Special Class (3)

The five students gathered outdoors on campus, sitting at a table. They took out their student cards and carefully read the information, beginning their introductions:

"I'm Antony Windsor, the second son of the Windsor family, one of the royal families of the Three Great Kingdoms of the Grand Empire," he tried to stand out but was happy to see no one cared. "My energy is mana, my attribute is metal, and my special ability is 'perfect body.'"

"My name is Aryna Sabbac, from the Grand Empire. My energy is mana, my attribute is water, and my special ability is an unlimited energy reserve."

"I'm Ivan, from Snegriya. My energy is mana, my attribute is ice, and my special ability allows me to withstand extreme temperatures, both low and high."

"Rebecca, also from the Grand Empire. My energy is psychoenergy, my ability is to create psychic barriers, and my special ability is the power to absorb attacks."

"My name is Theo Augustus de Lawrence, and I come from Romerian. My energy is Ether, and my special ability is known as 'genium.'"

"Which state of Romerian are you from?" Aryna asked.

"Nethuns."

"Cool! The state of the water god…"

"I heard the beaches there are tropical and beautiful," Aryna commented.

Antony approached Ivan, climbing onto the wooden table and resting his feet on the bench.

"What's it like in Snegriya? Is it really all frozen? Are people there really more reserved?"

"Yes," Ivan cut in. "Daily temperatures reach −18 °C, and that's the warmest it gets. And yes, people are more reserved. You live in Nethuns, right? Have you visited the nymph forest?" he asked Theo, completely ignoring Antony.

"Yes, the forest surrounds my house and the nearby cities, so I basically grew up there."

"What's it like? Is it really that dangerous?" Rebecca inquired.

"Yes. I took just one step into the mist, but I regretted it so much that I wished for death."

Rebecca swallowed hard, looking around. Ivan remained interested.

"What did you see?" Aryna asked. At that moment, Antony poked Theo's bicep, noticing it was a sensitive topic for him.

"Death," Theo replied, and a tense silence fell over the group. Theo maintained a distant gaze after answering. "Rebecca, how powerful are your barriers?"

"It depends on my absorption capacity. Any damage my barrier takes, I absorb, reducing it by 50%."

"Wait, you create a barrier to protect yourself and still take damage? How does that work?" Antony joked.

"Basically. I don't feel pain, but I still take the damage. I usually consider it a curse."

"It's more useful than a girl who just shoots water," Aryna retorted, diverting attention from Rebecca.

"Actually, no," Theo argued. "Scientifically speaking, water can be one of the most destructive forces. For example, a high-pressure water jet can cut through diamond like paper. Thinking about it… if one of those jets were large enough, it could split a mountain…"

"Are you speaking our language?" Aryna asked.

"As Paul said: you think too much. But maybe that's your advantage," Ivan commented, sitting on one of the benches. "You seem experienced with the wind. Who trained you?"

"My father. He's a hybrid class, so he made sure I learned to manipulate the wind. My mindset helps sometimes."

"Is he military?"

"Lieutenant."

Ivan nodded, impressed.

"Who is this Amiah?" Aryna looked at her student card.

"Amiah… that name sounds familiar," Theo murmured.

"Hmm… what are you all going to do now?" Antony asked, looking at the sky. "I'm thinking of attending a magic class. I don't know anything about the system. Is anyone else coming?"

"I'm out," Ivan retorted, arms crossed and eyes closed. "In Snegriya, kids are forced to learn about the scientific system as soon as they can read, so this will be the last class I attend."

"Do peasants in Snegriya even know how to read?" Antony was surprised. In the Genesis continent, peasants barely know the meaning of formal words.

"Yes."

"I'm out too. Becca and I are going to a spell enhancement class," Aryna said. All four looked sideways at Theo, who understood the message and quickly replied:

"Okay, I'll go. I need to understand Ether better, so it'll be useful."

"Thanks, man!" Antony thanked, raising his hand.

Theo looked at Antony's outstretched hand, waiting for a response. As he stood up from the bench, Theo slapped Antony's hand and waved to the others, saying goodbye.

☽✪☾

Classes at Wispells are not mandatory. Each student understands their unique learning needs and must seek what they require. Teachers are always in their classrooms during designated hours; if there are students to teach, they will do so. Otherwise, they remain there, waiting. This rarely happens, as Wispells has over five thousand students.

Theo and Antony were among the first to arrive at the magic system class, taught by Professor Beatrice. They sat in the chairs closest to the stage. About a hundred students arrived in the last twenty minutes.

Beatrice swallowed hard, being a new teacher. In the past, she had never taught more than twenty students; now, she faced a hundred teenagers. She had been nervous since entering the room, checking attendance and snapping her fingers.

"Okay…" she mentally encouraged herself, inhaling and exhaling.

"What are the types of energy?" Theo asked before she could say anything, trying to encourage Beatrice and make her forget her nervousness. Knowing the woman who had taught him for over ten years, he knew what she was feeling at that moment.

"Great. Can anyone tell me the five types of energy a core can have?" Beatrice asked the students.

"Mana!" one of them answered, followed by others.

"Ether."

"Ki."

"Psychoenergy."

"Quantum energy!"

"Not to mention their stages, called energy cycles or Chakras," Beatrice added. "The cores are nothing more than an organ formed near the solar plexus. For deviants, they are simply the ability to manipulate these energies with ease. For us, they are our life source. Can anyone tell me why?"

"Because the more energy stored in a core, the longer our lifespan."

"Partially. If we expend too much energy from our core, we die. But if we let it accumulate too much, the core collapses, and we also die. What's the solution?"

"Expend a reasonable amount of energy through spells," Theo replied after the students exchanged puzzled looks.

"Exactly. To cast spells, we perform a kind of 'equivalent exchange' with our core: we apply the amount of energy we want to expend, and it returns it in the form of an element. Examples of such cores are Mana and Ether. Unlike Ki, for example, which even ordinary humans can use. However, deviants have an advantage. Usually, martial artists use this energy."

Beatrice turned to the blackboard and wrote "Psychoenergy."

"Psychoenergy is for those who use magical beasts. This psychic energy can manipulate the feelings and thoughts of living beings. Usually, tamers use this energy to keep their beasts under control."

Writing the names "Mana, Ether, and Quantum," she continued:

"Mana is the natural energy particle and the most abundant in our world. Ether and Quantum are taboos… we don't exactly know what they are. We only know that Ether comes from space, while Quantum is a particle that comes from within atomic nuclei."

"Isn't something missing?" Antony whispered to Theo.

"The energy disks," Theo replied.

"What about the energy disks?" Antony asked.

"Well, they are like small cores scattered throughout the body. They serve as secondary energy storage. Some deviants can't use the energy in their cores, so they are stuck with Chakras. Since one of the Chakra disks can enhance vision, mind, and processing capacity. We usually call these people scientists or alchemists. And also," she sighed nervously. "Some disks carry elemental codes. That is, where our attributes reside. The compressed energy to manipulate elements."

Beatrice wrote on the board, drawing an addition symbol followed by a subtraction sign and ending with a perfect circle.

"Positive, negative, and neutral. Our cores respond to these three particles, regardless of which energy they are made of. We use a color chart to symbolize a core's energy, where the further from green it is, the more energy it has. Cores charged with protons have three shades: yellow, orange, and red."

Beatrice walked around the small stage after explaining the shades, listing from the least to the most energetic, respectively.

"Cores charged with electrons have blue, purple, and violet as their shades. Finally, cores charged only with neutrons are just green. They are the rarest and at the same time the strongest cores. Although called 'neutron cores,' they give the impression of having no energy, but it's the opposite. Green cores are neutral because they can control both electrons and protons in harmony, keeping everything in balance."

"In the end, it's just like an atom," a student whispered, laughing.

"Correct," Beatrice replied, leaving the student slightly embarrassed.

He had made the comparison to belittle neutral deviants, comparing them to the size of an atom. For many with red or violet cores, those with green cores are aberrations trying to imitate them but not coming close to their power.

"Neutral deviants are like an atom. The core in the solar plexus while the Chakra disks can be considered the electron cloud. That's why we should thank them. Thanks to these deviants, ninety-five percent of energy manipulation techniques exist. Thanks to the people who fought for their right to live. So thank them, because, like an atom, it's thanks to them that you still have energy in your core and are alive to be like this."

"Idiot," Theo thought, smiling slightly.

The sound of a trumpet echoed through the campus.

"It's over just when I was getting excited… anyway!" she exclaimed, catching the attention of those already leaving. "Remember: deviants are humans who did not succumb to the primitive and savage violence of our nature, which is why we are superior. And because we are superior, we must protect those who have not evolved."

"A great philosophy… But it's time to head back to the dorms. See you tomorrow, then?" Antony asked Theo, but he was lost in thought.

"If Ether comes from space, how could I get a considerable reserve of that energy?" he reflected. "Will any of the techniques Beatrice mentioned be enough?"

"Theo?" Antony called again.

"Sure, see you tomorrow," Theo said goodbye to Antony.

"See you!"

Theo stood up from his chair, looking at the sun streaming through the glass window. He took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and reflected a bit more. In these moments, he missed the ease of his past life. The ease of not needing to learn, just executing. Now, in this life and this body, studying and executing were the only way out.