“By the way, what were ya’ doing?” Adrian said as he laid down on his bed, his wet hair drenching the sheets. “You were out the whole day.”

“Oh, nothing,” I said as I left my satchel and numerous scrolls on top of my bed. “I was just reading in the library.”

“Like the whole day?” He asked weirded out.

“Yes, that’s what I said.” I dismissed his worries.

Adrian scratched his chin, then as if it wasn’t enough, he rubbed his temples, looking for an answer. I may have missed my wording and seemed to cause him some sort of internal struggle.

“I scribed down some spells to use for later as they appear rather useful to my progression with the Soul element.” I grabbed one of the scrolls and showed it to him to clear his doubts.

“Didn’t ya’ say ya’ were mainly an arcanist?” He asked before looking at the paper.

“Yes, and that’s exactly why I’m trying to correct it.” I handed him the unrolled sheet. “It supposes no disadvantage to my academic life dual specializing on two elements.”

“Hmm.” Adrian mumbled as he looked at the stack of papers I had taken out of my bandolier.

I didn’t know if he had paid attention to my words, but looking at his strained face, he either didn’t understand the spell’s workings or simply was disgusted by my calligraphy.

“Yup. I can’t understand a word.” He boasted proudly.

“Doesn’t surprise me.” I noticed it sounded bad and corrected myself hastily. “No offense. It’s a seventh-tier spell from an unknown element to you.”

“Some taken, but I agree with ya’.” Adrian shrugged. “Even if it was air magic, I still have troubles with the seven-star spells.”

“As I suggested before, you should ask Marissa for help,” I told him. “I’m sure she would be pleased to help you.”

“Well, I still got a year before me, don’t I?” He said while laying.

“I suppose.” I internally sighed. “So, what have you done today?” I asked the wet man.

“Some sport, some running.” Adrian did look like an athletic person because of his robust build. Something rather unique to the thin and tall ellari. “I have just taken a shower to remove all the sweat.” He grabbed the neck of his wet shirt.

“Yes, I can guess that much.” I told as I removed my clothes and put some pajamas on. It was always complicated removing my shirt thanks to the comically large ears I had inherited from my mother.

“Ya’ are just going to sleep?” He asked as he stood up.

“Yeah, I’m a bit tired.” I yawned as I said so. “I can feel as if my eyes are going to pop off.”

“G’night then.” Adrian walked away.

“Thanks.” I told to my roommate who was at the door of the room.

My last sight before drizzling in the world of dreams was a sliver of purple light coming from the room’s window. The ever-present dome accompanied me in my sleep.

*******

“You were at the library all day?” Marissa looked at me with the utmost distaste the ellari facial anatomy was able to display.

“You knew this was going to happen.” I shrugged myself.

It was already the morning of the fifth day, we were the whole squad in class, waiting for it to begin. There weren’t a whole lot of students in class yet as we had met early at the cafeteria for breakfast.

“As in the whole day?” Monica asked at my left.

“Yes,” I responded shortly. Why was everyone asking me the same? “Some people just like reading books.”

“Oh, I’m not judging you.” Monica dismissed it with her head. “I was also planning to go to the library if Marissa hadn’t made me accompany her.”

For a brief moment, Marissa looked like she was betrayed, only to let the motion go and explain. “I told Monica to go with me to the marketplace at the academy to buy some pillows.”

“Some pillows?” I asked.

“Yes.” She affirmed with unnecessary seriousness. “I was ultra-uncomfortable with the simple bed we were given so I wanted some pillows to recreate my old bed.”

“Hmm.” I looked at her with a smug face. “Little Marissa needs a pillow to sleep~” I said in a melodious tone.

Totally expecting a physical retaliation from her, I spellcasted an arcane shield to block the oncoming nudge. Ah, Marissa, you had become too predictable with the years.

As if she had read my mind, she threw a jab, only to once again be blocked by a perfectly timed shield. Trying to break a four-star barrier with pure physical might was nigh-impossible. Maybe, with some physical reinforcement of the Body element, it could be possible. Yes, it did exist as a matter of fact. I already had Soul affinity and Mind was also a thing.

“Are you done?” I said with the most pronounced grin I could make, the bone structure from my face lightly deforming as a reaction to my amusement.

“Mmm.” Marissa pouted and avoided my gaze.

Our comedic duo, as Monica liked to put it, was cut short by the entrance of yet an unknown teacher.

“Hello, everybody!” The woman said energetically. This was already a huge change of pace from all the deadbeat teachers we had. Well, that came rather hostile. Let’s set it at ‘calm’. “I’m Sylvia Algor and I will be your Mana Pool Management teacher!”

While the surname was equal to a teacher I well-recognized, I discovered that the surname Algor was rather common in Ferilyn. And that’s a shame, I would’ve loved to know a relative from professor Algor. Sylvia began writing on the blackboard.

“This subject has the mastering and optimization of every last drop of your mana pool.” She explained as she continued to write. “This is a short and easy subject, with a few lessons a week lasting an hour each.”

This was the first subject that we had that lasted for an hour, all until now had a duration of two hours. That didn’t mean I wasn’t less interested in what I was going to learn.

“Think of this subject as an extension of Combat Application, which is the next subject you’ll have today.” She noted what she was saying on the board. “While Mana Pool Management is a short theoretical lesson, Combat Application is a three-hour long practical subject, so I expect you, everyone, to be ready!”

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I could hear some groans around the room. According to the tidbits of information I had gathered, Combat Application was the magical equivalent of PE. Such a subject would normally be welcome, but a three-hour class was still a three-hour class.

“That’s all for the introduction,” Sylvia said as she slapped the blackboard. “Now it’s time to begin with the basics of the mana pool.”

The Mana Pool Management class was as tame as it could get. We didn’t go beyond any theory that we didn’t know, but the overview was appreciated, nonetheless. A mana pool was the cornerstone of a mage, so having a whole micro-subject dedicated to how to use it made sense.

The lesson was mostly a reminiscence from my times as a little baby learning the tel’men’ora, a.k.a, manaflows. Such good times when I had yet to discover the powerhouse of the world that were mages.

What was going to happen now was going to prove more exciting. The whole class followed teacher Sylvia through the corridors of the academy. The destination made itself clear as we reached a training ground.

“Alright, everybody!” Sylvia snapped for everyone’s attention. “Now will start the first session of Combat Application!”

Everyone looked at the young and energetic teacher that situated herself at the center of the field. It was a bit strange that we were going to do a “PE” class without special clothes, only the tunics that served as the academy uniform. Which I liked very much and wouldn’t appreciate seeing them dirty. They were made of white silk with lavender and golden strips on the arms and a complementary lavender belt.

This arose the question about the leather’s origins. Was it dyed, or did it proceed from a fantastical-colored animal? Besides my rambling, the tunics were extremely light and they were refreshing as they blocked sunlight (or what was left of it) whilst not being heavy nor thick.

“First of all, group yourself by your elemental affinity.” The teacher spoke to the class. “The first lessons you’ll work with people of your same affinity, later on though, those limitations will go away.”

Technically, I could do the funny thing and say I had Soul affinity and be alone in the group. Soul was an element so rare that I expected no one from my class to have it, let alone multiple people. And while it would be pretty funny to see the face of the teacher as a soul practitioner came up, I decided to go with the group of arcanists that had formed.

In a matter of seconds, multiple groups had already gathered. Obviously, the biggest ones were the Arcane and Force elements. The rest didn’t even reach the half-dozen mark. You could see the aeromancers with Marissa, Adrian, and another guy; the pyromancers as the group was as flamboyant as the affinity indicated, and the aquamancers. Though the latter I just knew it because I saw water magic through the corner of my eye.

“Alright, seems everyone’s already gathered.” Sylvia may be coincidentally named Algor, but her manners did remind me of professor Algor at my old school. “For the moment, I want you to make pairs, or what suits your group, and exchange offensive spells and protect yourself with defensive ones. Easy, simple… let’s go!”

So, a back and forth? Damn, magic ball passes were radical. My inner jokes were cut off by an excited fella who shot an Arcane Chip at me. As it was just a three-star spell, I dismissed it with a glance, dispelling it to nothingness. Arcane Bolt, the six-star version, would have required at least some defensive magic.

And following this train of thought. “Hey! You should have warned me first.” I told to the guy who threw the spell at me. As he shrugged, I shot him with the Arcane Bolt I had prepared.

The advanced magical projectile flew at high speed, crackling with energy as the air deformed where it traveled. The arrow impacted against a purple barrier, a tone much lighter than the dome in the skies. While my adversary had pre-casted the spell, the defensive construct showed light cracks and I judged it would be insufficient to resist my pure arcane bolt. Just in case, I partly dispelled it so it wouldn’t hit him.

“That’s all you’ve got?” The guy taunted in a boasting pose.

Were you mentally challenged? The smug child had failed to notice that I had canceled my own spell instead of him blocking it. Now, calling him a child was incorrect. Not because it was insulting, but because I was younger than him. Other words were more appropriate.

I ignored him and prepared my defensive spell. “What are you waiting for?” I told him. “It’s your turn.”

“Here I go!” He said finally announcing his turn.

Instead of a measly and semi-harmless Arcane Chip, he now shot a true Arcane Bolt. As the projectile got closer, I liberated my spell. A construct materialized to my side. I started weaving the mana out of the projectile to dispel the bolt, proving much more difficult than the chip as it was a six-star spell.

That was why when the spell entered my sphere of influence it started losing power at absurd rates. Normally the absorption rate wouldn’t affect a six-star spell this badly, but I had created leakages in its structure with my mana-weaving.

Before it could even reach my barrier, the spell dissipated into nothingness. Small sparkles of mana floated around as a result.

“He’s cheating!” The child told the teacher.

Really? Now I could feel I was using the word correctly. Even young Marissa was more mature than this. I couldn’t hold my sigh as I watched the scene display.

“What happened?” Sylvia inquired in her ever-cheerful tone.

“He isn’t using defensive spells.” He pointed at me.

Hasn’t your mother told you that it’s rude to point at someone? Well, looking at your behavior, I doubt your mother hasn’t taught you anything. Hmm… I’m pretty salty today. I should look at my soul later. And besides, ellari culture didn’t really find such gestures offending, it was just a reflex reaction from my previous incarnation.

“What did you do?” Sylvia asked me innocently, without any intention of incrimination.

“Well, I didn’t consider it necessary to use defensive spells against him, so I dispelled them.” I explained.

“What did you dispel exactly?”

“An Arcane Chip and an Arcane Bolt, miss.” I patiently responded.

Sylvia frowned as I said this. I could understand her doubts, I just dispelled a six-star spell when my spellcasting limit is at the seventh star. I pointed at the Mana Void beside me to clarify how I did it.

“I see.” She wasn’t the teacher for nothing as she quickly understood what I did. “While he did not exactly use defensive spells, he defended himself,” Sylvia explained to my adversary. “And that’s what matters the most. It’s nothing more than a sparing, it’s not about offensive and defensive spells, but the exchange of spells. And what your classmate did here was a higher level than I anticipated for this lesson.”

I slightly bowed, feigning humility.

“Now you can return to the exercise.” Sylvia got close to me and spoke. “It’s interesting what you did there, not a lot of arcanists delve into mana-weaving, but you have a considerable level for your age. Well done.” Her tone was more serious than the one I had experienced the last hour, yet it sounded more honest.

Sylvia left my side as she continued to overwatch the Combat Applications class. Well… time to infuriate my partner again with more mana-weaving. A smile plastered on my face.

Making use of teacher Innit’s lessons previously this week, I spellcasted a more complex and optimized version than the standard Arcane Bolt. The power was equal to that of my sparring mate, yet it was totally unphased from my Mana Void absorption field.

The fellow arcanist tried to block it with his previous shield, as he found no need to re-conjure it. Which was a rather stupid decision. My projectile impacted against the defensive spell, which shatter it as if it was confronted by a battering ram.

Judging by the intensity and coloration of the shards of the barrier, he had used the Mana Veil spell. Quite an interesting choice. My sparring partner was unharmed by my offensive spell as his own spell had the useful property of creating interference with the spell that managed to destroy it.

It was a sensible choice for sparring, as it meant no spell would ever hit him in a back-and-forth exchange if the enemy’s attack was weak enough. But that didn’t cancel out that he forgot, or actively decided to not refresh the Mana Veil.

My class partner recoiled a bit in surprise, not exactly expecting that my Arcane Bolt would manage to destroy his shielding.

I had to give it to him, instead of replying with a quirky quip as before, he shut his mouth and gritted his teeth as he recasted a new Mana Veil, then readied himself with a new cast of Arcane Bolt.

He overloaded the spell, a thing that I suspected he would do after seeing what my Mana Void did to his previous bolt. It was common sense to infuse more mana against a mana absorption spell as it would take more time to siphon the spell out of existence. Yet my partner forgot one thing.

Mana Void was only a fraction of my repertoire.

The enemy Arcane Bolt’s speed quickly diminished as it entered my domain, then it was stopped dead on its tracks by a translucent rectangle. Mana Wall was a low-tiered defensive spell of both Force and Arcane affinity, yet quite versatile thanks to its simplicity. The magical construct faded after the impact as it was meant as a single-use defensive option.

Now it was once again my turn to attack and as he did, I overloaded my Arcane Bolt.

What he did not expect was that it would completely crush his Mana Veil. The spell’s interference properties managed to dispel my projectile by a hair’s width as it almost impacted him. He didn’t have time to react.

And you are telling me that I still had more than two hours of this? Man, this surely was more entertaining than bullying Marissa with soul magic.

Well, no. But I would certainly indulge in pleasure against my enemy.