5 5. The first bottleneck

Robert walked in with Oliver to the class, the both of them were shoving and joking around with each other.

"Tch, just because he thinks he's a genius, he can laze around." Jamie thought enviously.

Jamie had subpar talent, he had to work as hard as he can to avoid flunking the first test. He barely slept, even during lunch time, he would quickly eat and meditate all the time. This made him cranky and jealous of Robert, who could eat and sleep with ease.

He subconsciously glared at Robert.

Robert who was talking with Oliver at that moment suddenly felt a chill in his back but brushed it off.

"Damn it, the front seats are all taken." Oliver groaned.

"Don't worry, it's not like we can't hear the lecture from the back." Robert comforted him as they walked towards the only empty seats at the very back of the classroom.

"Hmph!" Jamie lifted his head a little higher when Robert passed by him.

Robert of course did not even pay attention to Jamie.

The professor walked him. The sound of her heels clacking against the wooden floor sounded. Though she did not mean anything, this sounded particularly intimidating to the students.

"Good Afternoon." The professor greeted stiffly.

"Good afternoon." A few students greeted enthusiastically.

"Before we start the lecture, I would like to introduce your new classmate."

As if on cue, Ash walked into the class. His ebony black hair stood out particularly in the bright room. His dashing appearance also instantly made him the most popular student in the females' hearts.

"Introduce yourself." The professor instructed.

"Hello, I'm Ash. I'm 13 this year." He greeted in a detached manner. His aura had a blemish of loftiness and arrogance.

Upon his introduction, many students gasped.

"He's so young...Does that mean he awakened the mana in his body early?" Several students came upon this realization and they couldn't help but evaluate their new classmate again.

"Alright, go take your seat." The professor said.

Ash nodded before glancing around, his eyes fell onto the seat at the back corner of the class, it was directly beside the only window in the class.

(Author: KEKEKE, who's seat is that?)

"Hello, I'm Robert nice to meet you." Robert greeted from the seat beside.

Ash nodded. He looked around for Emilia but did not see her.

"Nevermind, she's probably in a another class." Ash thought to himself.

"Today, you will be continuing your meditation. I will attempt and correct your flaws. But before we start, aside from Robert, may I ask you has already managed to feel the mana particles in the air?" The professor asked.

Everyone looked at each other but no one raised their hand.

"Really an untalented batch." Ash held his laughter in but a smile still crept to his batch.

"Nevermind, I should've expected it." The professor said emotionlessly as if she expected it.

"Alright start now." The moment the professor said it, the entire class immediately sat cross legs and started meditating.

"You're minds must be clear and devoid of any other thoughts." The professor reminded.

"Remember, you mind must be calm and it is extremely easy to fall asleep. But you must remember to be awake, if not no matter how you try, you will feel the mana." The professor continued.

Upon hearing the professor's words, a few students opened their eyes and slapped themselves awake before continuing. Seeing this, the professor chuckled. It was a very common mistake for amateurs to meditate in a half awake half asleep state.

Half an hour later.

"Professor, it is too hard. I feel nothing even after meditating for such a long time. Not to mention, it takes a lot of willpower to stay awake with my eyes closed, I also can't seem to focus and my thoughts keep drifting." A student complained.

"Rubbish. Magic requires patience. Feeling the mana in the air is your first bottleneck to becoming a mage. After that, you will face even greater hurdles. If you can't even get pass this stage, that is to say you are worse than trash, you have no right to become a magician." The professor lecturned angrily.

Hearing the professor's words, the student blushed and drooped his head in shame. The other students who also heard the professor's words felt even more determination to succeed.

In the next hour, 5 student proclaimed to have been able to sense the mana.

"Oh really?" The professor raised an eyebrow. "Here, right down what you felt." The professor passed them each a piece of paper. There had been too many students in the past who have pretended to sense the mana in the surroundings.

To her surprise, the 5 students immediately scribbled their answers after a few seconds of contemplating.

"Here you go." Jamie passed the paper to the professor. He had been one of the 5 people to succeed. His talent was only average however his determination and hardwork over the last couple of days had paid off.

"A few dots of blue dots, most were as tiny as air molecules." Jamie's answer wrote, the answers of the other four were similar.

"Good good. You have cleared the first bottleneck to becoming a magician. Now, the rest of you," The professor gazed sternly at them, "I will give you 2 more days, if you still can't make it, you can just leave."

"Yes!" All the students shouted together.

Ash yawned sleepily, if not for the academy's rules and him wanting to keep a low profile, he wouldn't even be here in the basic magic class.

"Hey professor, I can do this." Ash materialized a bit of his mana.

"Genius, what a genius!" The professor almost fell in shock.

"Everyone, you must try to be like Ash!" The professor announced.

"Yes." The class replied lazily, they all shot a jealous and hateful glance at Ash.

Ash held his head up a little higher.