Practice

"But, Luna is not a soul pet, she is a puppet; my father said that the only difference between the two is on how they would develop. So, is it okay to keep her here?"

"Puppet skill?! Interesting! Isn't it a rare skill? By the way, who is your father? Is he also an alpha tester like us? How come he's not here if he is? I afraid he can't decide whether or not is it okay." the lady with the red hair bombards me with questions which makes me jump from my chair.

"Lily!!!" Ms. Layla berates the red hair who is sitting for almost 2 hours at the corner behind us.

"I'm sorry if what she said feels like an interrogation. She is also one of your instructors, Ms. Lily Austin. You can call her Ms. Austin. She's a magician who specializes in fire manipulation and summoning. She used to be part of the research team and kind of obsess with a rare skill."

"It is okay, Ms. Layla. I can tell you about my father if you want to. I mean, it's not a secret exactly, seeing that he's also here in this school. My father's name is Anthony Ward as for whether or not he is an alpha tester, I don't really know."

"Oh, you're Mr. Ward's son? The game maniac who is good at games, so it helps him land the job? Nice to meet you, my name is Bill Craft you can call me Mr. Craft. Your father helped me a lot while I was still learning my skill."

"If you are any other person I would suggest you to ask him help you develop your skills. But since you are that game maniac he refers to, probably you already have that information. So, I think it was not necessary anymore. Have he explains his game theory law to you?"

After saying that, Ms.Layla spends the next half an hour explaining my Dad's theory about how most of the skills that we have, follow Game rules - such as spell combination, skill evolution, etc. Mr. Craft even says that my father's theory is the basis of elemental healing.

Elemental healing uses element such as light or water to heal faster that can be seen by naked eyes. Heal uses to be an underwhelming skill as this skill only accelerates your recovery capability to about 4 times faster and you need to supply it with mana continuously.

It's still widely used as it can help you numb the pain and keep you in fighting shape but it's not very potent like in RPG games. Along with elemental heal, the research team also finds out the correct way to use healing skill.

They used to cast healing spell on people's body to help them recover but doing that is a waste of mana as you basically send mana with healing attribute to his whole body. What they should do is control it to heal a specific part so the mana can replace the dead cell – making the process of healing like an instant.

"Okay, enough about the theory. You can start practicing casting a spell after we deemed you pass the test. You can start practicing on your own on the side. Passing our test doesn't mean you can practice on your own time – only in this class!" Ms. Layla reminds us not to do what James did yesterday.

"The one who don't have any skill related to magic can learn how to control your mana first on the side. Although, you can't use magic, controlling your mana can be usefull as many swords skill also need mana to be executed."

I move to the sides along with Anna as we're the only two that did not have any skill related to magic from our group. I watch students trying to create a rune and cast a spell for 10 minutes before I start practicing to control my mana.

I close my eyes and try to feel the mana inside my body – imitating what Ms. Layla teaches us before. I can feel a flow of mana through my whole body. I try to control it but every time I suppress a part of it, the other keeps coming like a wave hitting a shore.

I keep trying but I fail time and time again. I look at Anna and she is sitting cross leg next to me with her eyes closed. I can feel her body projecting some kind of calming aura to her surroundings.

I want to ask her for advices but also don't want to disturb her.

'I'll wait for 5 minute I guess, if she is still in trance after that, then I'll just ask Ms. Layla or the other instructor.'

As I wait for Anna, I also observe my surrounding and can see all kind of different situations. I can see some that are like me observing others while some have successfully control their mana like Anna. In front, I can still see students creating all kinds of rune trying to cast a spell.

There is an extra group of students that are in the middle of the classroom casting all kinds of different spells. I guess, they are students who successfully cast a spell and now practicing in the middle. I can see James among them; standing in the middle alongside a 2 meter high white skeleton.

I see that most of students are avoiding standing next to him like he is a plague. I get it that skeleton are scary but you're also controlling a god damn fire for god sake.

Fire, water, lightning, I can see students after students controlling different kinds of element on top of their hand. Some have fire burn brighter than others but there are not so much difference other than that.

'WHOA!!! He can fly?!' I scream on my mind as I see a particular student floating about 10 cm off the ground. I wonder whether his skill is Telekinesis or Levitating.

'Oh, he is another skeleton summoner! I guess James is not the only freak' I continue as I observe more students pass the test one after another. I look towards Alice and Kana who are still in the front of classroom trying their best.

In front of Kana, a floating rune is visible but it's not glowing like that of Ms. Layla's demonstration before. Alice's rune, on the other hand, just morphs every second like an unstable water.

"Failed?" I hear a familiar voice beside me

"Yeah, how do you control yours? Every time I control a part of it, the rest keep resisting." I narrate to Anna

"Instead of controlling it by using force, why not try to lead them like water? Make a path, instead of forcing them to go to places."

My eyes shine brightly as I hear Anna's advices, realizing what's wrong with what I do before.

"Thanks, Anna! I will try again now." I say as I start to close my eyes and try to control my mana again.