"Did you hear? The attack now happened at the western seas!"
"Yes, I heard now they kidnap little kids too."
"You know what's worse? I heard the practitioners can fly on their swords."
"How can it be worse? The worst thing is, they're savages. My mother told me they practiced their body too much making them dumb."
Vega looked around the dining hall and heard everyone was still discussing the incident that had just happened outside of the academy.
Based on the rumors, the port welcomed three apprentices that survived the attack while on a mission. Practitioners, the abominations hated by all the adepts, had started plundering the ships from the Islands.
Vega shook his head, knowing that the events could be similar to what had happened on his way here. He knew that as a lowest-level apprentice, the fight between two conflicting major powers on the Islands wasn't something he should know. Nothing concerned him. Now he had to focus on his practice. Power begets independence.
After he got his first mana crystals and did his own meditation exercise, the week went by fast. Even though he rarely slept. Choosing to meditate was enough. With the nutritious food in the dining hall, his muscle grew, and he was not as skinny as before.
His obligation to himself and to the academy was to improve as soon as possible to earn the right to join missions. The meal tasted nice, as usual. His mana probably grew a little because of the food. He felt a warm sensation fill his stomach.
"Heya!"
Dion waited outside of the restaurant before they headed toward the practice hall together. After a week here, he learned as an apprentice, the library was a waste of time. Who wants to read when they can listen to the teacher, right?
Arriving at the grand hall, as usual, the huge statue of the founder, Mernoralin, greeted him. Sometimes, he felt that the statue's eyes followed his movements and that was creepy.
Inside, a master had waited for them. Different from the previous time, the hall was not as packed. Only about thirty apprentices in total. Vega bid his goodbye, looked around, and finally spotted the green banner. He walked toward his group. He noticed the other banners had exactly five people each. Under the blue banner, Dion stood taller than his peers.
No one spoke. This was their first time getting together in a group with no one to talk to. From his observation, it was considered rude when the apprentices talked before the adept. He saw with his own eyes when the earth opened up and swallowed a rude apprentice. Since then, everyone has learned to keep their mouth shut.
"Today, because of the attack. The elders pointed me to give you insight into the deeper meaning of mind and soul. As adept, our job is not only to discover the secret of the universe by reading books. Sometimes, we can also understand knowledge about humans." The master eyed the apprentices one by one. Then, he made a grasping motion, and vines grew around him and brought one apprentice to him.
"Your plant elements would be beneficial in healing injuries." With another motion of his hand. The ground shook and spit out a cage. The cage held a boy their age, instead of a healthy dark color skin like most of the apprentices. The boy had pale skin. His styles also looked different.
The unconscious boy wore something different from the robe Vega was wearing. It was similar to his robe but made with lighter material. The sleeves were wide enough to fit three arms together, and the robe looked feminine with the ribbon tied on the boy's waist. Because of the thinner material, Vega noticed that instead of a normal skinny body like the apprentices had from only training their minds, the boy had muscles clear from everyone to see.
"Here, the elder came back and caught him spying near our academy. The abomination training his spirits instead of his souls." The master took out a long sword and threw it on the ground. The swords clattered, landing precisely next to each apprentice.
"Those are their weapons. We're going to use the same weapon they used to discover what's the benefit of the practitioners to put their bodies and will first more than their minds. Lined up!"
No one moved. Everyone waited for the first person to step up. Vega knew that this was his time to shine. So taking the sword, he stepped first, heading to the cage. Coincidentally, Dion also took his first step. Vega smiled, knowing that his friend had a similar mind to him.
"I want everyone here to tell me one similarity and one difference between you and this person here." He eyed Vega and nodded.
No stranger to using a sharp weapon, Vega thrust the sword deep into the person's belly. The sword clanged and rebounded from the apprentice's body. Vega lost his sword but noticed that the practitioner's body was definitely harder than it looked. Blood came out of the boy's body. Vega managed to only scratch the waist.
"Master, I think their body is harder than a regular human's. But they still bleed red blood like us." Vega admitted. He knew that his answer was a simple one but effective.
The master nodded.
Dion stepped forward and brandished his sword with a precision cut in one of the boy's fingers. The boy just stood there in a cage, motionless.
"They still have the same anatomy as ours, but they can't feel pain," Dion reported.
"Hahahahha, good, good. As a knight, you'll do. What's your element, boy?"
Dion answered truthfully. The master smiled and gave him a potion to drink. Knowing that he couldn't reject it, Dion drank it. To everyone's surprise, the master used one of the vines to pierce Dion. Vega almost ran toward his friend but held his ground.
"No, they're the same. With the same potion, we dulled your pain receptors." The masters dismissed the two. With a wave of his fingers, the hole in Dion's arm stopped bleeding. He gathered all the apprentices and took back the swords.
"Before, I only asked you to line up, but your decisiveness earned you two ten points each. Now, because you…," he looked at the rest of the apprentices. "… are too cowardly using the swords. You don't get the magic items."
Hearing that, murmurs filled the field. Everyone knew how difficult it was to own magic items. But now, Vega and Dion earned another magic item for free. Vega almost exclaimed because of the happiness but held himself.
"Adepts have to be decisive at all times. We observed everything carefully and planned the next action fast. Now, this class is not about anatomy or healing. We're learning the nature of primary elements."
This was Vega's first time seeing a lot of feats he could do with the power of soul and mana. Besides the sound elements, he was suitable with the air from the test. Based on the explanation by the master, the air element focused on the invisible nature. With it, Vega could attack from behind without alarming his target. Most people strong in the air element excelled in agility. No other primary elements can attack or defend as fast as the wind. Unlike the earth or water, wind element doesn't have any solid nature. So the defense was mostly based on evasion rather than deflection.
Water is the most flexible. Earth was really solid but slow. Fire can burn and can cure. And, the pllant can grow and nurture.
Vega couldn't wait to get his first spell. Feeling that his mana was almost breaking through to the initial stage, he worked harder to practice his meditation. While he concentrated on his mana, colorful dots shimmered surrounding his body. Every time Vega started the exercise, he absorbed a little amount of the dots and made his mana source became stronger.
Today, I can achieve it, today. He promised Dion, who broke through earlier than him three days ago.
The absolution of mana from the environment made Vega a little stuffed. Not physically but mentally. In his mind, the shining globe symbolizing his source grew larger and larger. Pop. Finally, it burst, and mana started to fill his body.
Smiling, Vega examined his body. Even though nothing looked different, somehow, he felt stronger. Standing up, but he fell back down. He needed to get used to his new body. Everything seemed closer like his eyes had been fixed after being broken a long time. The natural pattern on his table was too clear. If he concentrated, he even saw the interlacing thread from his bed.
Touching the medal, he used his soul to contact Dion. Visualization was the key, he learned. Thought about the knight clearly in his head and finally willed the connection to happen.
After waiting not long, Dion finally answered.
Vega explained and questioned Dion about the change in his body.
< That's normal. You have more power than ordinary people just by using the power of your mind. Before, my teachers used to tell me, "If you think you're going to fail, you're going to fail. But the opposite is true. By believing in your success, you're going to succeed.">
Vega thought about it for a moment and understood the relationship.
Scratching his head, he didn't really understand what Dion was talking about. So, after asking Dion to wait, Vega rechecked the information crystal. Knowledge of spells included with his meditation appeared. Knowing that it was for the air element, he got the first spell to make a simple wind blade with the knowledge of the spell model. The picture that appeared in his mind was a jumble of lines.
< What's this?>
< That's what I told you about. I heard it's called the spell model. But, even looking at the model for a bit, my head spins. We probably have to join the class about basic spell theory. And after, we could probably take the other one about magical beasts.>
After becoming a real apprentice and having their first mana, they can choose any public class explaining the basics. The lists weren't that long, only eight classes in total. Of course, the basic spell theory and the magical beasts were the ones they chose first. But the academy offered an intro to ancient Hels, principles of spell model, geography, logic and philosophy, quizlette, and intro to plants and herbs.
They can only join the class once. If they needed to come the second time, they had to pay one magic stone which was not a low price to pay. Let's say not understanding it once meant that Vega would miss a lot of things.
Vega prepared himself using minimal clothing to cover himself because the weather outside was scorching hot. Looking around, he also brought the empty tome with him.
No, it wasn't that empty anymore after figuring it out for several days without any result. He chose it as his personal journal for any knowledge he might gain from his study. From then on, he brought the tome everywhere. Of course, different from regular journals that can be stolen and can be opened by other apprentices, his was private.
He checked himself in the mirror. Different from the first day he came here, the person looking back at him had a better build. Not mountains of muscle like Dion, but not as malnourished as before. Even wearing simple clothes, Vega looked stood straight and confident. From his regular practice with Dion, he copied some mannerisms from the noble. With his look that can be considered handsome, now he can pass as a noble.