Reeve wondered. Hadn't he already given her an explanation? Another thing, did he really owe this annoying girl an explanation? He just didn't want to be a part of Malum's temple… Simple! Wait a minute, can't this girl help him to solve the mission, without joining Malum's temple of course? As his thoughts reached here, he let out a breath he didn't know he was holding.
"I … I am not interested in joining any of the temples. I made a promise to a friend, and I intend on keeping this promise. I'm sorry for not being able to be of help to you", Reeve ended his not-really-an-explanation with an apology.
The girl's head was still dropped, and she still looked crestfallen. What Reeve didn't understand was, why was she so adamant?
"Umm … if you say so … I apologize for trying to make you break your promise", Madalyn apologized, before turning and running away with what Reeve thought were teary eyes. Was he mistaken?
"W-wait –" it was too late though, Madalyn was gone. Reeve couldn't believe the girl could disappear so fast. It was like she just vanished into thin air. To be more precise, whenever some magic is being used, the funny lights in the air are stirred.
He had noticed this phenomenon when Soren awakened, and when they were carrying out the aptitude tests. However, when Madalyn escaped from him, the funny lights were not stirred at all! This meant that she ran away from him at such full speed, that it almost looked like she used magic to vanish into thin air.
It seemed as if people should never really judge a book by its cover. After putting all the thoughts at the back of his head, Reeve turned and walked away from the corridor.
Arriving in class, he sat down in the corner, before the professor walked in. This professor was a middle-aged man, with short brown hair. Besides the messy, brown beard that seemed to complement his hazel eyes, he was wearing a purple robe with grey designs. As he arrived in class, he put down the books he was carrying on the table in front of him.
"Good morning, I'm going to be the one teaching you defensive spells in the Earth class. Is there anyone among you who has ever used magic before?" asked the professor, without introducing himself.
No hand was raised, as the professor's question was answered by the sheer silence that dominated the large classroom.
"No one huh? This is going to be a pain", he mumbled to himself, albeit loudly. He continued, "Anyway, since we are going to start from scratch, I need all of you to follow me to the arena."
Murmurs soon followed after hearing that. Why did they need to go to the arena? Didn't the principal only say that the arena was used for battles?
"I know what you're thinking … Just follow me!" he shouted, prompting the students to get up and run after him.
Reeve also stood up and followed, just like the rest of the students in the class. He was thinking about how to approach the mission he had selected. He could go asking everyone in the other classes about the students who had disappeared, but this didn't seem like the optimal approach.
After a few minutes, they arrived at the arena, which was more like a glorified auditorium of sorts. It was circular in shape, with stairs for seats. In the middle of the auditorium, there was a circular shaped ring, which was a few meters in radius.
"Right, before I start teaching you spell casting, you have to be able to feel the mana present in your bodies, before being able to channel it through your mana veins, and ultimately using it to power any spell you desire to cast", the brown-haired professor explained.
The students, being students of course, did not understand any of what had just been said. But who could blame them? It was like someone was trying to teach them rocket science … which to some people might be very easy … but to the majority would be incomparably difficult.
"Now, first, all of you should sit down!" commanded the professor.
The students responded by looking at each other, before scrambling to find seats in the empty arena.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" yelled the professor, prompting the students to stop moving immediately. Reeve, who had been standing there, confused, looked even more confused.
The professor continued, "Come and sit here … in the ring!"
Gasp!
Loud gasps followed the command, before murmurings and finally, compliance. The entire class consisted of less than twenty students, who could manipulate Earth magic. However, the problem was that none of them had ever used their magic.
After the students had settled down, the professor continued, "The first thing you have to do is close your eyes. Try to concentrate on sensing the mana which is present in your bodies. The mana is present in its raw form, but as long as you concentrate a little harder, you should be able to sense its motion. You might feel a little drowsy, but don't worry. It's supposed to happen."
Reeve, who was sitting cross-legged like a martial arts cultivator, closed his red eyes, before concentrating on his body. Strangely enough, he began to feel something moving inside his body. The motion was very faint, but it felt like a stream of water moving inside him.
When Reeve opened his eyes, he saw a lot of green and brown lights moving in the atmosphere. Not just in the atmosphere, but also inside the students' bodies as well. Technically he just saw green and brown light emanating from some students. Even if he was an idiot, he would have realized what was going on.
The lights in the air seemed like mana. The book he had read before said that mana was present in the air, in the trees, in the rivers and mountains. It said mana was present in everything around.
Reeve presumed that the lights which only he could see were mana … or rather … made up of mana. It wasn't mana in its raw form, but mana which was preprocessed.