Temporal Energy.

Grey turned to look at the group of students.

He straightened up and addressed them, "Oh, and one more thing–"

Sera let out an exasperated sigh, "Seriously, NewGate? You've dragged this out long enough. Can we get on with it?"

Grey chuckled.

"Impatient as always, Sera, you really need to learn to relax. But, I must admit, it does make you look kind of cute when you're all riled up."

Sera shot him a fierce glare, and some students behind her giggled, causing Sera to turn and silence them with her stare.

Grey waved his hands nonchalantly, "Alright, alright. Come on, no need for that, I just want to do a little something before we start."

With a swift motion, Grey extended his hand, his eyes glowing with a brilliant purple light for a moment.

A translucent purple dome emerged, covering all the students in the clearing.

Grievious' eyes locked onto Grey.

The man's mood changed almost immediately.

"What exactly are you trying to pull here?" Grievious asked.

"What? Pull?" Grey chuckled, knocking his head lightly with his knuckles, "You have such a suspicious nature, Grievious. It's merely a protective barrier, nothing more."

"How dare you address our instructor with such disre—"

Sera was cut short in her sentence by Grievious who raised a hand to calmly diffuse her anger and silence her.

She respected him enough to keep quiet and let him talk.

Grievious folded his arms, his expression stern, "That's what I sensed. Why such measures?"

Grey sighed, slipping his hands into his pockets as he strolled over to Grievious and the others.

He leveled a piercing gaze at Grievious and inquired, "What's your rank, Grievious?"

"What sort of arrogant question is that—"

Grievious began, but Grey cut him off, turning to the instructor again and repeating his question with a much colder attitude.

"That's not what I asked... What's your rank?"

Grievious's tone shifted, "I'm a Dragon-ranked mage."

Grey nodded, "Good to know. Well then, take this protective barrier as me being considerate... I wouldn't want any of you to suffer any harm."

"Considerate?" Grievious's veins bulged from the sides of his head.

Grey smirked, "Take it easy, Chrome Dome. No need to get so worked up. I'm just ensuring everyone's safety here."

Grievious's eyes burned with anger, "You have no respect, Grey NewGate!"

Grey flashed a smile, "Well, you have no hairline."

The lean old man stood with visible tension in his muscles, veins beginning to protrude from his arms.

"No..."

He clenched his teeth, but then took a deep breath to calm himself.

Grey let out a sigh and announced, "I'll give you guys an explanation of some of my magic techniques before we start so you can understand what I'm about to do and well also break the casting limitations."

Raising his arms slightly, he conjured a small wisp of misty purple energy in one hand and gestured towards it.

"This here is negative temporal energy," he explained. "It's the essence behind my magic technique, 『Temporal Weave』."

As the students leaned in with curiosity, Grey then fashioned a small, electric blue energy in his other hand.

"This, on the other hand, is positive temporal energy," he continued. "The basis for my other technique, 『Chrono-Repulse』."

There was still a few things to explain, and he was managing that time while accelerating the flow of magic energy through his body to break the casting limitations.

"Negative temporal energy represents a form of time energy that leans towards entropy and correction. As for Positive temporal energy, it embodies a constructive force within the temporal spectrum. It aligns with the principles of temporal divergence, allowing for controlled manipulation and divergence from the natural flow of time."

One of the students there was already jotting down all that Grey was saying.

"『Temporal Weave』 is an enhanced time manipulation ability that's focused on temporal distortion. By amplifying my command over time and harnessing negative temporal energy, I can create a localized temporal vacuum... Contrary to 『Temporal Weave's』 corrective influence, 『Chrono-Repulse』 uses positive temporal energy and the principles of temporal divergence."

Grey then pointed at them.

"What I just used on you guys now was a variant magic technique of 『Temporal Weave』 called, 『Temporal Cohesion』…"

A puzzled student spoke up, "Co... Cohesion?"

Grey nodded. "I can use this technique to create a cohesive temporal alignment on all matter within a commanded temporal space, thereby preventing disintegration or distortion."

The students collectively expressed confusion at the complex description.

"Huuuuhhhh?!"

Majority of them exclaimed.

"Hmm," Adrian uttered as he rubbed his chin in contemplation. "So, it's like to a barrier that preserves the integrity of matter when confronted by a time anomaly," he mused.

Grey nodded in agreement, telling Adrian, "If you want the boring explanation, then yes."

Turning back to the students, Grey emphasized, "So you see? I was being considerate by shielding you guys…"

Interrupting the discussion, Sera interjected, "We don't need explanations anymore… Show us you deserve to be in this class with that 'refined' magic technique of yours."

She pointed toward the target dummy, clad in enchanted magic armor.

"Alright, alright..."

Grey acquiesced, dismissing the energies in his hands and turning back to face his target.

The group watched as Grey walked back to the target dummy.

Adrian folded his arms and watched. "This should be interesting…" he then looked at Sera, "To be honest, judging from what he's explained, he might actually ace this test."

"It's not about acing the test," Sera replied.

"What?" Adrian asked almost immediately, albeit with a calm expression.

Sera remained her usual serious self.

"While he was explaining his magic technique, he was also breaking his casting limitations, so yes, he has a higher chance at getting a better attack in, but as I've said before… His magic is focused on combat versatility and refinement, it'll win in fights but he can't really create any potent attacks that should affect a top tier item like this one…"

In response, Adrian quoted her. "How does that relate to 'it's not about acing the test' though?"

Sera folded her arms and lowered her gaze. "If by some slim chance he meets the goal for the test, someone with as much arrogance as him would be frustrated… Because no matter what, he could never cause anything more than a fairly large dent on that item…"

All she wanted, was for him to acknowledge the class.

Grey continued to monitor the object before him. He thought to himself,

'I've removed my casting limitations… So it wouldn't hurt to play a little rough…'

He laughed.

Mages possess a unique reservoir of power. Ordinarily, they can harness only 70% of their magic technique's full potential. However, there are three ways to unlock the hidden boost—temporarily elevating their prowess by an additional 10%.

This was called a Mana Surge.

One of the three ways is informing an opponent (or someone you logically deem an opponent) that you're about to break the casting limitations on your magic technique. Doing this gives them a sense of awareness to try and stop it while you focus on breaking the casting limitations by increasing the flow of mana in your body.

Grey had used explanation to cover up for the required 10 seconds he would need to break the casting limitations.

"Alright then, I'll turn the gears up a bit."

As Grey stretched, the class instructor, Grievious Trager, watched with absolute focus.

Cold sweat rolled down from his forehead and touched the ground.

"This guy... He had every right to be arrogant..."

Of all of them, only Grievious truly knew the implications they'd gotten themselves into.

Grey gracefully removed one of his hands from his pockets and extended it forward, shaping it like a finger gun.

'First, using 『Temporal Weave』 I create a localized temporal vacuum by amplifying my command over time.'

Imagine it like creating a bubble in time that sucked in everything within its influence.

'Then, using positive temporal energy through 『Chrono-Repulse』, I infuse the temporal vacuum with a surge of constructive temporal forces.'

Analogous to charging the temporal vacuum with energy, like winding up a spring.

'The combined energies form a dense, charged mass within the temporal vacuum, ready to be propelled towards the target... A temporal mass projectile of sorts...'

It was like molding a ball of energy within the time bubble.

An electric violet light crackled and sparked around his hand, causing the ground to tremble. With an almost preternatural calm, he harnessed the pulsating energy, exerting a mesmerizing control over the colossal forces.

As the light coalesced, a ping-pong ball-sized violet sphere emerged at the tip of his finger.

This sphere hummed with a latent power, drawing surrounding energy into an ominous core. With deliberate intention, Grey turned toward the enchanted target dummy and maintained his poise until the right moment.

His thumb moved in at lax speed, similar to the hammer of a gun.

"Bang..." he uttered.

In an instant, the condensed sphere erupted.

It accelerated from a violet flash that blinded some people to an explosion that startled every person.

The air trembled with thunderous energy, and the very fabric of space seemed to unravel in the sphere's wake.

A disintegrating annihilation unfolded, causing chaotic turbulence as it obliterated everything within its effect range.

As the impending force surged from Grey's finger barrel, Sera and the other students braced themselves, struggling to maintain their balance in the face of the unyielding impact.

"W... What is this?!" was all Sera could say as she struggled to stand.

Adrian blocked his eyes and planted his feet firmly on the earth. "H... His attack!"

The academy ground quaked, sending some students to the floor while others cried out in shock at the overwhelming display of might.

Yet, amidst the melee, Grievious stood apart.

He didn't have the luxury of being shocked, he'd already felt that some minutes ago...

"Impossible..."

His eyes were fixed, wide open, as an indescribable sense of fear paralyzed him to his core.

The unleashed attack surged forth, engulfing the colossal expanse of the forest.

The temporal mass projectile carved through more than one hundred meters of the forest. In its wake, the very earth crumbled and incinerated, leaving a yawning chasm which stretched over twenty meters.

This violent deconstruction was wrought by Grey's potent attack.

『Magic Technique: Bang Shredder』