---Sylvia's pov---

A couple of minutes later, me and Selena walked into the classroom. At the front of the room, I saw Deverick talking to Mary. She nodded and went to take a seat. I wonder what that was about.

"Well, we're here. Find a seat." I said without giving her another look.

I then looked around to see how many familiar faces I could recognize. Quite a few so far.

"Sylvee. Over here!" I turned to see Emy waving at me. I smiled. She hasn't changed one bit.

I walked over and took a seat next to her and Lia.

"I guess I really made some good friends," I greeted them, "So what made you all want to take this class?"

"Mom said I should be able to fight just in case," answered Lia.

"So she just let you learn from your brother?"

"Well, Deverick more than proved himself over the summer."

She smiled, thinking back to that fight. I raised my brow at that comment. What exactly did he do?

"So are you going to tell me?"

"No. That will be a story for another time."

That's fine as well. It's not like that is high on my priority list. We then continued to chat for the next couple of minutes until Deverick decided to start the class.

"Alright, let's get started."

The class quieted down.

"As a good amount of you know, I am Professor Mordesin. For those meeting me for the first time, hello and welcome. This is Magic in Battle. You've all read the description. You know what this class entails. Those of you who are here to try your luck, be warned. I will be teaching a particular set of skills. Mostly combat and outdoor survival. If you hate the outdoors and pain, this class is not for you. Now that's out of the way, let me ask something."

He waved at Mary. She got up and started handing out some paper. When she walked by me, she gave me a small smile and nodded. I smiled back. 

"What do you think is the most important trait to survive? I want you to write your answers on the paper. When you're finished, burn it."

Burn it? Isn't the point of this to get our responses? If we burn it, how will he do that?

As if he heard that question, he snapped his finger. Then the board turned on. Was there supposed to be something? It's just white.

He took a piece of paper and scribbled something on it. Then, he picked it up and held it over his right hand. He snapped and formed a small flame underneath. The paper caught on fire and quickly turned to embers. The fire was also different. It's purple. How peculiar.

As soon as the paper finished, a bubble popped up on the screen.

"Test result"

That explains that I guess.

"For those of you that are interested, that's a sneak peek of my Systematic Encryption class that is happening this afternoon. Now get to writing."

A few minutes later, everyone has finished giving their answers. I looked up at the screen to see bubbles of different sizes. I assume the bigger ones are the more common answers.

"Now let's take a look at what you all thought. From biggest to smallest, magic complexity, knowledge of spells, equipment, healing, protection, and a bunch of magic-related things. At a glance, they sound correct, but do you know the one thing all of them have in common?"

I was stumped by this question. Where is he trying to go with this? Does this have anything to do with what we will learn? If so, how will he teach this class?

Marvin got up and answered, "They are all magic related?"

No duh. Of course, they are all magic related. We live in a magic society after all. But if Marvin was the one to give the answer, there must be something deeper than this. 

"You are correct. Now let me ask, why is that a problem?"

"I don't know sir." 

"It's good that you admit that. Knowing when something is beyond your knowledge and when to ask for help is a good trait. In fact, this trait will be developed in this class. I don't need you to know how to do everything. What I don't want is someone claiming they know how to do something and then screwing it up. That is one of the easiest ways to put yourself and the people around you in a sticky situation. In a crucial situation, it might even get you killed."

A student raised his hand.

"Professor, it can't be that bad, right?"

He chuckled. 

"What if you're in the wilderness with no contact with society?"

"I would just use my kata to find information that could help me."

"In our current global situation, that would be fine. But what happens if the tenso hari in the area was destroyed? What happens if the entire network was crippled?"

"..."

"..."

How extreme. Just what is he trying to prepare us for?  If I didn't know better, I would think he was preparing us for an apocalypse. But how would he know if an apocalypse would descend?  He's not a prophet after all.

"That won't happen, right?"

"Yeah. It's highly unlikely that would happen. But there is a simpler way to simulate that. Can't they just take away your kata? Like if you get kidnapped for whatever reason, won't your kidnappers take away your kata? When that happens and you somehow escape, how will you survive until help arrives? It would be pretty dumb if a graduate of Star Bound died because he didn't know wilderness survival skills, right?"

"Yes. Yes, it would." The student shivered at the thought of that. If that really happened, he would become the joke of the century. Just imagine the title in the news.

"Star Bound Alumni Dies in Wilderness From Eating Poisonous Fruits."

Like he wants to go down in history, but not for that reason. And I am pretty sure I don't want to be that person as well.

"I am glad we are all in agreement then. So let's get back to the main topic. Why is everything being magic related a problem?"

No one raised their hands.

"It's because there is an over-reliance on magic. People have been too used to using magic to solve all their problems. So much so that they have neglected their physical training. So far, we have taken mana as something for granted. Something that is naturally there. But have any of you considered where mana comes from? Like so far the explanation we have accepted is that mana is generated by Adnea and the life energy of the lifeforms on it. So what happens if a catastrophe occurs? What if there was a mass extinction?

Well, we have a case of that in history. The mana in the atmosphere severely decreased in concentration. That was known as the dark ages of magic. It took thousands of years for magic civilization to recover from that. Very hard stuff, don't you agree?"

"Yes sir. During that era, magic was deemed as a trump card for all mages. Even using a low-tier spell was conserved for emergencies."

"Yes. Does anyone remember what combat they transitioned to?"

"Was it physical combat?" I remembered learning about this, but it wasn't really that interesting as things became a pure melee fest.

"To be specific, they used the weapons of commoners, augmented with a little magic. The main focus at the time was physical training and a small amount of magic studies. Learning high-level spells was just not an efficient use of their time. And those that do know them don't use them. They would dominate their enemies with one spell, but then they are dead weight.

And the enemies aren't stupid. They will do everything they can to kill the mage. Who would let them recover when they are so weakened? Because of that, every time a high-level spell was cast, the battlefield became a bloodbath. Eventually, people learned their lessons and stopped using such mana-draining abilities. It's not worth the lives that will be lost after.

So why am I talking about all of this? It's because this class will be focusing on this style of combat. A combination of physical and magical aspects. Are there any questions?"

"Professor, why are we studying an outdated style?"

From this question, I know he was a new student in Deverick's class. We, veterans, know for a fact that the stuff Deverick goes over was definitely useful. No matter how weird it was, it would eventually be helpful later in life. Otherwise, he wouldn't have gone over it.

"Does anyone want to answer that question for him?"

That was kind of foreseen. I guess he wants one of his old students to analyze it and explain the logic to the class. So what are the pros and cons of such a style? Let's see. For cons, it would have to be physically demanding. But nothing some training can't fix. So what else?

"It's balance and flexibility," Shin decided to answer this one, "We know how important flexibility is to a mage. Our whole ranking system was essentially based on the aspect that indirectly determines it. Having another tool at our disposal means we could deal with many situations with ease."

"That's correct. Now can anyone tell me the flaw of this system?"

I feel like I was about to reach an answer, but I can't figure out what I am overlooking. Everything so far sounds good so what could be a possible problem?

"It's the weapon," he continued after seeing no one has the answer.

"Weapon?"

"Yes. Let's say for example you are using a sword. It's very cumbersome for someone to constantly carry a weapon around with them. That is not to mention how useless it will be in most situations. You said it before. We live in a world of magic. Everyone is used to throwing spells at each other from a distance. If you have a sword, you will have to get close to use it. Something that will never happen in a realistic setting You would have died multiple times over by the time that happened."

"Then why are you talking about this?"

Something tells me that he was hoping someone would ask this question. They just don't know that they are playing into his show, do they?

"But that's only if we shove such a warrior into modern times. We are not from that era. As a result, we are also not subject to the limitations of that era. Times have changed and the crafts will change with it. It would be stupid of me to teach an outdated combat style without modifying it to fit today's world. So for this problem, there are a few things you can do.

For one, you could have the weapon be a magic weapon. Think of it like a staff in sword form. With it, one can boost their spell casting and have the flexibility of a weapon.

Secondly, you could try to learn spatial magic to teleport close to them. Because it's been so long since this combat style has been seen, people will not be prepared to deal with it. If you can get close to them, you will be able to constantly disrupt their spells, making them a sitting duck. The blink spell is a decent option to start with. Although teleportation is only limited to a certain distance and only within sight, it is better than nothing.

Thirdly, you can customize your weapon to be made out of anti-magic materials. We have made a lot of progress since the dark ages in this area so it is an expensive option. If your weapon can destroy the spells that are thrown at you with minimal damage, you will have yourself a decent defense. With this method, you don't have to close the distance. You could just defend and conserve your mana until you find an opportunity for a counter-attack. It's very useful for protracted battles.

And lastly, why are you using your weapons only for melee?"

You know what? That makes sense.

"If you think carefully, you can use your spells to launch your weapons as a projectile. I bet your opponents won't be expecting that as an attack. Also can't you pick a weapon like a bow? Why would you go for a sword when you could just shoot them from a distance? We are mages for god's sake. Not warriors. So why would we try to fight like a warrior? Are you an imbecile? Use your brains for once."