“Welcome, welcome,” a cattlewoman dressed in a brown suit and black belt, her hair done up in a bun, said quickly. “Please, take a seat, hurry up now.” I didn’t know why she was so eager for us to sit down, most of us were still sitting.

“Welcome, welcome. I am Professor Waltz,” the cattlewoman introduced herself with a thick Blokena accent. “This is Beginner Mana Control. My goal is to either help you learn Mana Control, if you don’t already know it, or to help you advance from Beginner Rank to Intermediate Rank or from Intermediate to Advanced. There are two types of control that we’ll be covering. Both are required to learn the Mana Control skill. I will cover both exercises today.”

“But before that, for those of you wondering about how to advance from Beginner to Intermediate, there are three exercises that we promote. I will teach you those in our next session. For those attempting to learn the beginner rank, first is internal control. Feeling the mana inside and directing it through your body. It can be very difficult in the beginning. Your mana will not want to move. It is a lot like mud right now. So, feel for your mana and once you can feel it, push it through your body to the tips of your fingers and toes then pull it back into your centre. Be slow, gentle, and deliberate. If you try to force it, you may injure or tear your mana channels.”

I frowned. I already knew this. In fact, I learned a more advanced version of this with my mana circulation exercises.

“Smooth and steady,” she intoned gently. “Your mana will move, just be patient. Close your eyes if you are still struggling to feel the mana. It is there, a spark of energy just under the surface. It wants to do your bidding. It just doesn’t know how. You need to teach it to move at your instruction.”

Professor Waltz droned on like that for half the class until, eventually, she moved on to the next exercise. “Good, very good, let’s move on to the other aspect, external mana. Controlling mana inside of your body is wonderful and will help so much in the long run. But for most of you, it is controlling mana outside of the body that is most important.”

“For example, if any of you have an attunement to fire mana, you don’t want to start a fire inside your body,” she said with a giggle that seemed out of place. “However, with control and training, that fire can be used to keep you warm in the cold. But we’re not talking about that. External mana control requires a little more effort. For this, you want to push the mana from your body, and expel it into the air around you. If you want to challenge yourselves, try to push the mana out of your body but hold it close to your skin.”

I was more interested in this exercise. I thought back on when I finally learned Mana Control. I had been circulating mana inside my body for a while. But I hadn’t really tried pushing the mana outside of my body much. It wasn’t until I was trying to infuse food with mana that I learned the skill. I could have smacked my forehead in self-recrimination. My internal circulation was more than enough to learn Mana Control. It was the external I was missing and didn’t learn until I successfully pushed mana into food and it didn’t explode. It also explained why I struggled with Mystic Manipulation over the last hour. I still didn’t have much practise working with the mana outside of my body in spite of my skills. If I had been trying to learn them without the skill stone, I may well have killed myself by now. It also explained why I still hadn’t learned any of the skills described in my mother’s tome.

I exhaled heavily and shut my eyes, feeling a small bit of tension as I channelled my mana out of me. It came readily, like water cascading from a dam. I focused it into a thin layer over my right arm. My breath came in short gasps as I worked and I opened my eyes, humbled that something so simple had eluded me before now.

I closed my eyes again and got back to work. Coating just one arm wasn’t enough. I wanted to cover my entire body. That was my new goal and I was going to see it through.

I had the easiest time with Professor Waltz’s beginner exercises. If there was an escalation like in Manipulation, I felt I was in a good place to start on the next set of exercises. It was too bad I would need to wait for the next class. However, it did give me the opportunity to turn my focus back to the first of the Manipulation exercises, at least until the next professor had her turn.

Professor Waltz announced another ten-minute break and the students began talking excitedly.

I briefly looked around for Al’s scent. I breathed in and found him sitting exactly where he was at the end of the last section. I could have continued practising but instead chose to check on him.

I heard Al sigh before I even got to him and when I did, he asked bluntly, “What do you want?”

“Comrade Alphonse, I thought I would come to see how you got on with Mana Control.”

Al grumbled, “Not well.”

I smirked, “Really, I found it rather easy. Would you care for a pointer or two?”

Al looked at me suspiciously. “At what cost?”

It was time to humble him a little. “The same price you charged me,” I offered, smirking viciously as Al blanched.

Al grumbled and huffed, “I’d rather fail the class.”

I frowned at him and snapped, “Suit yourself, but if you do not learn to swallow your pride as I was able to do, you will fail this class.”

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I turned sharply and started to walk back to my seat.

Al growled, “Fine, wait.”

I paused and looked back over my shoulder. “I’m listening.”

“Your mana control skill is superior to mine,” Al ground out through clenched teeth.

I smirked and turned back. “Hurts, doesn’t it?”

Al growled, “Just . . . help me out.”

“Which aspect were you having difficulty with?” I asked.

Al huffed, resisting telling me for a moment before stating, “Internal.”

I nodded. “Were you able to sense your mana?”

“Yes.”

“Were you able to move your mana?”

“Barely.”

“Then what is the problem?” I asked.

“It doesn’t want to move,” Al answered, then elaborated a little. “Moving the mana outside is easy. It’s like it can’t wait to do what I want it to. But inside, it’s like . . . it would rather be a brick.”

I snorted, and Al gave me the most severe look. I stifled my laugh, “Comrade, it is supposed to be difficult to move in the beginning. Like the professor said, it will be like trying to move mud through your body. However, let me ask one more question. Are you trying to move everything all at once?”

Al frowned at me but nodded.

“I see. Then a tip. Start with one arm. Just one. And if that is too much, start with one hand. Then build from there. It is not a fast process. But if you get one hand, then the rest of the arm, you should be able to get the other hand and the rest of that arm. Then your feet, your legs, your head, your gut, your lungs, and finally your heart. Once you can do all the pieces, start doing both arms, then both legs—”

“And so on and so forth,” Al interrupted, rolling his eyes at me.

“Do not roll your eyes at me, I am helping you, you stubborn field beast,” I chided him.

Al huffed then said very softly, “Thanks.”

I smiled, “I should go back to my seat. Good luck with the next section, comrade.”

Al nodded and I turned away again. I walked back to my seat uninterrupted and just in time.

The horsewoman standing at the podium wore a long purple robe, her white mane cascading down her back. Despite her husky voice, it could barely be heard over the raucous students. A look of disappointment flashed across her face, and then she brought a hand up to her lips. I watched, mesmerised, as a sharp, piercing whistle left her mouth, setting my sensitive ears ringing painfully. In a matter of seconds, however, the room held an eerie silence. All eyes were on the horsewoman. “Much better. Please take your seats, and we’ll begin.”

“I am Professor Zwief. I teach Attunement. It is my goal to help you acquire new attunements or to strengthen those you already possess. I’m afraid I do not have any fancy exercises for you to try out. What I do have is the sign-up sheet for the elemental boxes. Each student is permitted to book one hour per lesson and one hour on the weekend. Next class, if you’ve signed-up, you will report to room 1B at your allotted time. There, I will provide instructions on the use of the elemental boxes. Also, I should note, I am very familiar with most elements, so I will be able to assist you with any struggles you might have. Sadly, that is the entirety of my lesson for today. Oh, sorry, one last note, I will be by the entrance with the sign up sheet for anyone that wants a time slot in the elemental box. With that, I will turn it over to Professor Lichtenstein.”

The rabbitman was slumped in a chair, eyes closed, his chest rising and falling evenly.

Professor Zwief groaned then snapped, “Eric, wake up!”

Professor Lichtenstein startled awake, “Huh, what? What’s happening?”

“You’re up,” Professor Zwief said, a hint of irritation in her voice.

“What?” Professor Lichtenstein questioned dumbly.

“You,” Professor Zwief started, jabbing a finger in the rabbitman’s direction. She then pointed back to the lectern and finished, “are up!”

“Oh, right,” Professor Lichtenstein said, stifling a yawn as he stood and stretched. He moseyed slowly five or six steps across the small stage to stand before the podium. He cleared his throat and then yawned again, “Right, I’ll be teaching you Meditation. This is one of, if not the most, important skills for any mana user to learn. As a Mancer, you only have so much mana to use and once it’s gone, it’s gone for a while. Except, with the Meditation skill, you can accelerate your mana recovery by a factor of two with every rank. It is required for all students on the Mancer path to learn. You will not make it to second year, let alone second semester if you prove unable to learn it.

“So, standard statements out of the way, let’s get started. First, get comfortable. Sit on the floor if you prefer, lean back in your chairs, do whatever you need to find a position you feel you can sit in for the next little while,” he began motioning with outstretched hands for the students to move if they wanted. About half got up from their desks and sat on the floor, a few even laying down where they could.

“Close your eyes. Focus on the sound of my voice. Breath in deeply through your nose. Fill your lungs, expand into your diaphragm. Hold a moment. And release slowly through your mouth,” Professor Lichtenstein instructed. “When you’re ready, do it again. In through the nose, out through the mouth. Good. Now, instead of focusing on my voice, turn your attention to your breathing. Push away all other thoughts and worries, simply breathe. Make the sound of you breathing in and out the centre of your universe.”

The professor repeated himself many times over the next hour, drilling it into our minds. More than one student fell asleep listening, which I found unacceptable. Despite that, I found the practise deeply relaxing to the point that I was able to start tuning out all the colourful scents circulating through the air.

There was a soft gong and the professor’s repetitions ended. “Alright, time to come back to yourselves. Bring your focus back. Take in the sounds around you. And that is Meditation at the Beginner Rank. Practise as often as you can, especially after any expenditure of mana. That is all for me. We have about twenty minutes left of class, feel free to leave if you want, mingle, or ask us any questions you might have. Oh, and professor Zwief is waiting by the door for anyone that wants to sign up for attunement.”

I opened my eyes, took a deep breath feeling relaxed and energised at the same time. If this was normal after using Meditation then I was really going to love the skill. Everywhere around me, students were heading towards the door, yet their steps slowed near the entrance as they saw the line forming to sign up for Attunement. Not wanting to miss out on absorbing Light Attunement, I quickly joined the queue, feeling a burst of anticipation.