Chapter 11: WHAT!?

Lunchtime arrived, Arie kept it simple, eating quickly before heading back to the classroom. As he was walking through the corridor, though, he unexpectedly came across a familiar face. It was Mira, the girl he had saved from the dungeon. She spotted him, her face lighting up with surprise and excitement.

“Arie! What are you doing here?” she exclaimed, clearly surprised to see him.

“Oh, hey, Mira,” Arie replied with a grin. “Well, I’m here to learn, obviously.”

“Right, right! I didn’t know you were attending this academy. If I had, I’d have come to find you to thank you again,” she said with a warm smile.

Arie shook his head modestly. “There’s really no need to thank me again. I just did what anyone else would’ve done in that situation. Besides, I only just transferred here.”

“Oh, that makes sense! So, which class are you in?”

“Class A,” Arie replied.

Before they could continue their conversation, the bell rang.

“Oh no, I’ve got to get to my class,” Mira said quickly. “See you around!”

“Yeah, see you,” Arie replied, watching her dash off.

As he walked back to his own class, he could feel eyes on him. He heard whispers floating through the hallway.

“Who is that guy? And why was he talking to the princess?”

“Does he have some kind of connection with her?”

Arie was confused. He didn’t understand what the whispers were about but brushed it off as he entered his classroom and took his seat.

Once seated, the teacher entered and started class. “Alright, class, this afternoon we’ll be studying the final level of Destruction magic, which is advanced Destruction magic. Most of you already know the basics, but I’ll need to check if anyone’s unfamiliar with it,” the teacher said. He glanced over at Arie. “Arie, do you know Destruction magic?”

“Yes, sir,” Arie replied confidently.

“Excellent,” the teacher said with a pleased nod. “Follow me outside. We’ll conduct this session on the field—our training grounds might not withstand the intensity of today’s practice.”

The students murmured in excitement as they made their way to the academy’s vast open field. Standing in front of a massive boulder, the teacher explained the task. “Each of you will attempt to break this boulder. If you succeed in breaking it, you’ll receive an ‘A’. If you only crack it, you’ll get a ‘B’, and if you merely scratch it, a ‘C’.”

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The teacher demonstrated the standard chant for one of the advanced spell "Shatter the earth, tear through the skies, break the bounds of all that binds, let the world crumble and fall apart, oblivion strike" guiding the students step by step. “This is a highly controlled spell. Use it carefully,” he instructed.

First up was Eldren, a confident young man who took a deep breath and recited the chant "Shatter the earth, tear through the skies, break the bounds of all that binds, let the world crumble and fall apart" . With a small explosion, he shattered the boulder into several pieces, drawing impressed nods from his classmates. The teacher promptly reconstructed the boulder, motioning for the next student to step forward.

Cedric, the next to try, muttered the chant with determination, and with a faint explosion, managed only a scratch on the stone’s surface. He returned to the group, a bit flustered, but the teacher reassured him with a pat on the back.

One by one, students stepped forward, attempting to showcase their mastery of Destruction magic. When it was Princess Lea’s turn, she confidently walked to the center, barely acknowledging the chant before casting her spell. In one fluid movement, she whispered, “Destruction magic, I summon you.” With that, her spell blasted through the stone, breaking it in half. A murmur of awe swept through the students, many of whom hadn’t seen anyone control Destruction magic so easily.

The teacher raised his brows, clearly astonished. “Only a rare few can control Destruction magic with such ease,” he said, casting her an approving look as she returned to her spot.

Arie watched her with admiration. “That was amazing, Princess Lea,” he said with genuine respect.

“Why, thank you, Arie,” she replied, her eyes gleaming.

Finally, it was Arie’s turn. He took a steady breath as he stepped forward, feeling the pressure of the curious eyes on him. He raised his hand toward the boulder, gathering his magical energy. But instead of reciting the chant, he focused his power silently, channeling the raw energy of Destruction magic.

His hand began to glow with an intense, crackling energy, which surged around him, spiraling down his arm like a live current. The power surged and crackled around him, leaking from his hand and striking the ground as he gathered his strength. "Without a chant? Silent casting at this level—impossible!” The teacher could hardly believe what he was seeing, and the other students were frozen in shock, eyes wide as they watched Arie’s power build.

With his hand radiating raw Destruction energy, Arie took a step forward, his focus unwavering. The ground trembled under the intensity, small fissures forming around his feet as the energy overflowed, creating streaks of light and dark scars on the earth. Everyone held their breath, bracing themselves for what was coming. Finally, he released his hand forward, locking his gaze on the boulder as he commanded in a steady, calm voice, “Destroy.”

The power erupted from Arie’s hand, not as a normal spell but as a massive wave of pure Destruction energy that surged forward like a tidal wave. The boulder didn’t just shatter—it was completely obliterated, disintegrating in an instant as if it had never existed. The spell continued past where the boulder had been, carving a trail across the field and colliding into a distant mountain in the horizon.

A resounding explosion echoed across the landscape, shaking the ground beneath them. In the distance, the mountain cracked and crumbled under the impact, creating a huge plume of dust and debris. The shockwave from the impact rippled back across the field, ruffling hair and clothes as everyone struggled to keep their footing.

Silence fell, punctuated only by the faint rumbling as the last remnants of the mountain disappeared into a cloud of dust. The other students were stunned, their faces pale as they stared at the path of utter destruction left in Arie’s wake.

“Wha… what just happened?” whispered one student, his voice barely audible over the silence.

“He didn’t just break the boulder…” another added, their voice filled with awe and a hint of fear. “He destroyed a whole mountain!”

Princess Lea looked at Arie, a new glint of respect—and maybe a bit of challenge—in her eyes. She folded her arms, a smile tugging at her lips. “He’s on a completely different level,” she muttered to herself, though the spark of competition in her gaze was clear.

The teacher was speechless, struggling to process what he’d just witnessed. Eventually, he cleared his throat, trying to regain his composure. “Arie… that was… extraordinary. Truly.” He took a deep breath, as though steadying himself. “However, in future assessments, let’s try to aim for controlled displays of magic. That was… perhaps a little too powerful for this exercise.”

Arie blinked, realizing he might have gone overboard. “Oh! I… I’m really sorry, sir,” he said, bowing slightly. “I didn’t expect it to be that powerful.”

The teacher smiled, a bit strained, as he waved off Arie’s apology. “No harm done, though… we may need to have a discussion with the headmaster about field repairs.”

The students slowly recovered from their shock, and a quiet buzz of excitement filled the air as they started to murmur to each other.

Arie quickly apologized again, still stunned by the unexpected strength of his spell. With the demonstration over, the class made their way back, their eyes looking, at distant mountain, turn into nothing.