"My name is Malida Manabless, a 3-ring Earth Mage and a student of Grand Mage Alieda, one of the foremost Magic Analysts in Alkira. You can address me as Professor Malida."
The professor walked to the board and began drawing a diagram. First, she drew the Mana Directives, starting with the circle. Interestingly, though, each directive was in a different color, and she labeled them from A1 to N14. Then she ended the process by drawing exactly 46 subrunes, arranged in clusters positioned at different points on the circle.
"This is an incomplete spell with 80% of its directives, but only 60% of the runes," Professor Malida stated. "Our task for today's lecture is to identify the spell and complete the diagram. Who wants to go first?"
No one immediately spoke, and Zane frowned. He had recognized a few of the subrunes: some of them were the basic subrunes for Fire Evocation, Fire Conjuration, Light, Darkness, Life, and Soul. He also noticed one of the uncommon rune expressions Professor Burbank mentioned in class: [Link].
"None of those runes are complete, so it's impossible to tell whether this is a fire, light, or any other type of spell. And there are so many different rune expressions and so many mana directives working together," Zane thought.
"All the Flame Evocation sub-runes are located in the Alleric and Belfont Quadrants; therefore, we can eliminate a Dark Spell," an Elite student began.
"What if the creator was using the Artrella Principle?" a noble student asked.
"Idiot. If they were using the Artrella Principle, Directives C3 and E5 would either not appear or be in the reverse position," a mage descendant said.
"The Life Sub-runes are located between the Belfont and Chiron Quadrant, which means they are the Secondary Core runes," Mallick stated.
"The Fire Evocation and Soul Subrunes are placed in the Alleric and Disfra Quadrant, separated by Directives B2, D4, and F6, and all of them are using Qilant Resonant Model, which means the directive wanted to stabilize a spell involving resonance between two potent forces."
"No, you're wrong. If this were about resonance, the Light Subrune wouldn't be in the Alleric Quadrant. It wouldn't be here at all."
"Unless the spell inherently contained some light properties, but it's not a Light Spell at all."
"What nonsense? Spells of that nature…"
The debate continued for a good minute, and Zane was completely lost. He barely understood a few words, but that did not stop him from recording and writing down everything being said. Then, an Earthling suddenly stood and walked out of the room.
The students paused briefly, snorted in disdain, and continued their analysis. Zane sighed, knowing this was just the beginning, and he was right. Over the next ten minutes, most of the Earthlings left one by one until only Zane's group and two other students remained.
"I think we should leave," Tom Nguyen whispered.
"I second that."
"You guys can leave if you want to, but I'm not walking out of this lecture until I've recorded everything," Zane shook his head. Tom Nguyen immediately hesitated, but Evans stood:
"I'll wait for you outside."
Zane nodded. And after seeing how decisive Evans was, Tom Nguyen packed his bag and left as well. "I'll also wait outside." Zane acknowledged him, but he did not stop recording. Professor Malida glanced at their group: besides Zane, who was still taking notes, only two other students remained; one had already fallen asleep, and the other was staring at everybody, his expression indicating he was staying out of pure rebellious spirit. She did not comment on their actions and just continued with the lecture.
"Professor, I've figured it out."
All eyes turned to the speaker, including Zane's. The speaker was the Asian-looking student who previously stopped Mallick and called the earthlings "short-lived."
"Zulu, go ahead," Professor Malida said.
"It's the 1-ring Spirit Flame Spell; to be precise, the creator had bonded with the Salamander Spirit. The spell combined two types of flames: an evocation flame created by the caster and a conjurated flame from the Salamander. They fuse through resonance, creating a spiritual flame with soul, life, and even some light attributes."
"Interesting. And how did you get to this conclusion?"
"Easy. I started with the Directives. You said it yourself: they were 90% complete. Based on the number of runes and directives, I assumed this was at least a 1-ring spell. Then, using the Manison Formula, I deduced the Rune Framework for possible 2-ring spells, resulting in 15 frameworks. And from that small pool, I selected the one with the closest match: the Spirit Blessing Flame."
"That's right. The 2-ring Spirit Blessing Flame is the evolved version of the 1-ring Spirit Flame. I should have thought of that."
"As he said," Zulu continued. "Once I knew what spell I was dealing with, the rest was easy."
"Come to the board to complete the spell and also show us your proof," Professor Malida ordered.
"No problem." Zulu walked to the board and completed the rest of the spell diagram. She immediately followed up with a detailed proof or step-by-step process of how she arrived at this conclusion. Throughout the process, countless students asked her questions, challenged her claims, and argued against her deductions, resulting in an intense class debate.
"Well done, Zulu, you've done House Maliketh and your mother proud," Professor Malida said.
"Thank you, professor," Zulu said, grinning before looking at the other students, her chest puffed, almost like a bull asserting dominance over other males in its group.
"However, there is an easier method." The professor waved her hand, and a hologram of another proof materialized in front of the class.
"Breaking all the sub-runes into individual aspects and using the Eizerburg Principle to deduce the spell diagram from its foundation?" Zulu commented before smiling wryly. "Yes, this method is the fastest way, professor, but how many of us can do all these calculations? How many people can calculate so many variations so quickly?"
The other Elite students nodded. As a student of Grand Mage Alieda, it's normal for Professor Malida to have such skills; after all, she was trained by one of the world's best. In fact, even their parents might not be able to utilize the Eizerburg Formula to calculate so many variations.
"Aren't you here to learn? So, learn," Professor Malida stated. Unmindful of their complaints, she began explaining the step-by-step process. Meanwhile, Zane was once again questioning his intelligence and even his sanity. If he was confused before, the professor was speaking another language. Regardless, he did not give up. Right now, he has no clue what was going on, but that cannot be said after a month, three months, a year, or more.
Once he became interested in something, his mind would not let him give up until he understood the mystery. Previously, most things came easily to him, but now it seemed he had to put in some effort, and he didn't mind. After spending five years in that prison without intellectual stimulation, this was the perfect opportunity.
The lecture lasted an hour before the professor finished. Then, Zane calmly packed his bag and left. He heard whispers about him as he exited the classroom, but he didn't care. He headed straight to the girl at the front to register for the club.
"Are you sure you want to register?" Anusa asked.
"Yes, I am."
She sighed deeply, "Haven't you realized this is above your level? Such high-tier societies are designed for after you've survived long enough in the program. With your current ability, you would be dreaming to think you could get accepted."
"It doesn't matter if I fail; the experience will be worth it."
Anusa glanced at him intently for a few seconds. "Well, suit yourself." Using the magic pad, she scanned his soul crest and completed the registration.
Zane exited the building in quite a decent mood. Looking around, he saw Tom Nguyen and Evans on the corner. With grease still on Tom's face, he figured they'd probably gone to get some food, which had become quite an enticing idea.
"You really stayed the entire class?" Tom Nguyen immediately asked.
"The information they provided was probably quite valuable, so why wouldn't I stay?"
"I've never felt so stupid and humiliated in my life."
"It wasn't that bad," Zane said.
"Did you register?" Evans asked.
"I did."
Tom stared at him incredulously, "Are you really going to subject yourself to such torture?"
"It's not as bad as you make it sound," Zane shook his head. He loves solving difficult problems, enjoys a challenge, and, more importantly, he likes to prove people wrong; this club offers all three.
Evans sighed, "You're a better man than I."
"I second that."
Zane smiled in response. He then patted his stomach, "I'm feeling a bit peckish. How about we head to the cafeteria for a quick bite before heading to chess club?"
"You guys go by yourself. I'm going to check the Warding Architect Institute."
"You no longer wish to join the chess club?" Zane asked.
"After what just happened, I think I'll pass."
Zane wanted to tell him the situation might be different, but he instantly could tell this wouldn't change anything. As such, he bid Evans good luck. Meanwhile, he and Tom Nguyen planned out their schedule. Zane will head to the cafeteria, and Tom will check some other areas. Then, they will reunite to check those two clubs together.