The morning sun streamed through the windows of the classroom as the students of A-1 settled into their seats. A hushed tension clung to the air, no doubt lingering from yesterday's spectacle with the orb. When Hugo entered, every spine straightened imperceptibly.
"Congratulations on passing the admission trial," he said, his voice smooth as aged whiskey. His gaze swept the room, lingering on Eris for half a heartbeat before moving on. "Today, we begin the true work of a mage: Spellcasting."
He snapped his fingers, and the chalkboard behind him filled with elegant script without him so much as glancing at it.
"Casting a spell is the art of shaping raw mana into will made manifest," Hugo began, pacing before the lectern. "You must gather energy, from within you or the external world, and forge it into something tangible. But heed this: your mind is the crucible. Visualization is everything."
He paused, plucking an apple from his desk. With a flick of his wrist, it levitated above his palm, its surface shimmering as if seen through heat haze.
"If your mental image falters, so too will your magic. A weak visualization yields a weak spell. A fragmented one may backfire. And if your focus wavers entirely?" The apple splattered into mush midair, dripping onto the floor with a wet slap. "You get nothing but wasted effort."
Eris listened with half an ear. This was child's play to her, breathing was more complicated. But she noted how the other students leaned forward, hanging on Hugo's every word.
"Today," he announced, "we put theory into practice. Follow me."
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The class filed out to a wide, grassy clearing nestled within the academy's surrounding forest. Three wooden training dummies stood at intervals.
"These constructs are enchanted to regenerate," Hugo explained, tapping one with his boot. "Reduce them to splinters or ashes, it matters not. They'll be whole again in seconds."
He gestured to the first trio of students. "You'll attack from here. Visualize the spell you want to use. Focus. Then release."
One by one, the novices stepped forward. Firebolts sputtered like dying candles; water jets arced wildly off-target. A particularly earnest boy summoned a gust of wind so feeble it barely ruffled the grass.
Eris observed with detached interest. Predictable. Fire and water are the easiest to conceptualize, simple destruction or flow. Earth requires patience. Wind, finesse.
Then Earl swaggered to the mark.
Without preamble, he leveled his index finger at the dummy. "Greo Ignitus."
A huge fireball erupted from his fingertip, hurtling forward with a roar. It struck the dummy dead-center, engulfing it in a conflagration so intense the grass ten feet around it blackened instantly. When the flames died, only ash remained.
Eris arched a brow. A Level 2 fire spell. Not bad.
Murmurs rippled through the crowd. Earl smirked, shooting a glance at Yuki, who stood impassive as ever.
Eventually, Eris's name was called.
Whispers sprouted like weeds:
"Here we go…"
"Bet it's another freak show."
"Maybe she'll set herself on fire."
Hugo's eyes tracked her every move.
I shouldn't draw attention, Eris reminded herself. I'll just do something simple and forgettable.
She took her position, mirroring Earl's stance exactly, index finger extended, posture loose. And Earl, of course, noticed this with disdain.
"Voltis," she murmured.
The lightning bolt that lanced from her finger split the air with a deafening crack. Light seared retinas for a second; students cried out, shielding their faces. When the afterimage faded, the dummy was gone, not just ash, but vaporized. Behind it, a swath of trees had been obliterated, their trunks reduced to smoldering stumps.
Silence.
Then chaos.
"What the hell was that?!"
"That wasn't just lightning, it looked like a goddamn storm!"
"Did you see how fast it was??"
Eris winced internally. Ah...I overdid it.
It looks like those wooden dolls were far more fragile than she thought.
Hugo's quill hovered over his clipboard, ink dripping forgotten onto the parchment. His voice, when it came, was carefully measured.
"...An adequate demonstration", he said with a smile. "Next student."
And Earl's smoldered with something far more dangerous: challenge.