"take a deep breath."

That was all the first part of the scroll had to say.

It was weird sure, but Emil complied and took a deep breath.

Nothing happened as expected.

Emil tried again and again, to no avail.

Take a deep breath. What did it mean exactly?

What kind of cultivation technique was this? Wasn't there supposed to be specific rhythms and intervals to how he breathes, something more complicated? How was he gonna cultivate by taking a deep breath? He'd never heard of a technique like this.

As Emil was thinking, his eyebrows shot up and his mouth half opened.

"Ah!"

A deep breath.

He remembered what happened back at the special admission examination.

He was probably never more focused in his entire life. All he remembered was closing his eyes, taking a deep breath and visualizing mana pouring into his body.

He repeated the same process again.

Closing his eyes, he started visiualzing mana running through his mana pathways as he took a deep breath.

Nothing happened on his first try, so he tried again, and again, until finally, something happened.

He was taking a deep breath, but just when he thought his lungs were already full more air entered his body.

There was no way his lungs could take in that much air, so it had to be something else entering his body.

What else but mana.

Emil's face flushed with excitement as he felt mana coursing through his mana pathways, refining his body and eventually settling in his heart.

There, the mana was fully refined and ready for his use.

The entire process must've taken about five minutes without Emil exhaling at all.

Once he released his breath, he started coughing and panting like a dog, his complexion pale.

It appeared like even just ine cycle took a toll on his body. He couldn't repeat it for too many times.

Emil repeated the same process again and again till he dropped half dead.

Any more and he'd be taking internal damage, he could already tell.

His exhaustion couldn't serve to dampen his excitement though.

He was finally getting stronger.

Years of suffering, all for this day.

Cultivation. it was his first step towards changing his destiny. It meant a lot to him.

This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

However, he wasn't too knowledgeable about it.

If he wanted to gain knowledge about it, his best bet was getting up right now because according to his timetable,

His class was starting at 7 in the morning, which was just ten minutes away.

...

Emil rushed to the main school building and made it just in time before the teacher.

Everyone gave him weird looks, which naturally served to make him uncomfortable, but not enough to stop him from taking his seat and waiting for the teacher.

The first grade had 300 students who were divided into five classes of 60 people.

Emil was in class 1-B. Your class assignment was random and had nothing to do with rankings or whatnot.

Their classroom looked more like a lecture hall than a classroom due to the number of their students.

Students were mixed, both girls and boys, mages and knights, and of course, commoners and nobles.

Their first class was general knowledge, and as Emil sat down, he noticed he was missing something important.

In fact, everyone was missing it.

'where're our books?'

Remembering something, he injected mana into his badge and a blue transparent tablet popped up.

All his books were there.

Magic Science truly was amazing.

A middle aged woman wearing a black robe walked in as Emil was checking his books out.

"Good morning to everybody.

my name is Joan Tudor, I'll be your General Knowledge teacher for the rest of the school year.

You'll be addressing me as Miss Tudor and if there are no questions..?"

She paused and leaned in, waiting to see if anyone had any questions.

"We'll be starting the class then. There's a lot to learn.

It's only our first day and we're already behind HurHur."

She didn't check for attendance or anything of that sort.

Your badge registered your presence the moment you walked in the classroom, as well as your absence as soon as you step out.

"Alright, open your books, page one."

Miss Tudor clasped her hands before issuing that order.

"I'm sure you already know but going over it won't hurt right?"

Miss Tudor turned back and picked up a chalk.

"Who can tell me..."

She spoke as she wrote her question on the black board.

"What cultivation is?"

Quite a few people raised their hands.

"Oh you, the boy with curly hair."

Said boy stood up and started explaining.

"The act of harnessing mana and making it your own."

"Perfect, but can you be more specific? How does each individual cultivate mana?"

The boy didn't need to think for long.

"The cultivation method differs based on your class."

"Exactly! We'll be going over a general overview of cultivation as a whole today."

The boy was taken aback, he was yet to finish but he was cut off.

His feelings hurt, he sat down without making any noise.

Emil's interest was piqued.

Growing up as a servant, he had little to no knowledge about the world of magicians.

Even things that were considered basic knowledge were new to him so he was sure to pay attention.

"Cultivation starts when you awaken your mana, which typically happens between the age of 11 to 14, it all depends on your luck. If you've awakened by then, then congratulations but if you fail to awaken before the age of 14, then you're deemed an inept, unfortunately. Inepts are those who don't have any capacity for training magic.

Now the way you cultivate is gonna rely heavily on your class.

There are only two classes, Mages and Knights and unfortunately we can't choose our own class, it's decided at birth.

Can anyone tell me how?"

A student raised her hand.

"By the type of conductors we were born with. Knights are born with Mana Pathways and Mages are born with Mana Channels."

*Clap*Clap*

"Excellent.

Knights and Mages will have Very different abilities as they grow stronger, it's two different paths, essentially.

Knights are more the physical type. Their Mana Pathways spread through every single part of their body, like roots of a tree, with their heart as the centre.

They can take mana either from the outside by breathing, or they can take it from internal sources such as pills and elixirs.

Said mana will circulate through their body and strengthen it before settling down at their core, their heart, ready for their use.

Mages on the other hand aren't as versatile when it comes to internal cultivation, but they're more than capable externally.

They take mana from outside sources through their mana channels, which essentially settles down, can you guess where?"

"In their mana rings."

The class answered in unison.

"That's right. They don't store mana inside their hearts like Knights, they store it around their hearts. They have tiny little rings of mana forming around their hearts and storing their mana for them, isn't that so awesome?"

*Silence*

Miss Tudor cleared her throat.

"You guys are no fun."