"Intro to elements is here to teach you all about mana and the class will grow more advanced before we talk about the elements though can anyone tell me the ranks of magic cultivation." Most of the class raised their hand at once except for Regius which earned him a scathing look from the teacher as she looked away and addressed the entire class.
"Participation will be a portion of your grade for this class." With that said she picked a student from the back of the class and folded her arms as they began to speak. "There are ten ranks of cultivation starting with Novice followed by Initiate, Adept, Expert, Prince, King, Earth emperor, Sky Saint, Extreme Saint and lastly Demigod." The teacher slowly clapped her hands as she jotted something down on the notebook that was on her desk.
"You get points for a partial answer. Is there anyone who can complete the answer?" This time none of the class raised their hands because none of them knew the answer until suddenly four people in front of the class all raised their hands. It was Gerald, Kingsley, Regius, and Ashlyne in the front with their hands raised. "Mr.Lowe finish the answer please."
Regius stood before looking at the class and then turning to look at the teacher "There are two known ranks after Demigod, The Star God Rank and the last stage known as Dimensional God-King nothing is truly known about the last two ranks because the knowledge comes from a friendly exchange with a dwarven world only several years ago but the reason that most humans only know of the first ten ranks is because no human being has been able to go past the demigod rank at this time."
The teacher looked at him in a more approving light before putting something down in her notebook again."Half credit because you only finished the partial answer, but thank you. What Regius says is correct no known human has gone out of the demigod rank but the purpose of these ranks was to explain to you all that the stairway that is the practice of mana is long but with, talent, perseverance and luck maybe one of you in here can be the first to break past the Demigod limit and lead humanity into a new era."
She shuffled some paper around before she began to write on each of the boards in turn. She wrote out the basic elements of fire, water, earth, wind, lightning, and metal and put them in a line in that order at the bottom of the wall. She then wrote light, dark, time, and space on four more boards and put them above the bottom six. She grabbed two more boards and wrote creation and destruction on them before sliding them to the very top so that all of the boards formed a pyramid.
"Well everyone these are the elements that we know at this time I say that because there are some who believe that there are more elements than listed here and that in reality there are more elements than there are stars in the sky but that's a topic for second years."
Regius and Ashlyne shared a look, understanding that through her concept it was likely that Regius would be able to create variants to every element that was known and then some and in due time would be able to make this list expand dramatically albeit only for himself and anyone he gifted his creations too. The teacher continued to speak and they turned their attention back to her.
"We will be focusing on these twelve this year. The higher we go on the pyramid the less likely you are to meet someone with an affinity for that element but at the same time the higher on the pyramid a person's affinity the harder it is to understand the intricacies of that element which can potentially halt someone's practice of mana. Affinity is something that everyone is born with but what is not talked about is that it does not mean that with enough practice one can not learn to wield the other elements and with that being said I have something to tell everyone. Everyone's requirement to pass this year is to discover what other elements you may be in tune with and begin to practice.
I will let you all know that this is the hardest requirement needed for you all to ascend to the second year of school here. Anyone not able to do this will have to stay back a year. Here at Merlin university, we do not aim to make you guys ready for the new world. We aim to train the youth into a force worthy of standing against the other races so that we as a species can begin to explore the myriad realms and their numerous secrets. The graduates of this school will be icons and heroes for our entire race, here we only create elites, and anyone not prepared for that should drop out now. We are giving you the knowledge necessary to make you better than the rest so that you can go on and return that grace to your species in the most turbulent time we have ever faced."
She immediately straightened her clothes as the word elite hung in the air behind her. This entire speech she had been writing every word in the sky with fire while a snake made of condensed lighting swam through the sky swallowing the words and exploding in a burst of what looked like fireworks before another tiny electric snake took its place.
"At the start of class next week we will begin with each one of you coming up to the board and putting your name in the bubble next to the element you plan on practicing. I encourage you guys to take this seriously. If this ability is exploited enough and mastered it will make the difference between you all and your peers."
At the end of that, she gathered her notebook and a jacket that had been on her chair before walking out of the room and leaving the students in stunned silence. The excitement that all of the people here felt on top of the general fear of the challenge that came before them had kept them locked in place staring at each other to see the same worries reflected all of them except two, Regius and the woman who couldn't take her eyes off of him right now. Regius had both of his hands clenched over the table in front of him and the strength of his grip was causing slight crackling noises that only she had noticed with the din of the show that the teacher had put on.
Regius could not stop himself from grinning due to him realizing how thorough Merlin was; he had created this school with a single purpose and it had just clicked in Regius' head. This school was about so much more than preparing these students or becoming elites. This was built to form an army of purely elites that Regius did not doubt in his mind would eventually fall under the command of one single person. Whoever was able to become the "Conqueror" chosen by the earth itself. The thought of what Regius could do with an army of elite soldiers that could use two separate elements in concert with his creations for the first time in the last couple of days reignited his desire to be that conqueror that Earth desired and it showed on his face as a delighted grin while the mana that was locked against his body threatened to burst out at any time.
Ashlyne was amazed because she had realized just how powerful the mana body technique had made him. She no longer felt like she was sitting next to the normally silent Regius but a Dragon slumbering on top of all of its treasure and all at once the man known as Regius Lowe had intrigued the girl who was so talented that she had spent all her life bored. He could lead her into a world of such excitement.