Mandala and Blindness

"Whoa, I thought he was a goner for sure," Eloise said excitedly as she clapped.

Kaya smiled like she had thought the same and was just as relieved to see the drill continue but then her eyes narrowed as she watched Caius charging forward in the air,

"What's he doing?" She asked and then her eyes went wide in realization as she said in a low voice, her palms still clapped together,

"Caius, that's a bad idea."

Caius would have agreed with her if he had heard her. As it was, he couldn't hear anything besides the beating of his heart and maybe the sound of the explosive blast that somehow remained even though he was now out of the dust cloud. 

The serpent raised its head. As a creature made of Mana turned lightning, it didn't have any mass which meant it could react as fast as the person controlling it wanted it to react. 

Cynthia Kragsten was far past the Third Circle so her reactions were leagues above what Caius was capable of. He might as well have been moving in slow motion in her eyes so she was able to control the lightning serpent to rear its head, unhinge its jaw, and prepare to fire another beam of lightning streaks. 

Caius's hairs stood on end as the lightning of the prepared beam readied to fire.

'It won't kill me. It'll hurt like hell and likely knock me out of the fight but it won't kill me,' he thought with certainty. This was still an educational drill, after all. 

With that assurance and his teeth gritted at the pain he'd endure, Caius looked past the beam being prepared and at the reverse scale that was his target. 

'I need precision and burst damage,' he thought, 'Best for the task will be ~Fireball!~'

As the spell came to mind, its spell circle also appeared but just as it conjured up a ball of fire, Caius saw the beam of lightning streaks get fired and knew his spell wouldn't get to his target in time. 

'Too slow…!' He thought and braced himself for the attack only to be shoulder-slammed out of the way and sent tumbling to the ground. 

"Ngh!"

As he hit the ground, Caius winced and looked up at the one who had saved him from the lightning streaks. 

It was none other than Aurelius who had a seal already prepared before slamming Caius aside. He struck the seal forward as he infused mana into it so that it let out a burst of light that congealed into a shape; A circle made of pure light and within the circle was a square divided into four sections. 

The class cheered as they always did for anything that looked remotely entertaining but behind her lightning serpent, Professor Kragsten's eyes were narrowed as she felt something from Aurelius' spell. It was a Light Magic spell for sure but it felt like something more. For one thing, it was holding up far too well against her spell. 

While the Professor might have been confused, Caius was not.

Aurelius' spell was a Light Magic spell called ~'Mandala'~ that was currently incomplete. And it was created by Aurelius himself. Or more accurately, it was created by his past life.

In that past life, Aurelius was the right-hand man of the Goddess of Divine Light and died in her godly holy war. After which he was sent into reincarnation causing him to be reborn as Aurelius Du Aristide. That was why he had no affinity with Dark Magic. As a being who was closest to the Goddess of Divine Light, there was no 'room for Darkness within him'. 

Every time Aurelius advanced into a new Magic Circle, he'd gain a portion of his memories but none of it so far had actually told him who he used to be. It had all just been spells and symbols in a unique Arcane Codex which he didn't complain about learning. 

Take now for instance;

As the beam of lightning struck the magical circle of the Mandala spell and failed to break through, Aurelius confirmed it was the best defensive tool he had in his arsenal. Any other spell would have shattered already. 

Professor Kragsten could tell as well which was why, as the seconds ticked and Aurelius endured the blast barely moving five inches back in the air, she looked more and more impressed. 

"Incredible. But it won't last long," she said in a clear voice that all in the class could hear. 

She was right. Besides running out of Mana, there was only so long Aurelius could remain suspended in the air.

But then, right when Aurelius began to lose altitude, he stamped his foot against nothing, creating a foothold of light to balance himself and remain in the air. He did the same for his other foot and reinforced his support. 

~Freya's Footsteps~: A Third Circle Light Magic spell that was again created by Aurelius' past life. There was a limit to how many footholds Aurelius could create but fortunately, two were enough for the task at hand. 

"What?!" Professor Kragsten exclaimed as her eyes got even wider. 

A defensive spell that was capable of withstanding the continuous stream of lightning was impressive enough but the ability to cast a second spell to simulate flight and maintain both at the same time. At the Third Circle? Ridiculous!

It was clear with the look on the Professor's face that even if the students failed the drill, Aurelius had shown enough acumen to be worthy of her praise… 

"Hey, what's he doing?!" 

Someone in the spectator seats yelled out suddenly while pointing at something on the ground but whatever he had been pointing at was already gone. It didn't take long for them to spot the running figure that was charging right at the Lightning serpent. 

That figure was, of course, Caius. 

Taking advantage of Aurelius holding the Serpent's attack in place, he charged for the reverse scale. 

'Aurelius looks like he can hold that forever but I know he has only seconds left,' Caius thought while using ~Wispy Feet~ to boost his running speed. 

There was only so close he could get to the Serpent before getting zapped by the electricity that made up its form but Caius felt he needed precision with his attack. He might only get one clear shot at it, after all. 

"Oh?" 

Maybe it was the yell from the crowd that caught her attention or Caius just got close enough to trigger her senses, but Professor Kragsten's eyes fell on him and she looked almost surprised by his brazenness. She controlled her lightning serpent to shut off its electrical output on Autelius and targeted Caius instead. 

"Oh, come on," Caius said and let out a little nervous laugh but he didn't stop running. 

At the same time, Aurelius reacted, creating two more platforms of light that he dashed across before swinging the circle of 'Mandala' at the lightning stream right before it was fired. 

The magic within the 'Mandala' circle reacted with the lightning and deflected the blast for two precious seconds that Caius spent preparing his spell.

~Fireball!~

Caius thrust his hand forward to fire a powerful blast of flame at the serpent's reverse scale, hitting it at almost point-blank range. 

*BANG!*

*Crackle!*

*BOOM!!!*

The serpent's lightning form flared once, twice before exploding with enough force to cause Caius to slide five steps away while also erupting a thick cloud of dust. 

*Cough!* *Cough!* *Cough!*

The cough came from Caius' side and he looked through the dust to see Aurelius standing about two feet away from him. 

"Aurelius, there's only one minute left," Caius said. He had seen the clock before the dust eruption so the time left might even be smaller now. 

"What?" Aurelius asked amid coughs, sounding confused. 

"We don't have time," Caius told him, "Go for it. I'll cover you."

Casting 'Mandala' and 'Freya's Footsteps' was taxing but Caius knew Aurelius must still have enough Mana to grant himself a boost. 

"Why don't you go for it?" Aurelius asked. 

"You have the better spells," Caius said. 

It was true. With the inheritance he was getting from his Past life, Aurelius was the most equipped in the class. Perks of being the Main character. 

"Besides, it doesn't matter who gets into the inner ring first. We both win anyway."

Aurelius paused and for a second that felt like a minute to him, he didn't move. Like he was thinking about what Caius just said and then he nodded. 

"Alright."

"Go!"

And he was off. With Caius close behind him. 

Professor Kragsten had pushed the dust away from herself with a wind spell to give her a clear vision. Her instincts and senses were sharp but being able to see always granted an edge. 

She could cast another barrier but Third circle spells of that type take Time. She decided it was just better to react to the two boys whenever they surfaced. 

Caius surfaced first, swinging his arm at her to send her a wind scythe that she deflected with a Wind shield spell but right when she smiled and prepared to strike out an attack of her own and put him out of commission, she saw a purple veil coming at her.

'The Wind scythe was a distraction!' She realized as the veil struck her face and she lost her vision. 

~Blindness!~

Almost like it had been timed and planned, she sensed a second figure that she knew was Aurelius. He had either always been close or he had a spell that made him move so fast, that no Third Circle spell cast could catch up. 

Either way, by the time Professor Kragsten got rid of her blindness with Mana and regained her sight, a loud buzzer sounded and the inner ring glowed red as Aurelius' hand crossed over it. 

The Drill was over.