The goddesses attempted to gain my salvation.

Tracy didn't mind at all; instead, she leaned closer to him, letting him hold her even tighter.

"You know what... I spent ages explaining the basics of magic, and those brats... didn't listen to a thing! I asked them what the basics of magic were, and guess what they answered?"

"They actually answered, 'Big and white?' *burp*"

"I was so angry! I couldn't control myself... I just threw a fireball at them! Hehe~"

Tracy, drunk, made the gestures of casting magic, his eyes growing increasingly glazed: "Seeing their bare butts burned off, I have to say, it's kind of fun."

After saying that, Tracy poured himself another large glass of wine.

Ryan also withdrew his hand, but now he had a money pouch in his hand.

After weighing the options, I figured I'd still have a fair amount left over after paying for the drinks.

I didn't expect this woman to be quite wealthy.

But if she's so rich, why does she always have to use worn stockings to pay off her debts?

Ryan couldn't understand.

Chapter Five: Basic Theories of Magic

"Boom boom boom..."

Nina knocked on the door, and after a short while, a voice inside said she was allowed to enter.

Nina pushed up her glasses and opened the door.

The room was very dark, with only a few candlelight flickering on the walls, barely outlining its general shape. Five people dressed in pristine white robes sat around the perimeter of the room, their faces obscured.

Nina walked to the center of the room with her head down, and then heard an old man slowly speak.

"How's the task I assigned you going?"

Nina took a deep breath and said calmly, "It's done. Ryan has accepted Claire as her personal mentor."

As soon as he finished speaking, a series of cold chuckles came from the surrounding area.

"I thought a genius who could acquire five magic circuits within a year would be incredibly smart, but it turns out he's just a fool who fell into such an obvious trap."

"Hehehe, you don't know this, do you? When Ryan first came to the Vatican, he was just a handyman. When it comes to cleaning toilets the best, it has to be Ryan."

"Hahaha! You're so good with words! I love hearing it!"

"If it weren't for Lady Orina's kindness, he would still be a menial worker."

"A magical genius? In my opinion, he's just a fool! I wonder how long he can keep up his arrogance."

People were talking amongst themselves, while Nina, standing in the center, had a cold expression. She was no longer the reserved and demure person she had been when she met Ryan before, as if she had become a completely different person.

Or rather, this is what she was originally like.

Sometimes we have to admit that geniuses are the easiest to be envied.

Especially when this genius had a terrible past, being ridiculed, bullied, and suppressed by everyone, and now he was riding on the heads of those who had bullied him.

This stark contrast between before and after is what makes people most likely to harbor resentment, jealousy, or even envy.

Even if this genius did nothing at all from the beginning.

Right now, everyone around him is either resentful because Ryan has lost his original position and blocked his promotion path due to his rapid growth over the past year, or they are simply jealous.

However, when it comes to who hates Ryan the most, no one can compare to Nina.

Nina is the most devout believer of the Vatican and the most steadfast adherent of its doctrines.

At the same time, she is also Orina's number one fan.

The greatest pleasure was following and spying on her goddess.

One night, as usual, she quietly approached Olina's boudoir, intending to peek at her goddess. Instead, she discovered that Ryan was lying on her goddess's bed.

At that moment, her world collapsed.

As Nina listened to the goddess panting beneath Ryan, whispering sweet nothings to each other, anger, pain, and intense hatred welled up inside her.

She vowed to make that scum who had defiled the goddess's purity and trampled on her faith disappear from this world completely.

So Nina found these people and used some shady methods to get them to unite and work with her to get rid of Ryan.

Nina removed her glasses, her tone icy: "My lords, the first step has been completed. What's the next step?"

“Let’s play with him first.” A young man rubbed his chin, his tone playful. “The moment he chose to accept Claire, he was completely in our grasp.”

"Even if he is exceptionally talented, he is ultimately just a mentor and can't make any waves."

Nina was somewhat dissatisfied; she couldn't wait to see Ryan's head and body severed from his body.

"My lords, I believe our next move must be bold and decisive, leaving Ryan no chance to breathe. If we're going to do it, we must do it thoroughly."

“We can make a big deal out of Claire’s identity and get the Duchy of Ferrante to kill Ryan for us!”

An old man stroked his beard and spoke in a condescending tone.

“We can’t be too hasty in our actions. After all, Ryan is now an instructor at the academy. If we go too far, we might ruin the reputation that the academy has built up over the years.”

"Don't worry, we'll destroy him sooner or later. He can't escape our grasp."

Nina gritted her teeth and cursed the cowards inwardly.

"But esteemed gentlemen..."

“You don’t need to say anything more,” a middle-aged man interrupted Nina. “We already have a plan.”

Nina currently has no way to resist these "high and mighty" individuals and can only choose to endure it.

"As for you, Nina, we will assign you to the mentor team for this year's freshmen. As for the subsequent actions, just wait for our news."

Nina bowed slightly and left the room.

"Damn it...a bunch of cowards!"

Nina cursed the people in the room while putting her glasses back on. After all, she was just a low-ranking member of the Vatican, powerless and without influence. To get rid of Ryan, she had to rely on the strength of this group.

Therefore, Nina had to be patient.

After taking a deep breath, Nina quickly composed herself, and a refreshing smile returned to her face.

However, behind that smile lies a thick darkness.

Clutching a thick stack of documents, she disappeared down the corridor amidst the clatter of her high heels on the floor.

------

"Therefore, the essence of magic originates from magic circuits. The starting point of every magic circuit is below the navel, in the lower abdomen. Although the path of the circuit within the human body varies from person to person, the endpoint will always converge at our fingertips."

"The flow of magic also follows the direction of the magic circuits, starting from the lower abdomen and finally emanating from the fingertips. The number of circuits we usually talk about is also determined by how many fingers can release magic."

"One finger represents one circuit. Two fingers represent two circuits, and so on."

"When all ten fingers can release magic, then congratulations, you will have ten magic circuits and become a legend in the history of magic."

On the podium, Ryan explained the basic theories of magic to Claire.

Claire's pen moved swiftly as she wrote down the contents, but her expression remained calm. Ryan could only judge whether she understood, and how much she understood, by the speed at which her pen moved.

"Next, we will explain elemental magic."

After confirming that Claire had recorded everything she had said, Ryan began explaining the next stage of the content.

"The prevailing view is that magic is divided into seven basic attributes. However, some ancient books record many more complex fusion attributes. You haven't explored these yet, so just learn about them for now and make a note of them."

"The way to release each type of elemental magic and the techniques for activating its power are different. For example, my element is light, so the key to releasing it is how to correctly guide the flow of light elemental magic and reduce loss. Your element is fire, and the key to releasing fire magic is the burst."

"How to better unleash limited fire magic power is something that fire magicians study throughout their lives."

Ryan stopped talking after that.

Because if we continue according to the doctrine, we will then move on to the practical training phase. Students will try to gather some magic and perform simple external projections. The instructor will provide corresponding guidance based on the students' performance to achieve the best teaching results.

However, Claire's magic circuits were destroyed, making it impossible for her to cast spells.

Ryan's system is bidirectional.

It can allow beautiful girls to unblock one's own magic circuits, and also repair the magic circuits of others.

Therefore, repairing Claire's magic circuits wasn't difficult for Ryan. However, once the binding was successful, it meant that for a long time to come, Ryan would have to do some inappropriate things to her in his dreams.

Therefore, before binding, Ryan has one more important thing to confirm.

That was Claire's true thought.

"That concludes today's theory lesson, but there's still an hour until the end of class." Ryan closed the textbook, and Claire also closed her notebook, sitting upright in her chair and blinking her dull eyes.

"How about it, want to go for a walk outside with me?"

Claire tilted her head slightly, pondering why Ryan would do such a thing.

But after thinking about it for a while, I still couldn't figure it out.

In the end, Claire nodded.

Chapter Six: Claire's Determination

The college was larger than Claire had imagined.

Students in each grade are divided into very strict activity areas, and there is almost no interaction between different grades except for activities organized by the college.

Claire and Ryan spent a full half hour walking just to the activity area for the first-year students.

On the playground, you can see the freshmen trying their best to unleash magic on a target made of straw not far away.

However, due to a lack of experience, these spells always landed crookedly on the ground, with very few actually hitting the target. The instructor patiently guided the students, and soon some of the more talented students were able to hit the target.

However, these newcomers were still too crude in releasing their magic; the spells lost their power in mid-air. Even when they hit the target, they only made it sway slightly at most.

Claire watched the students working so hard, somewhat lost in thought.

Then, Claire subconsciously raised her hand, mimicking the students' gestures as they cast spells. But she quickly lowered her hand again. A barely perceptible glint flashed in her eyes, which had remained completely calm until now.

"Do you like magic?" Ryan asked softly.

“I used to… love magic.” Claire looked at the students and said softly, “Because magic brought me joy, and my parents were happy because of magic.”