The next day, Leon set off from the dormitory with Zeke in tow. The two of them had their first classes in the same building, but they did not share the first class, as they had different specializations. They only shared a couple of classes, and those were later in the day.
"See you later, Leon." Zeke waved and walked off to his class. He was in his Minotaur form, still not ready to walk around the campus looked like a human. It made him feel vulnerable.
"Later, buddy." Leon returned the wave before heading to the second floor of the building. That was where his first class was located - Basic Spell Casting, a class meant for Casters. When he got to the closed door that held the class, he took a deep breath before stepping in.
'People, people...' Just like usual, Leon was not looking forward to any attempts to socialize. Getting to know people was always too awkward.
There were about a couple dozen people in the class, and roughly half of them turned to look at the new comer. The rest were all embroiled in conversations.
The class was a classic auditorium style class, with the seats arranged in an ascending order further back, and the stage being at the bottom of the class, where everyone would be able to see anyone on stage.
Leon turned his gaze away from those that were looking and immediately went over to a corner of the class at the back with the least amount of people. He placed down his side bag with a notebook and some other things one would need in school, on the table, and placed his head on the table, hoping that he could keep to himself until the lecturer arrived.
Unfortunately, that was not to be.
"Um, hi?" A light voice reached his ears. He sighed internally, before raising his head with a neutral expression on his face. A petite girl stood opposite him, holding her hands to her chest, with a light dusting of red on her cheeks.
"Hey. Is there any problem?" Leon asked, wondering why she was so flustered.
"N-no! Not at all... I was just wondering if anyone was seated there." She stuttered.
Leon looked confused as he turned to the seat beside him, where the girl was pointing at. It was empty.
"No, no one is sitting here. You can take it." Leon sighed. The girl nodded and quickly took the seat.
"My name is Claire, it's nice to meet you." She said.
"Leon, nice to meet you too." Leon returned the formality.
After that, silence descended upon them. Claire flipped through a book that she brought with her, and Leon was a bit confused.
'I thought she wanted to sit by me so she could make a move?' He asked himself. 'Am I not good looking enough? Did Zeke steal all my remaining charm?' He wanted to cry. But in the end, this was a good thing. He was trying to avoid all sorts of interaction after all.
After about ten more minutes, the door to the classroom opened, and a middle aged man with a pair of large, round glasses on the bridge of his nose stepped into the classroom. The man had a head of wavy brown hair, and his large eyes and pointy nose gave him the typical look of a bookworm or nerd.
"Good morning everyone, and welcome to the Imperial Magic Academy. I hope you are happy with what you have seen so far." The man began to speak with a smile once he had reached the podium on the stage. All the students stopped talking to listen to him. "My name is Stewart Drakov. I will be your lecturer on Basic Spell Casting, and also your Class Coordinator, who will handle all affairs concerning this set of students. I hope we can get along."
"Now, we will begin with basic theory concerning mana applications in everyday life. From there, we will slowly build our way up until we reach more advanced stages that will require live practice."
Stewart turned to the side, and a wide, holographic panel popped up behind him. It was large and clear enough for everyone to see it clearly.
"Firstly, let us start with what mana is... Can someone help us with that?" The man smiled, pushing up his glasses.
A student raised her hand, and Stewart pointed at her. She stood up enthusiastically, and rattled off her answer.
"Mana is the basic foundation of the world. Everything in reality is founded upon mana, and nothing will be able to thrive without it. Even before the Sanctum opened, there were still traces of mana existing on this side of the plane." She gave the generic answer that the public was usually fed.
"Hmm, that is barely satisfactory. What is your name?" Stewart rubbed his chin.
"It's Emily, sir." She replied curtly.
"Good, Emily. Well, let me tell you something. The answers that are told to the public are just basic things. They are not entirely true. Let me correct that assumption, as it will become common information soon enough here in the Academy. Mana is what shaped reality. It is not truly the basic foundation of reality, but it does play a part in it. Think of it as mana being the water inside a jug. It fills the jug with essence, but the jug is not made of water. Do you understand?" Stewart explained.
"Um, I think so? But... If mana is the water inside of the jug, then what is the jug?" Emily asked.
"No one knows." Stewart replied with a mysterious smile.