Today’s weapon class was a bit different. They were learning about large, complex weapons. The class was being shown some large cannons and artillery that are common on the battlefield. These guns are absolutely massive. One shell was easily the size of a man. The class was standing in a field surrounding an artillery cannon. The gun was able to spin 360 and adjust the angle of the barrel. To load the gun you would use a sub-machine that was part of the cannon. The machine grabbed the shell and placed it in the barrel, then the barrel would thread into the firing port, aim, then fire. The sound of the cannon firing was manipulated by enchantments to protect everyone’s eardrums. The cannon was a stationary artillery that had a firing range of 15 km. “Artillery is very common on the battlefield and is important to learn about.” Choi spent time lecturing them on all the advantages and disadvantages of artillery. “The cannon can be fitted with different types of ammunition.”

One shell is filled with a very flammable liquid; it was designed to cover an area in flaming sticky liquid. The flame was magically enhanced and almost impossible to put out. Another was designed to be silent as it fell. The shell would fly high and then drop a large number of thick steel arrows that fell from the sky. “They are completely silent as they fell and are one of the most terrifying weapons on the battlefield.” Another shell was designed to pierce deep into bunkers and defenses. It was made of multiple parts. The tip was explosive. But behind it was a radium-capped screw torpedo that would dig deep into the ground before detonating. these shell designs are brutal. Everything’s purpose is maxing destruction and death. By the end of class, his ears had a slight ring to them from all the loud explosions.

Walking into magic class he was pleasantly surprised. They were working with elemental stones. Elemental stones were different from cores. They are advanced formations of mana that are created by specialists. They can be used by others to then access that power for their requirements. Jack had read about them but couldn’t believe the academy was able to just supply them to the students. The stones were advanced formations of mana that were created by elemental users. They allowed someone who didn’t have the element to power or supply something with the required element.

They had each been given a kit of elemental crystals and they were now powering up various items. The crystals were fairly small, only the size of a small coin. But Jack knew that if he sold one of them back in Carcas he would have been able to live like a king for a week. Thinking about Carcas had him reminiscing on his childhood while he was in class. He started to wonder about Gant. How he was doing. He even wondered about Bones. Jack had asked Gant multiple times about him, but he hadn’t given him any more information.

Jack got back to work. He was currently attempting to power a simple heat enchantment on some boots. To power the enchantment, he was required to use the fire element. Each crystal was slightly different to work with. Fire was reasonably stable, but when you try to siphon the power out of the crystal it would all come at once, incredibly fast. This made it hard to work with, compared to an element like ice. Ice was also stable, but when you tried to transfer the power, it would resist and flow very slowly. This was annoying and time-consuming, but you could handle that. The fire element has a tendency to burn whatever is being enchanted. Jack had already burned his fingers more times than he could count. But he was having fun. This was one of his favorite classes. Working with all types of magic, really showed him the possibilities of the world. He happily toiled away with the crystals. It didn’t take him long to finish the boot enchantment. That was fun, which element should I do next? He flipped through the book until he found one for water.

He grabbed the water crystal and placed it beside the flask. The intention of the experiment was to enchant the flask to produce water. It wouldn’t be infinite. Every once in a while, the flask would need to be recharged. There are much more advanced designs that are able to absorb the water from the air and make it seem like infinite water. These flasks just generated water from the crystal’s power. It was a multi-step process. The important part was when you transferred the mana between the crystal and the item. It involved multiple rituals. Fortunately, the academy had everything, and they even had permanent ritual diagrams engraved into each desk. It was another special feature that helped contain the magical energy. Jack got distracted by the desk as he was admiring it. He lost control of the crystal and was forced to restart. Damnit. This time he paid more attention and easily transferred all the energy.

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Jack’s skill was way above the other students in the class. He was quickly flying through the exercises and had to slow himself down so he wouldn’t finish too early. He started to think of Ms. Griffith. She still hadn’t woken up and he was worried. That damn monster. If it could hurt her. Then who is gonna be able to find it? She was supposed to be one of the best. What can I do to help?

A student two rows up made a mistake and their desk seemed to lose all structural integrity and turned into a blob. This brought him back into the moment and took a moment to admire the student’s mistake. That’s actually pretty impressive. I have no idea how he did that. It was extremely amusing watching the boy try and explain to the teacher what he had been doing to cause the table to melt in such an amusing manner. It had been a while since he had laughed. The stress of Ms. Griffith almost dying from the monster had been weighing on him a lot. The enjoyment didn’t last long, unfortunately. The rest of his day went uneventfully. It was hard for him to not think of Ms. Griffith or the monster.

After class, he was hanging out with Sable. Sable is a big fan of animals and convinced Jack to go to the city aquarium with him. the building was elegant and was made of a blue crystal that glowed like the deep ocean. The architect had taken the ocean as an influence and it showed. The building was all curved and flowed from peak to peak. There were even some white accents that looked like waves foaming. Jack had never seen the ocean before, but with the design, he felt like he could almost imagine it.

The entrance fee was free to students, so the boys happily walked in. It started like a cave that went down slowly underground. Breathing in Jack could smell salt in the air and could hear water quietly splashing ahead. A family with two children walked past the boys. The children were excitedly leading the parents through the aquarium. Jack smiled at the sight. He wished he could have come to such beautiful places with a family when he was a boy. They walked down the tunnel that was slowly getting darker when it suddenly opened into a huge dome. The dome was many stories high. It was made of a stunning bright crystal that was emanating light. It felt just like being underwater and looking up at the surface. Throughout the dome were large pillars that reached from the floor to the ceiling. In each pillar were scores of aquatic creatures. “Holy shit,” Jack said quietly. There was nothing between the water and the people. Some sort of magic or science was keeping the water in the shape of a cylinder. Jack tentatively reached toward and touched the water. He quickly withdrew his hand. The water was cold. He dried his hand on his pants and he leaned in, almost touching the water with his nose. Suddenly a fish swam by, and he jumped back in surprise.

“Hahahah,” Sable laughed.

Jack tried to laugh it off, but he hadn’t been sleeping well lately. He was on edge. The fear of the mechanical beast beneath the city made him react to every sound. He still hadn’t told his friends about the monster. Looking around it didn’t take long to see the security uniform of the person who was protecting him. This time it was a woman. She was just as tall as Igneus had been, but she looked thinner. She had a bow on her back. It was the first time Jack had seen one since class. It looked very unique. I wonder if she would let me take a closer look at her weapon.

“Whoa look at that,” Sable brought his attention back to the fish. A separate water enclosure had these massive-looking fish that reminded him of the airships in the sky. Looking down at the plaque it read. Sperm Whale. The whales swam slowly together in a group. Jack and sable watched them for a minute before continuing through the building. They were able to see all sorts of beautiful aquatic animals. They even had a few elemental monsters that were not dangerous to humans. They had the opportunity to get close to an amazing monster. It was originally a dolphin that had absorbed the water element. They turned into these beautiful creatures that sort of resembled horses. They had large thin fins where the legs would be, and their neck extended into more of a horse shape. They were aptly named Sea stallions. They had become completely aquatic once they absorbed the element and had also grown gills allowing them to breathe underwater.

Leaving the aquarium Jack’s mind was overflowing. Today had been an incredible day. I can’t believe this is my life now.