Kiran sat with his legs crossed on a massive platform beneath the shade of the huge Banyan tree#. Though the word, huge, could not be used for the tree when it came to its height or the width. Rather, it could only be used to describe the canopy of the tree that spanned not tens of meters but hundreds.

Huge branches rose from the trunk of the tree like finger and opened up like palms spread apart. And from those branches rose branches, from which rose branches. But that was not enough, as, from each branch, rope-like structures dropped down to seek the earth and germinate, only to create a new tree.

Kiran twitched as the peace of the shade was broken by the movement of the children that were beginning to file in for their scheduled class. One by one, and sometimes in the groups of two, the children gathered under the tree and soon enough the platform was filled with children.

Kiran blinked as the massive platform was packed with children with no place left to even stand. ‘I thought more than half had already left.’

He turned to his right and blinked again when he saw the girl who was the one sitting next to him.

The girl was tall, or rather she was taller than Kiran. She had long and black hair that was tied in a tri-braid and came down to her waist. Her dark hair contrasted against her light skin. While her brown eye fit rather beautifully with her sharp features.

Kiran recognised her. She was the girl that had answered the questions of Guruji. The recognition surprised him and the thoughts that had formed turned into words and the words escaped his mouth before he could even process the thought. “Eh? Aren’t you the know-it-all girl?”

The girl, who had been observing the children quietly, turned to face the dark-skinned boy with a scowl on her face. “I am not a know-it-all girl. I am just a girl who happens to know it all.”

Kiran was taken aback at the confrontation but then his brain registered what the girl had said and his brows furrowed. “That’s the same thing!”

“No. It isn’t!” The girl rolled her eyes.

“Of course, it is!” The boy was baffled. “How are they even different?!”

“They are different because I said so!” The girl huffed and crossed her arms.

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“That does not even make sense!” Kiran snapped back. “Why would something be true just because you said so?!”

“Because I know it all!” She smirked at the boy. “Didn’t you just say that?”

The boy glowered at her but bit back any further remark. He did not like his own words being used against him to prove something that was clearly nonsense. Thus, he glowered at the girl and huffed as he turned away from her.

0.0

“As this is your first class, I should teach you about your Attributes and the other Status related matters.” Guru Pranay unceremoniously began his lecture. “But I will not. You lot are not going to access your Statuses anytime soon and teaching it now would be waste of my time.”

He scanned the nearly hundred students gathered before him. “I do not like wasting time.”

The man then waved his hand and the earth next to the platform raised itself as a tower that reached high above the students. The saffron-clad man then stepped forward and the smooth surface of the tower turned to a step of the stairs.

A step turned into another as the grey-haired moved forward and then into another. The Guru kept moving and the steps kept appearing until the guru reached the top of the tower and sat down with his legs crossed.

“Can anyone hear me?” The man asked but he received no reply. The entire class of the about 100 students had been spellbound by the simple display of magic.

Yet each of his words reached the entire length and breadth of the platform as if the words had not been carried on air but the very mana itself. Which, as it would turn out, was the case as the Guru possessed both the Skill, [Mana Manipulation], and the Spell, [Mana Manifestation] to do it.

“Tch.” The man’s eyebrows furrowed and the light, ever so slightly, took on a yellow tinge while the air, ever so slightly, became heavy. He asked again. “Can everyone hear me?”

The cries of assent were hurried and nervous and the man sighed. “Do not be so easily swayed by the displays of magic you see here. These are nothing but household spells. If it is your Dharma to walk the path of magic, these shall be simple tasks for you.”

As if by magic, the nervousness vanished amongst the children and was replaced by excitement.

The saffron-clad man cleared his throats and the children quietened. “Don’t be too excited though. The path of magic is an uncommon one and not the one that most of you will follow.”

“That does not mean that you will not be able to do magic. You indeed will. It just may be the case that your magic may manifest in forms different than what you would expect.”

A disquiet a spread through the children and the guru let the children grumble with a smile on his face.

When the children finally fell silent, the saffron-clad man spoke again. “My words are not just empty platitudes. Even simple Skills and Spells turn terrifying with high enough Tier. For instance, simple Skills to balance a boat can tame cyclones and tsunamis.”

The children began to murmur again but the man coughed and the children silenced themselves. “The real challenge is to reach that Tier, both in the Class and the Skill. But enough of this now. Let’s move forward with today’s lesson.”

-X-

Within a desolate desert, inside a dilapidated shop, on a simple chair, a youth seemingly slept.

-X-