Austin walked towards the classroom, Zahra by his side. He glanced at his phone, a message from Larissa lighting up the screen. She had just finished her class and would be joining him soon.

The classroom was larger than the others, more like a gymnasium with an open roof than a classroom. Rows of bleacher-like seats lined one side, while a massive sliding door stood opposite, devoid of any extra stuff except for a few lights. And the floor of the room was not furnished with wood or cement, it was just bare ground.

Austin took a seat, reserving the spot to his left for Larissa with his bag, while Zahra settled in beside him.

Zahra noticed his gaze drifting toward the entrance. "Waiting for someone?"

"Yeah, my roommate," Austin replied. Just then, Larissa entered the room, scanning the crowd until her eyes landed on him. He waved, a smile spreading across her face as she made her way over.

"How was the class?" Austin asked, pulling his bag onto his lap.

Larissa sighed, sinking into the seat. "Fun, for someone like me who enjoys potions and chemicals."

"Great," Austin said, before realizing Zahra was there too. "Oh, hey. Larissa, this is Zahra, from the orientation."

"Hi, Zahra, I'm Larissa," Moonelf said, extending her hand.

"Nice to meet you, Larissa," Zahra replied, shaking her hand.

A playful glint danced in Larissa's eyes as she turned to him. "I'm gone for just an hour, and you've already replaced me, huh?"

Zahra's expression faltered, thinking Larissa was serious. "Oh no, Larissa, I didn't know you two were dating. It’s not what it looks like."

Larissa chuckled. "Don't worry, Zahra, it's just a little banter between us. We're not dating or anything."

Austin jumped back into the conversation. "Yeah, she just playfully likes to call herself my girlfriend."

Larissa pouted her lips and shot Austin a playful glare before turning to Zahra. "Honestly, he started it by teasing me for just a slip of tongue."

Austin rummaged through his bag, retrieving a tiffin box filled with sandwiches. "I figured you'd be hungry, so I brought this," he said, offering it to Larissa.

"Awww," Larissa cooed, taking the tiffin box. Then, in a sudden move that caught both Austin and Zahra off guard, she leaned in and planted a kiss on Austin's cheek. "If you keep being sweet like this, I might actually consider being your girlfriend."

Austin’s inner dragon told him to pull her onto his lap and show her how much he appreciated her company, but that would’ve been too forward. Instead, he just stared into Larissa’s eyes and licked his lips, trying to communicate his feelings without speaking, and she held his gaze, her pupils dilating a little. He found his mind clouded with an intense desire for the Moonelf and decided that he'd ask her out on a date soon.

"Ugh, get a room, you two," Zahra teased, her amusement evident, a small blush creeping her own cheeks upon seeing the two. She couldn't deny noticing the chemistry between them and felt a little jealous.

She found herself growing fond of Austin after he stood up for her in the cafeteria. Most guys would have backed down in the face of Tomas' aggression, but not Austin. Maybe sticking close to him would deter Tomas from bothering her again.

After all, Tomas only overpowered her because he had his friends' support while she was alone. She made a mental note to discuss this with Austin later.

"Good morning, students," echoed the feminine voice throughout the stadium-sized hall. Then, a woman descended gracefully from the open roof, landing with poise on her feet. Her skin bore a deep crimson hue, her long black hair cascaded down her back, and a pointed tail swished behind her. Two horns peeked from beneath her hair, and two sleek black wings spread wide behind her.

Her body was perfectly fitted into a black leather suit that left no curve unnoticed. The top of her suit was slightly unzipped, exposing a good deal of cleavage. This succubus teacher obviously had no problem flaunting her skills in front of her students.

"I'm Natalie," she declared, her smile wide as she stepped onto the stage. "I'll be your instructor for Elementalism I. We'll be delving into the intricacies of fire, water, and earth, along with their respective subtopics."

Her voice rang out with infectious enthusiasm, echoing off the walls of the hall. Natalie's eyes sparkled with excitement as she addressed her class, her wide smile lighting up her features.

"In this class, we won't just be mastering these elements for combat; we'll also learn to control them for the protection of ourselves and others," Natalie continued, her gaze sweeping over the attentive students. "Each of you possesses the capability to manipulate these core elements, otherwise, you wouldn't be here. Now, I won't waste time teaching you how to conjure a simple fireball. That's basic knowledge, which I'm sure you all possess. If there's anyone who doesn't, well, I'm not sure how you managed to enroll in this academy." A chuckle rippled through Natalie's words, echoed nervously by the students.

With a flick of her hand, a portal materialized to her left. Stepping through it, she reappeared a moment later, followed by over a dozen skeletons obediently lined up behind her, each sporting a star-shaped target on its forehead.

"Alright, time for some target practice," Natalie announced, her enthusiasm washing over the students. "It's easy to hit a stationary target, but what if it's a moving being? That's where the real challenge lies. Don't worry, though—I'll be here to guide you every step of the way."

Summoning a fireball in one hand and a water ball in the other, Natalie grinned mischievously. "You can choose two out of the three elements and try to hit the target on their forehead. Once you've chosen, there's no turning back! These skeletons will defend themselves with all three elements, but don't fret—they'll only use simple defensive tactics. After all, I wouldn't want any of my students to get hurt on the first day!"

Natalie scanned the eager faces of her students, her gaze landing on a burly figure among them. "Mason!" she called out, beckoning the minotaur forward with a grin. "You're first."

With a confident stride, Mason approached, his muscles rippling beneath his fur. "I choose fire and earth, Miss Natalie," he declared proudly, a smirk playing on his lips. He seemed certain that he could win the challenge effortlessly.

"Excellent choice," Natalie replied, nodding approvingly. "Now, your task is to hit the star-shaped target on the skeleton's forehead. Are you ready?"

Mason nodded eagerly as Natalie gestured for one of the skeletons to step forward. Natalie's wings started fluttering before she flew over the ground. With a countdown from Natalie, the battle began.

Mason wasted no time, conjuring a fireball and hurling it at the skeleton. But the agile creature dodged with surprising speed, narrowly avoiding the fiery projectile. Undeterred, Mason unleashed a barrage of fireballs, but the skeleton danced and weaved between them effortlessly.

Frustration flickered across Mason's face as he struggled to land a hit. Fire elements often took a lot of effort and mana to be used, Mason’s fur was glistening with sweat in just a few seconds. It was never a good idea to use so many fireballs in such a short amount of time.
But Mason wasn’t a strategic guy, he often went with his gut feelings, and his guts were telling him to hit the skeleton with a large-range attack and end the battle as soon as possible.

He joined his palms, mana surged through his body and formed a large ball of fire between his palms. He didn’t throw the ball away but used it as a source of attack. Finally, once the desired amount of mana had turned into a raging ball of flames, he unleashed a powerful flamethrower attack, a large wave of flames hitting the white bones and engulfing the skeleton in flames.

However, the fire also licked the stadium walls, casting dark shadows across the surface.

The skeleton swirled around, summoning water and using its mana to extinguish the fire. The white bones of the skeleton were now dark and stained, but it hadn’t lost the fight yet.

Mason's determination only grew upon seeing it. He launched more fireballs, but the skeleton countered with earth magic, erecting walls of earth to protect itself.

A smile crept across Mason's face as he welcomed the challenge. With a surge of earth power, the Minotaur also conjured two massive walls larger than the ones skeletons had summoned and closed them around the skeleton from both sides with a swift attack, crushing the skeleton between them while leaving only its head intact, which tumbled onto the floor. With a final fireball, he struck the target on the skull, completing the task.

Natalie landed back on the ground, applauding Mason's effort. "Well done, Mason," she praised, though her tone held a hint of disappointment. "But remember, control is key. Collateral damage can have serious consequences. Keep that in mind for next time. Oftentimes, in fights, we are surrounded by our allies, and sometimes we could have some people to rescue as well. If you attack your opponent rashly, you can hurt the ones you didn’t intend to. Your lesson is to think before attacking, not the other way around."

Mason listened attentively, nodding in understanding as he returned to his seat.

A few more students tried their hand at the target practice, some failing to hit the target and some doing it with much effort. Natalie pointed out mistakes that students made and also gave tips on areas where they had to improve. Most magic users stayed proficient in only two or three elements. It was a difficult art that required a lot of effort, but once learned, it wasn’t so hard.

Only a few selected individuals—those who pushed their limits or had natural affinity—were the only ones with the ability to control all the core and sub-elements.

This practice session was proving to be an eye-opener for many, over a dozen students decided to drop the subject and join an easier class.

“Tomas, you’re next.”

Austin watched the leopard guy, always wearing that stone-cold expression and never letting any emotion slip. A showdown with him felt unavoidable now, especially after the cafeteria incident. Austin wanted to know what this guy was capable of so he could be ready for when they eventually faced off.

Tomas and a new skeleton faced each other in the center of the arena. "Tomas, since you're one of the top five, I think this might be too easy for you and the others. So, I'm making an exception for you five by granting the skeletons the ability to fight back."

The succubus retrieved a badge from her pants pocket, bearing the same star-shaped target image, and tossed it to Tomas, who caught it. "Pin it on the right side of your shirt. Now, you'll also have to protect your own target while trying to hit the enemy's."

With the badge pinned to his chest, Tomas prepared himself for the battle ahead.

"Okay, why don’t we change the scenery a bit?" Natalie snapped her fingers, and in an instant, all of the students and skeletons were teleported out of the class and near a lake situated behind the Academy building.

Tomas wasted no time in choosing his elements: earth and water.

The skeleton took the first step by leaping into the water, and Tomas followed suit. However, instead of diving in, he utilized his water-control abilities to freeze the water's surface. With each step forward, the water beneath his feet solidified, turning into ice and creating a path for him to walk on.

The battle commenced as the skeleton jumped out of the lake, riding a small wave of water, and launched mud pellets at Tomas, trying to hit the target badge on Tomas’ chest. But Tomas was quick to react, summoning a tall wall of water to melt the mud bullets before they could reach their mark.

The skeleton mimicked the leopard's move and stood up on the surface of the water, freezing it just like Tomas had done. In response, Tomas summoned water into his palm, which began to freeze as it collected, eventually taking the shape of a sword. The skeleton followed suit, summoning its own sword of ice before charging towards Tomas. Tomas also ran towards it.

The two combatants clashed, their swords meeting in a resounding clash before shattering into hundreds of pieces.

The skeleton swiftly threw a punch towards Tomas, but the leopard raised a dense wall of wet earth from the lake’s bottom to block it. However, displaying its ingenuity, the skeleton manipulated the water, summoning a large wave to crash against the muddy wall. The force of the wave was so strong that it melted away the earth, sending Tomas washing ashore.

Realizing that the skeleton was copying his attacks and turning them against him, Tomas knew he had to change tactics. With a swift motion, he summoned a massive wave of water towards the skeleton turning the creature’s trick on itself, distracting it as it struggled to control the sudden deluge.

Seizing the opportunity, Tomas tapped into his earth power. He dropped to his knees on the ground and placed his palms onto the wet ground near the lake. As the skeleton managed to save itself from being damaged by the wave, a large palm made entirely out of muddy ground sprung forth from the lake, catching the creature off guard. Tomas closed the earth palm around the skeleton.

The skeleton struggled against the earth's grasp. Tomas, undeterred, lifted one hand off the ground and flicked the water of the lake. A single drop of water flew towards the skeleton. At the last moment, Tomas transformed the drop into a splinter of ice, aiming directly at the target on the skeleton's forehead.

With a satisfying crack, the splinter hit its mark. Austin glanced at a specific group as they cheered for him. Among them was another leopard kin, a girl with golden hair like Tomas. She carried herself with the same air of importance and wore a resting bitch face expression. Austin wondered if she was related to the guy. He looked at her for a few moments, and the girl must've noticed him staring because she coldly stared back at him before turning away.

A few more students tried their hand at hitting the target, before Larissa’s turn came. Austin was bracing for his own turn but Natalie didn’t seem to call him, her gaze would land upon him but she’d smirk and pick some other student instead.

Larissa walked before the skeleton, she removed her shoes, put them aside and stood barefoot. Before anyone could gather what was happening, a branch from the nearby tree snaked its way towards her, she broke the branch and then beckoned some roots out of the ground.

“She’s commanding the tree using her Earth magic,” Zahra whispered to Austin, impressed by the Moonelf.

Larissa used the thick branch as the bow and used the roots as strings, creating a workable bow. And then grabbed another few more branches, to use as arrows.

The skeleton was just on defensive mode, it didn’t attack because Larissa wasn’t one of the five.

With practiced ease, she aimed and let loose an arrow towards the skeleton. At the same time, she started tapping her foot onto the ground as if tap dancing, she’d move back and forth, side to side, her aim never flattering as her feet tapped onto the ground.

The skeleton, however, was not to be outdone. With a swift motion, it clapped its boney palms together and sent a wave of air towards the incoming projectile, deflecting it effortlessly. Larissa nocked another arrow and fired, but the skeleton once again intercepted it. Unbeknownst to the skeleton, Larissa continued tapping her feet on the ground rhythmically.

Austin, keenly observant, noticed Larissa's subtle movements. While the skeleton was preoccupied deflecting arrows, roots began sprouting from the ground around it. As the skeleton attempted to burn away the entangling roots using fire, Larissa ceased her arrow barrage and focused on summoning more roots. The roots wound around the skeleton's legs, creeping onto its structure and snaking their way into the ribcage, constricting its movements and anchoring it in place.

With the skeleton effectively immobilized, Larissa seized the opportunity. She grabbed the bow and arrow, drawing it back with precision. With a confident smile, she released the arrow, and it soared through the air, finding its mark on the skeleton’s forehead.

With that Larissa turned to Austin with a smile, who returned it with a playful wink.

As it came to Zahra's turn, she wasted no time in demonstrating her prowess. With a mastery of Air and Water elements, she swiftly engaged the skeleton in combat. Zahra's agility and quick thinking were on full display as she deftly dodged the skeleton's fiery attacks using water shields.

However, Zahra's real moment of triumph came when she cleverly manipulated the air currents, altering the trajectory of the skeleton's flames and redirecting them back towards their source. Caught off guard, the skeleton found itself engulfed in its own fiery assault.

But Zahra wasn't finished yet. With precision, she conjured an ice dagger and sent it hurtling towards the confused skeleton, striking it squarely in the skull. With a resounding crack, the skeleton crumbled to the ground, defeated by Zahra's quick thinking and skillful manipulation of the elements.

As the battle concluded, Austin couldn't help but feel a sense of anticipation building within him. He knew that soon it would be his turn to face the challenge, one after another Natalie called all the remaining students on the ground to test their abilities until solely he remained.

“Austin, you're the last one.” Natalie’s words made him nervous and excited at the same time.

Austin walked over to the ground and welcomed the opportunity to prove himself.

"Since everyone has already demonstrated various combinations and attacks, I believe it would be simple for you to mimic any of them and swiftly complete the challenge," Natalie stated as she approached Austin. "However, I think we should raise the stakes a bit for you. Perhaps you can showcase to me and the other students why you are one of the top five." With that, Natalie handed Austin a target badge, just like the one she had given to Tomas, Zahra, Arthur, and Kara.
Austin pinned it to his shirt. “Yeah, I’m ready. Ms. Natalie. I choose Earth and Water.”

Natalie suddenly summoned a blindfold in her palm and then walked behind him to tie it over his eyes. Her breasts lightly brushed against his back, and that small contact made him shiver a little. “Do your best.” He felt the succubus’ breath on his ear as she fastened the blindfold.

"Now," Natalie's voice resonated next to Austin, drawing his attention. "It's time for everyone to focus on Austin's actions. He won't be able to see anything, and this scenario is common in dungeons or when facing enemies in any other realm. There might be darkness in a dungeon due to a lack of light sources. The important thing to remember is that even when our eyes fail us, we possess an innate ability as magic users to sense the mana around us. We can harness this ability to our advantage." With those words, Natalie ascended into the air and began counting to three.

Austin embraced Natalie's words, recalling his training from his teenage years. His mother had mentored him in the use of this very ability, known as Mana Sight. As he stood blindfolded before the skeleton, Austin centered his focus on the mana that permeated his surroundings.

He began the process, initially attuning himself to the mana within his own body. With a concentrated effort, he visualized this internal mana and then extended it outward, channeling it in all directions to discern his environment.

The result was breathtaking. Waves of mana radiated from Austin's body, manifesting as ethereal blue light that cascaded over the area surrounding him. Spectators gazed in wonder as these waves intersected with trees, stones, the earth itself, and even the students themselves, before reflecting and converging back upon Austin.

With the return of these mana waves, Austin's senses expanded, granting him a vivid visualization of his surroundings. Every aspect of nature pulsed with mana, from living beings to inanimate objects, each imbued with its own unique energy signature.

With his inner sight, Austin sensed the skeleton before him, its mana pulsating in shades of purple. As the skeleton unleashed a fireball in his direction, Austin reacted with agility. Dropping to his knees, he pressed his palm firmly against the ground, drawing upon the earth's essence to shape a protective rocky gauntlet around his first before punching the fiery projectile aside.

Yet the skeleton remained relentless, launching another fireball toward Austin. This time, the dragon conjured a water ball of his own to counter the flames and extinguish the threat before it could reach him.

The skirmish intensified as the skeleton continued its assault, manipulating the elements with precision. Fireballs surged forth in rapid succession, each aimed at the target on Austin's chest, testing his resolve. Undaunted, Austin evaded each one, retaliating with well-timed punches to deflect the fiery assaults, his heightened senses attuned to the mana of fire hurtling toward him.

In a sudden surge of heat, Austin felt the scorching touch of another fireball. His shirt burst into flames as the skeleton unleashed a barrage of three fireballs. Swiftly evading the first two, Austin missed the third, its fiery impact scorching a portion of his shirt. Though fire couldn't harm him because he was a dragon, he still had his pride to maintain and the badge to protect. He couldn’t let his clothes burn down and let his classmates see his nude form.

Recalling his training, Austin swiftly rolled onto the ground, the earth coating around him and forming a protective armor of rock. With the badge secured, he was ready to retaliate.

Empowered by his newfound defense, Austin surged forward with earth magic. A massive block of rock materialized beneath his feet, propelling him towards the skeleton with astonishing speed. Caught off guard, the skeleton could only watch in bewilderment as Austin, encased in rocky armor, unleashed a powerful blow with his gauntlet fist.

The force of impact shattered the skeleton's chest, sending bones scattering across the ground. Standing triumphant over his defeated foe, a grin spread across his face.

"Sorry about that," he chuckled at the skeleton, a playful tone in his voice. "Just a little showing off." With a swift kick, he sent the skull soaring into the air, then swiftly launched a splinter of rock towards the target on its forehead. As the splinter struck true, the earth armor dissipated from his body, flowing off like liquid before returning to its original space from where Austin had absorbed it.

After removing the blindfold, Austin was met with the cheers of his classmates. He noticed Natalie’s claps for him before she landed before him. "That was outstanding!" she exclaimed, her voice carrying for all to hear. Then, lowering her voice to a more intimate tone so only he could hear, she added, "You're hardworking, and you possess the same spark your mom had. I’m excited to see your growth." Natalie finished it with a wink, making him blush a little.