I look at what I have chosen intensely.

Running a hand over its body, I try to feel every bit of texture, every imperfection on the polished wood. The size, the shape, every string, every decoration, I take them all in. After I feel that I'm confident enough, I focus on the name of the instrument.

Lute.

Out of thin air, a much sleeker and more beautiful version of the instrument appear above my outstretched arm. Having already anticipated it, I grab it quickly.

Genesis in lute form is just as extravagant and gorgeous as the guitar form. Its metallic body is colored like dark and rich wood, with golden decorations adorning every surface. Its neck is much shorter than a guitar, and the head is bent back at a much sharper angle. Strings seem to be arranged in four pairs and an extra single one, adding up to 9 strings in total.

I turn towards Professor Norete, seeing him looking at the magical instrument with great curiosity.

"What a wonderful sight this lute is. May I?"

I give him Genesis to inspect. He checks every part of the instrument, fiddling with the head and playing a few notes on the strings. After a moment, he nods, seemingly satisfied.

"It's perfectly tuned, too. Such a remarkable Blessing. With it, I won't have to worry about checking every piece of instrument before a show!" He seems really excited.

I nod my head. "The description says that I can use it as a focus, somehow, to cast magic as well."

"I see. It's a shame that I myself am a Knight. It seems that I can't draw out the true potential of this lute."

He turns and gave the lute back to me.

"The one you have chosen is a 5-course lute. It has the least amount of strings of any lute and should be easier to learn. Though I would still recommend the 8-course one, this is a good enough start."

"Sorry, professor. I just want to be able to use my Blessing as soon as possible."

"Haha, that's alright. I know that you're eager to learn, but we should start with a mundane lute first. This is not a magic class, after all. We wouldn't want you accidentally destroy something."

I nod again in understanding. Seeing this, Professor Norete smiles brightly.

"Good. Let's get out of here and we shall start."

===

The music class was fun.

Professor Norete started by teaching me about a bunch of basic musical theories, like note types, pitches, and reading music sheets. Luckily, my world's music sheet is very similar to the music sheet of the previous world, so I recognize them very easily.

The Professor even thought that I'm some kind of musical genius. I was just cheating, though. I still have a lot to learn.

He then moved on to showing me the proper sound that each set of strings produces, and correlating them with the notes on the sheet.

Afterward, he left me to continue to practice and familiarize myself with how to hold the lute and play different notes. He then turned towards the rest of the class, who had already started playing something. This made me realize that this whole classroom is enchanted.

The sounds of the other student's music were very muted, and only when I actively tried to listen will it enter my ears. The enchantment must work on intent, somehow, which is very interesting. I wonder if it soundproofs the interior as well, to keep the constant sound of practicing from getting out.

Either way, I'm eager to continue the class. This is much more exciting than reading books about history or something.

===

I'm on my way to the other new elective class that was chosen for me by the Headmaster, Advanced Geomancy (1).

The number is there to denote that this is the first level of the Advanced Geomancy course that the Academy provides. I think it goes up to 3 for every element. Then if you want more, you will need to apply for the Master Geomancy courses. That's too far away, though.

Geomancy classes are always held in one of the training fields. It's not just Geomancy, though. More destructive elements such as Fire will also be held outside the classroom. It's just that Geomancy takes the cake as the most destructive element when used indoors.

The walls of the Academy are mostly made of stone, after all, so if students made a mistake like manipulating a load-bearing wall, the entire room could come down. Of course, there are enchantments in place to guard against that, but the large amounts of students using Geomancy at the same time, even if it's unintentional, will cause strain to the enchantments, making it more annoying and costly to fix.

In the end, the training grounds are just better. The students can destroy as much as they want, and the professors just have to fix it all up in the end. Much more efficient and virtually costless to maintain.

So that's why I'm standing here, under the afternoon sun, on a Friday, which used to be free for me. The sacrifices I make for power. Sigh.

The professor is named Jack Mason, a commoner mage who was invited to stay as the Geomancer teacher.

What can I say more about his appearance than that he looks like a middle-aged construction worker.

With thick arms, tanned skin, short crop hair, along with his entire outfit that looks like some physical laborer make one wonders how can this man be one of the best Geomancers in the Camila Kingdom. He wears a faded linen shirt, heavy woolen pants, and a leather apron, alongside a tool belt with a myriad of tools and measuring sticks. His entire set of clothes is all covered in different pockets, each holding some random bits and pieces of metals and stones.

He's also not very tall, but his thickness makes him imposing nonetheless. He speaks with a heavy accent, his tone is confident and relaxed.

"Y'all 'ere? Gud, gud." He nods slowly, seemingly satisfied.

"The 'eadmaster sent me a fresh recruit, do any o' ya'll see 'im by any chance?"

I quickly raise my hand and step forward. Whisperings and murmurs sound out, as the eyes of every student focus on me. It feels sticky and disgusting. Endure it, Alean...

"That would be me, Professor."

"Gud. Since ya new 'ere, Imma need to check on your level la'er. Now we'll be startin' with the theories, then we'll move onto practice, understand? Gud." He didn't even let us answer.

"So, do any ya'll know what we'll be doin' t'day?"

A few hands raise into the air. The Professor points at one female student who is jumping up and down a little. She immediately starts talking animately.

"We're learning about Metallurgy Magic today, is that right?"

"Tha's right. Gud job rememberin' what I said last week. Unlike some people..." He glares at the rest of the class, before continuing.

"Geomancy ain't just about movin' rocks. Movin' rocks are what we do best, but there's more to Geomancy. The essence of Geomancy is manipulatin' solid materials, especially materials tha' comes from rocks."

He waves his hand, and all the bits and pieces of metal in his pockets begin to fly out and orbit around him in a strange synchronized dance.

"Mundane metal is real easy ta manipulate 'cus they came from normal rocks, and tha' makes them easily susceptible ta mana. Magical ones like Mithril or Adamantine are much 'arder, an' require more mana an' control to even lift 'em off the ground."

"But we'll be startin' with just simple iron an' copper t'day, so don't ya start pissin' your pants now." He said with a hearty chuckle. He then winks dramatically at the class.

"Lemme show ya'll a little trick, ta get ya blood pumpin'."

He waves his hand, and the little pieces of metals begin to morph and shift, moving and changing like some form of liquid. The black and bronze-colored pieces then settle into animal shapes like small birds, butterflies, or some small rodents, before flying and darting towards each and every student.

Their movements are extremely smooth and life-like, making the illusion much more believable. After they reached their target's hands, they simply go inert, becoming small metal statuettes.

Even I receive one in the shape of a small rat. Holding it, I can even feel the texture of the fur, the different groves, and etchings that make up its musculature. It's so detailed that I couldn't tell if this is a copper statue or a real rat that was dunked in molten copper and left to set.

"Ya'll gonna turn them little things back into a cube shape. Tha's your assignment. I'll teach ya how ta do it now, so listen closely!"

He then goes on to explain the process of gathering and attuning the appropriate amount of mana, the pattern of the spell, and certain chants to help with the process.

Apparently, normal Earth-aligned mana won't work. It will only work if you attuned the mana to Metal, which is a sub-element of Earth. Sub-elements exist for other elements as well, such as Ice is the sub-element of Water, and Lightning is the same with Fire.

The process of attuning to a sub-element requires one to gather a large amount of the base elements, and then mix it with a small amount of a different element. This process will change the base elements into something new. For the case of Metal, you need a base of Earth and add a bit of Fire.

That's why using sub-elements is very hard.

Gathering elements outside of your affinity is a painfully long and tedious process, so the fact that Professor Mason did it with a wave of his hand indicates the amount of skill that he has. He's truly a remarkable Geomancer.

As for chants and patterns, they are guides to help students cast easier.

It's more of a psychological trick. Because casting magic requires a large amount of mental power, having some sort of pattern or a phrase to focus on keeps the mind from being distracted. You will also begin to subconsciously link the spell to said phrase and pattern, making a sort of mental shortcut to speed up casting.

That's why you see Mages shout out the names of spells when casting them. It's just easier to remember.

Great Mages don't even need chants, because the spells they cast are so familiar to them that it's second nature.

After explaining every nuance and tip surrounding the spell, the stocky professor turns toward me.

"A'ight, ya'll start practicin'. Recruit, come 'ere and show me whatchu can do."

I quickly run towards the professor and demonstrate the only two Geomancy spells that I know, Create Stone and Mould Earth. After I created about ten stones and made a small little rat made of dirt, the professor told me to stop. The rat that I made is much cruder and doesn't even have any fur patterns. It's at least somewhat like a rat, I comforted myself.

"A'ight, ya got somethins' right and somethins' wrong. Ya can cast tha spells very fast, an' ya don't need a chant, but ya leakin' a lot, son. Ya keep gatherin' more mana than ya need and then let it go ta waste. See all tha glowin', that's wasted mana. Ya gotta slow down a little, no one's rushin' ya." He shakes his head a little.

"Ya also need to learn more spells. Two ain't gonna cut it."

I lower my head sheepishly. I wanted spells that are fast enough to be used in combat, so I only focus on speeding up my casting as much as I could. I also overcharge the spells just a little, so they pack a bigger punch, but that makes my spells unstable and hard to control, hence the leakage.

I studied Mould Earth because I thought that creating small patches of raised or sunken ground around my enemies will mess up their footing, allowing me to finish them off with my sword. Well now that I'm committed to being a Mage, not some hybrid Magic Knight or something dumb like that, that plan needs some revision.

"Still, ya did good, just needs more practice, is all. T'day, how about I teach ya Move Stone. It's easy, an' it's good for practice."

I nod my head, determined to learn Geomancy properly this time.