Transmigrated as an E-Rank Mage
I had transmigrated. “It’s E-grade.” ‘What the hell is this?’ That was exactly how I felt at the time.
When I came to my senses, I realized I was inside the game, standing as a new academy student in the middle of a mana measurement.
“Pardon?”
It was the only response I could give in this completely absurd situation.
The fantasy-like scenery around me and the female staff member’s exotic outfit behind the desk had me utterly dazed.
“New student Kael, mana measurement E-grade.”
The woman looked up at me with a stiff expression and repeated herself. This time her voice was louder.
“What? He got E-grade.”
“Can you even enter the academy with E-grade?”
Light laughter and whispering drifted from behind me.
“There are other students waiting behind you.”
The staff member pointed past my shoulder. It was clearly a request to move aside.
Still completely lost, I shuffled away in a daze.
I walked against the long line of people and stepped outside through the entrance.
Near the end of the queue stood a sign.
Golden Academy New Student Mana Measurement
It was the opening scene of the game I should have seen on a monitor screen. I had transmigrated straight into it.
It had been a few days since I woke up in this body.
‘Ha, damn it. Do I really have to live here?’
By now it was undeniable. I had transmigrated into the game I used to play, Golden Academy’s Golden Generation.
As the title suggested, it was a story about the golden generation of heroes attending the academy. One of the new students would grow stronger, gather companions, and defeat the Demon King in a classic hero’s journey.
The game always opened with the protagonist receiving a mana measurement one month before the academy term started. That was the very first thing I experienced after opening my eyes in this world.
‘I’m not even sure if this character was in the original game.’
The character I possessed was a novice mage named Kael. There was no need to check the status window again. In a world where mana was everything, he was a total weakling with E-grade magic power.
To make things worse, he was a mage with E-grade mana. Among all the protagonists’ classmates, E-grades never numbered more than five. I had become one of them.
It was obvious that the moment I entered the academy I would be fighting from the very bottom.
‘Still, if I can just graduate, this is a world where I can at least make a living.’
Of course, that only applied if we defeated the final boss according to the story.
The Demon King, the final boss who would begin his full-scale activities in four years. If the player failed to defeat him, the game ended in a bad ending. Death, or slavery under the Demon King’s army.
‘The protagonists are going to be ridiculously lazy again.’
Golden Academy’s Golden Generation let you choose one of five protagonists at the start. The ones you didn’t pick appeared as supporting characters, and without direct control they barely grew at all.
If you didn’t manage them carefully they became useless even as party members, so I couldn’t rely on the original main characters.
‘In the end, I have no choice but to clear the game myself.’
Once the Demon King’s army started moving, my current body wouldn’t even be able to protect itself. Whether I cleared the game or not, I needed to become stronger.
Skills
Magic Missile Lv.4
Fires a mana bullet to attack the enemy and inflict magic damage.
Trait
Master of Magic Missile (E)
- Significantly increases the probability that the ‘Magic Missile’ skill will strengthen.
- Grants an additional effect to ‘Magic Missile’ every 5 levels.
The trait matched my E-grade mana perfectly. Magic Missile was a basic attack spell for mages that usually got discarded after the early game. A trait that strengthened it could only be low rank.
Still, for the beginning it was useful. No matter how basic the spell was, it started at level 4. My mana was terrible, so my limits would show after a month at the academy, but the early stages would be smooth.
That meant I needed to maximize the advantage of this early period.
‘There’s about a month left until the entrance ceremony.’
It was the time when each protagonist went through their tutorial and prologue. For me, an unidentified extra, it was free time unbound by the academy.
And I knew of one fortuitous encounter I could obtain even with this body’s specs.
The Forgotten Battlefield. A secret location near the ice cave dungeon where the first practical dungeon training would take place.
In the game it was a fortuitous encounter obtained by a character who later joined the villains. From the original description, it seemed you could get it just by visiting the place. Since that villain was a mage, it was definitely something good for mages.
By the time of the first dungeon practice in a normal playthrough the encounter was already gone, so finding it then would be meaningless. But at this point in time, I could claim it first.
I wouldn’t even need to enter the dungeon itself. The monsters around it should be manageable with level 4 Magic Missile.
Having made up my mind, I decided to move immediately.
My destination was Bingryong Mountain, where the ice cave dungeon was located. Since it was the site of the first practical training, it wasn’t far from the academy. A single day by carriage.
I rented a room in a small village at the base of the mountain and climbed it every day, searching for the hidden location.
You have defeated a Blue Slime!
You have gained insight into Magic Missile. Magic Missile’s level has increased.
After roaming all over the mountain and hunting the annoying small fry for a while, I had grown a little. My stats refused to rise, but thanks to the trait my skill level had gone up.
Skills
Magic Missile Lv.10
Fires a mana bullet to attack the enemy and inflict magic damage.
Can cast Magic Missile up to 5 times in succession.
Trait
Master of Magic Missile (E)
- Significantly increases the probability that the ‘Magic Missile’ skill will strengthen.
- Grants an additional effect to ‘Magic Missile’ every 5 levels.
No matter how basic the magic was, a high level gave me confidence. The best part was that I could cast it up to five times in a row, though it consumed a lot of mana. Even with my poor mana, the high skill level meant the small fry around here no longer scared me. The only flaw was that my terrible stats made the shots miss sometimes.
‘Finally.’
I had succeeded in finding the cave. A chill leaked from the entrance.
You have discovered the hidden area ‘Forgotten Battlefield’!
A welcome system message appeared. I had come to the right place.
If my memory of the game cutscene was correct, there should be something like a staff buried inside a block of ice.
‘Found it!’
I immediately cast Magic Missile and shattered the ice.
◈ Allows the same spell to be cast simultaneously up to 5 times.
◈ Stacks the same spell and lets you use it with a level enhancement equal to the number of stacks.
‘Holy crap.’
I was a little surprised by the prefix. “Primal Mage” was a title attached only to the highest-tier mage items. It was definitely something amazing.
Grinning ear to ear, I checked the status window that appeared.
A staff discovered in the legendary battlefield where the Primal Mage supposedly amplified earth magic to trap an ice dragon beneath the mountain. (Excerpt)
‘What is this?’
The options were too simple for a mythic-grade item. It let me stack the same spell… It seemed I could gather multiple casts of the same magic and fire a much stronger single shot.
If I learned high-level spells it would be quite useful. Whether the cursed owner of this pathetic mana could learn advanced magic safely was another question.
Anyway, the only spell I could use right now was Magic Missile, so I decided to test its power with that.
The target was easy to find. A thorn boar. The local bully of this area.
If I poured mana into it without reservation I could kill one, but even five consecutive Magic Missiles barely did any damage because of its decent magic defense. I usually just went around them when we met.
‘Since I’m testing it anyway.’
I checked my remaining mana. It was enough. I still had one mana potion left, so even if I burned nearly all my mana now, getting down the mountain wouldn’t be a problem.
I would burn every drop I had left and fire an ultra-powerful Magic Missile. If it missed I could just drink the potion and run.
The newly acquired staff let me cast the same spell simultaneously up to five times. And thanks to my high level and the trait, my Magic Missile could fire five times in succession. In theory, that meant up to twenty-five stacks.
With the mana I had left I could probably cast it about fifteen times. I decided to experiment on the thorn boar that had always been a nuisance.
Magic Missile
Mana swirled around me and gathered into five orbs. Then two more times. Fifteen small white mana spheres formed above my shoulders.
Stacking them with the staff’s power wasn’t difficult. I let my body follow the flow of mana, and the spheres merged into one mass, growing larger.
The clump of gathered mana spheres felt quite heavy. I was excited to see if the once tiny mana bullet would shoot out like a beautiful laser.
Magic Missile Lv.24 (Stacked Cast)
Fires a mana shell that turns the impacted area into scorched earth.
‘What?’
Boom!
The moment I fired the gathered mana spheres, a roar like a cannon firing shook the air. The startled thorn boar moved at the sound.
‘Oh no. Did it miss…?’
I couldn’t correct the trajectory. My lacking stats made fine control of magic impossible. The fired shell—no, the cannonball—crashed exactly where the thorn boar had been standing.
Kwaaaang—!
A massive explosion erupted as if a meteor had struck.
‘Fuck… what the hell?!’