Chapter 4 Dumber Than a Skeleton

Acrylis is one heck of a talented dude. Everyone knows that a Mage's power usually ramps up with age; the older they get, the stronger they are. But here's the kicker: Acrylis, a Grand Magician, is only fifty this year.

In a world where folks live up to a hundred and fifty, fifty is basically still your prime. Becoming a Grand Magician at fifty? That's unheard of. Acrylis is the youngest Grand Magician ever, all thanks to his insane talent. This guy was born with Level 3 magic power. By the time he hit ten, he was already at Level 4. That same year, he joined the Imperial Youth Magic Academy and crossed paths with Philartuku, the Grand Magician and Dean of the Belkin Royal Magic Academy.

Philartuku was blown away by Acrylis's talent. Without a second thought, he yanked him out of the Youth Academy and took him under his wing. Acrylis didn't let him down. His understanding of magic was just as impressive as his power. No matter how complex the magic, he got it down in no time. Thanks to some solid training, Acrylis shot up the ranks. By forty, he was a Ninth-Level Magician, a level most Mages can only dream of reaching.

Five years later, at forty-five, Acrylis pulled off something epic. He brought back the long-lost fire-based forbidden spell—Inferno of the City—using old texts and legends. This was a game-changer for the magical world, and the royal family gave him the honorary title of Grand Magician. That same year, his mentor Philartuku passed away peacefully. Following his mentor's last wishes, Acrylis took over as the Dean of the Belkin Royal Magic Academy and also became the Royal Magic Division Commander.

But hey, even geniuses have their quirks. Acrylis's quirk? He's lazy as heck. This guy has never washed a piece of clothing or cleaned a room in his life. Besides Fire Magic, he's also a pro at Water and Wind Magic, mainly because of his laziness. To avoid walking, he mastered Wind Magic and used floating spells to get around. For longer trips, he just floated. And to dodge washing himself, he got really good at Water Magic, summoning water balls to clean himself during baths.

Acrylis didn't stop there with his lazy magic. He came up with all sorts of spells to make life easier. One of his best hits? The Bubble Water Tornado. It's a water-wind hybrid spell that washes clothes. You just toss your dirty laundry in, and this bubbly tornado spins them clean and dries them by sucking out the water. No need for a dryer.

Then there's the Gate of Hell. Sounds scary, right? But it's just a supercharged vacuum cleaner. Cast it, and it can even strip a layer off the walls, leaving the place spotless. Your furniture gets a deep clean too.

But those were his younger days. As he got older, Acrylis didn't get any more hardworking; he got even lazier. With some cash and status, he now skips using magic for chores. Bathing, laundry, cleaning? That's all on his wife and maids. But no one can walk for him, so he still floats around.

His biggest claim to fame—restoring the forbidden spell Inferno of the City—was also because of his laziness. The Emperor gave him the job of tearing down an old fortress on the northwest border. The place was remote, hard to supply, and not worth much strategically. The Empire wanted it gone to prevent thieves or spies from using it. Somehow, this job landed on Acrylis.

Transporting big machinery was a nightmare, and doing it by hand would take forever. Acrylis, not wanting to deal with the hassle, spent a few days bringing back the Inferno of the City spell and burned the fortress to the ground.

So yeah, Acrylis's achievements are pretty much tied to his laziness.

But even a lazy guy like him had to get his act together for future happiness.

"Table," Acrylis said, tapping the table in front of him, drawing out each word. He turned and wrote "table" in big letters on the blackboard behind him.

Gelis nodded, showing he got it.

"Alright, next," Acrylis continued, raising the pen in his hand. "Pen." He wrote "pen" in big letters on the blackboard again.

The word "pen" was a bit trickier, so Gelis took a few extra glances before nodding.

By now, the blackboard was covered with a dozen big words, all common nouns like cup, chair, sun, and moon.

"Got all that down?" Acrylis asked Gelis, a bit skeptical. He could barely remember learning new words as a kid himself, just that his teacher taught him one word at a time, and it felt like forever to learn the first one.

Gelis nodded.

"Alright, then copy them down once," Acrylis said, giving him some homework.

Gelis picked up the pen and started scribbling on the paper, his handwriting all crooked. Like most first-timers, he gripped the pen like it was a stick.

Acrylis noticed the wrong grip but was too lazy to correct him right away. He'd taught enough students to know that fixing mistakes after they happen is often more effective than explaining them upfront. So, he planned to show Gelis the right way to hold the pen after he finished writing.

Gelis wrote each stroke super slowly. After a while, he finally finished the first word. Acrylis leaned in to check and was stunned. The word Gelis wrote looked oddly familiar; each stroke didn't seem like a beginner's work.

Frowning, Acrylis glanced at the words on the blackboard and immediately got it. Gelis had copied his writing from the board. On closer look, except for slight differences in the stroke weights at the turns, Gelis had mimicked the stroke order and lines almost perfectly, like he was using a tracing spell.

This blew Acrylis's mind. He'd never heard of a Skeleton with such strong mimicking skills.

After Gelis finished writing, Acrylis picked up the paper and compared it several times with the words on the blackboard. He had to admit, Gelis's imitation was spot on. If it weren't for the slight differences in the turns of the strokes, Acrylis might've thought he wrote them himself.

"Copied," Acrylis muttered to himself, feeling a bit better. Then he said to Gelis, "You remember these words, right? Now write them from memory." He erased the words on the blackboard, not believing Gelis could write them so similarly from memory.

Having written them once, Gelis's speed in writing from memory was noticeably faster, and he finished quickly.

Acrylis picked up the paper and couldn't help but curse under his breath, "Kobada, are Skeletons really this amazing?" Even without a reference, Gelis's writing was almost identical to his own. Maybe because it was the second time, even the turns were more similar.

Acrylis wasn't exactly a handwriting expert, but he'd put some effort into his own writing. After all, someone of his status often had to sign important documents, and sloppy handwriting just wouldn't cut it. But Gelis, who didn't even know the characters, had mimicked his writing so well on the first try without breaking a sweat. This blew Acrylis's mind.

"I can't believe I'm getting outdone by a Skeleton," Acrylis muttered under his breath.

The lesson was a bust. Acrylis's mage robe billowed as he floated quickly out of the lab.

Half an hour later, Acrylis came back with a roll of paper filled with various writings.

Spreading the paper on Gelis's desk, Acrylis said with a weird expression, "Learn from these characters."

Belkin Royal Magic Academy was one of the top schools on the continent, with a killer faculty. Finding a couple of people with good handwriting was a piece of cake. Feeling defeated by Gelis's tracing-like mimicking ability, Acrylis decided to skip writing himself and grabbed some samples from the academy's best calligraphy instructor.

"This one says 'gold,' and this one says 'silver,'" Acrylis lazily leaned on Gelis's desk, pointing to the beautiful characters on the paper, teaching them one by one. After going through them once, he had Gelis copy them. He wanted to see if Gelis could mimic such top-notch handwriting.

Maybe Gelis really did have a tracing spell ability because he almost perfectly copied the characters, except for a bit of stiffness in the turns. Putting the two sets of handwriting side by side, anyone without a keen eye for handwriting wouldn't be able to tell the difference.

"Kobada, from now on, you're on scroll duty," Acrylis said, feeling both bummed and stoked. Bummed because a Skeleton's writing was better than his own, and stoked because this mimicking ability could be a game-changer for copying magic scrolls.

Magic scrolls are written in magical script, with intricate and complex patterns that need to be spot-on. One wrong stroke and the whole scroll is toast. If Gelis could be trained as a scroll maker, his ability would blow most scroll makers out of the water.

But that also meant teaching Gelis magical script and magic! Acrylis slapped his forehead, feeling a headache coming on. His lazy nature made the thought of teaching so much from scratch a real drag.

"Forget it, let's just focus on learning the characters first," Acrylis muttered, watching Gelis seriously copy the characters.