The Fundamentals of Magic

Arthur proceeded to the next class after his encounter with Eris. At this point, his head hurt from all the questions popping into his mind. What was this Will thing? Which high-level magical being gave it to him? And why did he have that vision?

"This is so frustrating."

He stared huge blackboard hanging in front of the class. They were waiting for the professor to arrive and start the class; most students were clamoring since a lot had got to know each other over the past weeks. In other words, the freshmen weren't so fresh anymore.

On the other hand, Arthur didn't get the chance to create these emotional bonds over the past weeks. He had spent them learning the fundamentals of magic: Mana manipulation and Dark arts. The two were the must-know topics for every magic user in the academy, and not knowing them marked him as unqualified for the academy.

Professor Obsidian had made it his responsibility to teach him the two topics until he mastered them by heart. Lucky for him, Arthur was a fast learner whose only disadvantage was his mana—so mastering wasn't a problem.

Mana manipulation allowed him to use a vast majority of fire spells: both attack and defense without using up his mana. And also, it was through mana manipulation when he discovered that he could use a little wind magic—though he hadn't fully manifested it.

There was a second phase of mana manipulation that involved feeding mana into objects to make them stronger or use your attribute on that same object that channels it into a spell. It was the most interesting part of the f under mental topic and explained how wands and other magical objects worked. Especially magic swords

The other fundamental, Dark arts, was a form of magic that helped cloak their intent and presence or aura. Highly trained magic users were capable of reading someone's emotions by simply looking into their aura. Hence, lying to them was almost impossible.

But if the mage or dark knight could use dark arts, he or she was able to conceal their true intentions.

Dark arts was deadly, and mainly used by magic users who worked in the assassin business.

The fundamental could also be used for defense—but at his current level, that's all he needed to learn.

Recently when Eris sensed part of his intentions, Arthur had lost his focus for a short moment. Maybe that's why she could see his Will, and the fact that she has one only made it easier to notice it.

'I wonder if I should tell Claudia. No, she might overreact and kill Eris.'

Arthur was confused. There was so much about himself that he didn't know. Three weeks of the good life he was begging for in his previous life had made him forget his search for answers to why he was here in the first place.

Sigh.

He glanced around, seeing how packed this class was. Practical joint classes were more popular in the academy since no one wanted to seat in a class where it was just words and no action.

While he pondered, a light-skinned stud took the empty seat on his left.

"Well if it isn't Arthur Bellrock, the man who saved my life."

"Sitting next to me will ruin your reputation in the academy," said Arthur with a serious tone.

"And when did I say I gave a damn. You saved the protagonist's life, and you have connections with the protagonist's love interest. You are the protagonist's best friend and rival…"

He had forgotten how dumb this boy was sometimes. Apart from being one of the diamonds of the mage sector, Adrian was someone you would call a "handsome pervert". He was a half-elf from a noble family that was known for mixing races to produce powerful magic users. He happened to be one of the few magic users from that family that were born with both the gifts of a human and an elf, especially his gravity magic.

Gravity magic was almost as rare as ice magic because only a small percentage of humans would be born with an affinity for ice or gravity. Those born with the ice attribute usually died from the coldness of what made it powerful. But the children survive awakening the ice attribute fully, and end up gaining a limitless potential.

This kingdom only had two ice magic users.

"Sigh. I'm your rival? Interesting. How are things going with Elizabeth by the way?"

He chose to start a different conversation that excited the pervert.

"Well, she wants me to stay as far away from her as I can. But that's a typical light novel thing. She's the love interest, I am going to change my approach by joining some of her classes."

'So you're taking the stalker approach…weird…'

He wasn't surprised. And yet, so many beautiful were staring at the stud. Little did they know he was a creep.

"Why are so interested in her?"

"I don't know yet, maybe it's the sexy knockers or her milky thighs. Or love at first sight."

'Gods save me.'

The professor suddenly walked in and everyone stopped talking instantly. He appeared to middle-aged man with short black hair and a beard on his face that looked like a lion's mane.

Arthur scanned him and quickly noticed that he had no sword close by or a dimension ring to keep it. He was a mage—and had concealed everything that gave off the slightest hint that he was a magic user. How sneaky.

"My name is Professor Elvis Bearhunt, and I know most of you took this class for the practical side of it, and trust me it's there so don't run away when I write something on the board behind me. I know you chose practical mana enhancement for the action that comes with it. But first, I want to make it very clear that mana enhancement only works if you've mastered mana manipulation to a level where you can do it on instinct."

"As magic users, we are all born with mana veins that determine our regeneration or recovery. Veins absorb mana from the air and feed it into our bodies, the stronger the veins the faster you can recover your mana. And the weaker the veins, the slower a magic user can recover their mana."

He continued:

"Even so, that doesn't mean the magic user is weak. Weak veins tend to absorb stronger mana which allows the magic-user to cast powerful spells easily. I myself take a day to recover my mana—and when I am out, it takes me three days to recover all of it. Mana manipulation works in sync with one's mana veins, my weak veins let me create spells like this…"

He conjured flames on the surface of his hand.

"This is a normal spell born from my typical mana. But when I add more mana…"

There was a burst of magical energy in the room as he fed more mana into the flames.

WHOOSSHH

The flames changed from yellow to a very bright blue after he fed them with stronger mana, making them bigger and hotter.

All the students were wowed by the display of power.

The flames were so hot that Arthur could feel his throat drying up from the heat. Everyone was excited to see such power—but to him, it was nothing close to what he wanted.

'Strong flames. I am not sure if they can take down a dragon.'

The professor then canceled out his flames and began answering questions from each student that had one.

But today, the only thing Arthur had learned from this was he had weak mana veins, and that's why it took longer for him to recover lost mana.

However, he couldn't determine whether his veins absorbed stronger mana like the professor. His magic was wild.

'One more class and the day ends.' He thought.

"Okay, can you open your textbooks to page forty—five? We'll begin with the theoretical side of mana enhancement, then proceed to the practical side next time we meet for this class," said the professor, and the rest of the class started to go through the textbooks in front of them.

Adrian turned to him and whispered:

"Is it true that there is a dragon girl in class C?"

"Yes. Do you want to fall in love with her too?"

"No…I can't believe she had to leave her home just like that. Word has it that her Will is what caused all of this."

He flustered.

"Will?"

"Yes, it's like a life essence that exists in higher beings. My mom says a will grants its owner power that rivals gods sometimes when awakened. Red dragons don't usually awaken their Wills. So that dragon girl probably awakened for a reason we won't know until later," he shrugged.

"Anyway, is she hot?"

The pervert returned.

"She hates humans."

"Lucky for me, I am part elf," he grinned.