Chapter - 4: Elena's classroom
Professor Rinaldi's lecture continued. Throughout the lecture, he talked about the basics of magic application and its history of development.
"In the beginning, there was no lightning magic. People used to believe air magic was limited to manipulating wind. But a hundred years ago, a talented mage named Fan Benjamin proposed that since air is part of weather phenomena, it might be possible to influence them through air magic.
His research marked the start of lightning magic. Initially, lightning spells required summoning dark clouds and storms. However, modern arcane scholars have since developed ways to cast lightning directly, bypassing the need for clouds.
Even though we still don't know what lightning is and the theory behind it, but after much research, we discovered that lightning appears in the sky because of the air frictions occurring inside the clouds.
Highly concentrated air friction and water particle collisions generate sparks of electricity. So we speculated that creating those conditions ourselves might allow us to cast lightning spells without the need of clouds. And indeed, it got realized not long ago through extensive trial errors.
Though the lightning lacked power compared to the ones from summoning dark clouds. But it still reduces the mana consumption, takes less time and is easy to cast. Even after the reduction of its power. Lightning is still a powerful magic which can be both used as an attack and support.
The new lightning magic has one glaring weakness, which is control. We still don't know how lightning travels. For now we found one method which is through controlling the aerodynamic channeling, we can somewhat predict where it travels to, but that's only a rough estimation"
Students asked questions in the middle and he cleared their doubts. Everyone was concentrated, even Livia. Evident of how charismatic the professor was with his lecture.
But Elena didn't pay attention to it at all. She already knew about it and lightning magic got further developed in the next 10 years before she died in her past life. The limitation of control was totally removed with the discovery of lightning's true nature and that it's a natural element, one not dependent on wind.
But that's not the same for the other people in the class. Professor Rinaldi's lecture soon ended and everyone was free to go to their own class.
Elena stood up from the seat, wondering where to go next. Fortunately, that problem soon got solved by Livia. 'She's from the same class as me, isn't she?'
Indeed, Livia started chattering while walking. Her aloof nature totally got changed because of Elena's stunts as she became more open.
"Professor Rinaldi's lecture was so good. I'm fascinated by how magic evolves little by little and curious about what holds for us in the future." She kept saying what was in her mind, true to her age. Elena on the other hand was expressionless as usual, who knows if she's even listening.
Instead, It was Letizia who nodded along with her even though she doesn't understand magic.
"Indeed, I really can't think about what other mysteries there are in the world."
Livia didn't mind her intervention as she just needed someone to continue talking.
Just as she was about to continue, someone interrupted them.
"Your highness Rosalind! When did you enter the lecture room? Sorry your highness, I didn't notice you at all. Were you here from the beginning?"
Looking at the side, an olive skinned boy with brown hair was coming out of the lecture room, calling out to them.
"Prince Arslan" Elena calmly greeted him with a nod and continued "Yes, I was inside from the start behind everyone. Maybe you didn't see me because of them blocking the view"
"Uh, That's really possible. Professor Rinaldi's lecture on magic application and theory is always so popular that even students from other departments attends it. And talking about it, I'm also from the warrior department" He chuckled while saying that.
They had some pleasantries between them for a while
"Sorry for taking your time, your highness. I won't delay your studies any further. Until then, I wish you a pleasant day." With that, prince Arslan bowed slightly before going away.
"Prince Arslan is very elegant and well mannered. Don't you think so as well, your highness?" Livia whispered softly as she saw the prince walking away.
Elena didn't reply as she was occupied with her internal thoughts.
Gokhan Alp Arslan, the youngest son of King Sadik Alp Arslan of Athelgard.
She wasn't deeply involved with politics in her past life, so she doesn't know the full picture, but one thing is still known by her; The kingdom of Athelgard, the most ancient kingdom under the Eldoria empire is very influential among the nobles.
The Athelgard king has much say in the empire despite the imperial family's absolute power. And Sadik Alp Arslan, despite his name (Sadik = Loyal) will be the leader of The Shadow Cabinet which gets founded in the future. Who knows, the shadow cabinet might already be operating behind the scenes.
As Elena just like always entered her internal monologue mode, she got dragged back to reality by Livia
"Em your highness, it's getting late. Shouldn't we get back to our classroom now?
Elena returned to her senses "Uh! Yes, let's go to the classroom before become late again" Saying so, she started heading in a direction only for Livia to shout "Your highness, it's the wrong direction, our classroom is on the left"
Elena quickly returned back while keeping a poker face "Oh I know, I just didn't notice the direction, why don't you lead the way instead?"
'Did her highness forget the classroom location? No no, how is it possible? Yes, the Academy is huge but she already attended for a year already, how can she forget? Maybe she really didn't notice the direction in haste. But she was also looking lost in the corridor before. Maybe I'm just overthinking'
Livia started leading the way while being occupied with such thoughts.
…
Elena, with Livia and Letizia by her side, navigated the labyrinthine hallways of the academy. The grand architecture, with its tall, arched windows and intricate carvings, never failed to awe newcomers. The scenery once familiar now looked distant in her memory. As they approached the classroom, Elena's thoughts drifted to her previous life—trying to remember the classmates whom she had forgotten during her busy career life.
As they approached the room, they could hear all the buzzing noises with students chatting and preparing for the day's lessons.The classroom was spacious and orderly, rows of individual desks stretching across the room.
Each row accommodated ten students, with small spaces between them, all facing a large chalkboard at the front with a desk before it. A bookshelf for study materials stood on the left side of the board, directly opposite the entrance door on the right. Both sides of the room had ample amounts of windows through which sunlight illuminates the room.
The students were chattering when Livia entered but it quieted down slightly with Elena's entrance. Many of them looked towards her but she ignored all of them.
After a brief scan of all the students, she looked for a less 'crowded' place and spotted an empty area in the middle row.
Without any hesitation, she walked there, leaving behind Livia
"You highness, that's…"
Livia didn't know what to do, should she follow her or head towards her friends? The classroom was big with many seats but little students. It's normal since it's the elite classroom with the best students. Few can enter it.
So there's many empty seats at the front too, but Elena had to choose a seat farther from the students on the front row. And it's bordering that area as well.
In the end she decided to head towards there as well.
Once there, Elena decided to take a seat beside the window on the left side. Letizia was about to sit beside her just like before, only for Elena to stop her.
"Your highness?" Letizia was confused if she did anything wrong.
"You were able to sit with me before because that was an emergency, otherwise servants are not allowed to sit alongside their masters since all of the seats are for the students"
"But then where do I sit, your highness, should I go out and wait for you outside of the class?"
"No, normal classrooms like this have designated seats prepared for the servants, it's at the end of the class in the back" Elena pointed towards the back.
When looking there, Letizia shivered. There's a row of impeccably dressed people, sitting behind. There's both men and women of various races but one thing is common between them, all of them are older than her. There's hardly anyone young out there.
On top of that, they were professionally dressed, unlike her who just wore the basic clothing of a maid. Their natural aura dissuaded her from approaching them. Sitting with Livia is more comfortable than this since Livia treats her as air and their status is far apart.
"Your highness…, Do I really need to sit there, can I just go outside of the class?" Letizia asked, her reluctance evident. She really doesn't want to sit in that area.
"You can't go out now. The teacher will be here any moment. Going through the front door will draw more attention. And the back door?" Elena glanced at the back door, which was right beside the elite servants.
"You should head there now. Look, people are already looking our way." Elena emphasized, not realizing the attention was due to her own presence and seat choice.
Letizia thought she could still pass by those people; it seemed better than sitting with them.
As if she saw through her hesitation, Elena continued "And what would people think if you left now? Remember, you're my personal servant. You represent my identity. In the future, you'll need to interact with high-ranking nobles on my behalf, so don't shy away from this small hurdle"
"I understand." Elena's words resonated with her, finally stopping Letizia from escaping the room. She reminded herself that a servant shouldn't question their liege's order. This was her own challenge to overcome to uphold her liege's image.
As Letizia walked away, slightly anxious, Livia finally reached the place. She couldn't help but take a proper look at the green-haired girl, having overheard part of Elena's conversation.
"Who's she, your highness? Is she your personal servant? She must be a top student of the servant department for you to take her in at her age." Becoming too curious, she finally decided to ask Elena.
"Em, she's my personal servant indeed but she's not from the servants department, neither is she any top student of this academy" Elena replied with her indifferent voice without even looking at Livia.
"Then? Is she from another outstanding academy and studying in a different department?"
"Generally, students of the servant department are all-rounders, studying a variety of subjects and gaining general knowledge in almost everything.
However, some masters have unique requirements for their servants. They don't need a 'jack of all trades, master of none' type of servant, but rather a 'master of a specific trade, jack of none'.
These specialists can include fighters, hidden bodyguards, assassins, or even business geniuses if their master is a wealthy merchant."
"No, she's not a student of any academy and not studying anywhere. She's simply my own student. I'm teaching her how to serve an imperial princess by myself." Elena stated matter of factly while looking outside the window.
"Eh!?" Livia was dumbfounded with her mouth hanging open, inappropriate for her image.
She continued staring at Elena's aloof figure without knowing how to continue the conversation. In the end, she sat down in a nearby seat with deep thoughts.
One thing is sure that her interest in Letizia soared. There must be something about that girl for a descendant of the acender like her highness Rosalind to teach her herself.
As everyone was bustling around the classroom, the front door opened and a woman entered the room, greeting all the students.
"Good morning students."
"Good Morning, professor Isabella"
Isabella Sapienza is the class teacher of 2nd year's section A. She's responsible for all the students in this classroom.
"Today, all of you attended professor Rinaldi's lecture on magic theory and also learned many things since last week. So I decided to hold a practical class on the academy field outside to bring those theories to reality. Everyone will prepare themselves to head out in 15 minutes."
With that announcement, the class started buzzing around with excited students talking about finally applying their magic theories into practice.
Seeing this, teacher Isabella continued saying "By the way, professor Marco of the 2nd year warrior department is going to lead the section A warrior students to observe our training in the field.
In exchange, we'll also observe their training. There's a possibility of combined training, so you can actually learn from each other."
The classroom quieted down slightly before a girl raised her hand, asking "But teacher, why are they observing us and what can we learn from observing them? We're mages and they are warriors. There's not much in common between us."
Looking behind, it's again the same brown haired girl as before, who raised many questions in professor Rinaldi's lecture room.
The girl was sitting one desk behind, on the right side of Elena. Looking at her face and thinking, it didn't take long for Elena to remember her name.
"Good question Liana"
Liana Fleurene, a genius student from a commoner's background. She grew up to become a powerful mage and also the leader of the commoners' in the academy.
While the slogan of everyone's equal in the academy was raging strong during the establishment of the academy, few people actually follows this thinking in the current era. That's why there's so much formality noble children greets each other. Let alone a noble and commoner.
That's why there's a crack between the nobles and the commoners, which gave rise to two prominent factions in the academy.
The nobles' faction and obviously, the commoners' faction.
In this case, LIana became the commoners' leader with everyone's support.
On the other hand, without even knowing it herself, everyone unanimously took Elena as the nobles' leader.
Well, it's normal since Elena is the highest ranked noble in the whole academia.
"You have a good point. Infact, it's a common misconception that a mage cannot learn from a warrior.
Actually both can learn from one another, learn how to defeat the other. In future, you will have occasions where you'd have to fight a warrior as a mage or a mage as a warrior. So you need to start learning the other's fighting patterns from the beginning.
That's why the academy often holds such mixed practical trainings to teach these knowledge. On top of that, mage and warrior both uses mana."
Saying so, professor Isabella urged everyone to get ready soon and went out of the room.
…..
Total word count: 2523
Total 8 pages