Auric sat in an auditorium together with another 200 students. Due to Auric’s presence, the departnt had beco more popular than ever.
Yet, for so reason, Auric ended up sitting with Eric on the left side.
"Why are you sitting here?" Eric asked in an annoyed tone.
"If I sit with anyone else, I won’t be able to escape later. Fortunately, you will be the door, Eric, my best friend."
"Who is your best friend?" Eric beca even more annoyed, but it wasn’t like he could show that kind of outburst inside the classroom, where many eyes were currently staring at Auric.
Auric just smiled, but it looked like they couldn’t chat any longer because the professor had entered the room.
The professor was a man in his fifties. He had long black hair with a few strands already turning white.
He wore big, round glasses, a blue shirt, long black pants, and a long coat.
With his hands in his front pockets, the professor introduced himself. "It looks like there are a lot of students interested in our departnt this year. I can see at least a few reasons.
"Well, I don’t want to waste ti with nonsense, so I will just tell you three things. First, my na is Eren Zaecker. My elent is fire. That’s all you need to know about .
"Second, I will teach you a bit about the battle techniques today as an introduction to what you will encounter in the Elent Departnt.
"Third, to learn this battle technique, you need magical energy, which can be called an elent. I’m sure that you have seen your own information through the bracelet.
"If you consu materials or gain magical energy from any source, you will see your elent percentage increase.
"So, what kind of materials do you need to consu to increase your magical energy? Can you, for example, as an earth elent user, just eat an earth elent material to increase your energy? The short answer, no. The long answer is... Ask the evolution masters. So, what kind of material do you need to consu to increase your magical energy?"
The professor stopped for a mont as the projector showed a few pictures.
The first picture was a material harvested from a beast. The second picture was a human figure with ’-0.5’ and ’ 0.5’ next to it. Last but not least, the image of the nine elents.
"Take a look at the picture. If you kill a beast, you can harvest its essence where its elent is concentrated and consu it to increase your magical energy. Of course, more often than not, you will end up ruining this kind of material, whether it’s during the fight or the harvesting process itself.
"But if you sohow manage to pass the first stage, you have to think about the second stage. Will the energy that the essence possesses be suitable for you? How do you know whether it’s suitable or not?
"The answer is simple. The evolution masters have done this test a lot. They rate our elents’ intensity.
"The universal rating is 1.0 to 5.0. How do you check your rating? If you can create a machine that can asure it accurately, there is a Nobel Prize for you. But our human sense is quite sharp, so you can instinctively know whether you can absorb it or not.
"Still, today’s class is just an introduction, so let’s generalize it a bit. According to the evolution masters, we are able to absorb materials within 0.5 points from our intensity. I’ll tell you a bit more about that later in the second topic."
The professor pointed to the third image.
"All elents, excluding the unique elent, are divided into three categories. They are ’Normal,’ ’Sub-Variant,’ and ’Extre Variant,’ which directly reflect our elent intensity.
"A normal elent might look weak, but it has its advantages. Because normal elents are weak, they are the most common. If you go out there, you can find them everywhere, so you won’t have trouble searching for your materials.
"The sub-variant is a bit rarer. They might be stronger than the normal elents, but they will have a harder ti finding the materials to help them advance.
"Last but not least, the extre variant. They are the most powerful, but that also shows how hard it is for them to find their materials.
"But there is one unique instance where this rule doesn’t apply. The unique elent. There is no intensity rating for the unique elents, not because they’re too rare, but because they’re so different from each other. As a result, if you want to find materials, you can consu anything as long as they are categorized as unique elents, aning a space elent avatar can consu ti elent materials and still benefit as if they’re absorbing space elent materials.
"Any questions up to this point?" The professor didn’t see anyone raising their hands, so he continued, "Since you are prioritizing this departnt, our departnt will give you a little freebie."
The professor snapped his fingers. "On your table, you will find a small piece of paper. You can write your student number as well as your elent and intensity rating. Our departnt will give the material for free."
"Oohhh!"
People’s eyes suddenly flashed. If they were to buy it from outside, they would have to spend a few thousand credits. So, it was quite good to get free material.
"Everyone will get one. Just put your rating according to your best judgnt. If it turns out to be not sothing you can consu, we will change it accordingly."
They eagerly filled in the information.
Auric, on the other hand, didn’t really need a material, since his only way to increase his magical energy was by gathering techniques. But it didn’t an he would skip the freebie.
Instead, he wrote ’5.0’ as if he were playing around.
"Why do you put that number, Auric?" Lindwurm asked innocently. "You don’t need any materials, right? Shouldn’t you put sothing that you can use for your store?"
’I won’t be able to bring it back, you know? This is your snack.’
"!!!" Lindwurm’s eyes turned into stars. "You’re the best. Hehehe."
After writing it, Auric took a glance to his left to see Eric’s information and corrected Eric’s rating. "Your rating should be 3.4. Almost an extre variant, by the way."
"What?" Eric glared at him. "Why should I even listen to you?"
That was what he said, but Eric’s hand was already crossing out his number and putting the number Auric gave him. "Say that after putting your pen down."
"Hmph." Eric snorted.
In a way, Eric recognized Auric’s achievent, even though he was too annoyed to acknowledge it with his mouth.
He didn’t even ask how Auric knew about it.
Auric had seen his elent as well as the particles in the classroom. Although it wasn’t enough to create a gathering technique, it was enough to figure out his intensity. Of course, he had to adjust it according to his experience.
Nevertheless, Auric just shrugged as if he had gotten used to this side of Eric.
Once they were done, they passed the cards forward until all the cards had been gathered at the front.
"All right. My assistants will be bringing those materials soon. In the anti, let’s discuss the second topic, the battle technique," the professor continued.
This ti, there were four boxes, each with a different na.
"For a battle technique, there are four important steps. First, you have to gather your energy in one spot. Second, you need to control the flow of your energy so that it doesn’t ss with your body but still gives you the desired output.
"Third, you need to channel that energy to the point of release. Lastly, release it!
"The process is the sa for all battle techniques, but the executions will be different."
The professor raised his hand as a ball of fire appeared on top of his palm.
"Look at this. I’m rely gathering my power on top of my palm. If I had a water elent, it might produce a water ball instead of a fireball. But if you think about an earth elent, do you think this will be an efficient way to utilize its power? No, right? That’s why the execution should be different."
The professor showed another image, similar to the human figure in the previous section. "To use the battle technique, you also have to adhere to the sa principle as the material. Why does it matter?"
This ti, there were three cylinders with three balls of different sizes.
The first ball was tiny, so when the image moved, the ball was in free fall.
"Imagine the cylinder as the channel in your body where your magical energy flows and this ball as the magical energy itself. If you pick a battle technique with an intensity rating below yours, this is what would happen inside your body. Of course, if you pick sothing too weak, you might fail using it.
"On the other hand, if you use sothing too powerful for you..."
This ti, the largest ball fell, but the cylinder ended up swelling like a snake as the ball descended.
"...This will happen. You will have a hard ti using it, or you may fail. That’s why you need to find a battle technique that matches your intensity.
"That’s why this ti, I will give you a chance. If you pass this test, I will give you a small coupon that allows you to get a technique from the library."
The people’s expressions brightened again. They would definitely receive one from the professor.
"Professor!" one student suddenly raised her hand. "You ntioned earlier that if you had a water elent, it would beco a water ball. Can we learn a water-elent battle technique and use our fire elent to execute it?"
"Very good question. The answer is yes and no. Yes, you can use it. No, because you have to change the battle technique itself.
"Each elent has its unique characteristics. For example, if I shoot a fireball, it will explode. But if I shoot a water ball, it will burst instead of exploding, but it won’t give you much power, right? Instead, how do we draw out that power? We increase the water pressure. This is the difference I’m talking about. If you can adjust it, then yes. You can use it, but it won’t be that specific elent battle technique anymore."
"Thank you, Professor."
The professor raised one finger. "Since we’re on the topic, you may have already noticed it, but all battle techniques have one thing in common. What is that?"
Suddenly, Simon stood up with a proud face. "Elent manipulation!"
"Correct."
Simon had a smug grin as he glanced at Auric, who still paid no attention to him.
The professor, on the other hand, didn’t know what happened between them, so he just continued as if he didn’t notice anything. "Elent manipulation. Without using a battle technique..."
The professor created a fireball again. "I can create this fireball. It’s only after a few processes have been programd that they beco a battle technique. For example, how fast is the flow of energy? How much energy should I gather? What’s the purpose of the attack? What will happen on impact?
"Only after all the complicated processes will a battle technique be born. You can make one yourself that suits you perfectly.
"That’s why I will give you this little test. Elent manipulation."
The professor smiled while raising his finger. "In one week, you are to successfully channel your energy and manifest your power in one way or another. Anyone who can do it will receive a coupon from ."
Auric was a bit confused. Manifesting one’s power was not hard. Even without the ability to see particles, he believed he could do it within ten minutes.
It looked like the professor wanted them to feel good first, which would motivate them further. And this battle technique he promised was just another freebie from the departnt, but they didn’t know it.
"To manifest your power, you need magical energy. That’s why..." The professor clapped his hands as his assistants opened the door, bringing the materials. "...I asked you to write down your elent."
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