Jonathan: "Alright, students. Controlling mana effectively involves a combination of strategic pacing, maximizing efficiency through ability management, and utilizing passive regeneration items, gear, or environmental boosters. Using mana too much will burn out your brain, so it has to be on a smooth pace, though those cases are rare."
Saito(Whispered to haruka):
"Rare but enough to kill us, dude... The hell does he mean by it's THAT risky to be a mage?"
Haruka(Whispered back):
"No shit, I feel like quitting."
Yume(Snapping towards them):
"Be quiet and listen, so don't you two, don't explode or burn your brain out."
Jonathan heard noises from the students...
Jonathan: "Who dares interrupt during the class?"
The trio went silent.
Jonathan continued to teach.
Jonathan: "Firstly, we have to understand how to use the wands. The Ferixo helps us maintain balance, and each of us has at least one Ferixo affixed to our wand or staff. I prefer wands because they are lighter, but on the other hand, staffs can hold extra Ferixos, so it is better for attacking more efficiently, and you can use your own magic to customize your wands or staffs. One user can hold multiple staff and wands."
The whole class was silent; Jonathan's words were spoken in such a way that no one could ignore them. They all took notes in their mind.
One of the students raised their hand and asked:
"Umm, Sir, if one person's staff has 3 Ferixo, does that mean they can control their mana more efficiently?"
Jonathan replied in a calculative tone:
"Precisely, but 3 is the maximum; adding more will be nothing but just a showpiece, as we know that Ferixo stones directly connect with our soul, and our mana is connected with the soul, so the Ferixo stones can control the mana and tell what type of magic the user's soul possesses."
Haruka, in his mind, thought:
"So that's why the Ferixo accepted me and didn't accept the βHaruka... Despite being the same character from a different universe, or reality, the stone still reflects on the soul... this reality really is a hell of a weird one. I wonder what caused Ferixo stones to exist."
Jonathan claps his hands. The Watchers that were sitting on the 2nd floor, almost like a stage with very thick glasses, started to prepare to take more notes.
Jonathan started to speak with a strict tone.
"Alright, class, we practice it now."
Even if a few of the students, including Haruka, were a bit startled because it was their first time, they still did as said.
Every student took a deep breath and held their staff tightly.
Jonathan immediately spoke up as he said the students were gripping too hard:
"No... Don't grasp it that tightly, keep it soft and caressing, let the tension go away."
The students did as said, following that Haruka started to do the same, but his staff was now smarking purple, black, and white flickers.
Jonathan shouted at Haruka:
"STOP THAT NOW!"
Haruka got frightened and immediately stopped.
Jonathan, now softly:
"You see... You were using all 3 elements... For the first time, one can't use more than 1 element; if one does, then their death is 100% guaranteed. Your brain will explode. So don't do that... Imagine only darkness, or cosmic space, or light."
Haruka closed his eyes.
Darkness.
Endless.
Still.
He focused.
And then—
His staff responded.
Dark aura.
Like smoke.
But heavier.
Trailing.
From the staff's Ferixo to his hand, to his arm.
Breathing.
Jonathan watched.
A slight shift in his expression.
"…quick learner."
Then—
a faint smirk.
"Well done… Beyond Average."
The rest of the class started to do the same, one by one, they all did it perfectly, and Saito did it more perfectly than anyone. Yume's wand started to glow with light, and Saito's wand was covered with water drops that were rotating around it.
Haruka was happy with his work right now.
For students who couldn't master their mana controlling, was sent to a few of The Watchers, who took the students to an unknown corridor.
Jonathan started to speak again:
"Congrats, you have mastered controlling your mana. And Haruka... About controlling 3 elements, you can't do it now, you have to master one by one and then learn combo spells."
Haruka simply nodded.
Jonathan:
"Now that we are done, we have to learn attack spells... Darkness, light and water mages are too good at attacking because their magical elements were made for this, though light can heal too, also helpful for defense, and water can be turned into ice if used nicely, can also be used as defense, earth too is perfect for both offence and defense, but wind is only for offense, one needs to master it fully to use at as defense, same goes for fire and wood."
Like the last time, everyone tried and succeeded at using their magical elements as offence and defense; those who couldn't defend were mostly fire, wind, and wood users.
A student named Orpheus was clearly annoyed by Haruka's being there. It was really an envious feeling. He came from a really poor family, filled with poverty.
Each day in his house was like living in a blanket during the summer.
Very suffocating.
And he had worked hard to come this far to earn money and support his family.
He indeed felt jealousy stirring inside of him, envy indeed.
One of the sins.
He was thinking about getting the spotlight over him, but then he saw Haruka stealing it.
Which, clearly, wasn't something he liked.
Haruka, on the other hand, was clearly happy with himself.
Orpheus occasionally used his magic, using his wand to cast it on Haruka and pretending it was an accident.
Haruka's chrono-split flickered and showed him that spikes made of dark matters growing out of his left hand, and his left arm was about to explode.
He immediately moved away, but he stumbled on Jonathan.
Jonathan (Annoyed tone):
"Use your eyes..."
Haruka immediately pointed at Orpheus and said, "He cast a magic on me! I just dodged it!"
Jonathan looked pretty angry about that. He asked the students.
"Have any of you seen it?"
Many students said yes, they have seen it. But those who didn't say anything.
Yume and Saito started to protest about the fact that Haruka might have been injured really badly.
Orpheus, on the other hand, kept saying it was a mistake, but his wand's Ferixo stones said otherwise. It was now connected with his soul; thus, it glowed a bit dark. Jonathan noticed it, but he said nothing and let The Watchers take notes.
Jonathan sighed.
"Your name…what you went through, what you are, what bloodline, how powerful, none of it matters."
A pause.
"You attacked him."
"Good."
A shift.
"You want a fight?"
The class stiffened.
"Then fight."
Silence.
"We have light mages."
He glanced at Yume.
"They can heal."
Another glance.
"The prodigy."
Then—
Orpheus.
"Let's see your worth."
A faint smile.
Cold.
"Mock battle."
This was really going out of hand, and the words were really weird to be spoken by a teacher.