An Actual Lesson?

With a plan in mind, the three went to class.

"Good morning everyone." [Mr. Frank]

He spoke in a cheery attitude, but the students replied with tired voices.

"Morning…" [Class]

"Really? I'm surprised that you're all not excited." [Mr. Frank]

Being the only voice of the class, Orion raised a hand.

"Class sucks." [Orion]

"..." [Mr. Frank]

Mr. Frank locked eyes with Orion and passed his gaze over the rest of the class.

"Okay, so this is how it's going to go. Would you all rather get homework over break next week, or have none except for Orion?" [Mr. Frank]

"What?! That's power abuse!" [Orion]

("Wait, we have a break next week?") [Adam]

The answer was unanimous.

"I think we should get no homework." [Alex]

"Me too." [Brandon]

"Me three." [Felix]

"Huh?! Guys?!" [Orion]

Orion was panicking, and Mr. Frank was finding an incredible amount of amusement out of it.

"What do you think, Adam?" [Mr. Frank]

Orion stared at Adam with a look of desperation. Adam didn't want to betray him, but he clenched his fists and closed his eyes.

"I think we should get no homework." [Adam]

"Bro…!" [Orion]

Mr. Frank burst out laughing. It was far too humorous to him to hold it in.

"Bwahahaha! I'm kidding! You should see the look on your face!" [Mr. Frank]

He pointed at Orion's unamused expression and kept laughing. Other than Mr. Frank, no one else laughed.

"...You're pretty petty aren't you?" [Felix]

"Am I?" [Mr. Frank]

He took deep breaths to calm himself. After pausing for a few moments, he returned to his "Professional" self.

"I'll have you know I've done more for less." [Mr. Frank]

"Like?" [Orion]

"Did you guys know that there used to be four commanding groups in the military?" [Mr. Frank]

"You mean three?" [Alex]

"Exactly." [Mr. Frank]

Mr. Frank had a smug look on his face, but the students only had expressions of confusion.

"Alright. Back to class. Let's have a talk about energy and mana." [Mr. Frank]

Turning on the electronic screen behind him, he began to draw with his finger.

"Mana and energy have much in common. To make this easier to understand we'll use electricity as an example." [Mr. Frank]

Tracing his finger across the screen, he drew a square.

"Pretend this is an electrical circuit. This will be my analogy to your body." [Mr. Frank]

He then changed one of the lines into a zig-zag and drew another square next to it.

"This "zig-zag" is called a "resistor". It's meant to lower voltage in circuits." [Mr. Frank]

At this point, the students began to copy it into a notebook.

"Imagine the zig-zag as your capacity in using abilities, and the voltage as your mana source." [Mr. Frank]

Mr. Frank then raised a hand and conjured a glass cup out of thin air.

"Putting all this information together, you will understand how mana works. Your body pulls a certain amount of mana from your mana source to use abilities, but it isn't to its limit." [Mr. Frank]

The cup in Mr. Frank's hand deconstructed itself, and then vanished into mist.

"It requires twenty units of mana to create a glass cup. Theoretically, it would only take two units to create it, but since the mana has to travel through my body to create the cup, it gets whittled down." [Mr. Frank]

The students tilted their heads. Mr. Frank saw their puzzled expressions, so he decided to elaborate.

"Okay, imagine this. You have a cup full of sand. Then, add some small holes at the bottom." [Mr. Frank]

He paused to see his student's faces, just to make sure they were following along.

"Next, imagine pouring water from the top. What do you think would happen to the water?" [Mr. Frank]

"Flow through?" [Orion]

"You're half right." [Mr. Frank]

Just like before, Mr. Frank conjured a glass cup. This time, he also created a pitcher of water along with it.

"It would probably be easier if I showed you an actual example." [Mr. Frank]

He then filled the cup with sand and forced a few holes into the bottom. Some of the sand spilled out, but it eventually stopped.

"If I were to pour a little water, this is what would happen." [Mr. Frank]

Tilting the pitcher over the cup, Mr. Frank allowed a few droplets of water to enter the cup. The sand at the top stuck together, but none of the water got through.

"...You're not putting enough to make the water go through." [Brandon]

"And that's why Orion was half right." [Mr. Frank]

He then poured enough water to cause it to leak through the holes in the bottom.

"Just like this, the human body has "something" that makes it require more "mana" to use abilities instead of water." [Mr. Frank]

It was then that the students understood.

"Ooh…" [Orion]

"Then how strong would we be if we didn't have resistance to our mana…?" [Alex]

Many questions arose, but they were cut off from being answered as the school bell rang.

"Ah, lunch break. My favorite time of the day, second to going home." [Mr. Frank]

Adam packed his bags, and left the classroom to buy himself a meal.

"Yo! Adam!" [???]

Just as he entered the hallway, Adam bumped into a familiar face.

"Mark?" [Adam]

Mark, a member of the disciplinary committee. Adam hadn't seen him since entering Askyros' past, so he was quite surprised to see him.

"How about we get a bite?" [Mark]