomer. Brown hair, a lock falling over blue eyes. His smile seemed reassuring, but despite this, the girl who had been interrupted had a worried look.

"Sorry, I did not mean to interrupt, but I overheard you talking, and I got curious…" Lian's voice was calm and reassuring as he apologized again. For some unknown reason, the girl seemed scared as she took half a step back, positioning herself closer to the sturdy boy.

Seeing the odd situation, Lian laughed lightly. "Relax, I just wanted to know more about the Gates. But first, let me introduce myself. My name is Lian, nice to meet you."