Course Selection

"Now, for the courses offered here." Continued Vernon.

"There are three mandatory courses. They are magic theory, elemental theory, and basic weaponry and physical education. In magic theory, you will deepen your understanding of how we cultivate spiritual energy into mana in our bodies, and how we then structure it to create spells and techniques. In elemental theory, you will learn about the soul and how it resonates with the elements, and how to strengthen your connection to said elements. Finally, in basic weaponry and physical education, you will be instructed in the usage of a weapon of your choice, as well as having to complete mandatory physical assignments to maintain your body in peak condition."

Strength in this world was determined by three factors, and the three courses respectively targeted one of them in specific. First, was your cultivation stage, which was directly proportional to the amount of mana you could hold in your body. The higher your cultivation, the larger your mana reserves. Cultivators of the same stage would still have differing amounts of mana based on its purity, which depended on how deep your foundations were. If you had poor foundations, you could cultivate impure mana that was almost gaseous in nature. On the other hand, if you had strong foundations, you could cultivate pure mana that was a liquid in nature, a more condensed version of the gaseous impure mana. This would allow you store much greater amounts of mana in your body.

The stages of cultivation are as follows: body tempering, pulse condensation and meridian opening which fell under the foundation establishment stage, and then mana gathering, mana condensation, which fell under the disciple stage. Then the mage, grandmage, and archmage of the practitioner stage, above which was the ancestor stage, and then the world stage, which was the current peak of humanity. Above these stages lay the realm of gods. Each stage can further be separated into the early, middle, advanced and peak stages.

Second, the power of individual spells cast varied greatly based on the depth of one's understanding of the element used in the spell. This pertained to one's use of their soul to communicate with and understand the elements and the natural laws. By incorporating these insights and understandings into their spells, their power would be greatly boosted. A simple example would be incorporating a spinning force into a strike to increase its penetrative power. Moreover, most spells, and all high level spells, could only be used after a certain level of understanding of an element was achieved. Connection to the natural laws could be separated into the stages: awareness, contact, initial, middle, advanced, profound, mastery, and resonance.

Finally, the condition of a cultivator's physical body was of great importance as a stronger body could endure greater flows of mana, which is to say could better channel mana. This impacts not only spell casting speed, but also cultivation speed, to both of which the volume of mana used was of incredible importance.

Art was currently at the peak of the archmage stage, with massive reserves of incredibly pure mana. He had a profound stage understanding of the elements of water and space, thanks to his bloodlines which afforded him a deep to connection to the elements from the get go, and a mastery level connection to the element of ice thanks to the combined effects his god tier ice bloodline and his time cultivating in the extreme north, an environment where the natural laws of ice were at their strongest and most easily understood. His inexhaustible mana reserves and strong understanding of the elements allowed him to be unmatched against those of the same cultivation level, and to contend on equal footing against those one stage higher than him. A glance at his body and its sculpted features would show that he was in great physical condition.

For comparison, an average cultivator of the same age as Art would be in mana condensation stage, in the initial to middle stages of understanding their element. They would be approaching the boundary of becoming a true mage. To enter the Silver Dragon Academy, applicants had to already be in at least the mage stage with middle level understanding of an element. Apex geniuses like Soran and Kane would naturally be even more impressive, but still far behind Art.

"In addition to these three fundamental classes," continued the headmaster, " you will all choose a minimum of one specialized class, the choices being Rune and Glyph Inscription (Runes were characters that could be drawn in the air using mana to boost the power of a spell, or on a weapon to enchant it with a spell), Alchemy, Beast Taming, Advanced Weaponry, Crafting, and Music. As a final note, students in past years have created societies, which have become a mainstay feature of the school centered around a particular idea or activity. Examples include the Archery society, the Grounded Earth Society, the Asura society, and even Music and Literature societies. You may choose to not join any society, join a society created by your seniors, or create your own society. You can register for you classes and societies with the staff inside the administration building, as well as receiving your school badge and a map of the campus. Thank you for your attention, and I wish you the best of luck here at Silver Dragon Academy!"

With that, the headmaster simply disappeared, too lazy to bother with the mass of students clamoring with questions in front of him. "They'll figure things out eventually." He thought, lazily waving his hand.

Art glanced at Soran, slightly raising an eyebrow and asking, "Well, shall we go register?"

Soran nodded in response, and asked what classes Art would be taking with the undisguised intention of signing up for the same ones, provoking an amused smile from Art. Soran's heart fluttered seeing the slightly curled pink lips, an irrepressible desire rising once again in him to possess the captivating man in front him in both body and soul. The world seemed to stop around them, even the birds falling silent to admire the pair as they began to walk forward as they conversed, one jade like gentle beauty and one fiery and masculinely handsome youth, the rest of the students making way for them to proceed.

"I'll take Inscription, Advanced Weaponry, and Music." Art said, a black line of sweat running down Soran's face as he heard the last one.

"Ho... I see... Well I'll be taking Advanced Weaponry and Inscription too, but as for the last one.... I think the school would have to shut down if I tried taking music." Soran said with a grimace, seemingly remembering some tragic past event.

"I guess I'll take Beast Taming instead." Art said pensively, unable to defend against Soran's look of dejection. "It's only one class." Thought Art helplessly. In spite of this though, a warm current flowed through his body as he thought of the other man's sad face. Hearing this, Soran let out a broad grin as uncontrollable excitement flashed through him. Although he simply said; "sounds good to me," his real thoughts were more along the lines of "soon, Arthur Vale, I will make you mine. You have no chance of resisting if I spend enough time with you..."

Although not required, general consensus was that the optimum number of classes to take in order to draw the most profit from your time at Silver Dragon Academy was 3, and so the majority of students would sign up for a total of 6 courses, or 5 if they intended to join a particularly rigorous society like the hunting society.

"No way! I'll be taking those same classes Soran!" The sweet and lively tone of Lydia suddenly rang out.