The Problematic Child of the Magic Tower
Chapter 24: The Star Instructor, Oscar (3)
"The market is cold."
Fidelina mumbled as soon as she returned from her business trip.
Maxim, noticing her looking out of sorts, commented.
"What's that supposed to mean all of a sudden?"
"...I couldn't sell even a single potion."
She slumped into a chair, looking unusually downcast.
Seeing her like this, the deputy master cautiously spoke up.
"You couldn't sell a single potion? Was there some sort of issue?"
"I wish I could say there wasn't, but yes, there is a big problem."
She let out a deep sigh before continuing.
"Everyone's too wary of the Blue Tower, so no one wants to accept our potions."
"Hmm."
It wasn’t a problem hard to understand.
The undisputed powerhouse of the potion market was the Blue Tower.
Merchants naturally had to be mindful of them.
"That’s certainly a tricky issue. How about lowering the price further?"
Fidelina shook her head at Maxim’s question.
"The price advantage is already sufficient. Compared to the Blue Tower's potions, ours are about 15% cheaper. On top of that, our potions use herbs from Sirin, making them healthier and with fewer side effects. If we only consider product merit and quality, ours win hands down."
"Were there any places, even small ones, that were willing to do business?"
"...Actually, a few black markets requested bulk supply, but I turned them down. Trading with such places would damage the Tower's reputation."
Black markets are rife with stolen goods, and most of their suppliers are criminals, making them far from clean business environments.
"The product has no issues, yet no one's willing to buy it. This is a big problem."
Currently, nearly all of the White Tower’s revenue came from medicines related to the Cadena flu.
However, the treatment had already been widely sold, and the demand for vaccines was rapidly declining due to their nature.
If they didn’t find a new source of income, they would inevitably return to their previous impoverished state.
Fidelina looked at Maxim and asked,
"What is Oscar up to these days? That kid's sharp; maybe he can come up with an idea."
"Would he have a solution? He's busy preparing for lectures these days."
"...Lectures? Is he teaching something related to alchemy?"
"No, it's basic magic. Surprisingly, from what I’ve heard, the reviews are quite positive."
"Teaching others with that personality of his? I can’t even imagine it."
Maxim unconsciously nodded in agreement before clearing his throat awkwardly.
"Ahem. I was actually planning to sit in on his class tomorrow, so I’ll ask for his opinion on the potion issue as well."
He said that, but he didn’t really think Oscar would be able to solve the problem.
This wasn’t something that could be fixed just by making a better potion.
It was more about politics, something beyond the understanding of a young child like Oscar.
...Because of the grown-ups’ circumstances, another innocent child was bound to get hurt again.
Maxim pondered deeply on how to break the news to Oscar in a less hurtful way.
Wednesday morning.
After finishing preparations for his lecture the following day, Oscar visited the training room on the 40th floor.
It was his first time visiting since teaching Fran last time.
'The students mentioned there was something interesting here.'
Oscar passed by dozens of training rooms until he stopped in front of a room with a different colored door.
He looked up at the nameplate above it.
[Future Innovation Training Room]
Future and innovation.
Two words that were the least fitting for the current White Tower.
Only three of these rooms existed in this floor made up of 300 individual training rooms.
‘I’ll find out what makes it different from the usual training rooms once I go inside.’
He entered and looked around the interior.
At a glance, it didn’t seem very different from the typical training rooms.
"...Does it feel a bit different?"
Oscar muttered, knowing it sounded like a foolish remark.
Suddenly, a clear voice came through the training room speakers.
-Hello, this is Argo, the next-generation training support system. Unregistered user detected.
'Ah, I see.'
Oscar's eyes glinted with realization.
Magic engineering.
This technology seemed even more magical than actual magic for someone like him, who lived 20 years ago.
‘So that’s how it is...’
Oscar’s expression turned sour as he grasped the situation.
'Those Yellow Tower bastards must be raking in money. I’m so envious I could die.'
Just then, the voice identifying itself as Argo continued.
-If you register your information, we can provide a personalized training course. Would you like to register now?
"No."
-Registration declined. Proceeding with training as an unregistered user. Please set the desired training program level.
"...Level?"
-The training program has a total of 100 levels, tailored to match the user’s skill.
Oscar stroked his chin, showing interest.
"Alright, let’s start with level 1."
-Understood.
Moments later, three spheres, each about the size of a human head, appeared in front of Oscar.
The spheres started moving slowly, like turtles crawling.
-Use physical or magical attacks to burst all three spheres. If you use area-of-effect magic to burst the spheres, the training will be canceled.
Oscar lightly released his mana, bursting the spheres, and cheerful music filled the training room.
-Congratulations! You’ve cleared level 1!
"Oh, it works like this?"
For a training exercise, it was quite engaging.
It was excellent for improving reaction time, casting speed, and mana control.
‘I like that they’ve prevented easy cheats using area-of-effect magic too.’
To be honest, just playing around with this would significantly improve most mages' skills.
'If level 1 is like this, I wonder what level 100 would be like?'
Curiosity got the better of Oscar, and he spoke.
"I want to increase the level."
-To what level would you like to set it?
"Level 100."
As soon as he said that, the training room's lights turned a flashing red.
-Warning: From level 80 onward, the spheres become very small and move extremely fast, even attacking the user. For the safety of the elderly, pregnant women, or children, we recommend stopping the challenge.
"It’s fine. Proceed."
Once the lights returned to normal, Oscar casually stretched his neck and warmed up.
‘Come on, how hard could it be?’
The moment he thought that, a swarm of tiny spheres, far smaller than before, appeared.
The spheres were barely the size of two fingertips.
-Use physical or magical attacks to burst 1,000 spheres. If you use area-of-effect magic, the training will be canceled. If you get hit by a moving sphere more than 10 times, the training will be canceled.
Oscar instinctively tilted his head to the side.
Whoosh!
He barely dodged the sphere, which flew as fast as an arrow.
On top of that, there were a thousand of these spheres darting around the training room at such speed.
‘...They don’t even slow down when they hit the wall.’
Feeling a sense of danger, Oscar hurriedly launched four Wind Cutters into the air.
Bang! Bang bang bang!
The Wind Cutters, moving as if alive, chased down and burst the incoming spheres, but the number of spheres didn’t seem to decrease at all.
‘...At this rate, I’ll run out of mana first.’
Oscar thought, sensing the urgency of the situation.
He immediately scattered all of the Wind Cutters.
‘What I need right now is something that consumes less mana than Wind Cutter, can pop the balls, and can be used in greater quantities.’
With this thought, Oscar quickly made a decision and began shaping his mana.
What he created were twelve mana needles.
‘Compared to Wind Cutter, I've reduced mana consumption by 96%, but increased the number by 200%.’
This was possible because his magical calculation ability and mana control were honed to their limits.
‘Although in my current state, handling around twelve is the limit... But this should be enough.’
With that, the twelve needles shot forward, mercilessly bursting the approaching orbs.
‘They said I'd fail if I got hit ten times. As a former Tower Master, there's no way I can lose to these simple training orbs.’
Oscar moved his body vigorously, dodging the incoming orbs.
‘Looks like the stamina training every morning is paying off.’
Although he was still out of breath after just a bit of movement, he had clearly improved compared to before.
‘But... isn't this training a bit too advanced for beginners?’
He muttered in surprise.
‘This requires not just control and calculation of mana but also physical abilities.’
In other words, this 100-stage training is not just about effort; it requires innate talent, something you're born with and can't change.
‘Well, no matter what.’
For someone like Oscar, who had survived countless battlefields, this level of training felt almost adorable.
Pop! Pop! Pop!
The sound of orbs bursting like popcorn filled the training room.
The moment he burst the 1,000th orb, a notification rang out.
-Congratulations! You have passed the 100th stage.
"Huff, huff. That was a good warm-up."
Oscar collapsed onto the floor, drenched in sweat, catching his breath.
‘So, the mages of this era undergo this kind of training from a young age?’
If that was true, then modern mages might be far superior compared to the past.
It also meant that the White Tower had a long way to go.
‘...No need to rush. Just take it one step at a time.’
With a smile, Oscar jumped to his feet.
His stamina was completely drained after just a few minutes, but he felt surprisingly refreshed.
"Maybe I should come here to relieve stress once in a while."
As he dragged his exhausted body out of the training room, he suddenly froze when he met someone's gaze.
A woman with long brown hair tied up behind her head.
Her sharp, upturned eyes drew his attention.
Although it was his first time seeing her in person, he knew who she was.
‘Veronica Fricks. She was also one of the troublemakers mentioned in little Oscar's journal.’
Veronica Fricks visited the training room again today, as she did every morning.
For her, starting the day with a sweaty workout was a long-standing routine.
She was a firm believer in the saying, "Healthy mana resides in a healthy body."
Her steps halted when she encountered an unexpected person.
‘Oscar Crucian?’
The man once called a genius by the world was panting heavily as he emerged from the training room.
He stared at her intently.
His deep and calm eyes were unreadable.
She hated those eyes, which seemed to look down on everyone.
They made her feel even more insignificant than she already did.
In the end, she was the one who spoke first.
"What are you staring at?"
"...Did you come to train this morning?"
"Why else would I come to the training room? To have breakfast?"
Despite her sharp tone, Oscar maintained his usual expressionless face as he slowly opened his mouth.
"That's admirable."
"A healthy mana resides in a healthy body. Keep up the good work."
Veronica watched Oscar walk away with a bewildered look.
"...What the hell is with him today? Did he eat something weird?"
He usually ignored her as if she were invisible, so why was he suddenly acting so friendly?
Even the advice he gave was absurdly condescending.
"A healthy mana resides in a healthy body."
That was a famous quote from the 17th Tower Master, Oscar Sage, whom she respected.
It was laughable that he spoke as if it were his own idea.
Frowning, she stared in the direction Oscar had disappeared.
‘...He actually trains, huh?’
It was her first time witnessing someone like him—who seemed to embody arrogance itself—train until he was utterly exhausted.
‘Does he come here often?’
Maybe they just hadn't crossed paths because of different schedules.
‘...Well, it has nothing to do with me. He’s just an annoying guy who looks down on me for being a commoner despite both of us being orphans.’
Scowling in irritation, she opened the door to the advanced training room with a rough push.
"Argo, prepare stage 50 as a warm-up.”
-Understood.
As she threw her coat to the side and started stretching, she asked casually.
"There haven't been any changes in the rankings, right?"
-There has been.
"Yeah, yeah. Of course, there hasn't... Wait, what?"
Her eyes widened in surprise.
"Show me the rankings."
At her request, a holographic ranking list appeared.
[Rankings]
1st place: 100 stages in 9 minutes 57 seconds, AAA
2nd place: 100 stages in 14 minutes 02 seconds, Killian Lockwood
3rd place: 100 stages in 14 minutes 55 seconds, Veronica Fricks
Her lips parted in astonishment as she looked at the rankings.
‘AAA?’
This was the initial assigned when an unregistered user set a new record.
She became puzzled.
‘Could it be one of the elders? No, this is only recorded for mages below level 5.’
Which meant someone within the White Tower, a level 5 mage or lower, had set a new record.
And they had even broken the formidable 10-minute barrier.
As far as she knew, no mage below level 5 had ever achieved such a record across the entire continent.
"...Who is this person?"
-I'm sorry, but I cannot provide personal information due to privacy concerns.
As expected, she frowned at the response.
‘Killian is currently on an external mission, so who could it be?’
This training wasn't something that could be aced just by having a high mana level.
It required mana control, situational judgment, crisis detection, and physical ability.
Only those with a perfect balance of these skills could break into the top ranks.
‘Of the regulars who visit the training room, who could it possibly be...?’
As she ran through the faces in her mind, she suddenly paused.
Someone she would normally never consider briefly crossed her thoughts.
‘Oscar Crucian?’
It was probably because she had just seen him leave the training room.
But she quickly shook her head.
‘No way, not him. A level 2 mage who can only use basic spells setting that record?’
It would be more believable if someone claimed he was the reincarnation of Oscar Sage.
‘...It couldn’t really be him, right?’
Yet, like a tiny thorn stuck in her throat, the thought of him wouldn't leave her mind.
After all, he was once a genius that the world had its eyes on.
‘Ugh, asking him directly would hurt my pride. This is driving me crazy.’
After agonizing for a while, an idea suddenly struck her.
‘Right, there's that lecture on the reinterpretation of basic spells. Oscar Crucian himself is teaching it.’
The class was gaining quite a reputation, with rumors even reaching her ears about its impressive level.
‘...Maybe if I attend his lecture, I can get a sense of his current abilities.’
The thoughts of AAA and Oscar swirled in her mind for a long time after that.

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