Day 4 in Etherea.
The first lesson was a non-major subject, and Ryan prepared himself mentally to endure it. Unfortunately, it ended poorly, with Ryan only grasping a few of the taught materials.
Feeling sorry for Ryan, his four friends tried to console him, but he was already feeling as low as a dead fish. Seeing this, his friends couldn't do much and simply sat beside him in silence for quite some time.
After a while, the professor who taught Ether Element Application arrived.
Upon hearing that there would be a major subject lesson, Ryan's spirits lifted again. However, upon learning that the next lesson would be on Ether Element Application, he slumped back down like a dead fish, resting his face on the table.
Then, several people entered class 1A, not just one or two, but the professor entered along with her four assistants.
The professor had shoulder-length black hair and wore square glasses that gave her an intimidating aura. She also had sharp eyes and a fairly tall stature.
The professor then introduced herself.
"Greetings, children, my name is Beatrice de Cobain. And I will be teaching Ether Element Application alongside my assistants. Consider them equal to me as your professors."
"You must all be familiar with ether. It's a power derived from the manifestation of nature, ranging from basic elements like water, fire, wind, and earth to more specific phenomena or characteristics like ice, magma, lightning, and even those not present in this world, such as healing."
Professor Beatrice continued, "Each human can only possess one element, none can have more than one except with the assistance of a third party. Does anyone know what that is?"
One student raised their hand, "That's a contract with spirits."
"Exactly right, a contract with spirits is the correct answer." Ryan, curious, then raised his hand, "What if someone doesn't have an ether element?"
Hearing that, Professor Beatrice was slightly surprised but remained calm and answered Ryan's question.
"Oh, so you're the child who doesn't have an element, if I'm not mistaken your name is Ryan, right? Professor Marius discussed your case with me earlier. I want to make sure of something, show me your ether!" Upon hearing that, Ryan then brought out his ether.
A pure white, shimmering ether formed before Professor Beatrice, resembling a gemstone. Unable to contain her curiosity, she then touched Ryan's ether without hesitation. Just like Professor Marius's case, Professor Beatrice was also surprised after touching Ryan's ether.
"I can't be certain, but you might be able to contract with many elemental spirits or perhaps not be able to form a contract at all. The answer lies in the Taming and Contract lesson. Like Professor Marius, I'll make a recommendation to the professor who teaches that subject.
"And during my class, you don't need to worry about other things like not having an element. Because the key to Ether Element Application is control over the ether. Even without an element, if your control over the ether is good, I will evaluate you properly. Of course, I will personally guide you."
Hearing this, Ryan couldn't contain his gratitude for the privilege he had.
Then the lesson continued in an orderly fashion. The students were grouped according to their respective elements. For students with deviant elements or even no elements, they were gathered in front of Professor Beatrice for personal guidance. Since most of Ryan's friends mostly had basic elemental ethers, only Alicia was grouped with Ryan. Ryan, who didn't know his classmates well, just sat silently listening to Professor Beatrice's explanations.
Then someone started a conversation with Ryan, "Hello, number one, you probably don't know my name, so I'll introduce myself. My name is Arthur Morrison, the fourth son of the Morrison family who rules Blitz Palace." Hearing that, Ryan responded with a slightly awkward smile because he didn't know if he was being insulted or praised.
"Well, it doesn't hurt to expand relations, right? Nice to meet you, I'm Ryan Arden, you can call me Ryan," Ryan replied with a thin smile, extending his hand for a handshake. However, Arthur reluctantly refused Ryan's handshake and said, "It seems you misunderstand a few things, the gentleman without an element. I'm not here to be friends, but to become number one by defeating you in the next ranking test," Arthur said, showing his arrogance.
Hearing that, Ryan wasn't surprised and just shrugged it off, but he felt somewhat irritated.
'This guy is full of himself, suddenly showing up and wanting to be the champion, just annoys me. I'll defeat him in the test later, just by using basic moves to embarrass him!' Ryan thought to himself, laughing wickedly.
"You two, stop talking!"
"Sorry, Professor!"
A while later, the Ether Element Application lesson ended. The students then returned to their seats. The lesson then continued with the non-major subject.
After that, it was time for the break.
Ryan stared sharply at Arthur. His four friends, seeing this, couldn't contain their curiosity and asked Ryan, "Why are you staring at Arthur, Ryan?" Matt asked, noticing something unusual.
Ryan then recounted the incident that happened during the Ether Element Application class and said, "Well, it's a sort of challenge directed at me. Initially, I wasn't going to take it seriously, but the more I thought about it, the more it irritated me. If I'm given the chance to face him in the test, I'll beat him!"
"Haha, that suits your personality, Ryan," Tiana laughed a little because of Ryan's slightly childish attitude.
"If I want to defeat him, at least I'll respect him by knowing what my opponent's capabilities are. So, friends, do you know what Blitz Palace is?" Ryan asked his friends.
"Blitz Palace? Oh, I know, it's like my White Snow Palace, they have their deviant ether element, probably lightning. Based on their element, their fighting style likely involves moving quickly until their opponent can't react and then defeating them from a blind spot," Alicia explained while eating mashed potatoes.
"It seems that's enough information, thanks, Alicia. When it comes to finding out information, you're unmatched," Ryan said, still feeling a bit awkward remembering the uncomfortable feeling Alicia gave him at their first meeting.
"Hey, I've already apologized, I thought the issue was resolved," Alicia said, slightly choked up by Ryan's statement.
"What happened at their first meeting?" Clara asked. Hearing that, Matt and Tiana were also curious.
When Ryan was about to recount the incident at their first meeting, his mouth was tightly covered by Alicia's hand, embarrassed when recalling the incident. The three who saw it were puzzled, and their imagination began to run wild.
After being freed from Alicia's hand, Ryan then recounted the incident of their first meeting, where Alicia showed remarkable information-gathering skills that sent shivers down his spine. Hearing that, Alicia let out a sigh of relief, and Ryan, feeling puzzled but not wanting to ask further, left it at that. Meanwhile, the others seemed satisfied with Ryan's explanation.
Ryan then asked his four friends again, "So, what's the next lesson?"
"Oh, after this, if I'm not mistaken, it's Taming and Contract," Tiana recalled the schedule.
"Oh, I'm curious about what spirit I'll get," Matt said eagerly.
"Hey, the class hasn't started yet, and you're already having high expectations," Alicia said, annoyed by Matt's overly high hopes.
"But Professor Beatrice said we could have an additional element by contracting with spirits. Isn't that cool, having a dual element? Just imagine how amazing that would be!" Matt exclaimed, unable to contain his excitement and behavior.
"Well, we don't know until we try. But it would be funny if Matt ends up getting a spirit with the same element," hearing that, Ryan and his three friends laughed heartily, except for one person who didn't join in the laughter.
"That's not funny, Ryan," Matt grumbled.
"Haha, sorry, sorry. It's just a joke!" Ryan apologized to Matt for his annoyed behavior.