Chapter 38 (mana resonance grades)

It's been three months since the school

began. The hallway, thrumming with a

hive of students engaging in their usual

training. At the sword mastery class,

everyone is lifting dumbbells while Drake

is usually swinging his sword in a

rhythmic manner. "996, 997, 998, 999...."

He counted, sweat beaded from his

brow as he moved. Instructor William

entered with a large piece of wood

measuring 50 cm in length and 120 cm in

thickness on his hands. Seeing his

students performance, he decided not to

test their stamina development and

move on to the next stage of training.

"All students come closer and form a

row." He instructed, and they all

complied. He placed the wood beside

him, folding his arms behind his back.

"Today, we're delve into the final step of

sword mastery, which is aura infusion.

There are three stages to be considered

before you can call your aura infusion

perfect. First, as I have once explained,

you must lean to release the right

amount of aura from your aura core

without wasting any. Second, you need

to fuse your sword and aura into a single

entity, ensuring they don't reject each

other. And finally, to maintain the aura

throughout the process of

materialisation and unleash it without

losing any aura output."

He walked over to the sword stand,

pulling out a steel sword, and returned to

his position. He released his aura

slightly around the sword and sliced

75cm deep through the piece of wood as

easily as cutting a cake.

"You can only achieve true mastery by

mastering these stages. Now, each of

you go down there," he pointed at the

sword stand. "Pick a sword and

demonstrate what I have shown you."

Victoria stepped forward and made a

60-cm cut through the piece of wood.

"Okay, very good. Next." Instructor

William praised.

Students came forward one after

another, making their sword cut through

the wood with results ranging from 35 cm

to 50 cm. Ronan stepped forward next.

He sliced 73.2 cm deep into the wood,

causing his classmates to comment on

his impressive cut.

"This is not surprising." One of the

students said. "Yeah, he's just too heroic

to be competitive with others." Another

student added. This also surprised

instructor William, but he quickly

composed himself. "Humm." He cleared

his throat. "Next please." Drake stepped

out with his sword raised in the air.

"Mana released." He muttered. 

During his body examination under

Xena guidance, he discovered a unique

aspect of his mana system: that is, his

mana pool operates based on voice

recognition. Unlike other mages who

need to channel mana through specific

techniques, Drake can only cast spells

by speaking the dragon languages

corresponding to the desired spell. As

long as his mana core capacity, mana

ring compatibility, and affinity for the

magic are sufficient, the reverse crystal

in his heart will automatically activate,

invoking the spell.

This explained why he found it easy to

cast spells throughout his journey.

The reverse crystal glowed, channelling

mana through his hand, but when he

tried to imbue it into the sword, the sword

shattered. Everyone was unbelievably

shocked at the scene. He attempted it

two more times, but the result was the

same. Not knowing what had gone

wrong, his classmates burst into

mocking laughter, except Victoria, who

quietly observed and began to

understand the situation.

"Hahahah, you see that. How can a

mage even think of wielding a sword?"

One the students mocked. Roman,

seizing the opportunity to taunt Drake,

stepped forward. "What a shame. Some

people should have just stayed at home

washing the dishes," he sneered, and

they joined his laughter.

Victoria cut the jeers shot. "You are all

mocking him, but you should be

ashamed of your ignorance." She said,

crossing her arms. Ronan turned to her

irritatedly. "What do you mean by that?" I

don't get why you would defend this

loser."

Meanwhile, Instructor William is

intrigued by what Victoria has to say.

"Open your pathetic ears and listen."

She said, her voice cut through the air.

"Have you all forgotten about 'Mana

Resonance Grade?' Which are dull

resonance grade, low resonance grade,

moderate resonance grade, high

resonance grade, and perfect resonance

grade? This grade determines how

much mana purity a weapon can handle,

with dull resonance being the lowest and

perfect resonance being the highest."

She was still explaining when Ronan

interrupted. "Yes, we do, but what does

that have to do with the sword

shattering?" He said, raising both hands

above his shoulders, looking puzzled.

Victoria signed heavily and continued.

"As you will know, the highest sword

resonance grade you usually find is low

resonance grade. Do you remember

what the principal said about Drake's

water affinity being at a high level,

comparable to that of dragon mana

affinities? The shattering of the Low

Resonance Grade sword is probably

because it couldn't handle the purity of

his  mana. She turned to Ronan. "Don't

just laugh off your ignorance and try to

think with your brain." This got on

Ronan's nerves, but he had nothing to

say, knowing what she said was probably

right.

"So, you mean Drake has high affinity,

just like the dragons?" Instructor William

broke the silence, facing Victoria. She

nodded in response. "Wow, I see why the

sword shattered suddenly." Instructor

William concluded, placing his right

index finger on his chin. He walked

towards Drake and patted him on the

shoulder. "That great, you can pulse this

step for now," he said and turned to

others. "Let's end the class here for

today.

As Drake was about to leave,

Instructor William called out to him.

"Drake," he said, causing Drake to turn

back. "In two weeks there will be a large

market day outside the academy; if you

are lucky, you might come across a

weapon of high grade." With that, he left. 

Drake, whipping his head around, his

eyes darting as he searched for Victoria.

He spotted her turning the corner of the

building and quickly darted after her. "Hi."

He called out. Victoria turned back to

see who it was. "Oh, Drake. What's the

matter?" Drake is scratching the back of

his head. "Humm, thanks for your help

and clarification." Victoria rests her

hands on her hips. "You don't need to

thank me; I just interpreted the situation."

Drake clapped his hands together,

rubbing them. "That doesn't change the

fact that you helped me. Anyway, I owe

you for this." Victoria shuddered as she

turned away. "suit yourself." She said and

walked off.

Drake was still watching Victoria as

she walked away, smiling lingering on his

face, when Mark approached him from

behind, noticing Drake's expression.

"ta-ta-ta." He knowingly nodded.

Drake turned to him, surprised. "When

did you get here?" He asked, looking at

Mark's frowning face. "Is there

something wrong with my face?" Drake

asked curiously. "I pity my sister-in-law, if

she knew what was going on right now..."

Mark teased, but before he could finish,

Drake jumped on him, wrapping his arm

around Mark's neck. "Stop spreading

rumours, it was just a conversation to

thank her for her help." He said gripping

Mark neck tightly.

"Cough, cough. Okay, I get it. Can you

let go of my neck now?" Mark patted

Drake's arms. Drake releasing his grip,

freeing Mark's neck. They continued

their fun as they walked towards their

dorms.