The next morning, another group was already in class waiting when we got there, with one sporting eyes deader than that of a fish at market.

'No offense, but you look terrible, Alicia. Was that scream last night you?' (Joshua)

'I couldn't sleep. Every time I close my eyes I see the image of Sophia flying towards me.' (Alicia)

'Eh, got ambushed while bathing? But you're still here though.' (Joshua)

'She said I passed because I managed to dodge her, but this is hideously unfair. It's almost enough to make me wish Gwyn was the one doing the ambushing.' (Alicia)

'You'd rather be stared at by a guy?' (Joshua)

'If it means I'm more likely to pass this course... I'd have to be quite indisposed to fail to him, but surviving Sophia feels more like luck than anything. And if I fail it's not like my body will be relevant for anything anyway.' (Alicia)

'Don't take this the wrong way, but I'm pretty sure the marriage queue for you will reach the town hall from here.' (Joshua)

'My parents won't allow marriage with commoners. If I fail in this last selfishness of mine I'll probably end up a nun for the rest of my life.' (Alicia)

'That'd be a real waste. For the sake of beauty in this world, I hope you succeed.' (Joshua)

'You must say that to every woman you meet.' (Alicia)

'Actually, I don't.' (Joshua)

'Yeah, he actually doesn't.'

'Jealous, Rachel?' (Joshua)

'It's not like I like you or anything.'

'I know.' (Joshua)

'I'll take that as a compliment then. But you'll never have a chance with me, even if I wanted it to be. And I don't.' (Alicia)

'I know. But the truth still needs to be said.' (Joshua)

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'Wow, you get to stare at a woman every night and you're still making advances at another? You're quite the cad.' (Michael)

'I'm just doing my job, bro. And you're not gonna tell me you don't find her the prettiest flower in this field?' (Joshua)

'Well... second.' (Michael)

'Wait. There's someone you like more?' (Joshua)

'Yes, but she's on a different plane from me, so that's not happening ever.' (Michael)

'Who is it? Maybe I can help you out as a bro, you know.' (Joshua)

'Nah, you can't. Nobody can.' (Michael)

'Hey, don't look down on me. Even if I can't score I'm not terrible at passing the ball. So who is it?' (Joshua)

'...' (Michael)

'Never known you to be the shy one. Speak up so I can hear?' (Joshua)

'Elaina.' (Michael)

'Oh... yeah, you're a suicidal psycho. I'm not getting involved with that.' (Joshua)

'...haaah. I know.' (Michael)

I guess for every psychopath out there, there's a masochist who wants to die.

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'Back to your positions, knees under your tables.

Today, we will be covering how to actually use magic.

First, where does the energy of magic come from? More skilled mages can affect reality in more significant ways, so it must come from the caster, right?

Wrong.

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If you try to imagine energy coming from yourself and acting on your target, you'll never get anything but the most minor of magic to work.

There is magical power in you. But you are nothing, a speck of dust in the middle of the sea. As am I.

We bathe in the rays of the sun. There is power there. We feel the wind blow through the valley. There is power there. The earth moves, shattering mountains and felling cities. There is power there. We feel the weight of time drag down on us, until the youngest of us all turns into naught but dust. There is power there.

This world was created by beings of infinite power. Both the Holy Gods that bless us with life and prosperity, and the Evil Gods that bless monsters with the ability to destroy everything we have built. This world was created by wills that breathed an infinitesimal fraction of their power to make things as they pleased. And so it is that the natural forces of this world obey the power of a strong will, for it was will that brought them into being.

When we use magic, we use the infinitesimal fraction of the divine will within us to redirect an infinitesimal fraction of Creation to act by our will.' (Gwyn)

'I thought this was a class for adventurers. Have we all been failed and transferred to the monastery in secret?' (Silas)

'Whether you like or detest the Gods, it is impossible to ignore their existence when you stand before their might.' (Gwyn)

A wind starts swirling around the edges of the classroom, and the people closer to the edges have started sliding towards the centre in their half-squatting positions.

'Each of us has a link to one or more aspects of Creation by birth, and it is this link that gives us the power to affect it. The more you understand how this aspect operates, the more of it you can command.' (Gwyn)

The wind is now loud enough to be heard.

'Is this what you meant by blowing you away?' (Dennis)

'No. What he used on us is much stronger than this, though it lasted for only a moment.' (Michael)

The wind starts to subside, though Joshua's hair still gloriously billows in a manner that makes the women's hair pale in comparison.

'As you can see, my link is to the Holy God Baraqiel, governor of the attribute of perception and element of air.

There is also the Holy God Jeremiel, governor of the attribute of stamina and element of water.

The Holy God Jehudiel, governor of the attribute of strength and element of earth.

The Holy God Uriel, governor of the attribute of intellect and element of fire.

The Holy God Raphael, governor of the attribute of vitality and element of life.

The Holy God Gabriel, governor of the attribute of precision and element of space.

The Holy God Selaphiel, governor of the attribute of composure and element of time.

And the Holy God Michael, governor of the attribute of longevity and element of death.

At least, these are the names that have been passed down to us. I cannot tell you for sure if over the centuries of our history, their names have been recorded wrongly, but there is no mistake that they exist, or the link between the elements and the general attributes that we possess.' (Gwyn)

'Magic can do other things too, right? Fixing the result of a coin toss doesn't seem like it's the domain of anything like what you mentioned.' (Dennis)

'There's several ways to fix a toss. One is to use the wind like I did, but you can also use time magic to fix only the tosses with the result you wanted and discard the other eventualities, use earth magic to flick it with the exact same amount of force every time rather than trusting in your own strength, or use space magic to fix the orientation of the coin. The surest method is the space method, but it's also the most tiring method since the probabilities involved are the most absurd, especially when the toss would normally make it land tails-first.' (Gwyn)

'So the best way to use magic efficiently is to find out what we're good at physically, correlate it to the elements that are governed by the same Holy Gods, and try to visualise results that can be achieved from variations in those elements?' (Dennis)

'Correct.' (Gwyn)

'But if that's the case wouldn't there be an oversupply of fire mages if intellect makes the best mages in general?' (Alicia)

'Only if you view changing the temperature of objects as the best use of magic. But it's also one of the least straightforward elements to use in combat, so it checks out. Earth users just need to visualize breaking through everything in their path, and their magic helps their strength find the weak spots in their target. Water users often sap their opponents of stamina, making extended clashes end in their favour. Air users like me often use projectile weapons where our magic can make our attacks hit harder, more accurately or from unexpected angles. Life users can accelerate the rate at which allies' injuries heal. Time users give their parties a safety net against imperfect ambushes and can avoid deaths from unlucky events, but don't actually change the overall balance of power in an encounter much. Space users can make unerring strikes, while also being nearly impossible to hit.' (Gwyn)

'And death users are just broken overpowered and kill people by looking at them, while not dying even when you kill them.' (Joshua)

'I still have no idea how it works. Very few humans are favoured by the God of Death. The elves would probably have a much better idea of what death magic actually does.' (Gwyn)

'Can't you just ask Elaina how her magic works?' (Alicia)

'The abilities of Adventurers are their lifeline. If someone knows exactly what you're capable of and how it works, it's a lot easier to counter it, and at a high level, you'll never really know if someone isn't secretly working for someone else that might want you dead. The more you stick out, the more people want to kill you. Someone like Elaina is probably on the hitlist of every nation other than ours, and would probably end up in ours if she decided she wanted a change of scenery.' (Gwyn)

'Aren't we all allies in the fight against monsters?' (Michael)

'If anything, people kill each other in much larger numbers than monsters have ever managed. If monsters didn't exist I wouldn't be surprised if we kill each other even more efficiently than we do now. Sometimes I wonder if we deserve to exist, but we do what we can to protect those we care about and leave the rest to the Gods to decide.' (Gwyn)

'Excuse me, I don't think that's something an instructor should say.' (Alicia)

'Then pretend I never said it.' (Gwyn)