The next morning, the entire class was brought to the Royal Guards’ Training Ground.

A stoic, burly man with countless white hairs sprouting from his head and beard was clad in gilded armour as he stepped in front of the class with a daunting gait.

“Ave heroes. Captain Aten of the Royal Guards of the Kingdom of Rosham at your service.” greeted Captain Aten as he lowered his head and put his hand over his heart.

“By order of the king, I’ll be teaching all of you how to use Magic. Firstly, a demonstration.”

After speaking, Captain Aten made his way to a weapon rack and took up a massively daunting tower shield and greatblade.

“Come!”

Ryotaro’s back suddenly broke out in sweat as he felt an overwhelming amount of pressure radiating from Captain Aten. Ryotaro’s eyes glanced from left to right to check on his classmates in case they couldn’t handle the pressure exerted on them.

But all of them were standing upright without any change in expression at all. It was as though they were unaffected by Captain Aten’s might. Rather, they couldn’t notice the change in Captain Aten's body caused by the spell.

With a massive swing of his sword towards a target dummy, Captain Aten caused an explosion of dust that sent dirt flying in every direction.

In response, the students had their hands up and eyes closed to protect themselves. Slowly opening their eyes as the dust dispersed.

A crater had replaced where the target dummy was standing.

“Archers!” Captain Aten’s roared out.

Immediately, arrows as swift as lightning and as fast as the wind were released by the Royal Guardsmen… and towards Captain Aten himself.

But he simply stood there unmoving. Not making a single effort to dodge the incoming projectiles flying.

Plink!

Instead of penetrating through Captain Aten’s skull, the arrows bounced off upon contact with his skin. It was as though they had hit a sturdy iron shield.

“Magic strengthening means to strengthen your body with magic. Giving your swings the might to fell a beast and granting you a body of iron. Albeit there are numerous types of magic strengthening spells.”

The students’ eyes lit with excitement, they couldn’t wait to try out superhuman abilities themselves. Some were wondering what type of magic strengthening Captain Aten used as well.

But that wasn’t the end of his live demonstration, Captain Aten clapped his hands to gather the student’s attention.

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Murmuring several sentences under his breath, he then held his hand high and aimed to the sky.

“Fireball!”

A blazing ball of fire shot out into the sky, its searing heat felt by those around the caster.

“My magic attribute is obviously, Fire,” said Captain Aten as he wiped the sweat off his brow.

With the demonstration over, Captain Aten revealed a leathery pouch full of pale translucent pebbles from his belongings, gesutring for everybody to take a piece.

We’ve brought Attribute Stones so each of you may determine what elemental magic you’re capable of using just by channelling your mana through it.”

Every individuals' magic attribute appeared to be randomly decided upon birth. It was neither hereditary nor could it be taught. An earth mage would not be able to use the same spells as a fire mage regardless of how much training one has done.

~

Within moments of obtaining their Attribute Stones, the students were able to start controlling their mana. Channelling it into the stone and causing the stones to turn from white to another colour.

Hayami’s stone was coloured a spiralling mix of black and white, indicating she could use dark and light magic.

Light magic was considered to be rare and users of such magic were greatly sought after by the upper eidolon of the temple as light magic was capable of healing wounds and curing ailments, the epiphany of holiness.

Whereas dark magic dabbled in curses and illusions which ailed the target's body and mind.

Dual mages were considered rare in a small kingdom such as Rosham, the last time they had a dual mage, was close to a century ago. But for a dual mage to be able to use conflicting elements of light and dark, it was simply unheard of.

In Hayami’s case, it was likely due to her Blessing which gave her such a unique ability or so Captain Aten concluded.

With Hayami achieving noticeably outstanding results by attracting the attention of some class members, Makoto felt an indescribable urge to outperform her.

How could someone with a Legendary Blessing possibly do worse than someone with a Greater Blessing?

Makoto lightly squeezed the translucent pebble in his fist with a smirk on his face as he channelled his mana through it.

As Makoto opened his palm to inspect his Attribute Stone, it was as if his own God had heard his question and responded in kind. The previously dull pebble now gleamed in his hand with a myriad of different colours.

“Oho! To be able to use so many different attributes, truly the bearer of a Legendary Blessing!” Captain Aten exclaimed as he stroked his chin in approval upon he noticed Makoto’s multi-coloured stone.

Captain Aten’s praise brought Makoto a lot of attention from his peers. His abilities caused him to stand out from the others, it was the same as being the talented genius in class that consistently scored well on tests and exams. Immediately, Makoto was surrounded by his fellow students who were wanted to see the multi-coloured gem themselves.

Makoto silently threw a glance towards Hayami who was part of the crowd, interested in what her reaction would be.

"Eh, that's pretty amazing isn't it?"

Hayami's eyes were round and bright with interest and awe as they focused on the multi-coloured stone in Makoto's palm.

Feeling Hayami's eyes on him, Makoto couldn't help but blush in embarrassment. Moreover, having been rarely complimented in school, Makoto couldn't help but let his classmates' compliments go to his head as he revelled in the envious looks of awe on their faces.

Meanwhile, Ryotaro stood at one side as he dumbly stared at the dull coloured pebble in his hand. It remained unchanged despite his best efforts. In fact, he squeezed the Attribute Stone so hard, cracks could be seen on its smooth surface.

Without any noticeable change in colour from the Attribute Stone, he quietly slipped the cracked stone into his pocket and went forward to join the crowd that surrounded Makoto.