Some time later, on the academy's first training field, the professor called for silence and told them to listen carefully. Magic was the goddess's blessing and the true essence of the entire world. During these classes he would teach them how to use magic and combat spells. They could call him teacher Sid.
Cain turned to Louis and asked what was going on. He had been looking forward to these classes so much.
Louis sighed and replied that he was still waiting to see, but that he thought Sid hated him.
Sid told him not to make a sound while the teacher was speaking. He particularly hated it when his classes were interrupted. Louis, Cain — minus one credit.
They were angry about this, and Sid said that this one was some kind of idiot with muscles instead of brains. If they went on breaking the rules they would eventually lose all their credits. They were wild. Minus one credit.
Louis grew angry, and Sid continued, saying that he would have to teach them proper noble etiquette and culture as well, along with how to behave as students.
He held out his hand and used magic to show them something they had not read about anywhere, and they were astonished. Was this earth magic?
Cain shouted at him to look at the size of the thing.
Sid explained that in order to use combat magic in a real fight, they had to master both magic and martial arts. If they wanted to become full-fledged students they must first learn to transform mana into a weapon. Once they had mastered that and could cover their entire bodies in magical armour, they could become warriors. By controlling mana with their bodies, they connected it to the mind and directed it through their movements.
Suddenly a loud roar erupted, and the students were stunned. This was combat magic.
Later they would all have to attack the stone statues, and the student who did the most damage would receive five credits. But before that he wanted to teach them how to attack with magic. They should split into groups according to their attributes.
Neil, with two attributes, did not need to choose. As for the water element — he should step aside and practise with magical armour, and help with the warm-ups.
Cain said goodbye to his friends. And when Louis found himself alone with Milana, the others started making fun of him, calling him the famous punching bag who had been left with the water.
Milana blurted out that she was stuck in a corner practising support spells, and that she had never once been given a chance to attack the statue. At this rate she would never become a grandmaster. She had to prove her strength to him.
Louis was surprised. To him — a member of the association? But what was going on with her?
She shook her head and said nothing. It had nothing to do with him.
He asked why she was so fixated on attacking. Did the water element not have more support magic than the other attributes? It hindered the enemy and defended allies. That was important, wasn't it?
She replied that she wanted to become a grandmaster and bring the Royce family back, and to do that she needed to be able to attack as well as defend. A goddess would not have created an inferior attribute, and water mages needed powerful spells too. Believing that, she had tried strengthening her water blade with magical potions, and tried several different versions of her attacks — but in the end none of it made up for her lack of attack power.
And maybe it really was impossible to become a grandmaster with the water element.
At that moment a boy came up to her and said that it would soon be his turn, and suggested that they warm up with a water shield. She held the shield out in front of her in silence, and he struck it with incredible force.
Louis thought: a grandmaster with the water element.
It reminded him of his past life, when they laughed at him for carrying out research into the martial arts even though he could not train because of his asthma, and said that glory was not for a loser like him. He would carry out this research anyway — and then one of them knocked him out of his wheelchair, so that he tried to crawl with trembling hands. They shouted at him to stop dreaming of the impossible, to give up and die already.
He realised that she knew her shortcomings and still did not give up, and went on chasing her dream. Perhaps, as with Cain, he could show her a new path.
He pushed her hand a little further forward and demonstrated a particular spell, and the boy attacking almost crashed into the defence. Louis told Milana that he too believed in the potential of the water attribute, and told her to watch his technique.
She became embarrassed and asked whether he was serious.
Louis raised his hand and called out to the teacher, asking whether he could try attacking the statue as well.
He replied that if he could not damage it, he would deduct his credits, so he thought he ought to practise mana control quietly for now. Did he really want to use his precious ice magic?
Louis smiled and replied that no, he had found a way to increase the power of water-element attacks.
A student said that he was saying he would attack with water magic. If it were ice magic, perhaps. But with water, that was nonsense.
Milana said that these statues were superior artefacts, made of rare magical ore and reinforced with earth magic. Water spells would not usually even scratch them. What if he really did lose his credits?
Louis replied that it was fine. He had a plan.
He walked closer to the statue and thought about something the people here did not know. In his world they said that water wears away stone. If you take sand, strike it with high-pressure water and send it flying at high speed, it becomes a weapon that can cut through anything.
So he did exactly that, using the water cutter as his combat magic.
The students were amazed at what he had just done. With such a pitiful amount of pressure there would not even be a scratch on the stone.
Everyone started laughing at him — and then the statue began to crumble, and Sid was dumbfounded. He shouted that it was simply impossible.
And as the statue fell apart, Louis said that this was the power of the water attribute.
When night fell the boys walked home, and Cain said that the expression on teacher Sid's face when he awarded those five credits was a masterpiece. When he saw the water attack his face turned so pale, as if he had eaten mouldy bread. And as soon as the lesson ended, he vanished.
Louis replied that he had been too focused on the water magic to look at his face. He was very sorry.
Cain went on that, speaking of water magic, he thought they should listen to Fay's proposal. She had tried very hard to find a new path for Milana, even buying her all sorts of expensive mental recovery potions. He had heard she was planning to rent a training ground for extra practice in their free time, and that sounded like a good deal for them too, didn't it?
Cara came up and informed him that renting the training ground cost thirty coins, and a mental recovery potion cost three hundred.
The boys turned to him in fear, and Louis asked whether he could ask him a favour. They had training missions in a few days, and he had something special arranged with him.