"Yo! Welcome to Cypress Academy."

With disheveled brown hair, their teacher rose up to the podium. With the appearance of a man with 30 years of experience in teaching alone, he was anything but young.

'An old fossil, damn.' Isaac thought, although, he wouldn't dare say it out loud.

Why?

Well, to be a magic proficiency teacher, one isn't exactly weak.

The opposite, really.

Only the cream of the crop could enter this academy.

As a student, or teacher.

Regardless, his full attention was on his disheveled, old teacher.

He had no doubts that he was worthy of his current position.

Although, he didn't seem to act him age...

"So! Let's start off with the basics... You! What do you know?"

Inwardly, Isaac thought, 'Does this guy think he's a teenager or something?'

'I need what he got...'

Snapping back to reality as he saw him picking students, he decided to give attention to his actual lesson.

Hearing the answers from his students, he nodded his head.

"It seems you all are quite knowledgeable about mana. I would love to speak more about it, however, that isn't my job."

Smiling, the teacher continued, "My name is Mr. Nelson and I will be teaching you about Mana Proficiency, essentially, how to control and use mana to your best capabilities."

Without giving any one time, he summoned a blue fireball in front of him. With the room drastically increasing in temperature, most students started sweating.

Not Isaac, however. 'Quite cozy if I do say so myself.'

He didn't grow complacent with his teacher, however. He knew that he must be holding back tons.

"Today, I want everyone to conjure a ball of pure mana directly in front of yourselves. And please, don't grow complacent even it's a small fireball." Nelson said seriously. Some students used excess mana for a small fireball as it wouldn't drain their reserves much, so they used it sparingly.

"Treat this small request of mine as a test."

Isaac, like many others, instantly tried, although they didn't dare rush the process.

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With his control over mana, naturally, most came from physique, however, the product of his mana was much greater than before.

This was due to his constant battles, that sharpened his control, previously, it was slower than now.

Why?

Well, during battles, he knew that every second counted, especially during life and death battles, and with his own control improving as he got used to mana and its peculiarities that seemed to enrich the very planet, he naturally improved.

Currently, his control over mana naturally was superior to his peers.

Immediately after channeling his mana, it pulsed outwards from his heart, darting towards his fingertips with extreme speed.

In his eyes, a ball of transparent white color appeared before him.

This specific set of colors was none other than mana.

It wasn't simple like fire where one could say, "That's orange!"

Mana itself was translucent. This same white ball in front of Isaac enriched the very planet itself.

To him, it seemed to be nothing and everything at the same time.

Mana could be used to incantate a fire spell, like fireball, however, it would take much more effort and mana than a mage with fire affinity.

Naturally, most found it harder to control mana itself than elemental mana.

Isaac believed that it was because that mana, in its grandiose, powered the entire universe.

Unlike water, where it could only be said to sustain a planet.

The tiers themselves were on a different level.

Regardless, he didn't have any issues with summoning a ball of pure mana.

No other student noticed his quick summoning, as they were all busy trying themselves.

Besides Mr. Nelson, of course.

Looking at the student with silver hair, with his lustrous golden eyes befitting his magisterial appearance, Nelson smiled.

'It seems a new seed has arisen.' Nelson thought.

With his eyes narrowing, he continued, 'However... will it grow into a beautiful tree, towering over all others, or merely be cut and used?'

Nelson, however, had no thoughts of revealing him to the world, honestly, he wanted him to grow secretly.

Over his years of teaching, he had seen many faces that he would never see again, eventually, he grew an attachment to every face he saw.

Perhaps it was his pride of teaching such brilliant students, however, he wanted each and every one of them to grow to their full potential.

He knew many nobles, and all of them that he knew of, didn't have the distinct silver hair like him.

'He's a commoner?' He thought with a frown.

Knowing of his low status, he realized life would be even tougher for him. Whether it was corrupted nobles, or even spoiled brats, it seemed his life was to be riddled with hardship.

Regardless, he had never seen such a talent.

With such precise control of mana, he summoned it almost instantaneously.

During his early years, he had been hailed as a genius as he could summon balls of mana under 15 seconds, with his record being 10.

Nonetheless, his record was put to shame compared to the silver-haired boy.

He had no idea if he had the qualifications to teach the young man.

He could do the same, yes, but that was due to his high rank.

As a Low-Level Grandmaster, Nelson's mana naturally moved faster.

Few knew this however, if body refiners moved at the speed of light towards mages, who had to channel their mana to use a shield or means of attack, none would become a mage.

After all, in that split instant, the mage would have no means to save themselves.

However, as the mage continued to grow further in rank, their mana traversed through their bodily channels faster.

Not many knew this fact as either, they hadn't got to a high enough rank where it was noticeable, and many thought that with rank ups, the mages could naturally use their spells faster.

Specifically, they had a sort of enlightenment, which is why they could use their preferred spells faster.

Whichever reason a mage held, they could chant their spells faster due to what Nelson believed, was themselves growing closer to mana.

However, the man in front of him seemed to already have a connection to mana as deep as even him, a Grandmaster magus.