After half a class, Valerie announced that the theoretical part of the class was over. The class simultaneously let out a small cheer, clearly they were trying to hold themselves back in case the substitute teacher started sniping again.
"So, class I want you to show me what you have learnt so far in Miss Mary's class. Don't worry you will be tested on the skill that you must all have learnt, that is Float."
As soon as the words left her mouth, there was a flurry of movement and various objects were launched in the air one by one and where they stayed afloat.
All the students were trying to gain her approval by showing their skill set, yet all they got was a condescending sneer that Valerie craftily hid from the students. Only Zavier could truly see what she actually felt seeing the display.
"Put all these things down. Today we aren't going to be using Float magic in such a boring manner."
Valerie had a mischievous expression on her face as if she was teaching them something prohibited.
"You need to understand something. Magic isn't finite, it has limitless possibilities. You just have to think hard, go out of the norm and make use of it any way you can. For example, Float isn't just used for inanimate objects, it can also be used to float people in the air. So for today, the target of your magic will be me. Let's see who has the ability to raise me up in the air. And for those who think that it would be as easy as levitating inanimate objects, they are in for a surprise."
As soon as her words fell, half their enthusiasm went down the drain.
Valerie moved towards the podium and asked in a provocative tone: "So who would like to give it a try? Don't be afraid of failure it will only make you yearn more for success."
No one wanted to be the protagonist of the pitful story that would be used to deter the future generations for years to come.
From what they had heard about this substitute teacher, she wasn't someone easy to mess with.
She was quite a cruel teacher that had stood out at such a young age amongst the rest of the teaching staff that was akin to a motley crew compared to her.
Bursting initiative on the part of the students was therefore forcefully contained by them for fear of becoming the failure of the decade.
But the situation couldn't last long, idiots were everywhere after all, even in the most prestigious of institutions.
Some of the youngsters with hot blood coursing through their veins couldn't help but try, which only managed to receive a smirk from the object of their attraction.
Only the intelligent ones knew how difficult it could be to cast float on a living being that could consciously resist the invasion of magical force. If the magic wasn't strong enough or the target wasn't distracted enough to notice, the probability of failure was very high.
The difficulty of the task got even higher when the target that they were supposed to cast 'Float' on was the youngest genius teacher in the field of magic in their entire school.
While the intelligent and talented ones were coming up with a plan to save their own face, the hot blooded ones had already failed more than twice.
With each failure they came to know the distance between themselves and the greatest genius. Of course the knowledge came with a fear and anxiety that they wouldn't be able to shake off for a long time.
Valerie on the other hand wasn't as vicious as she appeared at that moment. She had only wanted to evoke their most primal desire to overcome difficulty, their survival instinct and their will to compete with each other to rise on top.
In her opinion, only with such determination could they pass an assessment of that difficulty.
Of course she didn't actually expect that anyone out of this class could reach up to her expectations because the only way to accomplish that was to cast two different types of magical skills at the same time.
Successful task accomplishment required the student to cast a distracting spell or a restricting spell to divert the attention or render the target incapable of response before casting Float.
The resolution of this type of a complex situation was not possible for this batch of juniors unless someone out of them had a monstrous latent talent that had yet to be brought to light.
After watching a lot of male students fail miserably at the task, Valerie couldn't help but laugh out loud at the pathetic and meagre attempts of Miss Mary's students. They were unable to even shake her as she stood in front of them.
She slightly shook her head as if in disapproval before saying out loud: "Is this all you are capable of?"
She ran her eyes all over the crowd of students as if daring them to prove themselves better.
At that moment, a silver haired girl stood up, attracting the attention of all the students in the class.
A sweet and melodious sound like a cuckoo's cry rang out in the hall.
"Teacher, I would like to give it a try."
Valerie gave a slight nod in response and came to the center of the stage once again to become the human target.
Zavier had a slight impression of the girl with silver hair in his memories. Her name was Dahila and she was one of the most talented mages in the class.
She came from one of the most prestigious mage families. Most of the members from her family were exceptional ice mages and she had inherited the same blood. It was said that Dahila had inherited her family's exclusive ice magic talent.
She was good at studies and theoretical knowledge and was usually at the top of the class in every test.
She was bound to have unlimited prospects and a bountiful future.
Despite being a beauty, Dahila wasn't very popular among the boys of the class because of her aloof and quiet disposition.
Dahila took a deep breath and stabilized her mood before casting her spell. The mental state of the caster was quite important for successfully casting a magic skill. This earned her a smile from the strict Valerie.
Zavier noticed all that and was anticipating the result of her effort.
As soon as she was ready, Dahila gathered all the mana that she could, channeled it through her body and used it all to cast the most powerful Float magic that she could.
The result; a failure once again. Unlike the others, she at least managed to lift off one of Valerie's feet in the air. This in itself was an achievement compared to her counterparts of the class.
Dahila had tried her best but had to let go of the spell at that point because she had run out of mana. Despite her strong will to succeed, her body couldn't keep up and she was left gasping for breath.
Though Valerie could see her potential, it wasn't enough to shock her. Her eyes were full of praise for the girl but the words that came out of her mouth seemed poisonous to everyone else including Dahila.
"Girl, you need to work hard if you ever want to catch up with me. As you are now, it will be impossible for you to do that."
Only Zavier knew that Valerie was trying to motivate Dahila instead of looking down on her. These words were even akin to praise coming out of Valerie's mouth.
At the same time Zavier knew that Valerie's reputation as the youngest genius teacher wasn't for nothing. There was such a great chasm between her and the most talented student of their class.
It was just an age difference of two years and yet Valerie had left them all so far behind in the dust that it was hard to even make out her figure in front.
When Dahila went back to her position, the strict and provocative voice of Valerie resounded in the hall.
"Is there anyone else who thinks he can do better? Would anyone else like to give it a try? Don't be afraid, this is only a lesson for all of you."
Valerie tried to be encouraging towards the end but even that sounded like a humiliation to the students. After all who would want to embarass themselves after the topper of the class could hardly make her budge from her position.
Wouldn't that be an invitation to be humiliated?
When Valerie saw that no one was coming forth to try anymore, she knew that all of them had suffered a shock today. She scoured through the crowd of juniors until her eyes rested on Zavier.
At the breakfast table, she had heard him say that he had become capable of doing basic magic. Valerie wanted to test him to know whether he had graduated from being an absolute waste who couldn't even sense magic around him or not. This was the perfect opportunity for her.
A finger pointed towards the back of the classroom, all the heads turned towards the back to witness the next pig that was due for slaughter.
Zavier could almost foresee the consequences as soon as Valerie's eyes had started to wander through the crowd as if looking for something or someone.
As if to prove that he was right, Valerie stopped her finger right in the direction of Zavier.
"You! You come up here and try it."