An Exercise in The Great Expanse

Alec was stuck. Though he managed to 'awaken' the objects in their apartment, they never seemed to reach the point like they had with Bunbun and Javor.

Though they were able to react to commands, and could instinctively sense when they were needed, they never had the sentience Alec had unknowingly instilled on Javor and Bunbun.

Alec sighed as he Awakened a tree that was near Javor. Though it shuddered, the bond that formed was very faint and weak, almost non-existent.

Alec frowned.

What exactly was he missing? Was it just luck? That couldn't be it.

He shook his head, heading to class. They were going to have some supervision for their Magitypes for the first time since they started learning more about magic.

Alec headed to a spot under the Edelles Tree in The Great Expanse, placing his palm over the tree.

He had been back here a lot ever since he discovered that the Edelles Tree had most likely been Awakened by someone earlier on. The tree's magic hummed under his touch, almost comforting.

There was no bond between the two of them, unlike between Bunbun and Javor, but Alec felt like he could understand pretty well.

On cue, Bunbun hopped beside him, pawing the tree as well.

Alec wondered if those who were Awakened could sense something similar to them. Did that only work between those who shared the same Awakener? Or were they able to feel it as long as they were Awakened?

Alec had no way of knowing. Though Bunbun seemed to be able to understand his words, that didn't mean that he was able to understand the bunny as well.

Since he was the first one here, Alec was able to relax, placing down his pack next to him.

Just as he was about to drift off, his nap was interrupted by the arrival of Zacharias.

Zacharias grunted and plopped himself down next to Alec, who cracked open an eye to stare at him.

"What're you looking at," Zacharias said grumpily, crossing his arms.

Alec closed his eyes again, not so much as drifting off, but rather resting his eyes as his mind tried to work out the problems that his Magitype was presenting.

As the time passed, the rest of his friends trickled in one by one, until at last, Evin appeared.

Even without needing to say anything, their attention locked onto their teacher. No matter how many years passed, the man still commanded a sort of presence that demanded respect and attention.

That was the thing Alec liked the most about their teacher. He was strict, no-nonsense, and firm.

Ah, if only those idiotic transmigrators were like this man, Alec lamented. If they were, he would have so many glowing things to say about them, but alas, it was not meant to be.

Then, the Mainframe's voice was heard in his ears, souring his admiration of the man in front of him.

[Mission: Survive a week in the forest alone]

Alec froze. Survive a week in The Great Expanse? Alone?

Evin started his lecture, which pulled Alec's attention back to him, putting the Mainframe's mission on the backburner for the time being.

"I'm sure you've tried to read up about the Magitypes on your own already, which is what everyone in this advanced course does, but the words that are recorded down only provide the barest of such information, even in the Neil Clan.

As you know, the four Magitypes that are known to society are Offense, Defence, Support and Awakening. Our group is rather rare in the sense that we have a spread of all four Magitypes.

Unfortunately, even in the clan, we do not possess any archives that allow us a deeper insight into the Awakening Magitype, though we have plenty of references for the other Magitypes.

Though, do not despair. Just because it's been referenced doesn't mean that it will work for you. The usage of magic is dependent on the individual and what they shape their magic to be. For example, if there is an Offensive type user that writes a book down leaving notes on how to use a specific fire type spell, that doesn't mean that all Offensive Magitypes are able to use it."

Evin paused to make sure that they understood. Upon seeing the shining curiosity in their eyes, he nodded, pleased.

"Magic defers from person to person. No one person's magic is ever completely the same to the next person. Even in twins, they might be similar, but they aren't the same."

Alec listened in rapture. This was indeed new information to him. However, what about Awakeners? He always read about all of them being able to make doors open, or things move. Did that mean that most of them were able to use similar types of magic?

"What Magitype are you, teacher?" Cyrus asked, curious.

Evin paused. "It's usually not polite to ask people what their Magitype is in society, but our clan is more relaxed about this, so you're fine in the clan, but not elsewhere."

"Oh," Cyrus said, flushing slightly.

"I'm an Offensive Magitype, like most of those in our clan is. If you haven't already noticed, our clan mostly consists of Bright Offense. Like Cyrus and Zacharias. Elias, Tatiana and Alec, you are actually out of the norm, which was a surprise."

Alec appreciated that the man's eyes never singled him out, treating them all equally.

"I'll show you an example of my magic," Evin said, gesturing for them to follow him.

They went deeper into the forest, where the foliage was thicker. At the sound of their arrival, most of the animals that had been there earlier moved away.

As they settled down, Evin held out a hand. With a single gesture, a swirl of water appeared, growing at the speed visible to the naked eye.

Above his hand, the large globe of water formed within the blink of an eye, a sure sign of his expertise.

"I specialize in elemental type magics. Not elemental, which in the use of magic rankings, means elementary, but instead elements in terms of water, fire and electricity. Of course, there are many more, but they are a lot more destructive and not viable to use in a forest like this. Watch."

The globe of water that had seemed to innocent in Evin's hands earlier rapidly shaped and changed, hardening into an ice lance.

Without Evin needing to move his hands, it shot out at breakneck speeds, piercing the trunk of a tree.

But it didn't stop there.

The ice lance continued on for a great distance, piercing through various trees like they were made out of butter. Within moments, they were no longer able to see where it headed to, but the sounds led them to believe it hadn't stopped yet.

All of then looked on in awe, including Alec.

This was his first view of Offensive type magic ever since he had been placed in this body against his will. The most he saw was people on the lake using various forms of magic, never venturing nearer, as that was a designated training area.

Alec almost felt sad that he didn't have the Offensive Magitype himself but didn't let himself drown in that negative feeling. There were many secrets of Awakening that he had not yet uncovered, and something like that gave him an anticipatory feeling that couldn't be matched by those that already had so many various paths mapped out for the future generations.

"How was it?" Evin said with the slightest smile.

"Pretty cool," Zacharias said, trying to look nonchalant and failing badly.

They nodded their heads, speechless.

"Then, you should try to start using your Magitype as well. I hope you brought all your things because you'll be surviving alone in The Great Expanse for a week."

"What?!"

Evin smirked.

Ah, there it was. He should have known. The Mainframe always, *always* knew.

Before they could say anything else, Evin grabbed all of them like a mother cat dragging her kittens by the nape, silencing them.

"Now, remember. This is an exercise to start using your Magitype in a place where you have no other distractions."

The man then dropped them off one by one as he effectively blindfolded them.