Alex and Marc exited the classroom and walked toward the library, where they collected their books. After that, they went to the dorms.Each room housed two people, twenty rooms in total. To ensure privacy and avoid trouble, girls were paired with other girls. If someone was left without a roommate, she'd get a room to herself.
Of course, Alex and Marc applied to share a room together — and they got it.
Walking inside, they found a simply decorated space. The beds were placed in opposite corners, separated by about three meters. On the left side was a door leading to the bathroom; on the right, a small kitchen.
Between the beds, a window looked out toward the cafeteria and what seemed to be the academy's main street.
They could see people coming and going — some younger, some older.
Alex sat down on his bed and looked at the sheet they had to turn in the next day.
On it were listed the secondary classes they could take, with a square beside each name where they could mark their choices.
"Anatomy, botany, alchemy, magic engineering, blacksmithing, runesmithing, art of magical warfare, magic development, physical studies, martial arts development…" Alex read aloud. Then he looked at Marc with a small smile — he already had a good guess what his friend would pick.
"What would you choose?" Alex asked.
Physical Studies, Martial Arts Development, Blacksmithing, Alex thought.
"Physical Studies, Martial Arts Development, and Anatomy," Marc answered.
"Ah?" Alex blinked, surprised.
"Why anatomy? I thought you'd pick blacksmithing."
"Well, how can I develop my body if I don't know anything about it?" Marc replied.
Alex pondered for a moment.
"Surprisingly coherent of you," he said.
"Shut up. Do I look that dumb to you?" Marc grumbled.
"Well, you look like many things," Alex said, grinning, "but I guess dumb is one of them."
"Yeah, at least you're hone— What the hell?!"
Marc jumped to his feet, grabbing Alex's head with both hands in mock outrage — or perhaps to show his "appreciation" for Alex's kind words.
Alex squirmed in pain, kicking to get free, but it felt like Marc's body was made of steel. His foot even started to hurt from the effort.
"Huff— what the hell are you made of? Huff— mithril?" Alex panted.
"You'd do some damage if you were a little bigger, but alas — you were born a twig," Marc shot back.
After their usual scuffle, Marc asked the same question in return.
"And what are you gonna choose? Let me guess — alchemy, botany, and magic development?"
"Almost. It's alchemy, magic development, and anatomy — just like you," Alex corrected.
"And why anatomy, huh?" Marc asked.
"Because I plan on taking healing as an element once I reach the second tier," Alex explained. "And from what I've read, understanding the body and practicing on it are the main ways to advance in healing."
"Huh. Fair enough," Marc replied.
After that, Marc went to shower while Alex headed out to buy groceries. When he returned, he quickly cooked something, ate, and then took his own shower before going to bed.
The next morning, Alex woke up and, as usual, began writing down all the alchemy recipes he'd memorized. He was still at the beginner level, which had the largest number of recipes to learn.
After writing everything he remembered, he stood and cooked breakfast.
Today was their first official day at the academy. He was nervous and excited in equal measure.
When he finished cooking, he woke Marc up with a gentle kick to the butt.
After eating, the two headed toward their classroom.
As planned, they went straight to the same seats they'd sat in the day before.
Thanks to their excitement, they arrived twenty minutes early — but Scarlett was already there, waiting.
"Hello, teacher," Alex greeted.
"Hello," Marc followed.
"Oh, good morning, kids. Early, I see. That's nice to see," Scarlett said with a warm smile.
They went to sit in their usual seats, but unexpectedly—
"Oh? No, no, no. Come sit up here in the front row. Diligent students can't sit with the hooligans."
"But… he's clearly a hooligan," Alex said, pointing at Marc.
Marc shot him a glare, clearly annoyed, but said nothing — hoping the teacher would just let them stay.
"It's true," Scarlett admitted, "but he's a diligent hooligan. Now come here."
She pointed at two seats in the front row.
Alex and Marc sighed and dragged themselves to the front, silently promising each other never to arrive early again.
As class time approached, more and more students filtered in. Once everyone was seated, they placed their name cards on their desks as the teacher had instructed the day before.
Scarlett did a quick roll call, then began the lesson.
"Okay, kids. Open Magic Theory to the first page. I hope you all studied properly during your earlier years — and if you're new, I hope you spent some good time in the library."
"The first thing we're going to learn is how the mage's nucleus and the martial artist's heart rings work."
She glanced around the class.
"As many of you already know, the nucleus of a mage can store elemental mana. However, your status panel treats all elemental mana simply as mana — allowing you to use fire-gathered mana to cast water-elemental skills. Why is that? Any ideas?"
A girl raised her hand.
"Yes… hmm, Lysa," Scarlett said, squinting to read the name on her paper.
"Is it because the core transforms the elemental mana into pure mana as soon as it enters?" the girl answered, half-confidently.
"Well, that's a nice try, but sadly not the case," Scarlett said. "The core actually divides progression among the number of elements you have. That means the mana stored inside the nucleus is elemental mana, not just neutral mana."
Alex pondered for a moment. Lysa's answer wasn't bad, but what Scarlett said made more sense. The nucleus indeed grew with one element up to a certain point, then halted until a new element was trained.
He raised his hand slightly.
"Yes, Alexander?" Scarlett asked. "Any idea?"
"Hmm… the nucleus performs a transmutation between elemental mana in a two-step process," Alex said. "First, it converts surplus mana into pure mana, then transforms that into the required element."
He came to that conclusion thanks to an alchemical potion he'd read about — he couldn't remember its name, but he recalled it accelerated elemental transmutation within the core.
"Oh! Excellent answer, Alex. You're correct." Scarlett seemed genuinely pleased.
"He's right," she continued. "The mage's core does indeed transmute mana between elements. And why, you may ask? Because mana that's already aligned to an element can be cast instantly.
"Pure mana, on the other hand, adds about 0.2 seconds to the casting time due to the transmutation. That might sound insignificant to you, but for powerful beings, that difference can mean victory or defeat."
"Martial artists, however, don't have this issue," she explained. "Their rings form mini-cores that store mana for each element separately — though they hold about half the total mana that mages can."
Scarlett continued explaining while the class took notes, Alex included.
After several hours, the class finally ended.
"Okay, kids," Scarlett said. "Now hand in your secondary class sheets. I'll stamp them, and you can head to the library to pick up the corresponding books. Today's class ends early, but tomorrow, in the main hall, you'll find the schedule for all your other lessons. Make sure to take a look. Until tomorrow."
She waved them off and left.
And just like that, the first day of school came to an end — an exciting one, especially for Alex, who, in truth, was a bit of a nerd.