18: Summoning Flames

After leaving the canteen, they made their way to the Department of Elemental and Variant Magic.

During their first week at the academy, students are required to attend all academic departments for three days. This allows students to select the departments they will attend during their first year at the academy, in addition to the general magic department and the department of elemental and variant magic.

Here, in this spacious department, all the first-year students have gathered, numbering up to 155 students. They all stood quietly as Mrs. Xora, the department head, came to address them.

She explained the various sections of the department where students are taught how to master the use of their elemental or variant magics. Each elemental or variant magic had a teacher, except for a few rare ones such as the shadow, decay, sound wave, gravity, time and space variants, and others. These rare variants can be incorporated with any elemental teacher, as they are all derived from the four main elements.

The four of them separated, each going to the teacher who specialized in their own elemental magic. Evelyn walked towards the teacher who specialized in fire elementals, Zoya headed towards the teacher who specialized in ice elementals, Elvis made his way to the teacher who specialized in lightning elementals, and Cedric approached the teacher who specialized in wind elementals.

Evelyn walked into the group and stood there, watching the teacher who was standing in front of them.

"Of the four main elements, it should be known that fire is the most difficult to control and master. Can any of you tell me why?" The man who was their teacher for fire elementals asked a question, and several students raised their hands, except for Evelyn and a few others. It wasn't that she didn't know the answer. After all, her mother had taught her these basic things. However, she wasn't accustomed to showing off. That was how she viewed the actions of those students whose hands were raised, waiting to be called upon.

The man scanned the students and noticed that Evelyn didn't seem interested. He asked her to answer the question.

"That is because, unlike water, wind, and earth, which occur naturally around us, fire does not. Fire has to be ignited for it to manifest," Evelyn explained perfectly.

"That is good!" the man said, smiling. His words caused most of the students to glare at her. Upon seeing her beautiful face, most of the boys quieted down. However, the same cannot be said for the girls, who appeared to become even more furious.

"Isn't that the student who was unable to produce a flickering flame during the test?" murmured one of the girls, whose face bore a striking resemblance to that of an ape. And just like that, the other students burst into laughter as they saw the 1-star boldly displayed on her watch.

"We are going to start our classes with the basics of fire bending," said the teacher, ignoring the taunts and laughter of the students. "Today, we shall learn how to summon flames at any time and also the basics of illumination," he said once again.

Just then, the atmosphere changed as the heat surrounding them intensified, becoming scorching for most of the low-level fire mages present. A guy with brown hair walked in, his body illuminated by purple flames.

'Is he one of the five geniuses?' Evelyn couldn't help but ponder as she saw the boy standing just a few inches away from her.

"I'm so sorry for being late and interrupting the class, sir. Something held me up, that's why I'm just arriving," the student who had just walked in apologized to the teacher, ignoring the stares from the other students around him.

"What is your name and elemental affinity?" The teacher asked him.

"I am Troy Solca and I have affinities for the four main elements, but I am particularly drawn to the element of fire," he replied, leaving the other students astonished. It is rare to find someone who can control two elements, let alone four. That means he can wield fire, water, wind, and earth elements at his disposal. It was even more surprising that his family name was not one of the great five families, but rather a name that was not renowned in Humaldor.

"Okay, that's great. Let's get down to business then," said their teacher, who sat on the ground with his legs crossed. "Watch me now... I will summon flames to flicker all over my body without causing harm to myself or my clothes," he said as he closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

After a few milliseconds had passed, flames erupted from the man's body, brightly illuminating the area where the students were standing. It was a golden flame with mixtures of red and yellow within. The flames were spreading and were burning until the man opened his eyes and stood up. Some of the students were baffled and couldn't wait to try it out.

"You see, this is how you summon your flame. First, you need to calm yourself. Then, focus on your core and visualize pulling out the spiritual energy from within. Direct this energy throughout your body, and your fire elemental will manifest."

"It is not necessary to sit in a meditative posture before summoning it, but it may be beneficial, especially for those who are still learning. Just know that it might be very difficult for most of you to do now unless you immerse yourself in rigorous practice."

He went on to exexplain to the fire elemental students surrounding him.

"If you are still unable to summon flames from within yourself, then you will need to use a small external source of fire. All you need to do is channel your spiritual energy towards the source of fire and draw it towards you. You will easily generate flames from that external source." He looked at the students, particularly Evelyn, who he had heard was unable to produce a flicker during the test. He explained the concept to them.

"Just know that if you are drawing power from an external source, you run the risk of accidentally burning your clothes and being left naked." To avoid that, you must coat your clothes with spiritual energy before summoning flames from an external source," he explained.

"Now, let's try it out." He extended his hand, which was engulfed in flames. "This will serve as the external source for those who cannot summon flames on their own."

Just then, a purple flame with devastating heat erupted beside Evelyn, causing most of the students to step away from the blazing Troy. Evelyn could feel the heat on her skin, but she didn't experience any burning sensation. She only watched the handsome, brown-haired guy display his amazing purple flame.

Most students sat down, just like their teacher, and followed his instructions. They produced a flicker of flames that danced around their bodies. Some, like Troy, stood and summoned their flames.

There were various colours of flames on display, including purple, green, yellow, black, light blue, golden-red, and red, among others. These are the different types of flames, with purple being the hottest and rarest, while red is the coldest and most common, and black is the most destructive.

All of the students had summoned their flames, but three had not yet done so: Evelyn, a girl, and a boy.

The boy sat down and tried to summon his flame, but nothing manifested. He was a 2-star mage, which caused many of the other students to jeer at him. He decided to draw power from the external flame that was still burning in the teacher's outstretched hand. As he did so, his own hands erupted in a burst of black flames.

He couldn't contain his joy as he began to jump around, but the flame spread to his Skyrim uniform. His shouts of joy turned into screams of horror as he frantically ran around, attempting to extinguish the flames that were engulfing his uniform, but his efforts were in vain.

The flames were quickly devouring the sleeves of his uniform until a splash of water extinguished them, drenching the boy's body.

All heads turned towards the source of the water, and there stood Troy, holding a swirling mass of water in one hand. This confirmed what he had said about being able to control the four elements. Most of the students around him looked at his watch, on which a 6-star was boldly displayed.

'He is certainly stronger than Zoya. A peak intermediate mage,' thought Evelyn, feeling envious as she stole a glance at him.

The other girl also summoned her red flames from the external source, but she was smart enough to prevent them from burning her clothes. It was then Evelyn's turn, the last person in their group.

Most people were eager to see her performance because they were not in her group during the test and did not witness what happened there. They had only heard it from the girl with the unattractive, simian-like features earlier. Even the teacher was watching her intently.

Evelyn remained composed as ever, unfazed by the glares directed towards her. She sat on the floor, closed her eyes, and took a deep breath. She had entered her meditative state, shutting out the outside world.

Focusing on her core, she directed her spiritual energy throughout her body, just as the teacher had explained.

But then something that she had never expected happened, leaving all the students astonished. Even the teacher and Troy were amazed by what had happened. She, herself, was also taken aback.