The hall was quiet. No one spoke a word as the Professor stepped onto the podium.
The child that had been beside him sat on the Professor's chair, though he had already been erased from everyone's minds.
The Professor neatly took his stuff out. Some of his belongings hovered beside him.
Everyone was awaiting his introduction with bated breath.
Air was stuck in my lungs as I sat down.
He soon finished his preparation, taking a breath in before introducing himself.
"My name is Damian. I'll be your professor for the year."
The students still waited. His answer was unsatisfactory.
Professor Damian raised an eyebrow at the strange silence.
He soon sighed, knowing what the students were thinking.
"Yes, I'm that Damian, the magician of the century."
Even after his words, not a single voice was made. Instead, everyone let out their breaths quietly. Those who had stood up sat down.
The Professor was taken aback by the students' behavior, but he started the lecture not long after.
The students still held expectations in their eyes. For a magician of his fame, the lecture was certainly going to be amazing.
"Mana is like a living creature. It does whatever it wants, not caring for any orders. There are many types of mana, all of which behave differently."
"The main types are: Force, Flow, Spark, Frost, and Mind. Each one specializes in a different thing, allowing for many special combinations and spells."
"Most mages specialize in these five types, but there are many more branching types like space mana and time mana. However, those types are usually much harder to study or use effectively, considering that they're rarely present."
Mana started flowing in front of Professor Damian, forming into shapes.
"There's also neutral mana in your mana core. It can transform into any and all types of mana, not needing a clause in the formula. The type you can most easily transform mana into, is the one you have the highest affinity with."
"But to form magic from mana, other than the formulas needed, you also require fine mana control that enables mana to fill the formula."
"Failure to establish a connection between the mana and formula usually leads to backlash, causing major damage to the caster. That's also why you shouldn't cast spells without supervision."
"In order to train your mana control, it's best to tire the mana out first, by molding and continuously moving it. Feeling the mana in the air and establishing a connection with it also helps in weakening the mana."
"The most important thing to remember about mana, is that it never stops moving. Even inside your mana core right now, it's still moving and turning. We can't force mana to follow our orders, we can only outline a path for it to take."
I closed my eyes, focusing on my core.
My mana didn't respond. Not a tremor, not even the restless movement Professor Damian described. If I couldn't feel it, let alone move it, then training was impossible.
The Professor continued, his eyes falling on a few students who had succeeded in their attempts.
Denis sat straighter, a faint glow twirling above his palm. I looked at my own hands, nothing.
"After moving your mana for the first time, the first course of action is to form shapes with it. Play around with your mana and try out all different shapes."
As Professor Damian left the talented students with a task, he addressed the rest who had failed.
"Focus on the air around you, feel the mana flowing inside of it. The higher the amount you can sense, the easier it is to feel mana in your core." Professor Damian paused, unleashing a large amount of mana lumps into the hall. "If that still doesn't work out, try feeling the mana in these lumps."
A mana lump flew towards me.
I closed my eyes and focused on it, but no results came back for a few seconds.
Suddenly, a thin string of blue light appeared in my mind. The string ran around, extending almost endlessly as I tried following it.
Thoughts stopped surfacing in my mind, in favor of more concentration on the ball of mana.
Growing longer, the string started wrapping around itself. A small ball soon formed from it.
*Bang*
My concentration now broken because of the sudden sound, I looked towards the cause. One student had slammed his desk in happiness after succeeding in gathering his mana.
I muttered some curses under my breath. Penelope shot me a quick glance, then returned to her own focus as I tried again.
The string appeared faster this time, coiling into shape almost on its own.
The ball grew bigger and bigger.
Another string soon surfaced in my core, far slower than the first. No matter how carefully I pulled at it, it resisted, snapping before I could shape it.
Another string soon took it's place, no faster than the last.
I let the string gather into a ball, before grabbing it gently with my mind and moving it.
One more string popped up and merged with the ball.
Moving the ball in my mind towards the other one, they merged together.
Now, a ball the size of a fist hovered, barely stable, within my mind.
Something clicked. The mana didn't feel separate anymore, just uneven. Different speeds, different currents, but not different in nature. If I could bring them close enough, they wanted to come together.
I tried getting it out of my core, wanting to merge it with Professor Damian's ball, but no matter what I did, it kept bouncing against the wall in my mind.
Frustration surged, and I tightened my grip on the mana ball, compressing it instead of guiding it.
The strings inside the mana ball exploded faster than I could react, despite my mind not exerting a lot of pressure.
A sigh escaped from my mouth. Dizziness colored my eyes.
Professor Damian glanced at me before giving a warning to the class. "Don't try anything stupid, only shape the mana slowly."
He went back to the lecture and started talking about more complex concepts, but my mind was stuck on the 12 year old child with him.
A frown blossomed on my face. A twelve-year-old could cast spells effortlessly. I couldn't even keep mine intact.
'Professor Damian must have taught him magic in secret.'
The frown on my face didn't last for long as I ignored Professor Damian's lecture, favoring the idea of bettering my mana control.
Fatigue crelt through my thoughts with each failed attempt.
It almost became unbearable when-
*Riiiiiiiiing*
My eyelids opened. The lecture had ended and students started leaving.
Packing my stuff, I went to Denis and Penelope.
They kept chatting about Professor Damian and his lecture as we went to the cafeteria, but the thought of his child never left my head.
The flowers lining the pathway calmed my nerves.
Penelope brought up something I hadn't thought about as we drew closer to the cafeteria.
"Why do you reckon Professor Damian brought that child with him?" Her eyes shined with excitement she had gained from the lecture.
"Maybe he's talented." Denis shrugged, not giving it much thought, instead focusing more on the now 30 dollars in his hand.
The cafeteria door greeted us. It was a place I usually avoided.
The assortment of food available was impressive, but the quality was the problem.
"How do both of you even eat this..." I stared at the tray. Whatever this was, it had once been a burger. I wouldn't be surprised if it jumped at me.
"It's decent as long as the lunch lady likes you. I worked hard to get into her good graces." Denis revealed to me his secret of having edible food.
"I wouldn't be eating here if it wasn't for the fact that no restaurants are within a few miles of the academy. Say, Kyle, you never come to the cafeteria, where do you get your food from?" Penelope asked me curiously.
"I cook my own food. I just buy the ingredients from the alchemy professor. Heck, sometimes he even allows me to use some of his equipment while cooking. You would be surprised at how good his measuring flasks are." I answered while taking a bite of the abomination in front of me.
Huh, it isn't as bad as I thought. Don't get me wrong, it still could only be described as edible, but it's much better than what the appearance indicates.
"The alchemy professor actually allows that??"
I looked at Penelope, seeing she had stood up from her seat at the mention of better-than-edible food.
"Yeah..." I said quietly, realizing my mistake of revealing my only plug.
As Penelope started rambling on about what types of food she was going to cook from now on, I noticed Professor Damian running hurriedly in the hall by the cafeteria.
"What's Professor Damian doing at this time at the academy? He also doesn't have the kid with him this time." My lips curled up, something was definitely going on in the academy, and I WILL get to know about it.
"Probably just taking care of business he couldn't while his child accompanied him." Denis replied, a smile blooming on his face. "Do you want to follow him?"
I nodded, quickly getting up from my seat with a mischievous grin on my face.
Penelope sighed, but didn't try to stop us.
"You two are a piece of work."