The magical theory was held in a similar classroom to the religion class. However, the number of people who attended was even lower. Are these elves not hungry for knowledge?
Aqua's eyes scanned the surrounding, around her were only eight people, four of whom were Aqua herself, Azure, Avaros, and Hikari.
Around the classroom, the remaining students were scattered.
Hikari and Azure were chatting with each other, leaving only Aqua and Avaros waiting in silence.
Avaros seemed to sulk a little, he remained quiet and stared forward.
"What's wrong, Avaros?"
"Why didn't you invite me to study with you? Does your cruelty know no bounds, Lady Aqua?"
Aqua chuckled. "It wasn't planned."
"I know, but still. The only solace I have is that it was only religion and the content that this school provides. I would be livid if I had missed your lessons on Aether." Avaros leaned back and crossed his legs.
"I am glad you are so hungry for knowledge, but we are here to learn what this school provides." Aqua crossed her arms and hummed softly. "Most of the knowledge that was taught to us this first day is absolutely basic, but I suppose that's how it needs to be for the first week."
Still useful for me. This was the final class she would have had for today, and the day after, the entire day would have been spent on magic practice.
When it came to magical theory, she had not signed up for attaining mastery, but out of sheer curiosity.
After a mere moment, the door of the classroom opened and in strolled a short elven girl, her blonde hair barely above the ground, and her dress was purely white, her leather boots echoed and drowned out every other sound. She approached her podium and waved her wand before promptly floating on top of it. "Alright, maggots. Are you ready to start this?!"
The students stared at their new teacher.
Her blue eyes washed over everyone present.
When she landed on Aqua's group, her lip stretched and she nodded before continuing to the others.
"You in the back!" She pointed her wand toward the young noble who was busier looking outside the window than the teacher.
The shouting forced him to snap his attention toward the instructor.
"If you do not want to pay attention, you may leave. Do you understand?!"
How is someone so small yet so loud? She isn't even using magic. Aqua chuckled, something which the teacher noticed yet ignored.
"My name is Mia. I will be teaching all of you brats on the intricacy of magical theory!" She paced back and forth. "Some of you will fail this class, but not because I am incapable of imparting the knowledge, but by sheer fact that most of you have absolutely no magical talent!"
"Frankly, Other than four people in this room, everyone else probably doesn't even know the theory. Before you ask. Yes, I have checked everyone's written tests."
"Teacher! You are wrong, we are the elites of this kingdom!"
She scoffed at the reaction. Only those without self-confidence would have outed themselves as the young nobles did. "I suppose you will need to prove me wrong, won't you?"
Her words quickly made everyone present go silent.
"How many of you can name casting methods?" Mia's gaze panned over to the same noble that had complained before.
"You, young man. Tell me."
He straightened and, with confidence befitting a future ruler, shouted. "Catalyst and prayer, Ma'am."
"What about others?" She tilted her head and hit her palm with her wand.
"Others?"
"You have forgotten two whole disciplines. Somatics and runes. Sit." She sighed with disappointment. Her gaze then snapped to Avaros. "You, Avaros el Lux, I of course would recognize someone from the famed Lux family."
The sudden attention made Avaros rise to his feet.
"We all know that magic can be used in many aspects of life. Tell me where each of these disciplines can be used to their best."
Avaros side-eyed Aqua before focusing back. I shouldn't reveal Aether just yet.
As much as he felt pride in the new horizons that Lady Aqua had opened for him, it was not something he was willing to share with just anyone.
"Of course, ma'am. First, I will start with catalysts. The wands and various focuses can condense mana to much greater effect than other disciplines, which allows us to use magic as a powerful weapon."
Mia nodded.
"However, when using somatics, it is often used in rituals in combination with runic circles to create a more powerful and long-lasting spell, with a large drawback that it takes time."
"Excellent, what about prayer?"
"When it comes to prayer, it is difficult to give them the most effective place. However, they work great when creating large-scale blessing zones or in case of emergency, a powerful attack. The issue is that they depend on the whims of the divine."
The silence descended upon the classroom for a moment before Avaros continued. "When it comes to runes, they are merely a way to store mana in a specific shape for later use or even to create some magical items."
With those words, Avaros sat down.
"As expected of family Lux." She tapped the tip of her boot on the ground. "I will be teaching you both theory and practical casting, so make sure to behave well."
She slowly approached the blackboard and picked up a piece of chalk. "I will be focusing on teaching you the shaping of mana, so that your practical casting can become easier."
With a wave of her wand, she floated to the top of the blackboard.
Slowly, she drew runic circles, one resembled a moon, and the other a sun. "Let's start with the way you gather mana to use for your spells." She turned to Azure. "Ah, Miss Champion, to think someone as important as you decided to learn about magic, you truly are an example. However, do you know the basics?"
"Yes, when gathering mana…" She stopped herself for a moment before shaking her head and continuing. "You will focus on sensing it in the ground and the air, before using your mind to grasp it and pull it into your focus."
"Good…" Mia narrowed her eyes while peering into Azure. She quickly moved her gaze to Aqua. "You, Miss Princess. You aced the tests, too, so tell me, what runic configuration would supply water when placed inside a leather flask?"
Aqua shrank back for a moment before rising to her feet. What? The sheer difficulty of the question trumped every other by order of magnitude.
If I take the aether circles. No, that won't do. She only knows about the archaic runic method.
She rubbed her chin.
"Do you not know?" Mia's lips stretched.
"You want to configure runes in the setting of Air, Air, Moon, Water. If you wish to provide an infinite source of water and let it draw mana from the air instead of the user, you will add additional Arcane, Void, and Space runes," Aqua spoke confidently.
Mia blinked at her. "Correct… but infinite?" She tilted her head. "Lady Brightcrown, stay after class. I have some questions for you."
Aqua felt cold sweat run down her face. I went overboard… I assumed she wanted an infinite combination, too.
It was not only the teacher who looked at her with such a suspicious gaze, but other students too. Only those who were used to her outrageous deeds remained expressionless.
Azure planted her palms on her face, and Avaros just gazed at her with admiration while Hikari just remained stoic.
She let out a nervous chuckle and slumped down in her seat.
"As you can tell, runes are integral parts of any magical item. Without them, many of our conveniences wouldn't exist. They are also a crucial component of many elite catalysts."
Aqua's mind drifted away from the useless information. In her mind, she focused on something far more important. Her mindscape shifted, and she found herself in the burning wasteland of her mind.
The scene of her old burning home made her tear up, but she could not dwell on it. This was her mind and her past, no matter what, she could not forget it.
But there was something different about it, the magma that flowed slowed down, the flames died down, leaving only smoke behind, and the buildings were merely charred instead of actively burning.
My mindscape changed? She looked around. It was still ruined, yet now that flames had died down, so did the scorching temperature. The image before her shifted, and she found herself in the replica of the tyrant's throne room.
This was the place where she had ended the parasite and obtained her freedom.
She approached the crumbling throne and stared at it in silence.
"Tyrant. You are gone, and I live, I hope, if there is anything of you remaining to suffer as I obtain happiness you so desperately tried to take away from me."
She had made it a habit to return to this place in her mind and curse the tyrant.
With a smile, she returned to the real world.