The sound of the wind, whipping everyone with cold lashes rose over the complaints from the few students as they assembled on the training grounds. The wooden floor of the walkway surrounding the arena creaked continuously as roughly thirty people marched out of the stone hall, resembling ducklings following their mother.

Given that it had snowed last night Sofia's eyes couldn't turn away from the spotless arena where not a single speck of snow could be found in the middle of the orange-brown sand. She pondered on how the mages had done it since no matter how much forced corvee someone could pour into such a pointless project she was sure that there would be at least some signs left that snow had fallen onto the sand the previous night.

After assembling in the middle of the ring and standing still for a moment, Sofia's idle questions were answered as she sensed her feet feeling warmer the longer she stood still. Leaning over and grabbing a handful of the sand she felt a warmth dispersing into her frigid fingers for a sparse yet comfortable moment.

"Warrrrm." Beside the frontierswoman, the high noble made a pleasurable purr as she copied Sofia like some sort of animal.

Thankfully for the heroic scion the all-mighty noble had chosen many of the same subjects Sofia was already attending although not out of any special consideration toward her guide. This came with many upsides, for one she still received personal notes written by the Oriri mages while continuing her studies. Unfortunately, her streak of luck and divine grace wasn't entirely without any downsides. She knew what was going to happen to all of the assembled in the next bell or two and knowledge of it mixed with the inevitability of it was somehow worse than not knowing what was about to happen.

Maybe ignorance is truly bliss.

Sofia stared at Lady Siri squatting next to her, appearing over the moon as she took benign enjoyment from the feeling of sand slipping between her fingers. 

With the cold element still assaulting them unconcerned by the noble blood flowing in many of the veins of the ones present, a man with a greying beard emerged from the Academy building wearing Oriripoli-style clothes consisting of one long garb matched with layers of loose fabric which supplemented the ornate robe. His tanned arm came up to adjust the onion-like headcover he wore before addressing them.

Her lecturer's words faded to the background as her attention briefly shifted toward Lady Siri. For some odd reason, the girl had dug a hole deep enough that she could see a black slate of metal which heated the arena. The girl waved her hand and the sand in front of them appeared to scurry away making Sofia rub her eyes. Looking again she endlessly searched the arena for any movement before her eyes grew tired and landed on the iron-masked maiden looking at her like an insane person.

Seven hours of sleep... doing it inside my comfy bed. It sounds like I made a new schedule for myself.

Sofia's face transformed as she ceased massaging her temples and gave the high noble a small smile causing the Firmusian to cock her head to the right seemingly trying to replicate her with an odd stiffness.

"Who among the present would be so kind to help me present the phenomena?" Clasping his hands together the lecturer panned his harsh beady eyes through the ranks of his wards.

Without saying a word a woman stepped forward, wearing dully coloured clothes appropriate for exercise with additional patches of leather stitched on her elbows and knees. Her tall black riding shoes threw a small handful of sand into the air before stopping with the click of her heels.

Without a doubt, the woman roughly three years older than Sofia rode often given the shoes she had chosen. Whether the woman possessed any cavalry classes was unknown to her but the characteristic tall shafts which reached the knee betrayed her familiarity with horses and the need to protect her legs from chafing against the belly of those great beasts. No pair of boots could be criticised for their poor quality but riding shoes weren't footwear appropriate for a mage.

Unlike what the layman would think, a battery of mages lay down during a battle and flung spells over the backs of their soldiers. They had to be very mobile and quick to respond to any order given to them by their commander. In addition, the enemy would prefer to eliminate their opponent's magical battery as quickly as possible prioritising its destruction over everything else. Enemy rogues shadow the army during its march looking for an opening while other mages and rangers strike fear in the hearts of sorcerers during the chaos of battle. Because a mage is such a precious resource, no sane commander would risk their heads being lifted above the protection of the frontline troops. This results in a somewhat comical image of mages casting a spell before running like mad away so as not to tempt swift retribution.

From the tomes of military tactics she had read, the magical conflict which happens simultaneously to the overall larger battle is usually decided by which side has more mages to spare causing the enemy mages to have to split their mana between counter battery spells and supporting the battle happening in front of them. Having more mages simply allows the mages best suited to supporting to not have to waste a single point of mana. This allowed the supported frontline to push forward and win against the unsupported infantry unless another aspect of the battle had been lost, like losing cavalry exposing the flanks.

"Cast a shield." Their lecturer ordered, holding his hands behind his back.

"Aegis Shield"

The noise of a sole grinding against the sand filled the arena before the woman lifted her hand in front of her. In a split second, the dust flowing around the sorceress was violently pushed down as yellow symbols appeared in front of her in a large oval shape. Without wasting time the older mage raised his wand and a silver bolt of mana shot toward the Aegis Shield. 

As soon as the silvery spell touched the warding spell its bubble-like surface shattered like glass exploding outwards peppering the observers with shards of mana. 

Sofia traced her cheek as she felt the phantom slap of a big shard hitting her before instantly melting away. If she had been hit by glass she would have been lucky to have both eyes but mana given physical body felt like a 'thick fog' she heard it described and the light sensation her cheek felt seemed to agree with such description.

"Hmmm, involuntary absorbtion?" Sofia turned to see Lady Siri speaking to herself absorbed inside her own world staring at her, sounding like she was figuring out a dungeon puzzle rather than listening to the lecturer's words.

The woman had stumbled backwards upon impact and seemed not in the greatest of shape as her beer-colour eyes struggled to focus. A first sign of mana deficiency.

Sofia knew the reason for the wobbliness in the women's stride. Aegis Shield was a basic protection spell available for all known classes of mages. It costs a single point of mana to cast with no delay. A perfect spell for defending against ambushes except that it siphons an amount of mana equal to the damage dealt to the shield. This meant that if someone were to use a powerful single target attack and the person instinctively reacted by using Aegis Shield, he or she would drop unconscious from severe mana deficiency, leaving them open for follow-up attacks.

The lecturer began to explain what had happened while a slave helped the woman rejoin the listening flock, experiencing the not-so-nice side effect of approaching the limit of mana expenditure didn't mean the class was over for her. With a confident and scholarly fashion, he started to lecture on the trap falls offered by the System and how to analyse the offers we are presented with. For about a quarter of a bell, the lecturer spoke from under the shade while his students endured the elements presenting many varied forms of shielding spells and explaining the basis of their functions before finally speaking words Sofia dreaded.

"...Levels won't level themselves. Split into pairs and practice defending yourself." He said.

"What spells are we going to use to attack?" Someone called out.

"Negotiate between yourself, after all, pain is just weakness leaving the body. I'm watching over you anyway," The senior mage replied with not the warmest of tones. "Don't use spells which affect an area I guess." He added after a short moment.

The frontier noble turned to her side finding the northern noble standing still but rather than staring thoughtfully at the sand, her eyes carefully watched her every move with an uncanny precision.

"I will be in your care Lady Siri."