Zane looked at the blood on the floor. A part of him thought the instructor was bluffing; that this creature was just a light projection like the one used in the Elite Class. But now he knew the truth: this was real combat, designed to prepare the mages for hunting season and also for the next shift.
"Not bad," Instructor Seiya said. Zane was used to his sudden appearance, so he paid him no mind. "Since you killed it, the loot is yours. Do you want magic crystal or academy points?"
"I'm short on money, so I'll take the crystal."
Instructor Seiya motioned to Ms. Luna, who brought a bag full of crystals. "The Flame Wolf is one of the weakest magical beasts, so the soul is worth 40 crystals; the beast Core is worth 15 crystals; the skin is 5 crystals; the meat is 50 gold coins; the bone is 110 coins — a total of 60 crystals and 160 coins."
Zane looked at the bag in his hand, somewhat speechless. Just like that, he made over 60K. The ability of a transcendent to make money was too easy. Although expenses are high, it's truly not an issue for the capable. That's especially true for those who can do it alone; they don't need to share the profit, but the risks are higher.
"Now, it's your turn," Instructor Seiya said to the rest of the class. "Elite Class members, you fight alone. Everyone else, form groups of 3-5. You have ten minutes."
Ten minutes later, the arena was divided into a couple of dozen sections by a barrier, with the Elite Class' section in the front. At first, Zane thought there wouldn't be much space for this fight, but as soon as he stepped inside, he realized the space had been manipulated; the small section he was in was as big as the undivided arena.
With the previous experience, Zane swiftly dealt with the second wolf. Soon after, Keesha and the sergeant did the same. Unfortunately, while they received the reward for their first kill, Zane did not for the second. He gathered with Keesha — who was complaining that her wolf didn't condense a core — to observe the others, and they immediately realized something: everybody was struggling.
The flame wolf's brutal aura was more effective than they had realized; the truth of the matter was that they were the outliers. For everybody else, it was a daunting task to remain focused and cast spells under the aura's effect. Zane and Keesha glanced at each other, their gaze sending the same message: Is this the difference between High Potential Targets?
Eventually, all the members of the Elite Class killed the wolf and received their rewards. However, they were all in terrible shape, with scratches and bruises all over their bodies. As for the rest of the class? Only a few groups were successful. Almost everyone else was almost killed, saved at the last minute by the protection ward.
Ms. Luna gathered all the injured to cast a 3-ring Spell: Mass Superior Healing. However, many injuries were too severe, so they were taken to the infirmary. Instructor Seiya announced that from now on, the last thirty minutes of magic training class will be real combat. Then, he dismissed the class early today.
The walk back home was a bit quiet. Zane was distracted, lost in thought, while Keesha wondered why everyone was so quiet and tense. However, after seeing that even her usually jovial friend Evelyn was like this, she didn't dare ask. Eventually, Tom Nguyen broke the silence: "How did you do it?"
"Do what?"
"Kill that wolf so effortlessly."
"Um, after seeing Zane's fight, I realized the wolf was stupid; I just need to control the distance between us, and I can kill him easily."
"Didn't your legs tremble after sensing his aura?" Evelyn asked.
"I mean, his aura was raw, but compared to the instructor, it wasn't that much of a big deal."
A taut silence descended on the group again, and, feeling the awkwardness, Keesha elbowed Zane, who finally broke it up. With a glance at everybody's expressions, he understood the situation: "There is no need to beat yourself up. Some people perform well under pressure; others don't. However, with the constant training, it's only a matter of time before you get there."
"But…I do well under pressure," Tom Nguyen uttered softly.
"There is a difference between academy pressure and life and death. But that's not the point; the point is you guys will one day easily face any magical beast," Zane explained.
"Is this why you three are on the High Potential List?"
"Potential List? What's that?" Tom asked. Evelyn glanced at Keesha, who glanced at Zane, who nodded. Then she explained the information she knew.
"No wonder I always felt the instructor treated the three of you differently."
"The list exists, but it's not verified whether we are on it," Zane said.
Evans smiled wryly. "No need to placate us. Today's performance was obvious."
The rest of the walk was a bit awkward; Zane's mind was elsewhere, and he was not in the mood to appease anybody; Keesha was not good with words, and Evelyn — who is usually good at this kind of thing — was also downcast. After a quick shower, Zane rushed for his tutoring session with Professor Burbank.
"You're in an exciting mood. Did something happen?"
"Professor, I was wondering if it's too early for me to create a new spell? Well, create might not be the right word. Modify — I want to modify the spells I have."
"Where did this come from?"
"Today, we had real combat training," Zane replied. "After I reviewed my fight with the wolf, I couldn't help thinking my spells had too many limitations."
"That's a fair assessment. So, why not buy new ones?"
"I still want to save academy points for the club."
Professor Burbank nodded. "What kind of changes were you thinking about?"
"The main one is about the Mana Rope Spell. I wanted to turn it into a passive spell, connecting it to my mana to strengthen its tensile strength. I also thought about casting multiple ropes at once. Finally, I wanted to improve the penetrating power of the magic bullet, turning it into a magic sniper rifle."
"The last one is impossible. Only a 1-ring spell can achieve the speed of a sniper rifle."
"So, the other modifications are possible?"
"Why don't you show me?" Professor Burbank replied, pointing at the board.
Zane didn't hesitate to walk over and grab the chalk. After a brief pause, he first drew the Mana Rope Spell diagram; it was perfect. After close to two months of training and the aid of his title effect, [Steady Hands], his circle and diagram were perfect. Next to it, Zane drew the diagram for the Magic Shield Spell. As the only passive spells he knew, it was the best example to study from.
The fundamental difference between active and passive spells was in the usage of the [link] rune expression. And given that the magic shield and mana ropes were both Arcane Spells, Zane knew he could learn from the former to complete his modification. Without hesitation, he added that expression into the Mana Rope diagram, followed by rearranging the other runes into different positions; once the runes were set, he calculated the directives. Hours passed, and Zane lost track of time, but eventually, he finished. So, he turned around to look at the professor.
"Your rune logic is sound, but the spacing is off, and the directives are completely wrong. I'd give you a 72 out of 100."
"What did I do wrong?"
Professor Burbank did not answer him. Instead, he retrieved three books and opened them at different chapters. Zane sat at the front desk and read each one. He asked a few dozen questions before returning to the board to modify his previous errors. During the process, Professor Burbank guided him by asking questions every time he made an error. Eventually, he completed the modification.
"That's it? It's a success?" Zane asked.
"It is. Mana Rope is now a passive spell."
A smile could not help but hang at the corner of Zane's mouth, but he quickly controlled himself. He raised his hand to try to cast it when he remembered something: "Wait, can I still use the same incantation?"
"No, you can't."
"Then?"
"There are two ways to create incantations: the tedious way and the hair-pulling way."