READ NOVEL ONLINE Chapter 3
I’ve learned a lot during this time. The land that was everything I knew turned out to be just a tiny speck when viewed against the vastness of the world.
This seemingly endless expanse was one gigantic island, a small piece stuck at the edge of the continent. There weren’t many resources, so no one bothered to fight over this desolate place.
Once I realized the world’s vastness, greed began to stir within me. I wanted to venture out to that world. This cramped space was starting to feel too small for me.
But there was only one way to leave the island. It was close to the continent but still cut off by the open sea. I had to board the airship that came every 20 years.
I couldn’t even imagine swimming or sailing away.
The sea was filled with all sorts of bizarre creatures, many of which considered humans as their next meal. Even the caretaker’s husband had been said to be dragged away by some unknown sea creature and vanished.
“Of course, I can cross it.”
Ojo claimed that with the magical items and power he possessed, he could easily fly across the sea. But then he chuckled, saying it would be hard for me to reach his level even if I dedicated my whole life to it.
I knew it was a distant dream for me. I tried to sniff out other options, but I couldn’t find anything useful.
In the end, the airship was my only hope. Ojo told me a ticket would cost about 5,000 gold coins.
5,000 gold coins? That was an amount I couldn’t even fathom. I heard my clan earned about 500 gold coins a year. So, that’s ten years of income, right? A crazy amount!
“But it’s still better to leave here. I might even get to go to university.”
Ojo said this upon seeing my anxious foot-tapping. University—that was the very reason I wanted to escape the island so badly. If it weren’t for that, I wouldn’t be this troubled.
The gateway for all mages.
A monstrous world of magic that had existed long before the empire was founded. A place where the great archmage who established it and countless mages learning from him thrived. The first time I heard about it, I spent sleepless nights out of sheer curiosity.
“I graduated from university too. It took me around 100 years to finish the foundation courses.”
Ojo gazed off into the distance, as if reminiscing about those times. A century long. As someone who hasn’t even turned twenty yet, I couldn’t imagine that stretch of time. I gasped and asked.
“Is it really that hard?”
“They’re strict about sharing details of the university, so I can’t say much.”
Ojo tapped his wrist, as if hinting this was some sort of contract.
“But still, 100 years is relatively quick. Some mages never finish until they grow old and wrinkled. Plus, just getting into university isn’t something to take lightly. Only a handful can even get accepted, let alone graduate.”
The dream of this university that Ojo shared pumped my heart full of hope. University, university. A place where any great mage could study. A realm free from social status, where only skill mattered.
My heart was already heading toward the university. But my body was stuck on this island. Ultimately, it came down to money. There were about five years left until the airship arrived. 5,000 gold coins—where was I supposed to get that kind of cash? I wasn’t even sure I could earn that much by the next airship in 25 years.
Money—earning it was the most crucial thing.
As I pondered, memories of my past life suddenly flooded back.
In a haze of dream-like recollections, I saw myself as a drone. No, calling it a mere drone felt too limiting. Recently, I realized it was a type of doll.
Anyhow, I was controlling that flying steel doll. What if I could make something like that? I hadn’t yet recalled everything from my past life, but the powerful memory of killing with that steel doll was firmly imprinted in my mind.
And I sensed that it was entirely possible. Unlike the uncertainties I faced when practicing traditional magic, like fire and water, which never amounted to much power, my lack of talent was something Ojo often joked about.
Yet, when I thought about making a doll, a feeling of certainty swelled within me. Ojo had once said that this instinct was, in fact, a talent for learning magic. So did it mean I had a knack for dolls?
I immediately grabbed some wooden scraps and made a few dolls to experiment with their movement.
Imagining something drone-like was still out of my reach. I created a wooden doll resembling a person, animating its joints with magical energy, and it stood up and started moving.
However, this simple doll infused with magic was easy to move but broke down shortly after.
Next, I pulled magic out in the form of threads, maneuvering the dolls accordingly. This method was certainly more convenient. But controlling them proved to be quite tough.
Through repeated trial and error, I discovered the most efficient method was to give the doll a single piece of wood. Maybe I should call it a magical heart.
Building on the structure of wood existing within my body, I transferred that form fully into the doll.
It took about three years to reach this outcome. Clunky as it was, it was the best model I could develop at my level.
I took this doll to Ojo. He thoroughly examined it and then burst into laughter.
“Oh, you’ve got a good talent! I’m glad you found the right kind of magic for you. Handling dolls really hinges on talent.”
Then, Ojo infused the doll with magic. It took a couple of steps before collapsing. Was it broken? Panicking, I checked the doll but found nothing wrong.
“I lack talent in handling dolls. Those without sensitivity can’t make even the best dolls move.”
Ojo seemed genuinely fascinated by the doll, poking and prodding at it. Then he pulled out a scroll from his coat.
As Ojo touched his forehead and let out magic, a long thread flowed from his hand. My eyes widened in amazement at the strange sight.
As he placed that thread on the scroll, it transformed into letters that seemed to sink into it. The magical letters flickered, as if they would vanish at any moment.
“If you place this on your forehead, you’ll be able to see the memories I pulled out. I’ve written down what I know about dolls, so it should be useful.”
Ojo handed me the scroll. I took it with care and placed it on my forehead. The letters detached from the scroll and rushed into my mind, invading my thoughts as if I had become Ojo himself.
Inside were a hodgepodge of knowledge. Simple methods for making dolls, effective spells for dolls, materials used for dolls, how to deal with dolls, their prices, and so on. It was like I’d harvested a wealth of doll-related information through keywords.
Going through each piece piecemeal had my head spinning. Just as Ojo said, he didn’t seem to have much interest in dolls, as there was only a shallow depth of knowledge. Yet, there were still some valuable tidbits to be found.
One was regarding the magical heart. Though I’d based it on wood, there were inefficiencies since it was my own design. I’d never thought it was flawed, but there were evidently several aspects that needed improvement.
The foundational doll blueprint tucked inside made this clear. It was different from the method I created, but still, it was a reference worth exploring. Knowledge that appeared useless could meet my struggles and transform into something beneficial. If I’d been pondering alone, I might not have understood it even after ten years.
Beaming, I bowed my head at Ojo. He nodded and smiled in return.
Thus, five years passed again. I was now 23 years old.
This marked ten years since I began learning magic from Ojo. That time felt long in my life, yet it was still inadequate for mastering dolls and magic.
The airship came, but I couldn’t board due to lack of funds. Sneaking on wasn’t an option either. The mages who looked far more skilled than me were standing guard around the airship. Just approaching would get me glared at, making it impossible to dare get close. And so, the airship departed, and I had to wait another 20 years.
Once the decade of lessons was over, Ojo vanished into his workshop. I had a few questions and sought him out, but he didn’t even give a hint of a response. It was exactly as he said when he first started teaching me—the contract was completed.
When I announced to my clan that my magic training had finished, requests began to flood in from both inside and outside the clan. Being a mage was considered a great solution for any problem. Desperate for money, I accepted every request that came my way.
There was a job about taking out a clan enemy. He was a swordsman who came at me while slashing his flaming fireball. In a panic, I tried to flee, only to get stabbed by his sword at my waist.
In the end, I burned him to ashes, but it was still a pretty scary experience. How could some weed of a person wound me? Talk about a hit to the pride!
Another request came from an elderly man to fetch herbs from a mysterious place. I jumped at the chance when he dangled some coins in front of me.
But I never expected there would be a snake aged over a hundred inside! When I saw its scales that could even repel magic, I was utterly flabbergasted. I nearly became its dinner. Terrified, I barely managed to escape without picking any herbs.
So, I struggled through one mishap after another. However, I soon realized how incredibly inefficient this approach was. There’s no way I’d earn even 50 gold coins in a year at this rate. Sticking to this cycle meant I’d be repeating this for a hundred years.
I needed to be more efficient. The sight of the doll caught my eye. I had tried using it for a few of the requests. But it just ended up being flimsy and failing to deliver satisfactory performance. It couldn’t even withstand the sword slashes of the weeds.
But did I really need to fill its deficient performance up entirely? This thought struck me. What was the reason I wanted to make a doll? Was it not to use it like a drone? Based on this notion, I proceeded to produce numerous dolls. The first ones I crafted were tiny flying bugs, inspired by the drones of my past life.
I recalled seeing drones drop explosives from my memories. Even if a doll’s performance fell short, if I attached something powerful to it, it could deliver sufficient firepower. With that in mind, I designed something that could simply stay airborne for long periods.
There weren’t any extra features. All it had to do was fly high and silent. Securing the firepower was simple. Just coat the doll in something flammable and send it off with an explosive spell.
By launching a bunch of these dolls, handling requests became super easy. Sure, quite a few of them got smashed and vanished, but that was fine. I could just send out more.
Yet, this method had its limits.
Controlling the dolls required immense focus and magical energy. Even if I input a simple command, traveling long distances needed a hefty amount of magical energy. My shallow knowledge wasn’t enough to solve this on the spot. To fill this gap, I had to keep researching and refining my approach.
But I was still falling short. I was nowhere near enough to buy the ticket. I needed more efficient dolls. Something with a complete overhaul of the existing methods!
With that mindset, I stubbornly dove deep into doll research.
Ten years passed.
Through all the research and development, I finally managed to get a ticket for the airship!
Honestly, it was a bit shocking. Uh… I didn’t expect it to turn out this way.
But anyhow, I got it.
This happened when I was 33 years old.