Magic

"You don't have to bother understanding how it happens for Rank 1, but your will can create mana particles, or more accurately, Virtual Mana Particles. Sometimes called Imaginary Mana Particles, theses particles are present everywhere there is a living being. The very act of defining whether something is considered life is based on whether the being can produce Virtual Mana Particles. In other words, you, your parents, your pets, your plants, your bacteria... all produce mana."

And how come nobody told me that before?

 "The general population is not aware of that fact, of course, since Virtual Mana Particles have no way of interacting with anything that isn't dark energy or will. It doesn't shine, taste, feel, or touch anything. It's also not much when not created intentionally, and even mages struggle to detect it. Hence the name Virtual Mana.

By itself, Virtual Mana isn't very useful. There would be no way to create spells or alter the world with it. But that doesn't mean it's not important.

An individual's will has a very essential influence on Virtual Mana Particles: it can change it. Change it into what is called Real Mana Particles. This kind of particle, as you will find out in the future, has a variable impact on reality. For now, all you have to know is that Real Mana Particles can be seen, touched, and felt."

It was a lot of information, and I wasn't understanding much of it. Nonetheless, I kept frantically typing all of that on my keyboard.

"And it's with Real Mana Particles that mages can create spells. I'll show you a Rank 1 spell called 'Mana Rush'. It is one of the spells you must learn in order to pass this class and be considered a Rank 1 mage."

She did not move a muscle, but out of nowhere, I could see translucent light coming off from her. It was a kind of beige light, travelling away from her like tendrils in all directions, and encompassing her entire body. Once the light reached about a meter from her body, it faded away.

"The light you see is released from the Virtual Mana Particles that become Real Mana Particles and decay afterwards. Every dot of light you see is a big group of Real Mana Particles. This spell is simply creating them around my body at rapid speeds. Josephine, come over here for a demonstration."

The girl climbed up on stage and was asked to give the teacher a simple push.

When the girls hands came in contact with the beige light, they visibly slowed down, and didn't manage to reach the professor. Josephine was clearly giving it her all in the push, but Fatima stood there effortlessly.

"As you can see, the Real Mana Particles can be felt with your very skin. The spell isn't very strong though, so a sword swing could most certainly pierce through a low Rank mage's Mana Rush. Of course, I'm talking about the Apprentice proficiency of the Rank 1 version of the spell. But it can and should be used as armor for combat. Also, your own spells will not release light like mine, since I altered it to show you how it looked."

"Professor, what would a better version look like?" A boy asked.

Fatima looked at Josephine, still struggling to reach her (the girl was clearly headstrong), and nodded.

"A higher version of the spell looks something like this..."

She stopped emitting light, but Josephine was pushed even further back, to almost a meter away, by a thin film of light. This time, the student's arms couldn't press through it, like they were stopped by a wall of colorful glass. No matter how much she pushed, the wall wouldn't even shake.

"This is the Rank 2 spell, Mana Barrier. It uses a different principle to create the barrier, being much more efficient in its use of mana, allowing for higher densities and higher strength. You can stop now, Josephine."

"Does this mean that the Mana Rush spell is useless after Rank 1?" The same boy nodded and asked again.

"Absolutely not. Despite it not being frequently used for battle, there are several spells that teach you other principles of magic and give you mastery over it. Spells are not strictly made for combat purposes. As you will learn during your Laboratory classes, there are spells that help with a multitude of things, from experimentation to daily life."

"I see."

I took a better look at him. He had black short hair styled to one side, blue eyes, and a bright white face.

"I was saving this for the next lesson, but since we're already here, I'm going to mention it now. What's your name?" Fatima addressed the boy.

"Ray." He said.

"Congratulations, student Ray. Questioning is one of the core skills a mage should have. It is the basis for gathering knowledge appropriately, and the manifestation of strong curiosity. Every one of your teachers will have a duty to answer you, and you all have the responsibility of questioning them.

But more on this next class. Ray, due to your contribuition to this lesson, I will award you 30 Contribution Points."

Everyone looked at Ray with envy. Was I the only one who didn't know what those points meant? Were they even going to teach about them eventually?