Taking notes

"Can you ever arrive on time, sir?" It was Rose who spoke up to the teacher. She looked good in that uniform; I can clearly see why Ray fell for her. {Or did she fell for him?}

"My bad, let's start the class." The teacher said half-heartedly, "Only five people submitted the file today. Those five will get full marks because I don't want to check that. Rest will get marks according to the work you did."

There was a union 'what?' from the whole class. He paid no attention to that and continued his class.

"Today, we will talk about how we can change the properties of individual circles to increase the power of each circle. That will need a little practical demonstration, from um- Tom, and... Sarah, you two come up here." Tom and a blonde girl from the front rows got up and stood in front of the class.

"As you know, total mana control and amount depend upon practice and genetics. Tom here is in air-battle practices, while only one of Sarah's parents has active experience in magic usage. Their difference in output is huge." {Is he trying to insult that girl?} "But that doesn't mean anything if the difference can be erased." He isn't.

Both students were handed a sheet each. "I drew circles for you; try to put your mana in... as much as you want." They touched the circles and stood like that for a few seconds. Then the wind blew from both circles, and the gust from Tom's sheet was much stronger. {Easy win there.}

Then he handed another set to both students. "The one Tom has right now is the same as before. The one I gave to Sarah has been altered, or as I like to say, upgraded. Now do it once more, the same amount of mana, keep in mind, okay?"

This time, Sarah's gust was at least twice as strong as Tom's, maybe more. Even she seemed surprised by that. "You two can get back to your seats. Everyone, eyes on the board." the teacher pulled down the blackboard.

[YEAR 3, MAGIC COURSE]

[MAGIC CIRCLES]

[SIR ROBERT]

These words were written on it.

"Here is your standard magic circle." Robert tapped on the board and a simple circle appeared, then he tapped again, "and here is the one which Sarah used. Can you tell the difference between them?" he asked us.

The difference was obvious, the number of rings. The second circle had multiple rings around it.

"The number of overlaps, or rings, increases the speed of the element coming out of it. The speed grows by the factorial of the number of rings. That means a circle with four rings is twenty-four times as strong as the one with a single ring. If both get same amount of mana, that is.'' Robert explained slowly. "On a plane surface, we draw concentric circles. But in a three dimensional space, we make a tube of circles. They need to have the same diameter for this to work properly." He moved his hand in the air, slowly creating a row of rings, which glowed crimson red. He continued, "and put the element symbol on the very last one to finish it off." a blast came from the open end of the tube; it was like an air gun.

Students started taking notes, so I followed them. Robert sat on his chair and asked the whole class, "Do you have any doubts or questions?"

"Sir, is there a way to delay the activation of the circle? Like timed or remote activation?" a girl asked.

"Yes. You can set the time of activation when you draw the circles, a special symbol is needed to set the timer. It will start counting down as soon as you let your mana flow into it. But it consumes more mana than normal. There are also conditional circles, commonly used as traps." he looked at me, few kids nodded as if it was some kind of hint. He then got up and walked around as he talked. "Remote activation will be next term. Any other questions?"

"Can we combine different elements by overlapping different circles?" I asked him.

"To answer that, yes you can. But it takes concentration and the ability to cast simultaneous circles. Sadly, this isn't taught, you're supposed to learn it yourself. By the end of this term, you need to master one-touch casting to pass. Try it yourself when you do. That is all for this class, submit your assignments before the deadline. See you later." Robert left the room.

Everyone got casual after he left, I also turned to Tom. "So how much will you get on your assignment?"

"I had two pages left. You got lucky today. Anyway, what are you planning? Let me in on it."

"What do you mean?"

"Combining elements, you've got a crazy idea, I know that. Tell me what it is."

"You know what clouds are right?"

"Water molecules in the air- Oh, get it. But won't it take a lot of mana to make it rain?"

"Mist, you idiot. For cover in battle." {The hell am I talking about?}

"Right, right. But how will it work?"

"I don't know. Gotta go by trial and error until we get it."

The bell rang and people started leaving. I saw Rose coming up and said, "You look stunning." directly to her face. The words just slipped out of my mouth, and I felt a little weird as I never really complimented a girl before like that.

"Can you stop saying that Every time you see me in a different dress?" Rose said, her face was a little red, whether it was anger or embarrassment that, I don't know.

"Yeah dude. Not cool flirting in front of your single friend." Tom complained.

"You wouldn't be single if you replied to her you know that, right? Rose said something interesting.

"Wait. Who is 'her'?"

"I wanted time to think, okay? Then Ray got injured. So I… forgot about that." Tom ignored my question "Anyway, we are free till lunch. What will you two do till then?" {Don't change the topic, you coward.}

"I'll complete my pending work, can't afford to lose my streak,'' Rose said. "What about you two?"

"I wanna rest. So I'll be on the grounds for a nap. Then take a walk, as long as Ray won't get in any trouble."

"I am going to be at the library, then get something to eat after the bell." easier said than done. I don't the way to both of these things. "But first, to class to put all this stuff away."