Back at the academy, the 8 kids were put through what one would call hellish training, even the other teachers had sympathy when they heard of the strict schedule. The ones doing the excercises themselves however did not mind it. Soon a week went by, the day before Ray managed to utilize lightning attribute.
After having breakfast the kids grouped in the training ground.
"Alright, show me your attribute, as I said before, those not capable are to pack up."
Before long they each showed their respective magic, Lucas created a tear in space, while very small in size, It could be deadly against equally powerful opponents, his target had a hole in it. Ria made a red arrow that charred the target to ashes. The twins each showed their respective flames in the form of ball, which burst upon contacting the target leaving behind nothing. Warren turned his arm to stone, which increased his already impressive strength even further. Erik had a wind blade that cut the target in two like a hot knife through butter. Yuki created a snowball and threw it at the target, which froze it. Ray decided to coat his dagger in lightning, tiny white particles kept crackling around the dagger in his hand.
What he did not expect however is that the dagger would get so hot that his hand was close to burned so he quickly threw the dagger at the target. Having the mana flow cut off, the lightning dissolved and the target just stood there. Teacher Z just nodded his head and proceeded with his lecture.
"Now that everyone of you can apply attributes to your mana, the next lesson is about absorbing mana. As you all know, we mages need to use mana to use magic. That mana can come from many sources and there are many different ways to absorb them. The most used methods are from the atmosphere and from beast cores. When absorbing mana into our bodies, the mana is absorbed by the cells, who in turn get stronger and have a stronger mana production and limit. But that all will only be possible with a strong body, a weak body will not get stronger no matter how much mana is absorbed and that in turn leads to the mana not increasing, this rules applies for almost every living thing, some of those with special bloodlines can bypass that but those are few in number."
"Teacher, does non-living objects contain no mana?" it was Ray who spoke, the others looked at him like he was a idiot.
"No, mana is everywhere, everything contains mana, but most of it is too hard to absorb. For example for me to absorb the mana from a rock it will be a 100 times harder while a 1000 times less effective. There are many different methods to absorbing mana, but the most efficient one is from magic cores, while we can absorb it from the atmosphere as well, just not as good."
"What is the difference between the 2?"
"If you let me finish I was getting to that, the mana in the atmosphere is non-elemental mana, which means it has no attribute and can be absorbed by everyone and everything, mana from beast cores, with a few exceptions, mostly are aligned with an attribute. That means that only those with the same attribute can absorb it. The absorption rate is faster and also better, but beast cores can only be absorbed in a span of 3 days, afterwards they will fall into an inactive state and that will make absorbing the mana from it 10 times harder than when absorbing mana from the atmosphere." Teacher Z stopped talking and looked his students in the eyes.
"You will get a method to absorb mana from the atmosphere from the academy, make sure to practice because we will be going to the Kirin Forest next year. There you can hunt by on your own, absorbing active beast cores only requires practice, so you will need to gain it there. This will be our last lesson this year, unlike other students, all of you are from knowledgable backgrounds." He then looked at Ray "Well, not everyone. Ray, if you have questions go to teacher Kate, she will answer them for you." afterwards teacher Z dissapeared from where he stood, leaving behind a speechless Ray.
'This is all? this is the academy? where are the classes, is this supposed to be a joke?' while Ray was still internally struggling, the others went to practice according to the schedule. When Ray realized that he finally understood
'No wonder, these people people don't need any supervision. The teacher being here is just gonna was his time. I better not fall behind." Afterwards he too proceeded to train according to the schedule.
Teacher Z, who had dissapeared watched them from the top of the building, he had a slight smile on his face before disappearing once again.
Day after day, the kids would follow the schedule, they also absorbed mana according to the method provided by the school, after teacher Z left another came and handed each a copy.
7 months passed in that fashion, back in Rasb City.
Grandma Cai was holding a baby in her hands
"She is so beautiful, just like you Lune."
"Grandma Cai, did you just say she?" Lune who heard her had her eyes sparkling, Aaron on the other hand let out a sigh, but he still had a smile on his face.
'I guess I'll be doing the cleaning for the next month.' He just shrugged his shoulders before taking the baby girl from grandma Cai'a hands
"She is such beauty. She will break many hearts when she grows up." Aaron slowly stroked her cheeks, he couldn't help but feel warm inside.
"Give her to me love, I want to hold her." Lune took the baby from Aaron's hands, she looked very tired but her smile showed the others in the room her true feelings.
"Ayla, that is your name. My baby, may the glow of the moon shine your desired path."
"Ayla, a beautiful name." Grandma Cai nodded her head. Lune lifted her head and looked at the old woman
"Grandma Cai, how is Ray doing at the academy?"
"Don't worry about him, I had little Zane be his teacher, as long he listens to his instructions, it won't be long till he passes both of you." She let out a sigh and looked them both 'If not for that man, the two of you would already be at the very top by now' she thought to herself.
Aaron seeing her expression could guess her thoughts "Don't worry about us grandma Cai, we are happy right now. Having our children rise in our stead is enough."
"Yes grandma Cai, don't worry too much. I have two beautiful children, a loving husband and peace in my life. I don't need anything more."
Grandma Cai smiled at them "I'll have to return now, send her to the academy as well, don't worry about the cost, I'll cover for this one."
"Thanks, have a safe trip." Aaron pulled both Lune and Ayla in a hug, seeing this grandma Cai let them be and went out.
"Zane, when are you going?" Grandma Cai spoke as she closed the door behind. A figured flashed in front of her. It was Teacher Z, known as Zane. "Master, we will be climbing next month. There have been movements by The Unity, I feel like they will make their move in the expedition, they must know something we don't since their activity mostly revolve around their youngsters."
"That would seem to be the case 'sigh'. They are the only group that must not get too strong, their ambitions are too great, take Lucy and Mary with you as well and start climbing next week."
"Yes master, I'll go and prepare then." after which he dissapeared leaving grandma Cai behind.
'huffffff' she exhaled a deep breath, looked back at the door for a few seconds, shook her head and kept walking.