After the tournament ended, Chris had two days before his classes started. The classes he had to take were, Mana Control, Magic Theory, History, and Science. Then he had the option to choose which entry level magic course he wanted to take. The choices he had were: Fire magic, Wind magic, Water magic, Holy magic, Ice magic, Sound magic, and Physical Enhancement magic. While most people expected Chris to go through the Physical enhancement course, he was against it, as there really wasn’t much left to teach him.
Of course that made sense, as he was not only a prodigy in physical enhancement, but he had been training for years, even besting his ex-adventurer of a coach in combat a few times. Physical enhancement for him was as simple as breathing, and it was always on, and depending on the situation he could allow his mana to ebb and flow to either weaken or strengthen it. ‘If anything I should be the one teaching the class,’ Chris thought to himself a few times.
Chris could turn himself invisible, but he couldn’t easily quiet his footsteps. Because of the power he needed for certain maneuvers, a stomp is almost required as well. If Chris wanted to truly be able to hide himself, he needed to know sound magic.
He hadn’t practiced it at all up to this point, but if he wanted to continue to train his other more “special” magics, he needed to be able to avoid detection around the school at night. His decision was pretty quick, and it was a shock to most people around the school. He then had one slot for elective classes.
The book given to him contained some interesting science, and some interesting information about Mana Crystals, as well as some basic principles for Magical engineering, so he decided to go with that one.
Magic potion making sounded like a lot of work, and Magic battle seemed pretty pointless for a first semester class, as anyone in his freshman year class that was worth beating, had already been beaten. That and no matter how confident he was in his skills, if he happened to get too much attention, he could be in danger.
Once all that was decided, and his forms finally filled out, since he forgot about them after getting wrapped up in the tournament, he met up with everyone to figure out what they all had. Jenny spoke up first, “You know that my wind blade is the pride of my family, I couldn’t dishonor it by picking something else.” She waved sarcastically, putting on a fake noble tone.
Lily squeaked out, “I want to continue working with water magic, as it's my best one, and I don’t know how compatible I am with other ones.” Haven then pushed himself forward, “And of course I took fire magic. After all it is my worst element, and ,” he leaned into Chris’ ear, “I want to piss off Edwin Herval.” Chris stifled a laugh.
Previously Chris had recommended Jenny and Lily take Magic battle, as they needed more experience practicing, and he told Haven he could take whatever he wanted, besides that one. He had pulled Haven over, making it very very clear that, “We stand out, we are strong. Don’t let that go to your head. If anything, take it as a curse. If we stand out too much, we could put ourselves and our families in danger.” Haven wanted to brush him off, but Chris’ eyes and tone were entirely serious.
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He ended up taking Potions class, as his mana wasn’t as high as he would like, and he couldn’t always rely on Chris to refuel him. Let alone the logistical nightmare of taking the time to do that on a real battlefield. If he could learn to make Mana Potions, he could fix that problem, as well as work on something that no one else was. ‘I can’t wait to see the look on Chris’ face when he comes to me, begging me for something,’ Haven couldn’t help but grin at the thought.
With that all figured out they spent the last days before class relaxing, as once school started, studying would become very, very important. Chris began reading up on sound magic, and practiced in the woods next to the school. He reflected on his display at the tournament and wondered how he would be treated in class. ‘There are two options, I could become a bit of a celebrity, gaining praise from my peers and teachers alike. Or I could become a paria, the bane of the school. Students hating me, teachers hating me. One of the two, and honestly neither appeal to me.’
The day came, he and Haven woke up, got dressed, grabbed Jenny and Lily, and then ran down for breakfast together. Jenny and Lily were a bit nervous for class, but Chris and Haven were just tired. No one but Jenny and Lily sat next to them during breakfast, and the normally noisy space was pretty quiet. ‘It seems that it wouldn’t be the celebrity option,’ he laughed a little while eating at that thought.
When Chris walked into his first class, he was confronted by his teacher, Mr. Walcott. “Welcome to my class, just because you can fight doesn’t mean you can forget about the basics, got it?” The teacher was trying to dominate Chris, but Chris didn’t notice because he was too tired. “Got it sir, may I go take my seat?” “Alright, go ahead,” the teacher sneered, as Chris’ lack of awareness came off to the already angry teacher as disrespect.
The class was Magic Theory, and from what Chris could gather from his prior experience, it would be discussing chanting, imagery to go with chants, and how magic works.
In reality, the incantations aren’t necessary, magic can be sustained for long periods of time, magic’s form can be manipulated, and some magic require a level of science to create greater effects, but based on the overview for the class, it wasn’t going to be covered.
Chris even asked a question about chantless magic, and the teacher and several students laughed at him. During his science and history classes he also ran into problems with the curriculum. The fundamental laws in the book that he had been basing his magic on was not something that anyone talked about, and the things they discussed required the explanation of magic as the cause, instead of natural factors.
And with his history class, Chris could not believe how inaccurate the information was. However, he knew if he went against any of the classes basic curriculum, he would either fail and be mocked, or be targeted for knowing things that he shouldn’t. Both seemed a little unsavory so Chris just followed along, pretending to be the unmagical brute, who was good at studying. That was enough as cover, and he told Haven not to discuss any of the science he was taught.