Fina's lecture was targeted at the spell set a Wood Mage usually has, the spell set is what decided a Mage's subclass.
Or what else would be the subclass? In mage class, mastering a spell isn't easy, it's similar to mastering a martial technique, it requires effort and hard work to do that.
But there is a shortcut, when one successfully masters a specific spell then it becomes easier for them to master a similar spell, for example, if someone masters a Fire Ball spell then it would be easier for them to master the Fire Arrow spell.
And once they master a specific number of Fire Type spells of a certain level, then they will gain the Fire Mage subclass.
"To become a Rookie Wood Mage in two months, you need to master three spells related to the wood element, meaning you need to not only learn those spells but increase your mastery to Master Level, is that clear? Now that you have Magic Stabilizers, you cannot make excuses, if none of you meets the criteria then I won't hesitate to fail the whole class, if you can't do even this then you are not suited to become a Wood Mage at all," Fina said with a serious expression, then after a few moments of silence she added "The class is dismissed, you can leave,"
Everyone stood up and hurried out of the class, the test Fina gave was indeed hard but none of them wanted to give up, so they rushed to go and choose simple spells to clear the test.
Unlike them Kale calmly stood up and walked towards the exit door, by the time he left the bench rows, the other five students had already left the class.
"Hey silver hair wait, spare me a minute and come here," Fina said from behind.
Kale halted his advance and walked to her "What can I do for you?"
"Why do you choose that ring out of all the Magic Stabilizers I showed you?" Fina asked in a direct tone.
"Because there was only one ring," Kale said without much thought.
When Fina displayed all those Magic Stabilizers, there were various types of them mixed in there and every type had at least two pieces but there was only one ring among all those Magic Stabilizers.
"So?" Fina raised her eyebrow, behaving like she didn't understand his meaning.
Kale stared at her for a few seconds before adding "The better the thing, the rarer it is,"
Listening to him, Fina's lips arched into a curve, she laughed then said "Congratulation brat! Regardless of your reasoning, you won the 'Eyes Of Wisdom' event, as a reward the ring is now completely yours. You don't need to return it regardless of the result of the test. That ring you got is not just a Magic Stabilizer, it is augmented by an Enchanter, it will boost your Mana recovery rate by 2 times, it's effective until you reach Level 21,"
After saying that Fina expected him to burst into laughter of joy or act overly excited but surprisingly Kale just calmly nodded.
She felt awkward laughing alone, she stopped laughing and asked "What is your name?"
"Kale," Kale replied. He was itching to go back and try the cultivation technique hence his focus was not much on the conversation.
"Kale, here is a free advice, when you choose your spells, don't choose simple ones, you are getting free spells and learning them takes efforts and time so instead choose either those that can be stacked with each other or the ones that help you avoid danger, as a mage your ability to retreat should be superior compared to your ability to advance," Fina said in a serious tone, Kale nodded, he knew those points without even an explanation. Fina felt good that he agreed without being stubborn and added "Okay, now you are dismissed, train hard,"
Kale turned and was about to leave the room but then thinking of something he stopped again and asked her "Is there any prize for the one who completes the test first?"
Fina was slightly surprised by his question, she then smiled "Who knows? You have to find it out yourself,"
Kale didn't ask anymore and left the class, when he came out he took out his phone and checked the notification on his phone.
[The First Challenge:-
Type: Main Mission.
Description: Instructor Fina had given you a test to become a Rookie Wood Mage in two months, do not disappoint her.
Time Limit: 60 days.
Competition Requirement: Master 3 Mortal Grade Wood Spells.
Progress: 0/3 Wood Spells.
Competition Reward: Study in Wood Class.
Failure Penalty: Expulsion from Wood Class and transfer to Elimination Trial.]
After checking the notification, Kale headed towards the Grand Library.
He didn't attend the class for Mutants because he had already learned a lot of things about this from Riyan who was a mutant all his life, as for being Martial Artist he was still doubtful but even if he wasn't, he had been a Martial Artist for more than 100 years, had fought battle that lasted for days and even weeks, have killed without counting, what could these people teach him?
He had chosen his main secondary class, so they cannot give him missions right now either, the academy doesn't actually care what his main class or subclass is, they only care that how much of his own value can he raises by cultivating, it's all about results.
Grand Library, Spell Chamber, Wood Category...
Kale was standing in a corridor, with his left and right side were made by shelves instead of walls.
The shelf on the right side was filled with books but the shelf on the left side had verticals drawers that held one glass plate each.
Kale pulled out the drawer closest to him, when the drawer was pulled out it showed the crystal clear glass plate inside it, a complex magic circle was carved inside the glass plate.
The glass plate was actually holding the Spell Formula.
This was the oldest method to hold a Spell Formula, early mages used to draw their Spell Formula on stone slabs to leave behind their inheritance
'Spell Formula, the very essence of becoming a mage, it is said that a peerless genius mage can not only guess but even comprehend the spell formula just after looking at his opponent activating a spell,' Kale thought while looking at the spell formulas.
A professional mage has no difficulty in learning a spell using Spell Formula but many still have trouble doing it, especially the rookie practitioners that's why a simplified version of them was present in the books on the right.
A paper slip containing a brief description was present outside every drawer, Kale started looking through the spells one by one.
'Wood Hammer? It hardens the skin over my fist to make it hard as tree bark, it suits a Martial Mage but not something I would like to see as my first spell,'
'Wood Blade? Summoning an arc of Wood Mana to attack, the range is short and consumption is high,'
'Wooden Thorn? It's good but I don't want an offense type spell yet,'
'Fast Growth? It helps to cultivate plants faster, Seriously Amazing! but not now, it can't help me a bit during hunting,'
Kale's heart slightly pained when he left this spell, he decided to take this spell as one of the remaining two free spells later on.
After looking through all the spells for around 2 hours, he finally found something that caught his eye.
'Life Sense? It allows the user to sense life signals in a certain range that increases depending on its mastery, this is useful in finding easy targets and avoiding strong foes when hunting,' Kale thought and chose this spell as his first.
***
When he came back to his room, Arlo wasn't there, he was following Mutant Martial path, so it wasn't surprising if he had to wait and take two secondary classes before coming back.
Kale sat on his bed, cleared his mind from all unnecessary thought, and started cultivating according to the method of Imperial Mana Conversion Art.
Astonishingly, the second he started using the technique, the dormant origin energy present around his Origin Chasm obediently moved according to the route provided by him like it was some lost child who finally found its way.
It revolves around his whole body, then ended at the same location, during this whole process a change occurred in the origin energy, its quantity decreased but in a way, it's quality increased. If it was before, then after arriving at this location, the energy would have been stopped by the illusory walls of Origin Chasm but unexpectedly when it touched those walls, the soft and gentle energy passed thorough the membrane which acted as a filter and only let around 70% of it inside.
The energy that entered the Origin Chasm was completely different from the origin energy, if the origin energy was taken as independent water falling of a raging waterfall then it was very soft and gentle water flowing in a calm river. It was mana, the very foundation of magic.
After the mana entered the Origin Chasm, an almost unnoticeable change occurred to Origin Chasm, moreover, it became slightly less illusory and solidified a little.
'According to the notes, the more I practice the less resistance would my newborn Origin Chasm have towards the mana, and soon it would become complete Origin Chasm, I need to stop and cultivate other technique first or it won't allow another type of energy to enter later on,' Kale thought then switched to Imperial Psychonic Energy Conversion Art.
The process was similar but the path used this time was different, instead of whole-body balance, it was focused more towards the head. In the end, the energy obtained was different from mana, it was very mysterious and was hard to comprehend, it was there but at times it completely erased its existence, even Kale wondered if it had disappeared but then it would appear there the next second.
It was Psychonic Energy. After it was brought in, another small but qualitative change appeared in Origin Chasm.
Kale was successfully able to do what many would need days to just comprehend but he wasn't happy, it was time for him to make a decision 'Now it's time to check the last one, if it doesn't meet my requirements, then I would have no choice but to use Reset Potion,'
With this thought, he started to use the last technique... Imperial Battle Qi Conversion Art.
At first, Kale had decided to not even try this path but after he saw the Battle Spirit/Martial Spirit of Raizo, a desire was born in his heart.
The martial world that he lived in had countless types of martial arts but there was no concept of Martial Spirit there.
After breaking through to the Enlightened Mortal stage, every Practitioner has a chance to receive a gift, although it varies from person to person and depends completely on the path or paths they chose, he had a deep desire to see what he might get if he was a Martial Artist, Martial Mage, Mutant Martial Artist, or... Mutant Martial Mage.
'If the benefits are enough, then I will put my main focus on being a Mage while just cultivate their respective energy until I have enough strength and time to put some effort into them.
Doing this will indeed waste my time, but I don't lack lifespan right now, moreover, this world has potions that can prolong even a mortal's lifespan by almost twice then I am still a practitioner. Furthermore, it's good to slow my progress, this way, as long as I can keep my Martial Artist Class a secret, I won't stand out because of my fast growth until Level 10 bottleneck,' Kale thought.
After using the method shown in the technique, Kale circulated the origin energy in his body, he felt like he was using his body as a cauldron to refine the origin energy, with a different recipe, he would be able to obtain a different result.
This time the result was, raging unrestrained energy, it gave off a warm feeling letting his body bask in its embrace but at the same time, its raging intent made him wish to push his body to the limit and fight. The feeling was familiar to him, for a normal person's point of view they would feel like they had just taken a shot of adrenaline and can do anything.