"Spell structure. Basically the anatomy of a spell. I’m sure most of you have already heard of this concept, but we’re going to be practicing that very thing today," Julian announced, raising his cane and pointing it toward Raelis.
"What is your affinity?"
"Fire," Raelis replied plainly.
"What makes your fire unique?" Julian asked. "And I’m not talking about fire attributes. I’m talking about the way you utilize fire yourself."
Raelis paused before answering. "I use physical enhancement. I can condense fire into my feet and blast off at very high speeds."
This was just the basics since he didn’t exactly have that much time to test his limits.
"Good. You use fire as a form of mobility, not for destruction. However, your technique isn’t perfect," Julian commented, narrowing his eyes. "Every time you use that fire burst, you are wasting it. Condense less fire, circulate more into your heels. You’ll go faster and burn less mana."
Raelis’s eyes widened. "I understand, instructor."
Julian nodded with a faint smile and turned to the students.
"That is what most of you lack. The basic understanding of your affinities. There are many things you can do, but looking at it from a shallow perspective will lead you to shallow results."
He pointed to a random student, a girl.
The girl’s eyes widened as she nodded in response. "Yes, instructor."
"Alright, Linnea, I’d like it if you could come up to the front and demonstrate your most-used spell," Julian said.
Linnea seemed hesitant for a few moments, but soon walked down and stepped onto the raised platform.
She exchanged a glance with Julian and took a deep breath.
As she extended her arm, miniature bubbles emerged, popping on the floor and forming a thin coat of ice.
"Hmm... that is unique," Julian remarked. "Your affinity is water, yes?"
Linnea nodded. "Yes sir... I’m only imitating the ice affinity by lowering the temperature of the water."
"Bingo!" Julian snapped his fingers. "That’s what I want to teach you all today! All of you have the potential to go beyond your current affinities."
It seems more like he’s coming up with this stuff on the spot, Raelis mused.
But he couldn’t say that he wasn’t intrigued.
With enough practice, he could turn his fire into magma.
Given enough time... I could even turn my fire into plasma. At that point, I could start firing plasma rays out of my hands... but it’s easier said than done.
Achieving partial imitation of magma was something he could likely do within a day or two. But in order to achieve plasma, he would first have to master magma.
It’d take way too long. Probably years.
But some people were born with such affinities.
If someone’s born with the Ice affinity, they can control water as well. If someone’s born with the Frost affinity, they can control ice and water, Raelis recalled. Still, it doesn’t matter that much in the end. By having an imperial bloodline, I’m already ahead of most of these people here. I just need higher bloodline purity.
Nevertheless, he cut his thoughts short as he turned his attention back to Julian.
He had called a few more students up onto the raised platform so they could demonstrate their skills.
Raelis felt a bit of pity for the commoners.
They didn’t have the resources growing up, so the majority didn’t even know how to properly control their mana.
Obviously, that sparked the same debate as last time.
"Seriously... just what was the headmaster thinking?"
"I know, right? The only thing he achieved by merging the classes was demotivating the commoners, hah... hahaha."
It was that kind of deal.
But Raelis wasn’t a knight in shining armor. He was not going to be the one responsible for babysitting all the commoners.
After all, if they were to go through hardship right now, then their results by the end of the week would be even higher than that of the nobles.
Still, as bored as Raelis was, he paid attention to class.
Julian continued teaching the students how to wield their affinities more efficiently, while also opening up possibilities for a more flexible arsenal.
And after what felt like hours, the class finally ended.
"That was productive. Even so, I shall assign you some homework," Julian said with a cheeky smile. "Create a variation of your most-used spell by tomorrow. I don’t care how. It can be faster, sharper, more chaotic, even louder. But it must be different."
He chuckled and tapped his cane on the ground, opening up all the windows in the classroom.
"Anyway... this week will be a little slow since we’re setting up a few events for the following week. That doesn’t mean you can slack off, though. Give it your all, because starting next week, you won’t have much time to rest at all."
With those words, he snapped his fingers, opening the classroom door.
"Class dismissed. You’ll have the class schedules on your beds, so don’t throw them out by accident."
Like that, Julian tipped his head and vanished from sight.
Raelis yawned, since the only thing he did was sit around, circulating his mana into the Phoenix egg.
There hadn’t been any progress in the last few hours, but he knew that it wouldn’t be this easy.
He rose from his seat alongside Clea as the two walked out, catching sight of the clock on the wall.
They had started at the tenth hour of the morning, and now it was already past the third hour of the afternoon.
Meaning, he must’ve dozed off sometime during Julian’s class.
Doesn’t matter though, I just need to get back to training. I still need to assimilate my actual flame with my Flame Body technique.
"Raelis," Clea called out with a wave. "I’ll be getting lunch with Alice and Charlotte. Do you want to join us?"
Raelis glanced at her and shook his head.
"Thanks for the offer, but no. There are a few things I want to do while we have so much time."
"Hmm... fair enough. I guess I won’t slack off either... starting tomorrow," Clea replied sheepishly and gave him one final wave as she ran off toward the two girls.
As for Raelis, he made his way straight toward the training rooms.
Last time, he had trained in the fifth training room, but now, he wanted to give the sixth training room a shot.
Also... I saw there was an option to extend my time after it ran out. So technically... I can stay in there for as long as I want.
And that was exactly what he was going to do.
After all, he knew exactly what was going to happen the following week. How could he not? He had heard all about it from his siblings.
The official entrance exam rankings would come out, and as a result, the academy proposed a mini competition involving the second-year seniors.
There was just one little twist...
The seniors they’d be fighting would be the elites of the second year. The best of the best.
So naturally, Raelis would use this week to train as hard as he could.
After all, if he couldn’t hold his ground next week, then what was the point of all the effort he had put in until now?