The Rules of Wizards (Part 1)

Yes, perfect. This is exactly the expression I wanted!

Sensing Carrie's awe and admiration, Lucian couldn't help but smirk, though he kept his expression concealed to maintain his mystique.

With a steady hand, he poured a potion from the test tube into the bubbling cauldron before him. As the liquid met the mixture, a rush of bubbles erupted—an ideal opening display, or so he thought. But in the next moment, Lucian's excitement turned to dread as the potion in the cauldron changed colour from a dark green to an ominous red.

Oh no, I left out the pre-treated solution too long!

Despite inheriting the memories of the original Lucian, he hadn't yet fully absorbed all his predecessor's practical experience.

With a soft pop, the cauldron emitted a puff of black smoke.

Lucian: …

Carrie observed her mentor's now somewhat troubled expression and couldn't help but feel she had brought bad luck with her arrival.

"Just a minor mishap," Lucian said, taking a deep breath. He pushed his disappointment aside and looked Carrie over thoughtfully. "Is it just you here?"

"There's… there's someone else, but he... he might be delayed," Carrie replied hesitantly, thinking of Yellen and how he'd run off with another third-tier apprentice. She tried to phrase it as delicately as possible.

"Alright. In that case, why don't you sit down for a bit? I'll begin our first lesson once he arrives," Lucian replied, giving a small wave. With a simple gesture, a chair floated from the back of the lab and landed in front of Carrie.

"Um… Mentor, is there anything I can help with?" Carrie asked nervously, glancing at the remnants of the failed potion experiment. She felt uncomfortable watching her mentor clean up alone and finally mustered the courage to offer assistance.

Lucian looked at the young girl gripping the edges of her dress and then at the mess on his worktable, chuckling slightly. "Alright, you can help clean up. I'll teach you the proper way to handle these tools—you'll likely find it useful someday."

"Y-yes!" Carrie said, jumping up and hurrying to Lucian's side, carefully holding her breath as if even breathing too loudly might disturb him.

"Nervous?" Lucian asked, noting her tense posture. She was young, probably no more than eleven or twelve, and looked quite small next to him.

"N-no!" Carrie stammered, instinctively straightening and clutching the sides of her skirt even more tightly.

Lucian couldn't help but think of a certain nervous character from his previous life. "Cleaning these tools isn't so different from washing dishes. Of course, there's a bit of a technique involved, or you might damage the equipment," he explained, demonstrating before letting Carrie start with the simpler items.

"Alright, I'll give it a try," Carrie responded, moving deftly and showing surprising dexterity.

Lucian nodded in approval and moved on to cleaning the cauldron himself—its residue was hazardous enough that only someone with wizarding experience should handle it.

How long does it take for him to get here? Lucian thought irritably as they finished up. Two hours had passed, and Yellen still hadn't shown up. Though he considered himself a patient mentor, being stood up by a student who hadn't even officially apprenticed yet was more than a little frustrating. After all, he'd been eager to bind his students to activate the system fully.

"Mentor…" Carrie hesitated, sensing Lucian's increasingly stormy expression and was about to speak when a loud, casual voice came from the hallway.

"Lucian!"

Carrie closed her mouth, while Lucian frowned and waved a hand, causing the laboratory door to swing open. He saw another third-tier apprentice, dressed in a black robe similar to his own, striding down the hallway.

"Norian, what brings you here?" Lucian's frown deepened. According to his predecessor's memories, Norian was a third-tier apprentice of similar strength to his own, with an official mentor as backing. The two had no significant relationship and even some minor disagreements.

Carrie shrank back slightly, recognizing Norian as the apprentice Yellen had followed earlier, and her intuition told her trouble was brewing.

"Just a small matter," Norian said with a smile. "One of the newcomers wants to study under me, but it seems he mistakenly chose you as his mentor."

"So, let's settle this according to the rules. You hand over the boy, and I'll compensate you fairly. Let's say… a single magic stone. He's only a third-grade talent, nothing particularly rare." Norian smiled as he spoke, not caring at all about Lucian or Carrie's presence. He even gave Carrie a pointed look, as if enjoying the discomfort he caused.

Norian saw no need to show respect to a weakened Lucian; without academy rules, he likely wouldn't have offered even that single stone.

Lucian's pupils narrowed. One magic stone? That was the bare minimum to make it an official "exchange." Had it not been required by academy regulations, Norian likely wouldn't have offered any compensation at all.

This was nothing short of outright bullying, taking advantage of his injuries to snatch his student!

Lucian's slight glare did not go unnoticed by Norian, but the latter didn't care. Lucian at his peak was only on par with Norian; in his current injured state, Norian didn't fear him at all.

The wizarding world was one of survival of the fittest.

Now that Lucian was weakened, Norian saw an opportunity to take advantage. If he didn't seize the chance now, he might not even get scraps later.

Taking several deep breaths, Lucian steadied himself, looking at Norian's taunting smile. This was the cold and merciless jungle law, the wizard's law.

Yet, despite knowing this, a sense of unwillingness simmered within him. After all, he'd just paid twenty precious magic stones for his students—an enormous amount considering he now had less than twenty stones left in total.