Once everyone woke up, Angus stood at the front of the class again, watching as the students got past the initial rush from their newfound power and felt their exhaustion catch up to them as they practically collapsed on their desks.

 

Once they had all finally calmed down, Angus began addressing them. 

 

“Now that you have all awoken your mana, you will learn your first spells. Since the majority of you have different attributes, you will not be taught how to manipulate specific magic types, however, you will be taught how to control mana in general, and will train with assigned seniors to further your own affinity’s training.”

 

He held out his right arm, pointing his palm towards the air as he focused deeply for a moment.  As his eyes focused from their normally care-free appearance, the air around his hands seemed to flare and crackle, small runes appearing in the air that moved around rapidly before converging upon a single point on Angus’ palm. Suddenly, a small sphere of mana appeared in his hands, flaring brightly as it stood firmly in his palm, showing his incredible control over his magic. 

 

Delta snapped back into attention upon hearing the result, struggling not to show his Lightning on his face. 

 

The runes that Delta had seen were in the exact same language Delta had learnt back on Earth, down to the very letter. There was no doubt in Delta’s mind that the language he had spoken was Latin, a language that Delta had mastered whilst spending time in the higher ranks of Caligula’s forces. 

 

A small ping from the system answered his question, saying [System has translated all Magic Runes to Latin to make casting easier for the User. This can be turned on and off at the User’s discretion].

 

Delta wasn’t foolish enough to miss the massive boost in strength this would give him, and he was eager to experiment with it later on. 

 

“Once you become more powerful, you’ll be able to cast spells without needing to focus for so long, however, this means you’ll need to shape the mana on the fly rather than having sculpted it first, meaning the backlash .”

 

He waved his hands, and a few dozen balls of mana appeared floating around him, moving around the room slowly and passing narrowly over the heads of the students listening eagerly.

 

“Although this isn’t in the curriculum for this year, once you gain mastery over magic, you can begin to use magic artifacts to manipulate your mana. You’ll take more lessons on making magic artifacts and syncing them to your mana later, however, for now, I will simply give you an example.”

 

He reached into his back pocket and pulled out a silver lute. It had blue symbols engraved into it, seeming stationary and devoid of magic until Angus raised it to his lips and began playing. 

 

A sweet melody began pouring out from the lute, the runes moving around as if they were alive. They began moving faster and faster as the music became slightly faster-paced until they began coming out with the sounds, spreading themselves around Angus before forming balls of mana that followed his every whim.

 

The music he was playing took a more aggressive note, and suddenly the balls of magic seemed to vibrate dangerously, sending small waves of mana that turned the entire room’s magic chaotic. 

 

As he continued to play, the balls of magic turned silver and yellow alternatively, representing the wind and lightning natures he had poured into them. 

 

“As you can see, children, my element proficiencies are Lightning and Wind, which when combined create the Lightning element. Lightning is an example of a Tier II Element, made from the combining of more than 1 base element. Whilst there are other mages like me with control over two elements, it is also possible to align your mana with someone else, and mix elements through that connection.”

 

The children with enough energy in their tired bodies nodded, eager to hear more, whilst the rest remained slumped on their desks, battling their will to sleep. 

 

Seeing the children struggling to stay awake, Angus said, “For those of you who have enough energy to keep learning, I will personally guide you today. The rest of you can have a power nap, and I’ll work with you tomorrow.”

 

Shortly after, about ¾ of the class fell asleep, with Delta and Diana amongst those who had remained awake. 

 

“Good, this is more than I expected. Let’s begin.”

 

He took out his CT and tapped a few buttons, before pressing another button by his work desk, switching the screen from the previous circulation diagram to a new slide with bullet-pointed information written on it.

 

Delta scanned through it, reading:

 

• Mana manifestation is controlled by the imagination and mental capabilities of the caster.
• The user must firmly imagine the image they wish to project, have enough mana in their core, and be able to focus deeply on the manifestation they want to take place.
• Grimoires can be used to replace the need to visualize and focus, however, due to the long casting times of reading out spells, they aren’t used often, except in casting large scale magic which is very difficult to visualize.

 

Angus gave the students a second to read it, before explaining everything himself. 

 

“A caster’s most important factor is their mental capabilities. The ability to remain focused in the middle of war is critical, as failure to dispose of built-up mana can result in catastrophic results, depending on the spell being used.”

 

“If there is insufficient mana in the user’s core when casting, they will find themselves unable to cast the intended spell, and a smaller or incomplete version will appear. It is also of the utmost importance to always be aware of the amount of mana you have left, as well as managing it effectively, as running out of mana often results in death for casters.”

 

“As for grimoires and other magical artifacts, don’t worry about them. Powerful ones are incredibly difficult to come by, and even harder to purchase as most are bought through private connections. I only got mine after looting a dragon’s hoard with Vergum many years ago. Besides, unless the caster is powerful enough to live up to the artifact’s capabilities, it is practically useless. Grimoires are even worse, as they take so long to read that you’d be dead before you’re halfway through a half-decent spell.”

 

The children gasped upon hearing the last detail, whilst 1 or 2 noble others seemed slightly disappointed that they couldn’t ask their parents for magic artifacts to rely on.

 

“All of you stretch out your dominant hands.”

 

The students did so, and Angus used his lute to direct the mana balls into the very centre of their palms, leaving a tiny burn mark in the middle. 

 

The process didn’t hurt any more than a small bee sting, however, it was enough to wake up a few students from their half-asleep states. 

 

Delta, however, barely felt it, as his constant breathing and mana circulation had increased his [Endurance] stat to a level far higher than the rest of the students, for whom the sting had been weakened.

 

In total, the class of 30 had been reduced to a class of 9, the rest still slumped on their desks.

 

“Focus your mana as you did before, except this time direct it to your palm. As you do so, imagine a ball forming slightly above your hand, staying still a few inches above.”

 

The children shut their eyes, some squinting as they tried to imagine the image they had been given. 

 

Some of the students seemed to be slightly more at peace, being slightly more talented at it than the others. 

 

Delta, however, did it with complete ease, his higher intelligence helping him greatly. That, mixed with his already accustomed body, meant he only had to focus on imagining the ball, which had been easy as his years as a mercenary meant he had no issue focusing on a single task.

 

Slowly, but steadily, the ball of magic he had imagined appeared in his hands, wavering slightly as Delta got used to it. 

 

The other students who hadn’t been concentrating as hard looked over in shock, incredibly impressed by Delta’s speed at forming the ball. 

 

Delta smiled, amused by the reactions of the children around him. 

 

Angus looked at him in shock, thinking ‘What kind of monster has Athena brought to me? I don’t get paid enough for this…’

 

After ushering the pointing students back to their work, Angus told Delta to try and shape it into other things, like a square instead of a sphere. 

 

About a minute later, Diana opened her eyes, a similar ball in her hands, albeit slightly less controlled than Delta’s.

 

‘Two monsters in the same class…’

 

Delta looked over at her, rather impressed. He hadn’t expected anyone to be as fast as he had been considering how much higher his stats were and the history he had with the battlefield. 

 

Taking in a deep breath, Delta decided to try something interesting. He focused on the image of the bird that had often perched hear his orphanage, his mind wandering to the days he had spent with the old veteran as they sat in the doorway, watching the outside world go by. 

 

He’d watch people walk through the marketplace, bustling loudly as they carried out their haggling and bartering for the day’s groceries. 

 

These memories brought a smile to Delta’s face, and in a moment of inspiration, he began focusing on the little birds’ wings, mimicking its light feathers and curious eyes, even copying its expression and emotions. 

 

His mana began to move with his mind, leaving the cycle from his blood and manifesting according to his will, creating a perfect projection of the bird he had seen in his childhood. 

 

He opened his eyes, seeing the little bird stationary in his hands, frozen in the position he had seen it in all those years ago. 

 

Entranced, he tried to touch it with his other hand, but as he made contact with it, it dispersed, vanishing into a silvery mist that disappeared into the air. 

 

Angus, who had been sat there watching the entire time, had been questioning his sanity after seeing this. 

 

The boy had just sat down and used magic for the first time an hour ago, and yet here he was creating intricate details and shapes on his second attempt.

 

Delta, in fact, was just as confused as Angus was. He looked to the system to see if there was a notification, however, he didn’t see anything. 

 

He tried to focus on the image again, however, no matter how much he tried, he couldn’t grasp the feeling he had before. For a few seconds, he had felt as if the entire world around him was his to control, and all he had to do was reach out for it, but now he felt as limited as he had before, the feeling of enlightenment eluding him.

 

‘Must have been a fluke then... I’ll need to tell Athena about this.’ 

 

Diana wasn’t as successful as Delta was, and spent the rest of the lesson struggling and failing. 

 

A short while later, the bell rang, signifying that it was 4 PM and the day was over.