19: Signs Of Awakening (1)

Evelyn was confident that she wouldn't disgrace herself today because she wore the amulet that she had tucked under her uniform. As she sat down and began the process of summoning her flames, she felt neither scared nor uneasy.

As she channeled her spiritual energy to manifest her elemental magic, something unexpected occurred when she opened her eyes. She also felt her amulet vibrate slightly under her uniform.

A golden-red flame flickered brightly on one part of her body and hands, while blood-red lightning crackled on the other. It appeared as though there was a division at her sagittal plane, causing her right side to be engulfed in flames and her left side in lightning.

She can wield two elements, making her a dual elemental user!

However, this was not what had puzzled the other students and their teacher. It was evident that her golden-red flame was not burning like the other flames, but instead, it shone with blinding brilliance and squirmed with energy. Exuding scorching heat, it affected not only those in the immediate vicinity but also some students in other areas of the department.

While the red lightning sizzled in her other hand as if it had a life of its own.

Instantly, just as the flames and lightning had manifested, they vanished, not lasting even a minute. This is exactly what happened during the test and has always happened whenever she used her elementals. It always seemed like there was something limiting her abilities.

The teacher was still amazed because just that flicker of flame was able to produce a heat that even affected him. Fire elemental mages were unaffected by the heat of flames, unless they are several ranks lower than the flames they are facing. The Master fire elemental mage teacher was perplexed that a beginner fire elemental mage could produce a heat that even made his skin itch.

Not only were her flames a surprise here. She was a dual elemental user, and her lightning was not weaker either. Everyone felt a tingling sensation when the red lightning crackled around her.

'This could explain why she was unable to summon her flames and lightning for an extended period of time. She has a great affinity for fire and lightning,' the teacher thought inwardly, 'but her current self cannot manifest it for a long time.

Troy stood there, watching her intently, as he wondered, 'Is she be the one I had been tasked to protect?... I shouldn't jump to conclusions yet, but I need to keep an eye on her.'

The class continued as if nothing had happened. Their teacher, an expert in fire elementals, taught them the basics of illumination. He taught them how to easily illuminate their surroundings using their flames if they happened to be in a dark place. Illumination can be done with just the palms or over the entire body.

That was the end of their first class on elemental and variant magic today.

As the other students left the area of the fire elementals, their teacher called out to Evelyn, asking her to stay behind.

"I saw your performance earlier. Your flame is a variant type of fire elemental, and it is a powerful one. However, there is a problem," he said, walking up to Evelyn with visible concern etched on his face.

"Sir, what is the problem?" Evelyn asked nervously.

"There's no need to call me 'Sir'. You can call me Mr. Leonard, and there's no need to feel anxious because there is a solution to the problem at hand. And I want to help you," he said.

"Why are you helping me, sir? I'm just a low-level mage with nothing to offer," Evelyn asked warily of the man. She never believed that anyone would simply appear out of nowhere to help her without expecting some sort of benefit or favor in return. Furthermore, she was afraid that the man might have been coveting her amulet and was using this far-fetched story to get to her. Perhaps he had the ability to see through her uniform and had noticed the amulet.

"Despite the power of your flame, your issue lies with your mana core and the level of spiritual energy you possess. The only situation in which one's elemental is manifested but disappears instantly is when they have a small or incomplete mana core that cannot store enough spiritual energy." Leonard continued to explain her problem to her without addressing her earlier question.

"It's as if your spiritual energy is leaking out of your core because it's too small. That is why when you summoned your powerful flames earlier, the spiritual energy available in your small core was instantly depleted, causing your flames to extinguish on their own."

"The solution here is to expand the size of your mana core and learn how to temporarily refill your spiritual energy whenever you use your elemental abilities. The former can be achieved by consuming better refining resources such as pills and beast cores. I can teach you the latter if you want," said Mr. Leonard.

"You can always come meet me here whenever you like." Turning around, he walked away, leaving Evelyn lost in her thoughts.

Everything the man said made sense. She still remembers taking the pill Elvis gave her. It significantly increased her mana core and absorption rate. The problem was that these resources were not easily accessible. Their cost was too exorbitant for someone like her to afford.

The pills cost between 500 and 5000 points, not to mention the beast cores which can cost anywhere from 2000 to a million points depending on the tier or type of beast they came from.

Whereas, the academy only provided them with 20 points per day. Currently, she only has 40 points on her watch, which were given to her yesterday during the orientation and tour day, as well as today. Even if some of the money their mother gave them was converted to points, it still wouldn't add up to approximately 2000 points. Not to mention, the money belonged to both her and Elvis.

To acquire additional resources for her training, she had two options: either devote herself to learning alchemy or embark on a dungeon adventure to extract beast cores from the creatures beasts within the academy dungeon.

But neither of these options are feasible for her. She had planned to avoid the alchemy department altogether to avoid being discovered by Mr. Werney. Also, her current strength is not yet sufficient to battle beasts.

She is unable to utilize her elemental powers, she lacks any skills or techniques, and she cannot use any weapons, including the bow and arrow gifted to her by her mother.

That means she had to improve in areas other than her elemental abilities as soon as possible.

She had resolved to master the art of alchemy, determined to create effective pills and potions for her own use. She was willing to forgo wearing her amulet during alchemy classes if it meant achieving her goal. She was also determined to put in more effort to learn combat skills and techniques, especially to master archery as soon as possible, so that she could make use of her mother's gift.

'I can ask Zoya if there are other ways for me to earn more points, so I can buy some cheaper resources,' she pondered.

Just then, an idea struck her. She fled from the area where the fire elementals were and headed towards another section of the department where she could see sparks and bolts of lightning flashing in all directions.

—— — ——

The scene that greeted her when she arrived at the location designated for the lightning elemental students filled her with fury.

Previously, she had wanted to ask Elvis if he still had the pills he gave her on their birthday.

Now, before her, she could see Elvis trapped in a blue lightning field that was electrifying his entire body, causing him to shake violently. Other students had stepped away from the lightning field, and only a guy with dark green hair stood before it, his entire body crackling with blue lightning. Confirming that he was the one who humiliated her brother. It was the popular genius of the Zeccammons, Wilson.

What surprised Evelyn the most was that the lightning elemental teacher stood watching all of this without intervening. Her blood boiled as she rushed towards Wilson, who was hysterically laughing at Elvis.

Evelyn pushed Wilson with all her might, but it didn't seem to have shaken his body in the slightest.

"Get him out of there now!" She shouted at him while punching him. The other students watched as Evelyn desperately tried to rescue her brother from the lightning field. None of them were doing anything; they were only standing there, watching the supposed three Zeccammons.

"Get your hands off me!" Wilson shouted as he kicked her in the stomach, sending her crashing into the lightning field.

Evelyn was whining in pain, holding her stomach tightly. Her face was scrunched up in agony. But upon seeing the blood dripping from her brother's mouth, who appeared to be unconscious. She struggled to stand amidst the pain as the lightning field began to take effect, sizzling her entire body.

She hugged Elvis, enduring the pain from the lightning that was shocking her from inside out. Blood oozed from her mouth, dripping onto her uniform as her heart rate began to slow down, faintly beating against her chest.

This continued for about two minutes. Her body was limp, and then she let out a piercing scream, "ARGH!" Flames instantly burst out of her body, engulfing the entire lightning field and obliterating it.

She slumped to the ground, gasping for air, still tightly gripping onto Elvis. She could feel her amulet violently vibrating beneath her uniform. Her eyelids slowly closed, shutting out her surroundings.