“Hey Marz, have you done the homework?”

“Math homework? Sure, it’s not that hard.”

“Can I see yours? I don’t understand the last three problems.”

“There’re only four problems! You see Hermes, this is why Ms. Field always mentions you in homeroom.”

“Well you see, last week during Ms. Field class, I was a bit tired, so I dozed off.”

“You’ve done that for the past three years. It’s a miracle that you are now a fourth-year student here.”

“What a meanie, are you in bad mood because you can’t go to Academy with your big sis anymore?”

“That has nothing to do with your academic results!”

“Whatever. So, would you show me your homework or not?”

This friend of mine, Hermes Celeri, is the same as always. He always sleeps during classes and ends up begging me to let him copy my notes and homework. I always teach him when he does that, so I guess he can pass exams even with his habits. Does that mean I’m a good teacher? Still, it would be better if he does it himself. With a sigh, I take my book from my bag.

“Fine, I will teach you for the second and third problem, but you do the last one yourself.”

“Haha, after all that things you said, as expected of my friend.”

“Haaah, let’s do this quickly. The second one… we just have to list prime numbers less than one hundred fifty, isn’t that easy?”

“But we have to check like ninety numbers.”

“Not really. First, you list 2 as a prime number and write all the odd numbers from 2 through 150 somewhere else. Then we list 3 as a prime and mark all the multiples of 3. Do the same with 5 and 7. The next one should be 9, but because it’s marked, it’s not prime, so next one is 11, mark all the multiples of 11. The remaining numbers that aren’t marked are primes.”

“Wait, why don’t we mark the multiples of prime numbers bigger than 12?”

“Because 13 squared is 169, which is more than 150. The smaller multiples of 13 is already marked. The same also applies for other primes bigger than 13.”

“Oh. You’re right, it’s not that hard. What about the third problem?”

“Finding greatest common divisor isn’t that hard either.”

“If the numbers are like ten and twelve yeah. How do we find it for 84 and 180, or 168 and 1260, is there any fast way to do this? I know you know a fast way to do this.”

“Well, kind of, for big numbers. You divide the bigger number by the smaller number. If there’s no remainder, then the greatest common divisor is the smaller number, right? If there is a remainder, then the greatest common divisor is equal to the greatest common divisor of the smaller number and the remainder. Let’s take the first one for example. You divide 180 by 84, and you get the remainder which is 12. The greatest common divisor of 180 and 84 is the same as the greatest common divisor of 84 and 12. You can do that until the number is small enough to work with.”

“… Did we cover that in class?”

“Umm, not really. Anyway, I’m sure you can do the rest yourself.”

It’s really fun to do mathematics for elementary level with methods I learned in college, but the other subjects is no less fun. I got to learn about animals and plants I’ve never seen in zoology and about countries and kingdoms in civic. Those knowledges will surely be useful for an adventurer. But the most exciting one is yet to come, because the magic class starts today.

Right after Hermes finish his homework, a teacher that has never teach our class enters the classroom. She wears elegant glasses with blue frame. Her white ponytail goes all the way to her hip. She gives off an aura of a wise person but also an alluring charm of a young woman. Of course, Big Sis Viciny is still prettier than her.

“Morning everyone, I’m Mereda Wyllt, magic instructor in this Academy. As you all know, you will start learning about magic and how to use them starting today, so let’s start with the basic.”

She starts writing on the board as soon as she’s done with her introduction. Although I write everything down on my notebook, I actually already know all the basic of magic from Big Sis Viciny. Magic comes from something called mana. Every living being in this world has mana, and they can, consciously or not, turn that mana into magic. It’s just like how we use calorie to do activities or metabolism. Unlike calorie, the amount of mana a person can stock vary and determined mostly from their gene, though external factor can increase or decrease it. It’s more like height or IQ.

Casting magic can take many forms, from emitting a heat or light from someone’s body to conjuring something like fire or weapon. The group of magic that is more complicated, like the later example from before, is usually referred as magic spell. Magic spell is almost always casted consciously with intention to do something.

“The more complicated the spell, the more skill it takes to cast it. That’s why we practice magic, so we can improve our control over spells that we cast and the effect of the spells.”

Miss Wyllt finish her lecture about the basic of magic and spell. There’s still half an hour left before the class end. I wonder if Miss Wyllt is the type of teacher that ends the class if the topic is over.

“I know this is the first magic class you have since entering this Academy, but I’m sure some of you have learned it yourself, maybe taught by family or upperclassmen. Now, I want someone to demonstrate a magic in front of the class.”

Miss Wyllt take a look at everyone’s face from left to right. She pauses when her eyes meet mine. I get a bad feeling about this.

“You. You seem to know how to cast magic. Why don’t you show us some spell?”

I knew it! How did she know I can already use magic? Doesn’t matter. I’ll just come forward and do something. When I’m already in the front of class, Miss Wyllt put a candle on the instructor’s table.

“Try lighting it up.”

That’s it? I thought she’s going to tell me to do a complex spell. Well, we are just ten years old after all. I gather some mana on my index finger. I touch the tip of the candle, and then turn the mana on my fingertip into some spark. As soon as the candle catch the spark, it lit up. Everyone makes an impressed look while letting out an ‘ooh’ sounds, especially Hermes. Why did he look so surprised?

“Well done. Now tell us, how did you do it?”

“How? I gathered my mana on my fingertip and turned it into a spark.”

“And how did you turn it into a spark?”

“?? I just… imagined it being turned into a spark, I guess?”

“Right. To cast a magic, you imagine your mana to do something. But before that, you must be able to control your mana. You did a good job back there, Mister Evanest. Now, why did you touch the candle?”

Huh? She sure asks difficult questions. I hope the written exam isn’t hard.

“Uhh, because it’s difficult to control my mana when it’s not immediately around me?”

“Right, it’s difficult, but not impossible. Looks like Miss Schedon taught you well.”

Does she mean Big Sis Viciny? Is that how she knew I can do magic? Is that why Big Sis Viciny said Miss Wyllt will be impressed by me?

“Certainly, it’s not easy to cast magic or spell on something you’re not in contact with. But, with enough practice, all of you sure can do something like this.”

Miss Wyllt snap her finger, and the fire on the candle immediately dies out. She’s about one meter away from the candle and all she did is just snap her finger. Again, everyone lets out an ‘ooh’ sound. This time Hermes’ face shows complete admiration, why is that?

“On the next session, we will discuss about the classification of magic spells and also start training your control over mana. I expect a lot from you, mister Evanest.”

Miss Wyllt wink at me as se say that. I already learned that too from Big Sis Viciny. Will I learn something new in the Academy? No, will she always ask me to do demonstration for the class?? Miss Wyllt wrap up the class and leaves while I’m still wondering about that.