I looked around. The people lying down seemed comfortable actually. A lot of them either fell asleep or fell unconscious. I wasn't sure which was which. Those who were awake, their eyes were darting every which way, moving to look at everyone still sitting down even after hours of constant pressure from the professor.
It was incredibly tempting to just fall down as well, but the prospect of Professor Ilmarë holding it over me destroyed any thought of following through. I wouldn't put it pass her to rub it on my face.
"Time's up. All of you who fell down, go to MB1 tomorrow for Mana Training. Same time as today. The room assignment with your name and classes will be posted on the lobby of the building. All seven of you still sitting down will come back here same time tomorrow. Dismissed."
At her words, the unseen weight on our shoulders disappeared. Clamor sprung up as everyone heaved a breath of relief and started talking with their friends while those still asleep were woken up by the students around them.
Everyone started leaving the field by the droves. I went back to where Vera and Petra was to see them fast asleep. Petra sitting on her chair fast asleep with Vera's head on her lap as she sat on the ground beside Petra.
When did she fall asleep? Actually, is she a part of the seven that Professor Ilmarë mentioned?
I gingerly took Vera's sunglasses from her face. There was a chance of it hitting her face at a bad angle while she slept. I watched over them for some time when the voice I was waiting for finally piped up.
"That's cute! Even Petra's letting her guard down with Vera, huh." She giggled. There was no one else left in the field except for the four of us.
"Do you want to wake them up?"
"Not really. I think this is great for Vera. Anyways, is Vera included in the seven? I didn't actually count how many of us were still sitting up."
"Yeah, of course she is. Why wouldn't she be?" Professor Ilmarë's eyes scrunched up.
"Huh?"
She raised her eyebrows. "You didn't know?"
I shook my head.
"No one told you? Pretty sure Petra knows as well. Arty mentioned it to me in her letter. That's the reason why she didn't have any trouble holding off my pressure. Does she not know?"
"She never mentioned it to me. So maybe?"
"And that leads back to you."
"What about me?"
"You're a monster. You're the only one of the seven that didn't have their mana activated."
"What do you mean? Can you explain everything?"
She hummed. "It's a discussion better off taking place over dinner at Arty's house."
"You're inviting yourself over just like that?"
"Yeah? I see nothing wrong with that. It's Arty's."
It's not that I didn't want her to come over to talk, I was just unused to such brazenness. We waited a bit more until one of them woke up. Petra saw the two of us talking while watching over them and realized how much time passed.
"Why didn't you wake me up?"
"You looked too cute together with Vera. I didn't want to disturb you two."
Thinking it was enough time, I gently shook Vera awake. "Hey, get up."
Her groggy face was cute as always. I picked her up and placed her on my back so I could carry her. Her arms reflexively wrapped around me.
"She won't be waking up anytime soon. We can start heading back now."
Ilmarë's wide smile said everything she needed to say.
Vera woke up when we neared the house and we had dinner prepared by Petra. We were now all in the living room by the fireplace, sitting on cushions around a low table. The sofas behind us went unused.
"Okay, as the oldest one here. I'll take responsibility over the proceedings." Ilmarë's tone somewhat matched the tone she used during class earlier. It seemed like she wasn't messing around this time; though would someone not messing around have to qualify themselves as the oldest one?
Nevermind. It's useless to try and figure out if she's fully being serious or not.
"First, I'll get you up to speed Vera since you were somehow asleep during my class." She gave a pointed look at Vera who could only sheepishly glance to the side.
"The two of you passed along with four others who from now on will be designated as Combat Class 1. This information would usually be provided by your advisors, but since I was the one to take charge of your enrollment, I will also take the role as your advisor. You'll find out more by next week."
"Do either of you know what I did earlier? I've heard from Arty that both of you are generally well-read, so I want to get a grasp of the extent of your knowledge. This will be how I'll conduct future teaching sessions with the both of you. And yes, before you ask, Arty asked me if I could take care of the both of you whilst on your stay in the academy."
Vera looked confused. "You did something earlier?"
Did she not feel the weight at all?
Professor Ilmarë sighed. "Were you even listening to me in class earlier?"
"I did! You said we could leave as soon as it started, but then no one stood up! It would be too awkward if I stood up first, so I just busied myself by talking to Petra!"
"You didn't feel it at all?" Professor Ilmarë's tone took a questioning glint.
"I didn't feel anything earlier."
"That's interesting..." Her words trailed off. "Okay, I'll circle around to that. You can listen for now Vera. Dina, answer."
"You put a force on us that pushed us towards the ground."
"Good. Do you have an idea how?"
"You spread your mana over the entire field and had it blanket over everyone, weighing us down."
"What's your thoughts on that?"
"I initially thought that the pressure you exerted on everyone was equal. I figured it was wrong because it wasn't that strong but still a lot of people fell down. Then I figured that the strength of the force was stronger on those near you and then weak at the edges. I thought this because when I looked over to Vera and she was completely distracted and unbothered by it, but then I saw people on the other side about the same distance as Vera and some were falling down."
"So I assumed it was wrong, then I had the idea that you individually adjusted the amount of force you're using for each student. I initially thought that notion was impossible."
"What changed?"
"I just... had the thought that I don't know the limits of mana so I can't rule something out as impossible."
A smile graced her lips. It seemed like she was satisfied by my answer.
"You were wrong about a lot of things."
Nevermind. She was just laughing at my mistakes.
"But I like the way you thought about things. Keep doing it."
I guess I spoke too soon. I'm sorry for doubting you. Hehe.
"To keep things simple, that's what I did. I enveloped the entire field with my mana and basically pressed down on everyone. Everyone who lost to it and lied down on the ground will have their mana training handled by others. Everyone who managed to last through it will be placed in the aforementioned Combat Class 1."
"Do you want to know something Vera?"
Caught off-guard once again by the sudden pivot, she recoiled. "Huh? Me? Yeah."
"Of the seven students who got into Combat Class 1, all but one had their mana activated."
Her eyes widened as she tried to think about it. "Is... it me? Who has their mana activated, I mean."
It was probably an easy guess for her since I already tested out my mana back when I regressed, and we both knew my mana wasn't activated.
"Why are you unsure? Did you not know?"
Vera tilted her head down, lost in thought. She shook her head a little.
"How can you —" Professor Ilmarë paused. "Ah. Could it be? No. You'd still need a catalyst. Do you have an idea as to what awakened your mana? A spontaneous awakening of mana is unheard of."
Vera's breath hitched, seemingly realizing something.
"You don't have to answer that." Professor Ilmarë was quick to spot her reaction. I slipped Vera's hand into mine.
"Anyways, the main point is Dina."
We were finally getting to the meat and potatoes of the conversation.
"Do you know how many of the over five hundred students earlier already had their mana activated?"
I answered no.
"Around fifteen percent. Over seventy-five students had their mana activated, but only six of them could resist my mana. Yet you... you were able to resist it with your mana inactive."
I didn't have anything to say.
"You didn't even look like you were weighed down by it. Just like Vera; if you wanted to, you could have stood up earlier couldn't you?"
"Yeah."