Chương 32: Chapter 31: Manipulation

Professor Reat strolled to the center of the room, his gaze sweeping over the sea of faces looking at him.

"Let me show you another reason why manipulation is so important," he said, pulling a scroll from his bag and crushing it into his hand. A head-sized ball of fire flickered to life in his palm.

"Fireball, the spell Valerius had so deeply tried to cast. Popular among Copper Elementalists, but quite weak. Any idea how we can make it more powerful?" A student in the front row quickly spoke up, "By upgrading its quality."

"Great idea." The fireball hovering in the professor's hand vanished, and he leaned over his desk to retrieve a second scroll. As he squeezed the parchment, a new blazing orb materialized, but this time it was brighter and the aether it radiated seemed more vivid.

"We went from Standard to Refined and boosted its power by twenty percent on top of reducing the wasted aether. Good. Now, let's say it's Flawless for the purpose of our discussion," he continued.

"How can we make it even more powerful? I just reached Iron, and I want to use it against another Iron—what's the next step?" There was a total silence. Professor Reat ambled back and forth for several seconds before stopping and turning to the left.

"Miss Surani, any thoughts?"

"By evolving it into a new spell," answered a young woman in the second row, her tone utterly indifferent. As Seth caught sight of her, he nearly forgot to breathe. Her beauty was disarming: high cheekbones, full lips, and sparkling green eyes framed by a delicate, angular face that seemed almost too perfect to be real. Her fiery crimson hair cascaded over her scarlet uniform, each strand a living flame that danced and rippled with every graceful movement of her head.

Despite himself, Seth couldn't help but stare—the rest of the classroom fading into a hazy backdrop. Marine, the second-year student from the selections, might be curvier, but this red-haired goddess was winning by miles in every other department. She had to be the prettiest person he had ever seen.

"Exactly," Professor Reat said, cutting through Seth's reveries while the Fireball disappeared in his hand.

"Spells can be evolved within the same Tier and accordingly increased in grade—well, most of the time—or they can break through to the next Tier." As he spoke, scorching flames erupted and shrouded his arms, pulsating with intense heat that made the front rows' students pull back in surprise—and fear.

"This is Blazing Fists, a Rare Iron evolution of Fireball." While most students watched in awe, a noble scoffed from the back of the class.

"Evolving is only useful for commoners. If I need stronger spells, I'll just buy them."

"Ah, what a great mentality!" Professor Reat exclaimed, feigning admiration.

"It will certainly lead you on a glorious Path. Probably the laziest one that exists." The young man's face twisted, his lips clamped together as he searched for a comeback… yet nothing came. His hands rolled into tight fists, and he glared at the few people snickering nearby.' Can't tell if that man specifically hates nobles or if tearing people down is just part of his personality,' Seth told Nightmare through their bond as the professor walked back to the front desk.'

Probably both,' the direwolf answered, yawning within the dark teardrop.

"Of course, to evolve a spell, you'll also need good sensing," the professor continued, retrieving an Endless Pouch from his bag.

"You can't carve decent grooves without perfectly sensing every bit of aether in your channels." The man plunged a hand into the small purple bag and drew out a small crystalline orb with a tiny flame dancing inside.

"This artifact is called a Lighter," he explained as he walked around the classroom and handed one to each student.

"And it will be your best friend throughout the session. It's designed to restrict the amount of aether you can infuse inside, making it easier to practice manipulation by preventing you from emptying your Well in seconds." He gave one to Seth without even a glance downward.

"To use it, you'll all first need to sense the exact amount of aether inside. It represents what we call an unium." Seth stared at the golden flame flickering within the glass-like jewel as the professor finished distributing them.

"Once you can sense it, your task will be to double the aether inside the flame to two uniums without changing its size."

"When you reach that specific density, it will turn red," Professor Reat continued while going down the stairs.

"Your goal is to hold that color for twenty seconds. If you manage to do so, this first Lighter will be considered passed, and I'll give you a harder one."

"You have the rest of the class to practice," he then announced, sitting back into his chair.

"Next class, I'll teach you specific techniques to improve." A brown-haired girl wearing the gray commoner uniform in the front row raised her hand.

"Wouldn't it make more sense to just start with those techniques, so we don't waste the next three hours?"

"Ah." the professor sighed before smiling.

"I used to think the same when I started teaching. Unfortunately, most students have egos the size of mountains and won't listen to a word I say—unless they fail miserably first." As soon as Seth focused on the flame flickering within the small orb in his hand, the crimson-haired goddess raised her hand. Professor Reat noticed her instantly and nodded in her direction.

"Yes, Miss Surani?"

"May I have an Iron Lighter of two uniums?" she asked, casually showing her crystal orb, where the flame burned with a fiery red. Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road. The professor's eyebrows arched slightly, then he rummaged in his Endless pouch.

"Of course." As the young woman rose from her seat and glided gracefully down the stairs, several boys openly ogled her while a few girls directed jealous glares at her back.' That's a good candidate to mate,'Nightmare said.' She'd give you good-looking descendants and a noble title.'' Yeah, sure,'Seth answered.' I'll make Mael proud by courting a woman between the classes and our hunts.'

"Here you go," Professor Reat said, swapping her crystal for a new one whose flame was as pearly as Undead Wolves' saliva.

"Thank you, professor," the young woman replied, bowing her head before returning to her seat. The classroom fell silent, students starting to focus on the work, until a commoner with short black hair seated to Seth's left raised his hand.

"Yes?" the professor prompted.

"Is that Lighter the next step once we're done?" the young man asked. Several nobles chuckled while Professor Reat shook his head.

"No. The Lighter you're holding is Copper. You need to go through two-, five-, ten- and twenty-uniums ones before moving on to Iron ones." Another chorus of murmurs swept over the room as many commoner students exchanged surprised glances, a hint of bitterness in their eyes. They were all thinking the same. The noble had already reached the Iron one of two uniums—she was leagues ahead of them. Professor Reat clapped his hands.

"If there are no more questions, you can all begin practicing." Less than a minute after everyone had settled into the task, almost two thirds of the class, including Lucius, had already a hand high in the air, red flames fluttering inside their Lighters. Each of them wore the same crimson uniform, causing a wave of unease to wash over Seth. They've all done it before, he thought with a sigh.

Turning his attention to his own Lighter, Seth began practicing and tried his best to sense the aether inside—just like he had done with the awakening stone his father had gifted him. At first, he felt nothing. But after several attempts, he finally managed to catch faint traces of something, though it always seemed to slip away. Time passed, and frustration mounted in his chest as he watched the other students making progress around him. Maybe I'm doing something wrong, he thought.

Or perhaps there's some kind of trick.' Stop overthinking,'Nightmare said in exasperation.' Just feel it. Imagine that crystal as a part of your body. Like claws—or those useless nails of yours.' Seth inhaled a slow, deep breath, letting the dry air fill his lungs, then closed his eyes to clear his mind.

Following the direwolf's advice, he attuned himself to the sensations of his body—the sweat dampening his forehead, the parched air on his tongue, the soft clamor of the room crawling into his ear—then gradually extended that awareness toward the Lighter in his hand. He focused on its cold and hard surface while imagining himself fusing with the thing. Then, a faint tingling ignited in his palm.

It started small, like a tiny spark, but slowly it intensified and turned into an intense heat, as if he were holding a torch near its tip. Seth's eyes snapped open and moved down the crystal; he could see and feel the yellow flame inside.' I did it!' Seth exclaimed inwardly, his excitement shooting over to Nightmare through their bond.' Well done,'the direwolf answered.' Now extend your sensing out to a ten-foot radius and you'll be as good as me.'' Oh, come on. Can you be a little more encouraging?''

I said well done.' Seth exhaled, taking a brief pause to let his focus reset. As he looked around the room, his eyes landed on the Surani girl with crimson hair, which he guessed was the twin named Elena. Unlike some other nobles who were busy preening or sneering at the strugglers, she was leaning toward her commoner neighbor, whispering something while pointing at his Lighter. She's giving him tips? Seth frowned, skepticism tightening his features.

He then shook his head, pushing the distraction aside, and returned to next step he had to tackle: increasing the flame's aether density. To his surprise, channeling aether into the crystal was easy—the challenge was to keep the damn thing the same exact size. Each time he funneled a little bit of aether in, the flame grew almost immediately, and in no time all his attempts began to drain his Well.

Sticking to the same method he had used to practice casting Identify, Seth tried staying near the ten-percent mark to maximize his regeneration while he kept going. Around him, some students, who had clearly abandoned the task, whispered and laughed at his sweat-drenched uniform, but he ignored them. Their opinion meant nothing to him. In a few months, they would all regret not working as hard. Finally, after nearly three hours of struggle, he got the flame to shift from its golden hue to a vivid red.

The color wavered, but after a moment, it soon stabilized. Seth's heart began pounding as he neared the twenty-second goal, his concentration sharp and absolute like a predator creeping on his prey. Eigthneen… Nineteen… Twent— Then, all of a sudden, Professor Reat stood up and glanced at the large clock on the wall.

"Class is just about over. You're all free to go." Seth grinned as he watched the flame in his Lighter flicker back to gold. Just in time. Around him, students all rose to their feet, packed their belongings, and began to leave. Among them was Lucius, who shot Seth another cold glare before strutting out with his apes. Seth lingered behind until the class was almost empty before doing the same. Slinging his messenger bag over his shoulder, he made his way toward Professor Reat's desk.

Just then, the crimson-haired goddess glided past him, and he couldn't help but steal a glance, staring at her back while she gracefully strode away.

"She's completely out of your reach," Professor Reat said behind, propping his feet onto the desk.

"Don't waste your time." Seth cast a wary look around the empty class, then turned back to the man.

"I'm not interested in nobles, professor. They're just stepping stones."

"We'll see about that in a few months," the professor retorted, a faint smile flashing at the corners of his mouth.

"For now, you lack the Rank to back up those words." Just wait, you'll see, Seth thought. With Link and Nightmare, he had no doubt he would surpass those nobles—it was only a matter of time.

"Can I get the two-uniums Lighter?" he asked, holding up the small artifact with the scarlet flame swirling inside. Professor Reat's eyes widened briefly, then he leaned toward his bag.

"Oh…uh… sure," he said, pulling another spheroid crystal and trading it for Seth's.

"You've used a Lighter before?" Seth shook his head.

"No, why?"

"That's a bit quick for a Primalist," the man answered with a shrug.

"That's all."

"I see." Seth tucked the new artifact inside his messenger bag and headed toward the exit. The professor looked up from the parchment in his hands.

"You'll be pleased to know that House Faertis has officially been sanctioned for the… incident outside Arthuri. They've been fined for 'unbecoming conduct.'" Seth blinked, surprised.

"They actually punished him?"

"A slap on the wrist," Reat said with a shrug.

"Barely a rounding error in their ledger. But with their current campaign to reclaim a seat among the Twenty Great Houses, they can't afford to draw the king's ire over repeated public scandals." Reat's then expression turned serious, his dark eyes locking onto Seth's.

"Still, it would be wise to keep your distance from Lucius and his friends. His father may have reprimanded him, but that doesn't mean he won't try something. Especially if he thinks he can get away with it." Seth's nails dug into the strap of his bag and he gritted his teeth.

"Understood."