Chapter Ten
(Correlated with the manhua's chapter 10)
"Yet another boring lesson in practical magic." Sighed a student.
"I know, right?" Another agreed. "That old geezer always bores me to death."
Mo Fan and his classmates sat bored in their practical magic class, waiting for their teacher to arrive and class to start. Suddenly, a strange clacking noise could be heard repeating and growing louder outside the classroom. A few heads turned to look at the door, where the sound could be heard from, which promptly swung open, revealing an unknown, beautiful figure.
"Good morning students. My name is Tang Yue and you can call me Ms. Tang Yue. From now on, I will be teaching your practical magic lessons!"
The gorgeous teacher confidently strutted into the room and took a position at the front, eyeing her new students.
"Wow! She's a beauty!"
"Dude, this is amazing!"
A few of the boys in the class, much to the irritation of a few girls, couldn't contain their excitement as they released exclamations, which the teacher ignored.
In the back of the class, Mo Fan was nudged awake from his nap by Xiao Hou, who wished to quickly share the exhilaration of seeing their hot, new teacher.
"Brother Fan! Brother Fan! We have a new teacher for practical magic!" Xiao Hou waited for Mo Fan to raise his head before continuing saying, "If I had a teacher like that in junior high, I would have studied so hard instead of lazing like I did!"
Not yet having opened his eyes, and about to lower his head to return to his nap, Mo Fan argued, "So what if she's beautiful? The most important thing is still one's ability."
Xiao Hou chuckled before a smirk crept onto his face.
"Brother Fan, stop with the act. Everyone knows that boys our age are interested in certain things~~"
Annoyed, Mo Fan shot up, hissing, "Tsk, keep quiet while we're in class!" Then, he glanced at the new teacher, instantly realizing what all the commotion among the boys was about. His teacher, Tang Yue, was the epitome of mature charm in a woman. More than just her body, she carried herself with such a confidence that could conquer any monster, any foe.
Mo Fan's thoughts were suddenly interrupted when Ms. Tang Yue spoke to the class.
"Before we begin, I'd like to ask a question. Who among you has awakened a fire affinity?"
Still processing his new teacher's beauty, Mo Fan shakily raised a hand, along with a girl who always wore a long ponytail and sat closer to the front. Ms. Tang Yue found the girl's name in her class roster.
"Oh, you must be teacher Zhou's daughter. You have much combat potential, so be sure to work hard."
"I'll do my best!"
Then, to Mo Fan's surprise, Ms. Tang Yue began her confident walk up the rows of seats till she arrived at the very end, where Mo Fan sat. He'd still not gotten over the butterflies in his stomach, and even a rosy pink color surfaced on his face.
"You also awakened a fire affinity?" She asked Mo Fan.
Doing his best not to stutter, he replied, "Yes, Ms. Tang Yue. I'm 48th on the register—Mo Fan."
Unbeknownst to Mo Fan, Ms. Tang Yue had taken notice of the dragon pendant which hung around his neck. However, she quickly looked away, turning back to return to her desk at the front.
"Right then, back to business… The purpose of this lesson is to instill in you an appreciation for the power of magic. This, before you learn how to use it yourselves. So today, I will be introducing you to the basic magic techniques for every element."
Before Ms. Tang Yue returned to the front, a particularly strange male student near her saw the opportunity to attract her attention…wanting to make her angry at him.
"Teacher, how powerful can basic magic techniques possibly be? We shouldn't be wasting our time on them."
Around the classroom, the students felt the weight of his words which questioned and dismissed what she'd stated they needed to learn, wondering why he'd say something so blatantly rude.
Yet, before anything could tell the young man to can it, Ms. Tang Yue turned to follow his voice before approaching his desk with a smirk, asking, "Would you like to know just how powerful?"
The young man had only wanted to get off by making her angry, so when he managed to process her words, he freaked out, thinking he'd be attacked. Which was obviously not what he wanted.
"Do you see that wooden practice target over there?" She asked, making sure the student turned to see a wooden board with a bull's eye painted on it sitting in one corner of the classroom. Then, she snapped her finger, pointing at the target. "Fire strike, incinerate!"
In almost the blink of an eye, Ms. Tang Yue's basic magic spell turned the target dummy to dust while leaving everything else and everyone in the room unharmed, causing the students to stare at her in awe.
"This is the power of basic magic techniques—that which you hold in contempt." She returned to the front of the class and put her hands together in front of her chest, before continuing. "Though, I do understand where you're coming from. It's natural for new magicians to want to create their own spells rather than use those of past generations. However, even basic magic techniques are difficult to form and perfect. It is not easy." Ms. Tang Yue's words befuddled the young man who spoke against her earlier. He hadn't been thinking that at all, instead just wanting her to speak scornfully at him! Yet, Ms. Tang Yue had no way of knowing such, so she continued. "Yes, new magic spells can be created, and magic can even be freely manipulated with enough skill, but the skill and understanding necessary to accomplish those two things often require decades of harsh training. Even for geniuses."
Ms. Tang Yue opened a palm to face the ceiling and conjured a small red flame which promptly leaped off her hand, dancing through the air as though a fairy. "Even I can only do this much and a bit more."
Satisfied with her explanation and the stunned looks of her students, she resumed with her scheduled questions. "Now, how many stars can the students in our class currently control?"
Ms. Tang Yue expected to hear a mixture of proud and embarrassed answers, but a student excitedly spoke up before any other could.
"Teacher, I'm not sure about the others," Zhou Kun San's glee as he spoke was off-putting, "but I do know that Mo Fan can't even control a single star! Totally unlike our young master, Mu Bai, who's both talented and intelligent. He's just one star away from being able to cast magic!"
Seeing Mu Bai's cold expression warm up at his sycophant's ass-kissing, Ms. Tang Yue immediately understood some of the relations between Mo Fan and Mu Bai.
On the outside, Ms. Tang Yue praised Mu Bai, looking at him and saying, "He is indeed an excellent child." Much to Mu Bai's elation. However, on the inside, she thought, "Even so, there's something off about Mo Fan. I can definitely sense a lot of potential in him, so why's h-"
Ms. Tang Yue's thoughts were cut off when a voice spoke over the intercoms. "I need to emphasize before our next lesson that we will be conducting the end-of-semester magic examinations very soon. There are three points I want everyone to take note of—first, those who do not pass the exam will be asked to leave the school; second, your grades will affect whether you will be admitted to the top class next year; and third, those who enter the top class will have the opportunity to use a stardust magic device."
*"A STARDUST MAGIC DEVICE!"* Mo Fan's attention was immediately drawn by the third point the speaker made, as it was exhilarating news to him. *"I've read that using one greatly enhances the efficiency of one's magic training! I definitely need to get into the top class!"*
Mo Fan was fully aware that training both lightning and fire magic would cost him in efficiency, since it could result in slow progress in both. Yet, a stardust magic device was exactly what he needed as someone who awakened two elements! Although he already put his all into training, Mo Fan promised himself that he'd squeeze out all opportunities to train and get into the top class!
Mu Bai, on the other hand, was having different thoughts. "She will also be coming for this particular examination… I definitely can't allow that bastard Mo Fan to reach any rank past last!"