Offense is the best utility

Professor Elowen gathered the newcomer in the training arena the following day.

"Good morning, everyone."

"Today, I will start teaching you about magic."

"As I have said before, you as trainees have yet to step on the path of magic; you have a one-year time limit to do so; during this period, I will be responsible for teaching you the basics of magic and how to embark on this path."

"Around every month, we will conduct a promotion exam. You can take the exam as many times as you want, and there will be no consequences for failure. If the one-year limit has come and you have yet to pass the exam, you will be expelled from the Academy."

"The first stage in the mage path is to become an apprentice mage. As an apprentice mage, one is able to gather the Aether energy from the world into their bodies; they are able to utilize this energy to cast various spells".

"Apprentice mages are divided into ten levels, with level one being the first and level ten being the last, corresponding to the peak of the apprentice mage stage before transitioning into the next stage."

"But professor, to enter the apprentice mage stage, one needs to sense the presence of Aether and gather it in his body. Haven't we all already done that in the trial?"

One of the trainees asked.

"Young man, you are right. It's the same thing as you have done in the trial, but the difference is that you have to do it on your own without the help of artifacts."

"In the trial, you were able to sense the presence of Aether and visualize it as stars with the help of the magic crystal; you were able to gather Aether with the help of Silverheart Bracelets."

"Now you are required to do this process without assistance."

"After that, you are required to learn and successfully cast any spell; you can use any spell you want, whether it's an attack spell like fireball or a utility spell like object levitation."

"That's basically the promotion exam."

"After passing the promotion exam, you will be assigned to one of the main classes."

"I hope that I have made everything clear to you. If you have any questions or if there is something that you do not understand, don't hesitate to come to my office; I will be more than happy to help."

"Okay, now that we are done with the introduction, we will start the classes. We will meet in the afternoon in the classroom."

"Feel free to tour the academy and get familiar with the various facilities; some students from the main classes volunteered to help you."

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Artus sat down in the cafeteria of the Academy after Professor Elowen finished his speech; he roamed around randomly; he did not want to join the tours organized by the volunteers as there was a large number of trainees with them. It was too crowded and too eye-catching.

He tried to look for Lady Seers but could not find her, so he sat in the cafeteria and decided to sort things out and plan his next move.

As previously analyzed by NuroFusion, his power level had already reached that of a level two apprentice mage; now, to pass the promotion test, he only needs to learn a spell.

He was considering whether it was wise to pass the promotion test early on.

As he was thinking, a student came to him.

"Excuse me, are you Artus?".

"Yes, I am, how can I help you?"

"Professor Seers sent me; she wants to see you in her office."

"Professor Seers?"

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In the office, Artus sat on a chair, and he was behind the desk where Lady Seers sat. he took a sip from the cup of tea.

"So, how should I call you Lady Seers or Professor Seers?"

"Did not we already discuss that? Call me Aunt Seer".

Artus rolled his eyes when he heard her answer.

"Artus, don't play dumb. You already knew I was someone with a high rank in the magic division. How did you think I would support you if I were not? Or did you agree to my offer while thinking I was just a random person from the magic division?".

"You have a point; I knew you held a high position in the magic division; I just did not like that you hid that from me."

"I did not hide anything from you. You have not asked me in the first place. If you had asked me, I would have told you."

"I can't argue with you after all. You are my aunt".

Artus and Seers laughed out.

Their relationship had gotten closer over the last period.

"More importantly, you told me you left a surprise gift in my dorm. I spent the whole day searching but did not find anything."

"My bad, some matter came to keep, and I was very busy, so I did not have the time to visit your dorm. I will give you the surprise gift right now."

She handed him a dark red colored book.

"This is the fireball spellbook; you have probably heard about it before; it was one of the most famous spells practiced by beginner mages. It is basically transforming Aether energy into a sphere made of fire and launching it towards a target."

Artus opened the book, skimmed through it, then closed it again.

"What? You don't look happy with this gift".

"It is not like that, lady Seers; I am, of course, thankful for your gift; it is the first spellbook I read...it is just that I was hoping for some utility spell…. I will be able to do many things with that….as for attack spells, I don't think I have use for them right now".

"You are a unique child; indeed, mages usually learn attack spells first; who doesn't like to become strong? Most people who walk the mage path want to become powerful. As for other types of spells, they usually learn them later on".

"But again, you are wrong; now you have become a student of The Royal Arcanum Academy; you have become a target for thieves, bandits, or even kidnappers."

"Someone like you who is not of noble background and is not rich will not be able to hire bodyguards to protect himself."

"For a child like you, if you were able to master the fireball spell, for example, an average adult would not be a match for you."

"So, the first thing that you should learn is to protect yourself against these kinds of people; not only that, but if you learn attack spells, you can start hunting monsters for money and resources to be self-dependent."

"You also need to be able to protect yourself against other people in the academy, be it in formal duals or behind-the-scenes ones."

"It's your first day at the academy, so you still have not met or interacted with other people; you must be ready when the time comes."

"You make a valid point, Lady Seers"

"I will read the book later, but can you demonstrate the fireball spell for now? It will help me understand things better when I read the book".

Seers extended her right hand, and then, out of thin air, a small fire was ignited in front of her hand; its size started to increase while its shape became more spherical till it reached the size of an adult fist, then it was extinguished and disappeared.