Chapter 25 (mana: the art of assimilation)

Everywhere bustled with activity as

students prepared for their first day of

school. Drake, dressed for class,

stepped out of the dormitory. He spotted

other students either directly staring at

him or through their peripheral visions.

Drake realised that their actions were

related to the rumour about him and

Xena, which has spread like wildfire. Just

as he attempted to ignore, a familiar

voice called to him.

"My Crux. Wait, let's walk together.

Instantly, Drake recognised the voice.

He quickened his pace, trying to avoid

the voice, but before he could gain any

distance, Xena caught up, wrapped her

arms around his right arm, and pressed it

tight against her chest as they walked.

"Why are you avoiding me? Is there

anything wrong?" She asked and tried to

lock eyes with him.

"Hey, are you stupid or are you just acting

up? Don't you realise that the rumour

about us has spread all over the

academy?" Drake muttered.

He tried to free his right arm, avoiding

eye contact with her. Xena instantly burst

into tears. "Is that why you are avoiding

me? You are so mean. I just came to your

room to discuss the divine." Knowing

what she was about to spill out, Drake

quickly covered her mouth with his

hands.

"Fine, you win. Let's walk together."

"Really ." She glanced at him to confirm.

"Yes." Drake noded. Xena wiped away

tears from her face; her arms tightened

around Drake's right arm as they headed

towards the lecture hall.

The academy building housing the

lecture hall has four sub buildings. the

lecture hall located on the east side. A

male dressing room is situated to the

north, a female dressing room to the

west, and a training and evaluation

center located at the south.

There are three entrances to this

academy building. The male and female

dressing rooms each have doors, and

the last door at the east leads to the

lecture hall.Drake and Xena entered the

hall. The lecture hall has a seating

capacity of 100, arranged in a tiered

fashioned.

All students fixed their gaze at Drake and

Xena whispering to one another.

"They are the rumoured being discussed

everywhere."

"Really, who would have believed such a

guy can do such a thing?"

"But one thing is unclear: if what the

rumour said was true, why are they still

together?"

"Hum, what you said really makes

sense." All this murmured made Drake

uncomfortable, while Xena didn't care as

she continued to smile at Drake. They

both find an empty seat in the second to

last row.

A few minutes later, Professor Leo

entered the lecture hall and climbed the

podium. "Good morning, class."

All students in the hall also reply in

unison. "Good morning, sir." He stepped

towards the edge of the podium, moving

closer to the students.

"There's an announcement to you all to

be delivered through me, and it's related

to the rumour circulating the academy.

This is to inform you that the school has

officially recognised Drake and his

partner's relationship. Which means that

from now on, they are allowed to leave

together in his dormitory.This sudden

information piqued the curiosity of all the

students in the hall.

"That means they will be leaving as

couples from the academy."

"That seems to be..."

"That's not what got my interest. What

their identity for the institution to

acknowledge their relationship." A wave

of murmured echoes roared from every

corner. Griffin raised his hand.

"What is it?" Professor Leo asked.This

caused the murmur to subside.

"With all due respect, sir. Isn't this giving

special attention to these students over

the others?" He enquired hypocritically.

The hall erupted in noise once again.

Griffin turned Drake and smirked as he

sat. Professor Leo claps his hands to

regain their attention.

"Please be quiet. To be sincere with you

all, I was against it. But the principal

himself couldn't turn down the person's

request. So that's that. Let's talk about

today's topic." He turned back to the

board.

Drake turned to Xena, who smiled in

return, her arms still tightly wrapped

around his.Only Drake knew that only

Xena could request such a thing,

especially in such a short time. Which

made Drake start recollecting his

memories with Xena.

As you may have all speculated, I am a

professor specialising in magic. I will take

you through Mana in nature. 

Mana existed in different forms. For

instance, water and ice mana existed in

moisture form. The process of absorbing

mana is like breathing in; you can't see it

but feel it, just like oxygen we breathe in.

Let's imagine that the air around us is a

moist tea bag. This moisture contained

in the tea bag is not water but a special

energy called mana, which flows through

anything in the world. When mages

needed to assimilate in mana, they

essentially squeezed this invisible tea

bag, drawing mana from it. just like how

plants absorbed water from the earth's

crust. Mage pulled this moisture towards

themselves and drowning it in intotheir

mana pool for mage and mana core for

warriors to act like a magnet, attracting

the mana with their unique family

assimilation techniques. That brought

about each family having their own

unique way of mana assimilation. So any

question?"

Victoria raised her hands up, catching

professor Leo's attention. "Victoria,

luthor right,he pointed at her. "Yes sir."

She nodded.

"Okay, what's your question?" He said,

placing his hands on his waistband.

Victoria stands to speak. "Please, sir, my

question revolves around mana circles.

Different mana circles are used when

casting spells or techniques, which is

understandable between mages and

warriors, but between mages it gets a bit

complicated. Can you explain to us?"

She asked, then sat down.

Professor clears his throat. "Let me start

with the purpose of the mana circle. You

see, mana circles serve as the gate for

the summoned element for mages or the

mechanism that transforms aura

warriors into a befitting technique for

warriors. While spells cast from the

mouth help mages and warriors to

concentrate, control, and reduce stress

on their mental strength.