Most students did not seem interested in alchemy. The reveal of my affinity raised a few eyebrows though, and there was a certain amount of staring and whispering. Helena was happy when the lesson was over. She found alchemy rather boring.

The next day was a lot more to her liking. We had our first lesson in elemental magic. I could only stare as our teacher entered. The woman looked young, like she was in her twenties. Her skin was dark, like obsidian, her long hair was as white as snow and her eyes… One was bright red, the other turquoise.

She smiled at our reactions. I was not the only one stunned. She had a very curvy figure and a well trained body. “Be seated. I know my looks catch people off guard. And my youthful appearance causes questions about my competence.” She paused, maybe waiting for a challenge. Everybody stayed quiet so she continued: “I have served for over twenty years in the army.”

I knew that magic could slow down your ageing. The more powerful a person was, the longer they could live. But just how strong was that woman? And how old? And was she fully human?

“With that out of the way, let’s start the lesson! My name is Irene and I am here to teach you about elemental magic. As you know, using the wrong mana will hurt you. That can be mitigated, to an extent, with expensive artefacts. But truly powerful magic will always require some affinity. But even if you don’t use a certain element you will need to know how to defend yourself against it. This class is a lot about theory, but you will learn some spells in your chosen element as well. There are advanced classes for each element. I highly recommend picking one.”

She had a pile of books with her and floated one to each student.

“This is the book for my class. You know the drill by now. Don’t damage it. You have to return it at the end of the year. There is a chapter for each element starting with its rune. If you desire to experiment with elemental magic you need to go to a practice room. Now, let’s go over the six elements…”

By now I was used to her striking appearance and focused on the lecture. I loved magic and listened closely to every word.

“Death magic, also called dark magic, is a rare affinity. Why is that?” Irene asked.

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Eva raised her hand.

“Eva.”

“Because we are alive. Death is not compatible with the living.”

“Then how do you explain our Koyuki here?” Irene countered. “No, some living things are fully capable of using dark mana. The theory, that all necromancers are partially undead, has been disproven long ago and is mostly propaganda from Ilestria.”

“But all undead have a death affinity and very few living things do!” Eva protested.

“You are looking at it the wrong way. Undead are created by dark magic, so obviously they have an affinity for it. If you summon an earth elemental it will have an earth affinity. The reason few people are capable of it is simple: They were often hunted in the past. Dark magic is called death magic partly to make it sound more sinister. To make mages sound more evil. Of course, it is also an element that is very good at killing.”

She gave everyone a moment to let that sink in. I felt a lot of people staring at me. Was I the only one with death magic in our class?

“An element, or magic, is neither good nor evil. Each is the domain of a god, or goddess. They can all be used to help. They can all be used to harm. Remember that.”

We got an introduction to all elements but the others were less controversial. Fire could do horrific things as well, but somehow people tended to overlook that. Maybe because it was part of everyday life. Fire was used for cooking, heating and not just killing.

“That is it for today, Koyuki please stay for a moment.” Irene said at the end of the lesson.

I was surprised by that. Archibald was whispering and I heard someone snicker. Was I in trouble? I had been very attentive. I could not think of anything I did wrong.

“I will wait for you outside.” Helena said.

I nervously approached the teacher while the other students left.

“You wanted to speak with me ma’am?“

“Don’t look so scared, you are not in trouble.” Irene said. “Your affinity was not discovered the usual way, right? You have never looked at the runes of other elements?”

“That is correct, ma’am.”

“Have you never wondered if you have a talent for more elements?”

“Um… No?”

Irene smiled. “Your case is a special one and it was handled very quickly. You were seen as an asset and just thrown at the academy. Everyone was excited about your necromancy so they did not bother to look for anything else.”

“But… dual affinities are rare, right?”

“Yes. Some combinations are more common than others. And it depends on the race as well. I want you to come to a practice room this evening and study the other elemental runes. See if one of them speaks to you and if you can use one.”

“I thought it would take a while to learn a rune.”

“And yet, you learned one on your own, during combat. I know you are talented Koyuki. I suspect you have a lot of mana too. I would not be surprised if you had another affinity as well. Meet me at 20:00 at the practice area. Now go, your friend is waiting.”

I left confused. Why was she expecting me to have more affinities? Did she know why I was special? Hopefully I could get some answers tonight.