By the time we got to William's Auditorium at Huygen's Zenith, it was almost time for the start of the class.
Somehow, we found Fred's silhouette among our many classmates, and he had saved three spots for us close to the stage.
"Hey, aren't there more people now than yesterday?" I asked.
"Yes. I, for one, wasn't here yesterday." Fred answered from besidess me.
"You weren't? I thought everyone was supposed to be here."
"Nope. It's more of a tradition than a rule, you see. *Yawn*"
"I was here." Sam said.
"You were here too, right Pim?" I stretched my neck to talk to him over Sam.
"Yeah. I even remember seeing you asking a few questions to the professor."
"You remember that?"
At almost 7 on the clock, the professor joined the auditorium from the stairs above us.
"Good morning, class. We have a lot to cover, so take your seats and shut your mouths. How you behave will henceforth be a variable for your final grades. You have been warned."
That caused a wave of silence to befall the whole room.
"Hey, Pim." I whispered. "Is that true? Can she lower our grades based on behavior?"
He gestured that he didn't know either.
Once she stepped up the platform, she started her lesson.
"I'll introduce myself again for those who weren't here yesterday.
My name is Fatima Mehta. I am currently serving the Academy as both Course Coordinator and as a professor. I teach Mage Fundamentals I, II , III and IV, and Defense Against Magical Arts I. Of those, you only have to worry about Mage Fundamentals I, this very class, for now."
Fatima looked to be about 30 years old, but she might have been closer to 40 given nowadays' beauty products. Her brown hair was once again held up in a ponytail, and her blue eyes were clearly visible behind her glasses. She wore a black and white suit similar in design to the Academy's, but the colors were a big contrast to the students' own.
"To give you a brief overview of who I am... I'm 38 years old, and I graduated from this very academy, 20 years ago. I have then conducted research for Lower High Mage, also on this very institution. I have been a teacher here for 8 years, and a Course Coordinator for 2. Aside from these official positions, I am also a student here, pursuing my Higher Mage Rank. In short, my history is akin to that of an undergrad that completed a Master and is pursuing a Doctorate degree in the secular world. For that reason, I'm well acquainted with this academy, with its staff, and with its students."
She paused for a moment.
"That's also why it bothers me... to find out that four students managed to break a major rule on their very first day- nay, within 15 hours of their official arrival at the academy."
She looked straight at us for a moment, but thankfully it wasn't just us who flinched from the professor's ice cold gaze.
"I was told that it was a silly mistake on their part and that they had learned their lesson, but I hope I won't have to hear something like that again. You are all prospective mages, and breaking rules for no good reason isn't good no matter where you look at it from."
I felt a little sad from breaking someone's expectations so early on, but it really couldn't be helped at the time.
She sighed softly.
"Although I may sound a little strict sometimes, do know that I am always on the students' side on this academy. I held a friendly relationship with every Student Council President so far since I became a professor, so you can always come to me if you have any trouble. Well, enough of that, let's get to the class."
I finally relaxed when she said that. For a moment there I thought she was going to expose us to the whole class, but it seemed that her words about caring for the students were through. That or she didn't know exactly who did it, but that was unlikely.
"Let me formally commend you once again. You have been accepted at this prestigious institution to pursue the best career there is to pursue, the career of a mage. Congratulations. With that said, I must once again raise a warning:
It's not going to be easy.
It will be extremely tough. You will want to quit. But you won't, because you are mages. Owners of reason and masters of science. But that won't make it easier on you. You will have classes from 700 to 2100 four times a week, magic training and extracurriculars for the vacant times. If you want to graduate on time, you will have to give it your all, body and mind, and even then just barely make it. For that reason, let me emphasize the importance of mental health..."
She went on with her explanations, covering more details about the academy, our classes, the textbooks, her grading methodology, and finally, our training devices.
"This is a Mana Emmiting Device, or MED, and it will help you feel and train your emission of virtual mana particles. I will charge them with about a semester's worth of magic, but any Official Mage can easily recharge it for you. Just don't lose them, they aren't exactly cheap."
So those are the pricklers that Victor was talking about...
Fatima instantly charged 10 MEDs, and floated them to the students. After repeating this around 10 times, everyone had their own device.
It looked like a short metal rod, with 5cm radius (10cm diameter) and 20cm high. It felt the same as holding a deodorant, just a bit thicker.
"Can you guys feel anything?"
"No." Said Pim.
"I think I can feel a small burning sensation..." Sam said, his forehead wrinkling with effort. "Ugh. Khh. Argh. It hurts... I think."
Yeah, I didn't buy that.
I turned to Fred, and he was holding the device with a blank look.
"Can you feel something prickling your hand?"
"Uh... no."
"I see."
As if on cue, Professor Fatima continued.
"Normal human being cannot feel magic whatsoever, and there has not been any instance of a human naturally being able to see or sense it. It's natural for you to fail to sense it. This device will help you get your first grasp at magic, by constantly shooting your hand with VM particles. As I have explained before, by themselves, Virtual Mana particles don't interact with matter, so what you will sense is not its interaction with your hand. Instead, the VM particles it shoots hit your own VM particles that you produce naturally, on a small amount. But even that is not enough for a normal human to perceive. However, once you actually manage to produce mana, you should feel a small, but ever-increasing, difference. Some people call it the prickler, due to how it feels to train with it once you can produce enough mana."
I think I got that. Basically, once my mana production became big enough, they would interact with the mana from this device, and it would feel to me as if my hand were constantly prickled...
"There is no need to worry about holding this device constantly. It's not radiation, it's not any chemical. VM particles cannot interact with matter, that's very important. You won't be able to use it for anything, even if you can produce it in great amounts."
"Professor, but yesterday your spell pushed me away... I don't get it." Josephine said.
"Indeed. That spell didn't use Virtual Mana particles, it used Real Mana particles. The difference may only be a word, but it's the distance from Heaven to Earth. Since you have brought this topic, let me jump ahead and explain the Ranks of mages, one by one."
That phrase brought everyone's attention from the MEDs to herself.