"As I've said before, today will be a competition between the two groups."
Professor Ilmarë's monotone voice was clear and crisp. Her mana field was already pushing down on us the moment we stepped into the clearing. Judging by how everyone was standing up without a problem, it seemed like everyone else was also able to adjust to it.
"It's nothing complicated. Run a lap around the field, and I'll average the lap times of each group. The faster group wins."
She took a bite from an apple. "The twist is, I'll make it harder. You got it?"
A collective nod. We all lined up at the starting position she indicated. "You'll know when to start when you feel it."
I shared a glance with Vera, who was beside me, and nodded. Since that was the case, we both had to rely on Reina to show her reaction. Vera wouldn't be able to tell because her mana would just adjust automatically. I would have a hard time telling since I could just push through it. Reina was our best bet to tell if the starting signal went off.
Without warning, the posture of half of Group One slumped down as the force of the professor's field intensified. Reina shot out. I nodded at Vera and we took off together. We made sure to pace ourselves to just keep up with Reina.
Professor Ilmarë already told us last night to make sure we didn't do anything suspicious with how unique our circumstances of being able to shrug off her field without any trouble.
We weren't moving that fast honestly. We were only about as fast as a person without mana could run. We finished the lap without much competition at all. Group one's leading runners was about a second and a half slower than our time, while the two who got visibly affected by the increase in pressure was even slower.
"Group Two wins. You three will get a reward in your Team Combat Classes next week. Ask your advisors for any questions regarding your core classes and enlistment of any electives that you'd like. Just to reiterate, all seven of you will be dubbed Combat Class 1 by next week. You will share the same schedule for your core classes. The two groups will also be your team for Team Combat Classes. This can be subject to change if given sufficient reason to do so."
"For the rest of the day, you are free to do as you like. I will remain here until class ends and might entertain questions. I will, however, keep my field on. I will also gradually increase the pressure throughout the day. You are dismissed."
Not surprisingly, no one left the field. The offer of being given an environment that progressively get tougher was difficult to reject, especially because we were all combat majors.
"I'm going to ask the professor some questions. Do you two want to come with me?" Reina walked over to us. Having nothing better for us to do, there's no reason not to go along with her.
"Oh? I thought you didn't like our company?"
"I don't. I don't have positive feelings about your company, but I do like Vera's company. Additionally, as we will be a group in our classes, it's best we use this time to get used to each other in order to improve our teamwork."
Faced with her logic, I merely shrugged. Vera went ahead and held Reina's hand as she took her to see the professor.
"What's mana?" By the time I caught up with them, Reina was already asking the professor a question.
Professor Ilmarë took a drag from her cigarette and puffed out smoke. She definitely used magic to make that smoke. Her commitment to her image was... worthy of admiration if nothing else.
"It's a form of energy."
"I meant why do people have different mana signatures?"
"You want an official answer supported by numerous professionals or my personal take on it?"
"Personal."
"Hm... you know that the mana inside our bodies is the accumulation of both internal mana production and ambient mana absorption."
We nodded.
"Mana signatures is a result of that. When we absorb mana into our bodies, that mana undergoes changes to imitate the already existing mana in our bodies. As people, we all have our talents in different fields. This applies to mana just as much, and is one of the factors that determine your mana signature. You might have a natural talent for fire, earth, physical enhancement, or what not."
Reina continued her line of questionings long until it was time for lunch. This time, Reina had no qualms of following to join us for lunch.
I managed to get their buy-in to do physical exercises under the professor's field for the whole afternoon. Professor Ilmarë implemented the gradual increase in pressure amazingly. She subtly increased it little by little over the course of hours. As soon as we got used to a certain level of force, she'd up the pressure by a tad, and the process starts over again.
If we add exercise on top of that, it would be an amazing training session for the three of us. Reina was a close combat major, while Vera and I were general combat majors. All three of us needed to be able to seamlessly use our mana while doing physical activities especially because we were a team.
From what the professor shared to us, this team would be our group for the rest of the group-based combat classes. In the future, we would have classes about dungeon clearing as a team where our final output for the class would be reaching a certain floor of a certain dungeon.
While it wasn't explicitly prohibited for a student to do it on their own, the academy greatly discouraged it. There was little to no fools in the academy who were foolish enough to head into a dungeon on their own.
With only three of us in a team, our teamwork needs to be top-notch in order to produce the same results as larger teams. This also severely limited our potential formations. If I gather information early, I'll have more time to think of ways to take advantage of our limitations and versatility
"Reina, what's your weapon of choice?"
"I don't really have a preference, but I can fight unarmed. That's also what I think is most enjoyable."
"I see. Vera and I haven't decided on our preferred method of fighting yet."
"Ah right. You're both general combat majors."
"Got any suggestions for us?"
"Ask me again weeks from now. That should be enough time for me to think of something that fits for the both of you."
We spent the entire afternoon exercising with Reina taking the lead. Around halfway into it, the other four members of Combat Class 1 joined in. Their group consisted of two humans, a forest elf, and another snow elf. They were friendly enough, I guess. Vera, however, didn't take as well to them as she did to Reina. She shot down every attempt of conversation they made with her. Not even gently either, at times she straight up just ignored them.
This would normally be where I'd cut in and try to mediate between them, but Vera's outburst the other day stayed my hand. This was something she had to deal with on her own. Of course, I still remained close by if ever she did need my help.
Group One invited us to join them for dinner, but we refused. Mainly because Vera sent me a signal not to. She had already invited Reina to join us for dinner at home along with Ilmarë. She'd also already asked Petra for permission to let Reina in the house.
"Wait, does she know that Reina will be joining us?"
Vera just shrugged and smiled.
The three of us, with the addition of Reina, went home ahead of Ilmarë because the other group were busy asking her a multitude of questions.
I'm pretty sure I know what Vera wanted to see by not telling the professor ahead of time about Reina's presence. Ilmarë had the annoying tendency to just barge in the house all sloppily, without any sense of decorum nor pride. What better way to shock it out of her mannerisms than to surprise her by her student?
And it happened. While we were in the middle of dinner, the front door was kicked open and produced a sound much louder than was normal. Another example of her flippant use of magic.
"PETRA! Give me my hug! And my beer too please!" She walked in the kitchen with her arms held out for a hug — which quickly dropped as soon as she saw someone other than us.
Reina was sitting at the end of the table, positioned by Vera just right that she had clear vision of people going into the kitchen.
I couldn't decide on whose expression was funnier between Reina's, who just saw her stern professor completely relaxed, or Ilmarë's, who cared a lot about how her students see her.