Sasha took attendance and gave us a rundown of our schedule for the day. Since it was the first day of class, we were to go to the training grounds for magic and physical and get tested for our affinities as well as strengths and weaknesses.
She led us to the magic training grounds first and introduced us to our class's magic instructor. His name was Brandon Mills and he didn't look like the mage type. He had bulging muscles and was very tall. He reminded me a lot of Lucas, my physical trainer back at home.
He wore a vest with no shirt underneath, exposing his chest and abdomen. He had tight pants on with his spellbook latched onto his side and some leather boots. If Miss Sasha didn't say he was our magic instructor, I would think that he was an expert swordsman or fighter. He had rugged brown hair, brown eyes and a beard.
"Good afternoon, students. I am Brandon Mills and I am the first year's magical instructor. You can call me Instructor Mills. First things first, I believe that all of you have been checked for your affinities with the elements therefore we will skip that. What I want to see is how efficient you are at using your magic by doing basic spells as well as your magic focus proficiency." He sounded like a real gentleman, the way he talks not matching his physique.
"Now you see these target dummies here, I want you to line up opposite of them and use the spells you are most proficient in." He pointed to the straw dummies that were in the training grounds. "Don't worry, although they're made of straw, they've been enchanted to be tougher and have some basic resistance to the elements." He added.
Since there were only ten target dummies available, most of the students had to pair up and take turns when casting their spells. Everyone took out their wands as they lined up against the dummies. I paired up with Daniel and let him go first.
"Wind Slash!" Daniel screamed as a gust of wind was immediately felt rushing towards the dummy, slightly cutting it. He turned to look at me with a prideful face. "Did you see that! I cut the dummy!" He said with joy. "Now it's your turn, John!"
I stood at the place where he was a while ago and looked at the dummy. 'Hmmm, this can be a great time to experiment with some stuff. I've used the basic spells so much that I'm just tired of them already.' I thought to myself.
I pointed my wand at the dummy and whipped out a small ball of fire, slightly bigger than a fingernail and imagined a bullet. I focused my imagination on the combustion of the bullet from the gun to further increase the speed and carefully shaped that ball of fire to have a pointed edge. Once everything was clear in my head and the shape of the fire was concrete, I said in a low voice. "Fire Bullet."
The fire bullet whizzed through the air and made contact with the head of the straw dummy, piercing through with ease. 'It worked!' A smile formed on my face, showing how satisfied I am with the result.
[Magic Creation - Beginner] skill learned
[Fire Bullet] spell learned
[Magic Creation - Beginner]
You are able to make basic spells with an 80% chance of success.
[Fire Bullet]
Shoots a concentrated ball of fire with a pointed edge. Piercing increased.
'Oh… So this system I have automatically logs the spells I've made successfully. That's convenient.' I was distracted by the system notification and the satisfaction of making a new spell that I didn't realize what I had just done.
"John! What was that?!" Daniel screamed. "How did you do that?! Your fireball pierced straight through the dummy instead of exploding and it was such a small one as well!" He seemed very surprised with the results of my spell, not realizing that it wasn't a fireball.
"You there!" Instructor Mills' voice sounded out. "What was that? That wasn't a fireball!" He screamed as he walked towards me. With his scream, everyone in class turned to look at me.
"Um, sorry Instructor Mills. That wasn't a fireball but something I just made just now." I replied.
"You made this spell just now? Without any prior research?" He looked at me with a baffled look. He regained his senses and looked at me with a straight face. "Don't lie to me young man! Who taught you this spell?"
"Nobody taught me this spell…" I look at him, feeling the pressure of everyone's eyes on me. "I really just made the spell just now. I can do the same with the other elements if you want me to…" I replied, not realizing the weight of my words.
"You can? Then show me. If you are not able to do it, you will be punished for lying to me." He quickly added.
I nodded and quickly pointed my wand at the dummy again. This time, wanting to prove myself and the ability that I have, I reimagined the gun and the bullet again. This time around, doing earth, wind, and water at the same time.
The three elements separately circled at the tip of my wand, slowly forming shape as I concretized my imagination. Once I had everything ready, I said. "Earth Bullet, Wind Bullet, Water Bullet." The three elemental bullets fired out in succession, all of them piercing the straw dummy.
[Earth Bullet] spell learned
[Wind Bullet] spell learned
[Water Bullet] spell learned
[Earth Bullet]
Shoots a concentrated ball of earth with a pointed edge. Piercing increased.
[Wind Bullet]
Shoots a concentrated ball of wind with a pointed edge. Piercing increased.
[Water Bullet]
Forms a concentrated ball of water with a pointed edge and shoots it towards the target. Piercing increased.
Notification sounds ring in my head and screens popped up as I released the spells. Satisfied with them, I turned back to look at Instructor Mills.
"I-I-Impossible! Being able to use three of the elements at the same time requires a very delicate focus on magic! Now that I've seen that, I truly believe that you are able to make spells of your own! Amazing!" Instructor Mills said as he clapped.
"Woah… That was cool"
"Did you see that? He used three elements at the same time!"
"Showoff!"
Multiple comments from the students sounded out when they realized how complicated my spell was. Some were impressed and some showed jealousy as well as contempt.
"What's your name?" Instructor Mills asked.
"John Colton, Barony of Eshon" I replied.
"I'll remember you, John Colton. However, don't use that spell for the time being since we don't want our precious target dummies getting riddled with holes." He said as he looked at me with eyes burning with passion. "Alright everyone, back to testing your spells." He addressed the whole class and walked back to help and teach the other students.
As soon as Instructor Mills walked away, Hannah, Luna and Daniel rushed over to my side.
"That was amazing, John!" They said in unison, their eyes sparkling from amazement.
"You should teach me that spell!" Hannah exclaimed.
"Me too! Me too!" Daniel shook his hand as he raised it in the air.
"You're really amazing, John…" Luna said shyly.
"Sure, but I don't know how to explain how I imagined it clearly for you to understand, hahaha." I replied.
Soon after that, all the students went back to casting their spells at the target dummy. It was my turn and I followed Instructor Mills' instructions to not use the new spells I've made. Whoosh! I felt a gust of wind hit me on the shoulder as I was preparing to cast a spell.
"You okay, John?!" Daniel said worriedly.
"Sorry! I lost control of my magic!" A male student's voice screamed as he ran towards me.
I looked at my shoulder that got hit and saw that the clothes were torn and blood oozed out from a small slice on my skin. 'Shit, that hurt.' I thought to myself.
The male student stopped in front of me, completely disregarding Daniel and checked my clothes and saw the wound. He was almost as tall as me, just shorter by a couple of centimeters and had blonde hair with blue eyes. He was probably one of the better looking of the students in our class.
"I'm fine, it's just a small scratch. Don't worry about it." I smile at him trying to lessen his concern.
"Ah, but your clothes! I can pay for the repairs. Please let me atleast do this." He said.
"Um… Okay, I guess that's fine." I replied
"Oh by the way, My name is Julius Pearce, son of the Earl of Aspia." He added.
"Oh, Lord Julius. It's a pleasure to meet you. My name is John Colton, Barony of Eshon." I gave a slight bow as I replied.
"Yes, I know who you are, John Colton. Especially after that amazing spell you've just casted! You really are talented." He complimented. "Anyway, I have to get back and keep casting the spells. Please, take this as my apology and payment for the repair of your clothes!" He handed me a small pouch with what felt like coins inside of them and turned back to return to where he was casting.
"Heh."As he turned back, I saw a glimpse of an ominous smile forming on his face before he walked back. 'Did he just smile? He didn't mean to hit me on purpose, right? Yeah, surely not.' I tried to convince myself that what I just saw was my imagination.
"He's such a nice guy for a son of an Earl. He said sorry and paid for the repairs!" Daniel said.
Hannah and Luna rushed towards me after hearing what happened.
"John, you okay?" Luna said as she saw the torn clothes and slight blood leaking from the wound.
"John, what happened?" Hannah added.
"I'm fine, really. Lord Julius accidentally hit me with a spell and it gave me a small wound as well as cut through my clothes. It's nothing major, just a scratch." I reassured them that I'm fine.
"Lord Julius? Julius Pearce?" Luna asked, seemingly distracted with her thoughts.
"Oh, Julius Pearce? Isn't he one of your suitors, Luna?" Hanna looked at Luna.
'Suitor?.. Wait…' I thought as I remembered the slight laugh and the glimpse of a smile I saw and heard from a while ago.
"How did you know that!?" Luna's face began to turn red as she looked towards Hannah.
"There are just three Earls in our kingdom and word goes around, y'know? Hehehe." Hannah poked out her tongue towards Luna, teasing her.
"I guess…" Luna replied. "John, you should be careful of Julius. He's not all as he seems." She warned.
"Oh… I see, okay. Thanks for the warning, Luna." I replied.
'So he did mean to hit me… Is it because of jealousy? Or pride? I guess my school life is truly going to be a lot more eventful than the last one.' I thought as I looked towards where Julius was a while ago and caught him staring at me.
'Know your place.' That was the look he was giving me. I let out a small sigh and told the two girls to go back. I look at Daniel and put my hand on his shoulder.
"I think Lord Julius is out to get me." I said with a low voice.