Professor Kal was greatly disappointed, the youth nowadays was nothing like it was before. Hard work and dedication was what separated the high class from the lower. Although there were nobles and bloodlines, one could still climb the societal ladder if they put the effort in. That was motivation enough to cause everyone to put in the extra work, to bring them and their families up out of the mud.
With this mindset, he would have assumed that the children of nobles would have been as hardworking as their parents, but it turned out to not be the case. He was currently looking over a total of six students from his alchemy class that volunteered for his special instruction. It was an abysmal sum, but he would just have to make due.
Shaking his head, he started the lesson. "Welcome, I appreciate your dedication to the magical arts. As you can see, most of your classmates do not have what it takes to be a 'real' mage. They may not care now, but when they face certain danger, they will have no one but themselves to blame for their untimely deaths."
The tone of his voice was grim, all but saying that what he said would definitely come to pass. The students looked at each other, taking his words to heart. Professor Treffle on the other hand, she rolled her eyes, finding his words of warning more than just a little overblown.
Professor Treffle was not happy to be there on her day off, but it was her punishment. She was tasked to keep an eye on Professor Kal as well as keep the students safe.
She had gone to Dean Petticoat's office that afternoon to try to tamper his temper, only to find out that he didn't even know that she was involved in the ordeal. She had basically sold herself down the river. Luckily he understood how difficult Professor Kal could be, so he couldn't really blame her for it. That didn't stop him from sending her to watch over his new class though. He said it was for the good of the students, but felt like a punishment to her.
"The first thing you need to learn is control, I'm sure Professor Treffle can back me up on this." He said, gesturing towards the woman standing off to the side with her arms crossed.
"Once you master controlling mana, casting a spell with just a thought would be within your reach."
Professor Treffle scrunched up her face, even a proficient mage needed to chant a spell in their mind. It wouldn't be instantly cast like what he was telling the students. She was about to speak up to correct him, but was interrupted by what he did next.
Professor Kal had cast Flame; it was a simple spell that just sustained a small flame wherever the caster wanted. That wasn't what caught her attention though, he had the small flame grow in size until it was half as tall as he was. The heat generated from it caused her to instinctively take a step back. Before she could take a second step, Professor Kal manifested a bubble of transparent ice, allowing one to see the growing flame inside.
As the students inched forward, enraptured by the mystical sight, the flames began to rotate. The flames spun faster and faster, turning into a swirling vortex of red and orange encapsulated in a shimmering ice shell. Professor Treffle's eyes went wide watching the spectacle. She couldn't comprehend the amount of mana control required to simultaneously manipulate three spells at once with such precision.
As the vortex grazed the edges of its icy cell, Professor Kal collapsed all three spells in on themselves, causing a loud bang that startled the engrossed students. Professor Kal smirked as he watched most of the students fall back and land on their butts, even Professor Treffle nearly fell over.
"Now, can anyone tell me what I did there?" He asked, not expecting an answer.
…..
Ryan looked over at Ben who was standing next to him, both their eyes were wide and were reflecting the miracle that was unfolding before their eyes. They had never seen anything like it, nor heard of anyone doing such a thing. Ryan was grateful to Professor Kal for providing them all with this opportunity to learn from him.
Professor Kal had made an announcement the day he returned, telling the entire class that he would be teaching an auxiliary class. It was optional, but he hoped that everyone would participate. Of course he and Ben would participate, along with Laura. They had all seen what Professor Kal was capable of and wanted to become just as powerful as he was. They were also planning on asking to learn from him anyways, so this just solved their problem for them.
When the day of class arrived, Ryan was a little surprised to see just how few of his fellow students joined. It was only Him, Ben, Laura, Richard, and two other students that he hadn't gotten to know too well. They were a pair of fraternal twins, a boy and a girl, named Riley and Kelley. He had seen them sitting together in class before, but never spoke to either of them.
They all sat in silent anticipation, waiting for Professor Kal to arrive. When Professor Treffle walked into the classroom, she was greeted with expectant faces that quickly dissolved into disappointment. This caused her to frown slightly, but didn't say anything as she took a seat in the corner.
When Professor Kal did arrive, he just gave the sitting Professor a fleeting glance before beginning his lecture and subsequent demonstration. That's what they were staring at right now, the miracle of magic. As the tornado of fire grew in size, so did their ambitions. They wanted to be able to manifest what they were seeing now. They wanted to be at the top, be the best in their field. Then the spells imploded, scaring all of them back into reality.
"Now, can anyone tell me what I did there?" Ryan heard Professor Kal ask.
He didn't have an answer for him, he really didn't know what had to happen in order for a spell like that to work. He saw Laura raise her hand out of the corner of her eye. The look on Professor Kal's face betrayed his feelings, the corner of his lips turned up into a small smirk.
He pointed to her. "Tell me, what did I do?"
"You mixed spells together?" She said, her voice going up an octave, making it sound like a question.
"Very good, it's a vast oversimplification, but yes, that's basically it. There is only one problem with your observation, I did not cast any spells." Professor Kal let his words sink in, watching as their faces twisted with several different emotions.
"What I mean by not casting any spells is that I just willed the mana to form in the way I desired it to. That might sound like what casting a spell is, forming mana in a certain way to carry out a function, but is fundamentally different. Casting a spell takes time, no matter if you verbally chant it or internally, it will always take a few seconds. With enough mana control, you will be able to form a spell as quickly as a thought passing through your mind. This will allow for near instantaneous casting of magic, along with the ability to merge spells together in order to achieve something greater."
Everyone was contemplating what the good Professor had just said. Instant casting of magic was impossible in their minds, but what they had witnessed countered what they had long been taught. If a mage could instantaneously cast a spell, he would have an advantage over anyone they might run into. That advantage could save their lives, turning an unwinnable battle into nothing more than a meaningless encounter.
Professor Treffle was having the same thoughts as the students as she went over everything that she had seen so far. She taught mana control to the second year students, but even she had no chance to manipulate mana in such a way. She could silently cast spells no problem, even shortening them considerably, but instantly casting them was nothing but an out of reach dream.
She knew that Professor Kal was a powerful mage, but really had only seen the tip of the iceberg. She started to wonder about his origins, where he learned magic. She pondered over who his teacher could be, to learn these skills at such a young age meant that his teacher must be a monster. She decided to dig a little deeper into just where Kalcifer had come from. Although she told herself to stay away from him as much as possible, her newfound curiosity overwhelmed any sense of self preservation.
…..
"Just where did you come from?" Duke Hutchens said to himself as he went over a report that was sitting on his desk.
After his first son, Clarence, was expelled from his alchemy class, he tried to get the offending professor fired by talking to the dean. That course of action failed miserably, Professor Kal had entrenched his position within the academy, it was almost impossible to have him removed without some external influences. That was what he was trying to do now, find some dirt on the professor, something that was able to pry him out of his position.
So far though, he had nothing. Even with all his connections he couldn't find a single thing about Professor Kal. He discovered that he had appeared in the small city of Sorkin shortly before arriving at the capital. He was there only two days before showing his face here. The time between appearances seemed quite short, but with his known usage of Warp Gate, it wasn't anything shocking.
He was like a phantom, materializing out of nowhere. Duke Hutchens was at a loss, he could have him killed, but didn't think that method was warranted. That would just cause him more problems in the future, it wasn't worth it. He decided to just have him followed for now, hoping to catch him in the act of soiling the Academy's reputation.
He turned his attention to another report waiting for him. It was about the new King that was about to ascend to the throne. King Hector had died two days ago, it shocked much of the Royal Court. Now his only son, Alexander, was set to be crowned within a few weeks time. All of this had caused ripples to spread out, setting off reactions from allies and enemies alike.
With the chaos that was bound to ensue, he set his sights on obtaining more power for himself. Peace had gone on far too long in his opinion, the only way to gain merits were in war. He could quickly gain the new King's trust if he achieved victories in the battlefield. He laced his fingers together as he formulated a plan, maybe he could kill two birds with one stone? During wartime, all mages would be conscripted into the mage corps. Perhaps an accident could befall the heroic professor sent to the front lines?
…..
The first lesson ended quickly, all the students, even Professor Treffle, were covered in a layer of sweat. Professor Kal had them all practice mana control by circulating the mana in their bodies one way and then the other. This was a very easy way to practice control, it was even something that they could do while engaging in other activities. Once it became second nature to them, he would have them move on to other exercises.
As they walked past him, heading towards the door, Professor Kal stopped Ryan. He took him out of the hearing range of the other students. "Pack a bag, we're going spelunking tomorrow."
"Spelunking sir?" Ryan repeated, not hearing that term before.
"Dungeon diving, your special lessons start bright and early. I recommend getting plenty of rest."