Miriam smirked. "Now, let's get to my favorite part. We will start with a question. What is magesmithing?"
Almost everyone in the room raised their hands, including myself. My first teacher was a royal magesmith after all.
Miriam pointed to some random person on the other side of the room. "You."
The girl stood up. "Magesmithing is the practice of forging weapons and equipment with magical properties."
Miriam shrugged. "Close enough. Ten points for a good try. Magesmithing is the art of taking normal objects and giving them magical properties. This includes rings, charms, clothing, and weapons. The most important quality of the pieces we make is that they are reusable."
Two shortswords appeared in her hands. "Next question. What is the difference between these two swords?"
I looked at them but couldn't find any difference. Looking around, I noticed that no one else had raised their hands either. I then remembered something that Mrs. Warren taught me. Magesmiths apply magical enchantments to weapons. Most of the time, the enchantments are not visible when dormant.
I decided to take a gamble and raised my hand.
Miriam pointed at me. "You."
I nodded. "Professor Dashar, would you mind channeling mana into both of the swords?"
She grinned. "Why would I do that?"
I chuckled. "Just to satiate my curiosity. If my suspicions are correct, I can give you an answer."
Miriam smiled and nodded. "Very well." She channeled mana into both swords. The one in her left hand merely glowed slightly from the discharge of energy. The one in her left hand ignited into flames. The flames didn't just fly off the sword. Instead, they were shaped into a blade that enveloped the shape of the sword. "Does this satiate your curiosity?"
I nodded. "The one in your right hand is enchanted with a flame spell. The enchantment converts your mana into the fire element and then shapes it to improve the cutting power."
Miriam smiled. "Very good. What is your name?"
I smirked. "Callum of Shellham."
Miriam nodded. "Plus fifty points to Callum of Shellham. Now, let me go into more detail. Any material can channel mana. Of course, different materials will be more or less conductive. These blades are both made from manasteel. The difference between them is that one has a flame enchantment applied to it. The enchantment has a formation that is merged with the object and will process any mana that is fed to it. The result is the manifestation of the enchantment."
She waved her hands and both of the blades disappeared. "Our time is up. If this has peaked your interest, you can find out more through your own research. It has been a pleasure. Good day!" She stared at me for a few seconds and then disappeared after grabbing her things.
I turned to the person next to me. I felt comfortable talking to them as they were one of the only people in the room that didn't laugh when I was being attacked. "I wonder why she carries that stuff around. She obviously has storage rings."
The person turned back and shrugged. "A lot of people do a lot of things for a lot of reasons that others will never understand. Sorry about earlier. I was advised by my father to just keep my head down for the first few days."
I sighed and reached out my hand. "Well I'd be happy to do that with you. My name is Callum. What's your's?"
He smiled nervously and took my hand. "Yanni Skolovsky, son of Duke Dimitri Skolovsky. Now that you mention your name, I heard some gossip about you from my father."
I raised my brow and chuckled. "What did you hear?"
Yanni sighed and took a deep breath. "He said that some unknown mage of commoner origin kicked up a storm at the Royal Academy Entrance Exams. That must be you."
I laughed and nodded. "I might have kicked someone's ass. What about it?"
Yanni's eyes started to glow as he got visibly excited. "Really?! How did you do it?"'
I raised my hand and covered my palm with ice. "One punch. That's all it took and he was crying like a bitch."
Yanni was staring at me as if he was starstruck. "Wow. Can we be friends?"
I laughed. "Why would the son of a Duke want to be friends with a commoner?"
Yanni shook his head. "My father isn't like the other nobles. Whenever he isn't busy with paperwork or his studies, he gets his hands dirty helping the commoners of our dukedom. He visits a different village every few weeks. I have accompanied him quite a few times."
I smiled. "Now that is not something I hear often."
Yanni nodded. "He actually attended this academy with the King. They are quite close."
I raised my brow and was now curious. "So do you know the royals?"
Yanni nodded as he sighed. "I have been trying to avoid Princess Anna since I have arrived here. She is quite keen on courting me."
I laughed. "You should be honored for that. Usually it would be the other way around."
Yanni shook his head and laughed. "I may look like a pretty face but I'm actually quite shy. She scares me."
I laughed even harder. "You, scared of a princess, really?"
Yanni nodded vigorously. "It's true. Anyways, I don't really like talking about that. What is Shellham like?"
I was about to answer but the door busted open and a face I hated seeing busted through the door. I tried hiding my face.
The man in the front of the room took the stack of papers in his hand and threw them towards the center of the room. They then exploded, spreading the papers throughout the seated students.
He turned around and started writing furiously on the board. "Take your fuckin' papers. I don't have time for this." Suddenly he froze and started sniffing. He quickly turned around and his eyes were directly on me. His face lit up. "Ah! My favorite student is here!" His face went back to his usual impatient look as he went back to drawing his diagram on the board.
Everyone looked at me so I buried my face even deeper in my arms.
Yanni poked me and whispered. Not that his voice wasn't already extremely soft, but it was now even quieter. "Do you know Professor Mason?"
I groaned. "I met him on my way here. He's batshit insane."
Yanni nearly choked. "You do realize he is the number one healer in the entire continent, right?"
I raised my head and looked at Yanni curiously. I looked towards the maniac and then back to Yanni. "Him? Nah, you clearly jest."
Yanni shook his head. "I'm serious. He is a bona fide genius and graduated at the top of my father's class."
I sighed and shook my head. "I find that hard to believe. There is no way someone that is that crazy is a genius."
Suddenly Mason turned around and flung a piece of chalk at my head. It hit me right in between the eyes. "Can someone who isn't a genius do that?"
The entire room was silent. No one, including myself, knew how to react. This man was one of a kind.
Mason sighed. "Alright, I'll make this quick. Anyone who wants to be a healer has already decided that they want to do so. I'd rather not give myself more work in terms of weeding out the idiots who like to taste every food on the table." He took a deep breath. "Healing blah blah light magic blah blah prestigious blah blah. Everyone get that? Good. Now sit there and be quiet so I can do something more worth my time." He then quickly turned back to the board and continued drawing.
I turned to Yanni and whispered. "What… the… fuck?" Before I could even react, another piece of chalk hit me right in between the eyes.