Chapter 20 Help and Distraught

Unbeknownst to the students, the unsuspecting chair in the corner of the room had changed to an older student who was just sitting there looking at the students constantly fail, and after five minutes he stood up instantly getting glances from every student facing his way.

"You are a talented one," He said while walking up to Zhāng "sure you are completely clueless on how to do it but it seems like you are blessed by magic– whatever it is– as wand movements have no correlation to staff movements".

"Completely different really, I recommend stopping for today and getting a book called Wand to Staff Translation by Kong Lei, or you could go to old man kong himself, he is the drunkard that stares out the window and is most recognizable with the usage of apparition in his fighting form" the student continued "he is one of the best staff users in all of China, maybe even the world".

All the while this student was talking Zhāng remembered the old man staring out the window at passing students with a big bottle in his hand "and this old man can teach me?".

"Of course what part of one of the best staff users did you not understand, you didn't even know there were different waves for each type including rings, bracelets, and other forms of foci meaning staves as well," he said while lifting his hand showing a golden ring with a red ruby imbedded into it, straightening his arm while also bracing it on the elbow with the other he made his arm almost like a wand before shouting "Lignum Ignis".

Picking up a newly made match from the pile of pebbles on Zhāng's desk "definitely not like what the teacher did right?".

"Definitely," Zhāng said while staring at the match in his hand "As for all of you, you may have the wand movements down– well I hope you do its been what 400 tries, you all don't understand what the end goal is, take the mass, viscousness, rigidity into consideration ohh and concentrate more".

"Why are you helping us?" A female student in the corner asked.

"One because it's kinda my job, and two because although it's hilarious to see you constantly fail on something so easy it stopped being funny 40 minutes ago, and I would rip my hair out if I had to watch you fail for another hour– so I'm going to get gone to receive my Huang then I never have to oversee another year one transfiguration class again," he said with a genuine smile on his face.

Seeing the older student leave, there was no teacher, and he found a way to learn how to fix his problem. Zhāng also left. With an hour and a half left in the class, he could easily get to this old man's house and back.

Slowly the ache from the dueling class was being overtaken by curiosity, the curiosity of magic. Zhāng from the moment that he got home after getting the textbooks was entrapped by the promise of summoning lightning from his hands or moving mountains with his thoughts, even though those ideas were promptly shut down by the realization that magic was more ridged and less fantastical he was still hyped.

Standing outside of the old man's house he walked up and knocked on the door, like the first time he tried to make a match from a pebble nothing happened. Knocking again he once again heard nothing, but it was on the third knock that he heard a yelling voice from inside the house.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah you idiot I'm coming" the voice was deeper than he imagined while as he expected a bit slurred.

"What do yah want kid?" He asked.

"I heard that there were different movements for staves is that true?".

"Yes it is".

"And I heard that a man called Kong Lei could teach me".

"No, no, no he can't he is a busy man, good day," he said before abruptly closing the door.

"Rude" Zhāng gawked in mock offense before knocking on the door again, and again.

"Kid, do you have nothing better to do than bother your elders?".

"Nope, I've got an hour, so why are you busy?" Zhāng asked with a shit-eating grin.

"Fine if you really want to be taught then leave the city and go north, there is a mountain and on said mountain is a flag, if you bring that to me then you will be taught," Kong said while inwardly laughing.

Nodding to the request he left to go back to the campus library to prepare for herbology.

The outside of the library was a giant terrace connecting over a dozen bridges that branched to every section of the campus, while the library proper was more akin to the Greek Parthenon with giant stone circular pillars holding up an overhanging roof that was where the similarities ended– with giant carvings into the pillars filled with figures such as Confucius, Qin Shi Huang the first emperor, even Gan De who magically observed Jupiter long before galileo saw it, Zu Chongzhi a great and powerful Arithmancer, with many dozens more famous and historically important people.

The library itself was a charred wood with golden accents, an obvious stylistic choice from the man who created the academy and was inscribed in the pillars, Qin Shi Huang.

Inside the library was a sight that made the circular library look like a village hermits personal library– millions upon millions of books, although Zhāng didn't know it there was an array in the building that can magically copy any book on the planet meaning even if it was the rarest, most special book if it didn't have specific or very powerful charms on it then there was no way to evade the array, to make such a thing took over an entire wizarding generation's worth of time to make and remains a heavy expense.

Walking to a free desk took over five minutes allowing Zhāng a moment to think about the request that the old man had given, the only mountain that he saw when he first came to the city must have been over 4000 meters high, maybe even five.