The side job Asuna offered Lucian was quite simple: she wanted him to set up the same kind of Magic Circle he planned to install in his own room.
“Lucian, since you know how to set up a Magic Circle, would you install one at my home?
I’ll pay you for the work,” Asuna offered sincerely.
Lucian was surprised.
“Will you provide the materials, or do I need to prepare them?”
If that was the job, he certainly wouldn’t refuse.
He genuinely hadn’t expected this skill could earn him money!
Asuna smiled.
“Just give me a list of what you need, and I’ll prepare everything.”
“So I’d only be charging a service fee, right?
How much does this sort of work usually cost?” Lucian scratched his head.
He honestly had no idea what to charge.
“As far as I know, installing a small formation generally starts at ten thousand credits.
Maybe you should look up the exact rates?” Asuna offered what she knew.
She wasn’t trying to mislead him; the price really was that high.
Formation magic was extremely expensive.
Apart from major institutions, few people would have a formation installed specifically for them, much less inside their own homes.
The larger the Magic Circle, the higher the price.
Hiring someone to install one like the school’s would probably cost hundreds of thousands of credits.
Lucian’s eyes lit up.
He’d never imagined it would be so expensive.
What an unbelievable windfall!
“All right, I’ll look into it when I get home.”
If Lucian hesitated for even a second, he would be disrespecting money itself.
He desperately needed cash right now.
He wouldn’t even have to provide the materials.
All he had to do was go over, put in some work, and walk away with a huge payment.
How could he possibly refuse?
Lucian also decided to study the subject thoroughly once he got home and learn more formation magic.
Formation magic didn’t demand an enormous amount of mana.
What mattered was control over the formation and the ability to draw its Magic Circle.
Drawing the Magic Circle was the hardest part.
You couldn’t simply copy it; it had to be adjusted to suit the surrounding environment—or, in more mystical terms, aligned with the local terrain and energy flow.
Otherwise, copying the design exactly would produce no effect at all.
Formation magic was an extensive field, which made setting one up quite difficult.
Just as the two of them settled the matter, a group of people arrived.
They stopped short at the scene before them.
Lucian and Asuna looked over and spotted the badges on their uniforms.
They were members of the patrol team.
“Hello.
Did you two kill these Goblins?” The person leading the group stepped forward to question them.
“Yes.
We came because of the Minotaur and discovered them here,” Lucian quickly explained.
The patrol team immediately understood.
After examining the Goblins, the leader spoke again.
“From the looks of you, you’re still students.
Head home soon, and don’t wander around anymore.”
After warning them, he ordered his people to clean up the scene.
Lucian and Asuna exchanged a glance and promptly left.
When they passed the site of the battle with the Minotaur, the creature was already dead, and members of the patrol team were clearing the area.
Their speed was impressive.
Only a short while had passed since Lucian and Asuna dealt with the Goblins, yet the situation here was already resolved.
“Let’s head home.
Do you live nearby too?” Lucian asked as they walked toward the park exit.
Asuna pointed in one direction.
“In that apartment building over there.
Do you live nearby too, Lucian?”
She really was staying close by.
The moment she pointed it out, Lucian knew exactly which building she meant.
“That luxury apartment complex?
Got it.
Well, I’m heading off—we’re going in different directions.” Lucian turned down another road.
“See you at school!”
Asuna said nothing more.
After bidding him farewell, she returned to her apartment.
Lucian activated Presence Concealment again on the way back and soon reached home.
Once inside, he rinsed the magic stones with water and stored them away.
After gathering the remaining materials tomorrow, he could install the Magic Circle.
It was already late—far too late to go shopping for materials.
Besides, he had school tomorrow, so there was no need to rush.
With everything taken care of, Lucian washed up, dried his hair, lay down on his bed, and searched his phone for the going rate on formation work.
He would have been better off not looking.
The moment he saw the prices, his eyes began to shine.
Simply installing a Magic Circle for someone started at ten thousand credits.
Formation mages also seemed to enjoy considerable status in this world.
Was it because the skill was so difficult to learn?
The thought immediately lifted Lucian’s spirits.
Difficulty was no problem for him.
After reading for a while, he searched for books on formation magic and downloaded them to his phone.
Once the downloads finished, Lucian opened the text-to-speech mode, set the playback speed to three times normal, and placed the phone beside him.
He wanted to test whether merely listening to the books would let him learn their contents.
If it worked, he would be ecstatic.
With that thought, Lucian plugged in his phone and lay down to sleep.
He silently circulated the Meditation technique he’d learned that day.
Before long, his breathing steadied, and he gradually drifted off.
The night passed without incident.
The next morning, Lucian opened his eyes feeling refreshed.
The first thing he did was assess his condition.
After a full night of Meditation, he was brimming with energy—and his mind contained far more knowledge than before.
Every word his phone had read aloud during the night was now clearly engraved in his memory.
Lucian’s eyes gleamed.
His understanding of formation magic had advanced another step.
Although he had perfectly memorized the school’s Magic Circle and knew how to reproduce it, Lucian hadn’t understood much of the theory behind it.
Before, he’d only known how to install that one formation.
After studying through the night, he understood far more.
Lucian washed up and set off for school.
He decided to buy the materials that evening.
After picking up breakfast along the way, he soon reached the school.
The patrols on the streets were just as heavy as the day before.
It seemed the situation hadn’t been completely resolved.
Otherwise, the patrol team wouldn’t still be maintaining such vigilance.
Lucian entered the school and casually made his way to the classroom.
Asuna was already in her seat.
She certainly arrived early.