I got up before sunrise, too excited for the day. I didn't share my room with anyone, one of the perks of Sanctity being as prestigious as it was. As I buttoned up my shirt, I went through my routine for the day. 

We have mana manipulation and mastery first. We had already gone through the basics of mana manipulation in our early years, it was necessary to get to the high B class. 

I assume it will go through the more complex parts of it, such as combination spells and intricate conjurations.

During my musings, the sun had risen, and sunlight seeped into the room, lighting it up. I pulled my blazer over my shirt, picked up the books I would need, and exited my room. 

Walking down the mildly crowded hallways, I tried to look for any familiar faces. It took me a few tries, but I finally found one.

"Regulus!" I called out, gaining his attention as he winced from being called out.

"Yes?" He mumbled as I placed my arm around his shoulder.

"Why don't we stick together during our classes?" I asked, grinning at him.

"I thought you would want to make more friends?" He muttered back.

"I can do that in our breaks. Besides, who says we won't make any if we sit together?" 

"I-I see." He said, looking grateful.

"Now, why don't you help me find the three students we met yesterday?" I said, dragging him along with me.

"E-Eh?!" 

_______________________

Hazel, the white-haired elf, agreed almost immediately. She seemed almost as eager to make friends as me. The horned girl, Ryla, hesitated for a bit, before relenting with a shrug.

Unfortunately, we couldn't find Regulus' cousin before our classes. And Regulus even seemed eager at the prospect of meeting him…

Well, no use crying over spilled milk. We'll find him soon enough. And we did. Apparently, he was already in the class.

Approaching him, I tapped his shoulders, "Mind if we sit here?" I pointed to the empty seats near him.

"Hmm?" He turned back, "Oh, hey it's you guys. Sure, I don't have a problem." 

I nodded at him, sitting one seat after him, beckoning regulus to sit in between us. Ryla sat on his other side, Hazel sitting beside Ryla.

It took a while for all the students to settle down, even when our professor entered the room.

"Hello and Good Morning to all of you first years. My name is Azaroth and I will be your professor for Mana manipulation and mastery for the foreseeable future." He greeted.

Professor Azaroth was a middle-aged man of average build, he had sleek black hair combed towards his left and brown calculating eyes. He even had the beginning of a beard around his jaw.

"Can any of you tell me what mana truly is?" His gaze passed over all of us as he spoke.

One student raised his hand.

"You, Mr…?" He trailed off.

"Farend Henderson sir. Mana is the substance that fuels our spells. It exists everywhere in the atmosphere and in our bodies." 

"Half credit Mr. Henderson. Mana is so much more than simple fuel." He gave him an apologetic smile as he said that.

"Anyone else?" He spread his arms around.

I raised my hand up so high, I swear it touched the ceiling.

"Alright, let's see what you've got to say." He said, pointing at me.

"Zacharias Gotha, sir. Mana is the essence of the universe, it is what holds it together. And it's an essential part of life. Mana is what keeps the universe from dissolving into disorder and ruin." I answered, all those years of reading finally coming to use.

"Couldn't have said it better myself.” He praised, beckoning me to sit, “Now that we know what mana is, shall we begin talking about the different elements and what happens when you completely master it?”

A murmur of ‘yes sir’s and nods went around the room.

“As you all know, mana is stored in our hearts and flows through our veins and arteries. So does that mean mana leaks out along with blood when you get stabbed?” He paced across the podium, “No. While mana does flow through our blood vessels, it does not leak out along with blood. Why is that?”

He looked around the room, silently asking us to answer the question. I raised my arm up yet again, reciting in my mind what I would be saying. He ignored it, trying to find anyone else that could answer.

When no one else raised their arms, he pointed towards me, “Yes, Mr Gotha?”

“It’s because our life-force keeps the mana from flowing out, and as long as we stay alive, mana won’t be released from our bodies without our permission.” 

He nodded, smiling, “Great answer Mr. Gotha, but not completely accurate. While it is true what you said, there are instances where mana will leak out of our bodies without our express permission. Any guesses?” 

I had no answer, other than mana cuffs which kept prisoners from performing magic, but for some reason, I felt as if he wouldn't be satisfied with that answer.

Beside me, Ryoto slowly raised his hand and spoke without even being given permission, “Poison.  Mixing aconite with the right amount of nectar can be lethal to mages. It causes their mana to flow erratically, often flowing out of their own body in seconds.”

Professor Azaroth snapped his fingers, “Exactly! You need to be careful about stuff like this when fighting an opponent. Magic isn’t everything, neither is brute strength. Keep an open mind when it comes to fighting, it might save your life one day.”

I barely paid any attention to him, instead, I kept staring at Ryoto in curiosity and a bit of awe. How did he know that? Even I don’t know that.

“Moving on,” Professor Azaroth spoke, “The five elements.”

He walked to the whiteboard hanging at the wall and wrote down the names of the five elements.

“Fire, water, earth, wind, and lightning.” He recited, “I’m sure most of you already know the basics, so I’ll be skipping that. Rather, why don’t I give you a glimpse of what you can do once you have mastered an element?”

That caught my attention as I leaned forward in my seat, I was sure there were sparkles in my eyes.

“Each element, when mastered, opens up a new realm of possibilities. Mastering fire gives you the power to manipulate temperature as you deem. Mastering water opens up the pathways to ice and vapor. Mastery over earth can make you the richest man on the planet, as everything under the earth is for your taking. Lightning gives access to the force of magnetism. And wind, mastering wind allows you to manipulate any and all gases as you see fit.” 

So, I can potentially control all gases in the future if I try hard enough? With Mastery Grey’s training, it might not be so far.

“But,” He spoke once the murmurs died down, “It is extremely difficult to get to that level. Only a handful of people throughout history have managed to get that far. Not to say any of you can’t, if you put enough hard work into it, you too will be able to reach those heights.”

“Now, if you guys could kindly move to page 92 of your theory books…”

________________________

After the class ended I immediately rounded on Ryoto, “How did you know that?”

He furrowed his brows, “What do you mean? Know what?”

“The thing about aconite being able to drain the mana out of your body.” I clarified, curiosity bubbling inside me.

“Uh, I learned it from a book?” He said nervously.

“A book?”

He nodded, “Yeah, in the library.”

“Where’s the library? I'm kind of lost.” I demanded, leaning forward.

He leaned away from me, “Just, go down to the west wing of the second floor, you can’t miss it.”

“Thanks.” I muttered and began running away.

Only to almost choke on my collar when someone grabbed it.

“You do realize that we have another class in a few minutes right?” He said, an eyebrow raised.

“Oh…” I rubbed the back of my head and said sheepishly, “I, kinda forgot?” 

He shook his head in exasperation, “Visit the library after our classes, it’s not going anywhere.”

“Right.”

“Idiot.” Hazel muttered under her breath.

“D-Don’t say that.” Regulus stuttered, standing up for me.

Ryoto shrugged, “She does have a point, he’s way too hyperactive.”

“Stop being mean to him!” He said demandingly, and I could feel some magic in his voice.

“Okay.” Both Hazel and Ryla spoke. Even I had the urge to say that.

“Wait what?” Hazel exclaimed a second later, Ryla looked equally confused.

Ryoto raised his arms placatingly, “Woah there, calm down big guy. Don’t go around using that ability on people.”

“Hold on, I want an explanation! What the hell was that?” Hazel demanded, pointing towards Regulus, who shied away from her gaze.

“There are things that people shouldn’t know. That is one of these things.” Ryoto answered.

“I still want to know what that was just now. I had the feeling I had to do what he said, it was like some sort of authority you can’t defy!” She said that last part a bit louder.

“I told you. There are things that some should not know, maybe later but now is not the time.” Ryoto said to everyone.

“C-can you guys s-stop arguing.” Regulus stuttered.

“Yeah….. I guess we can. I want to know some other time what that was though.” Hazel said letting off.

“We should head to our classes.” Ryla pointed out.

“Hmm? Oh shit!” Ryoto exclaimed.

“Language!” I chided.

“English, heard of it?” He retorted. 

Before we could start arguing again Ryla came in between us, “Guys, stop. We’re going to be late.”

Ryoto sighed, extending his arm, “Yeah, we should get going. Sorry about that Zach.”

I accepted the gesture, and shook his hand slightly, “It’s fine.”

I mentally sighed, only the first day and we already had a fight.

_________________________

The rest of the classes passed by rather quietly, most of us still high strung from the incident from earlier.

After my classes I headed back to my room, well it was more of a library than a room considering the sheer number of books in it.

Wait, library…

Crap! I wanted to go to the library before the training session!

I sighed quietly, I don’t have any time to go there now. I’ll have to look for it tomorrow.

I quickly changed into more combat-oriented clothes, a simple blue t-shirt and baggy pants offering the most mobility.

Now that I was dressed appropriately, I picked up my bo staff. It was made of a special white wood that came from the elven forests and had rings of gold circling it at regular intervals. But don’t let its simple appearance fool you, it might not look the grandest but it is impressive. The wood of the staff was nearly indestructible, and channeled mana easier than anything I had seen,

Checking myself one last time, I descended down the stairs to the large basement. As I walked down the stairs, I wondered what weapons the others would have. Regulus used a spear, I knew that, but what about the others…

Well since Ryoto is a prince, and kings are usually associated with a sword, he could be using one too. Hazel… I didn’t know enough about her to deduce what sort of weapon she would use. Then again she has a lithe build, so maybe daggers? No, that way even Ryoto should use daggers. 

Hmm…

Well, I suppose I would know soon enough.

As I neared the basement the sound of battle assaulted my ears, the sound of steel hitting steel and fist meeting flesh resounded throughout the area.

They have already started? Crap, I’m going to get a scolding from Master Grey. I ran the rest of the way with my top speed, hoping to make up for lost time.

As I reached the room, I noticed only two of them were there. Does it mean I’m not late?  I thought hopefully.

The two who were in the room were namely Ryoto and Ryla, they were training with their respective masters.

“There will be times where you may not be able to use your tricks, for that you need to know how to fight head on.” Master Daniel advised, sidestepping Ryotos attack and punching him right in his gut.

That’s gotta hurt. I thought with a wince as I saw Ryoto doubled over.

So he uses dual daggers? Makes sense.

What about Ryla?

I glanced towards her, she currently had her sword crossed with Master Clovelyn

“Do not think of the sword as a weapon, Ryla. Think of it as an extension of your body.” 

Ryla nodded at her, sliding her sword down to Master Clovelyn’s hilt and twisting. It didn’t have the expected result as Master Clovelyn let go of the sword, swept the ground from under her feet, causing Ryla to lose hold of her sword, and grabbed her sword, pointing it at Ryla’s neck.

That was...intense.

“I see you’re here Zacharias.” Master Grey’s voice reached my ears, as I yelped and turned around.

“Master Grey.” I bowed, “I hope I’m not late?”

Master Grey shook his head, “No, you’re not. You’re a bit early in fact.”

“Huh?” I muttered as I stood up. So Ryoto and Ryla were here early?

“Shall we begin then?” It was more of an order than a request, and I was not going to risk his wrath by denying it.

“Of course Master Grey.”