"Let's start, shall we. I don't wish to waste any time."
The classroom quickly settled as Vera walked towards the chalkboard. The view was amazing, shown by how some boys in the class instantly started gawking.
"Before we discuss anything, let us start with the basics."
Vera took a piece of chalk and drew a circle on the board.
"This is your mana core."
Her eyes scanned the room.
"Each and every one of you has one," she said. "In class B, it seems like there is an equal number of you who have rank 2 cores and rank 1 cores."
Vera drew 6 more circles.
"There are 7 stages of mana cores. Rank 1 through 7," she took her chalk and started drawing small marks inside the lowest circle.
"Rank 1 mana cores start out impure," she said, pointing to the 'impurities' she drew. "Your job is to remove these impurities. Sounds simple enough, right?"
A few students leaned forward, especially the commoners, as they took in everything she said.
"Wrong."
Ronan rested his chin against his hand, bored out of his mind.
He was attending lectures again.
Maybe attending this Academy was a bad idea after all.
"You remove impurities by cycling mana through your core," she said. "The better your control, the easier it is to purify your core."
She scanned the room.
"Some of you will be good at this."
A pause.
"Some of you will not."
A few expressions in the room tightened when she said that, but Vera continued.
"It all comes down to two things," she started. "Your connection to mana… and your control over it."
"If either of those is lacking, you will hit a wall. That is what we call talent."
A student raised his hand.
Vera glanced at the nervous student. He looked to be a commoner with brown hair.
"What."
"Is there a limit to how pure a core can get?"
"Of course, there is a limit, were you not paying attention?"
She pointed at the board with a cold expression.
"Rank 7, that is the limit. But none of you will have to worry about that. The number of people who have reached rank 7 and are alive today can be counted on one hand, and the ones who have the potential to reach it are in class S, not here."
Her words were blunt, but no one could refute what she said.
Rank 7 was a legendary status amongst mages.
"There are three subcategories per rank. Lower, middle, and upper stages.
"Most of you are either upper stage rank 1 or lower stage rank 2, with some of you being middle stage rank 2."
"Advancing substages isn't anything special. It comes down to the same thing, purifying. The closer you are to the breakthrough, the slower it gets. When you breakthrough to the next major rank, absolute focus is required, and it is a strenuous process no matter the rank. A lot of you here already know what I am talking about."
A student raised his hand, and Vera nodded, allowing him to speak.
"So if our mana control isn't good enough, then we stay stuck?"
"That is correct, but there are other factors. There are multiple unorthodox ways someone can gain power, such as using artifacts, performing rituals, and signing contracts with demons."
At the mention of demons, many students in the class instinctively recoiled.
"Of course, as many of you know, those methods are very dangerous and can cause extreme side effects if not handled with care. Even with the proper guidance, using these methods is not always safe, and it is not recommended."
How ironic, Ronan thought, considering what she did in the first arc.
"Now, let's talk about mana. Can anyone tell me what mana is?"
Ronan looked away with a yawn. Could this lesson get any less interesting?
Leaning against his hand, Ronan slowly closed his eyes–
"–You"
A voice cut through the classroom.
Ronan didn't react to it immediately.
"...You in the back, the one dozing off."
Still, no answer.
"Ronan Ashbourne, I am speaking to you."
There was a shift in the room, and the students' eyes darted back to where Ronan sat. Students looked at him openly with curiosity and attention.
Slowly, Ronan opened his eyes.
Vera was looking directly at him, the stern look in her eyes piercing through him.
"Yes?"
Vera didn't move.
"Answer the question."
Ronan sighed.
"Mana is energy…"
Some students frowned at his simple answer, and Vera was no better.
"Go on."
"…It exists everywhere. In the air, in living beings. We absorb it to purify our core, and we use our innate mana from our core to perform magic."
His tone was flat, bored.
Nothing like being in class again, he thought listlessly.
Vera watched him for a second.
"That's the basic answer."
Vera turned away and started writing something on the board.
"Sit properly, Ashbourne. I do not want to see you dozing off again, am I understood?"
"Understood," he answered lazily as he leaned back in his chair, letting out another silent yawn.
A few students exchanged glances at his demeanor. Was this not what they had expected? A lazy, undisciplined noble?
Kazuma glanced at him, his expression unchanging, but Ronan paid him no mind.
"Mana is energy, that is the simplest way to put it. But that does not explain anything useful."
She wrote something on the board.
"Mana reacts to your thoughts, your intent, your control, your emotions. It reacts to everything. That is why people with a similar amount of mana can produce vastly different results. It is also why when we are learning new spells, we learn to say them out loud so the mana can understand our intent."
"You don't need a lot of mana to be dangerous, however. What you need is control. Even those with the largest mana pools will hit a wall if they do not have the means to control it."
"Which is why that is what we will start with. Hands out, now."
Everyone complied, Ronan included.
"Circulate your mana, slowly," she said.
Mana began to move.
Some students were very good at it, while some struggled.
Ronan wasn't either.
His control wasn't the best, and he was struggling to keep a steady flow of mana going. There was something intrinsic that he was missing.
But it wasn't bad either. If anything, it was average.
Vera walked through the rows.
"Too fast."
"You're forcing it."
"You're barely circulating anything. Focus on the mana in the air, not in your body."
Her eyes then turned to Ronan, who was keeping a steady but unstable flow of mana. But it wasn't bad for his rank.
"…Fine. Focus on feeling the pathways."
Ronan nodded and tried to do as she said, but to no avail. She quickly went to help other students.
Ronan's eyes shifted to Kazuma's mana flow. She hadn't commented on Kazuma's control, but that was because there was nothing to comment on.
His mana control was perfect, and Ronan could tell there was nothing that he needed to improve.
"I said control it!" Vera's voice rang out. She was yelling at a blonde girl who looked teary-eyed as she attempted to control her mana.
But from the looks of it, she had no control whatsoever. But the thing that caught his interest was the insane amount of mana she was emitting.
"You're a lost cause," Vera sighed. "Are you truly Freya Lockhart's sister?"
The girl didn't say anything, but Ronan could see her clench her teeth as she looked down, pretending to focus.
Vera paid her no mind as she sneered, walking away.
So that's who she is, Ronan thought. Freya Lockhart's sister, Elara Lockhart. Greatly overshadowed by her older sister, who is a prodigy.
Elara had been mentioned once or twice in the novel, but she was the definition of an extra.
So she was in B class?
That was interesting. Ronan kept her in mind, she could be useful in the future with what he had planned.
Vera returned to the front of the room and stood in front of the podium.
"Some of you are better than expected," Vera said, turning towards Ronan's direction, but she was clearly looking at Kazuma. "Most of you are not."
She paused.
"But it does not matter. You will improve."
She scanned the room.
"That is enough for today. Practice this and keep in mind the advice I gave you. I want to see all of you improve. Without control over mana, nothing can be achieved. Remember that."
"Class is dismissed."