Chapter 16: Grade Chief Leader

The field of the Royal Academy is quite spacious. During certain times, it is occupied by students from the Warrior Department who are honing their combat skills. Most of the warrior students’ classes involve training in various techniques, and their figures can often be seen on the field.

Today, the Knight Department’s newcomers are having their class on the field. Aresia immediately noticed the prominent figure of Jorgus among the crowd. His tall stature and physique stood out conspicuously.

As Aresia listened to the discussions around her, perhaps due to the attention, Jorgus’ deep brown eyes briefly met hers, displaying a moment of sharpness.

This scene is not unfamiliar to Aresia. She couldn’t recall how many times she had unintentionally made eye contact with Jorgus. It was probably because of occasional shallow conversations during class or when her gaze inadvertently wandered towards the scenery outside the window. The students on the field, including Jorgus, with their striking height and physique, naturally attracted attention.

But it wasn’t just a passing glance from Jorgus. His gaze lingered for a moment.

He’s certainly observant.

Aresia silently praised and nodded towards the owner of that attentive gaze before shifting her focus elsewhere.

Being caught in the act has become a habit for her. There was no malice involved, so she was fine with being caught.

In one corner of the field, there is a training area for the Magic Department. A row of targets is set up, which serves as their practice targets for casting spells. This area is mainly reserved for the magic students, and students from other departments rarely come here for classes.

Aresia and her group arrived neither too early nor too late, and there were already quite a few students waiting.

Karina said, “The second year students are also here.”

Basic magic class is a required course for magic students. It usually takes place once a week, with occasional overlaps being normal.

However, Aresia knew that for the first year students in the magic department, the basic magic classes for both classes were scheduled at the same time. But she didn’t know that the second year have also a class in the field at the same time.

By the way, the remaining courses are as follows: necromancy class is four sessions per week, while the others are two sessions per week. Alchemy and potion-making classes are back-to-back and scheduled in the afternoon. This arrangement is considered because these two classes require a significant amount of time, and it would be a waste of materials if there were breaks in between.

The new students in the magic department were very excited. In their eyes, a true magician is someone who can chant spells and cast magic. They have been attending theoretical classes for a while and were wondering when they would start practicing.

Although they are still apprentices, some of them have already mastered one or two basic spells, gaining some attention.

Especially students from class 2 are here, this is their chance to shine. They are now making a name for themselves throughout the first-year class.

Compared to others who are excited about this basic magic class, Aresia is more looking forward to the potion-making class in the afternoon.

Aresia is not one to seek the spotlight. She originally planned to be an ordinary student in the basic magic class, not standing out. However, the snippets of conversation from nearby students discussing the privileges of the class’s top-ranked students made her change her mind.

“This made Aresia think about whether to excel and gain the title of the grade chief leader.”

Aresia didn’t care about the glory of being a grade chief leader; the actual level of competition for this position was just a farce, not worth fighting for.

The grade chief leaders have privileges that can’t be resisted.

Among other things, Aresia was very envious of the magic department chief’s privilege to apply for a laboratory.

Isn’t this just unfair?

“Aresia, come here.”

Karina tugged on Aresia’s sleeve, showing anticipation.

Karina was surrounded by a group of students from Class 1, who had already gathered. The teacher had arrived, and the two classes instinctively occupied separate areas. Compared to the harmonious atmosphere on the Class 1 side, the atmosphere on the Class 2 side was somewhat delicate.

Not far from the freshman occupied part of the field. A group of students from second year were gathered around someone with a sweet appearance, discussing something. Others were chatting in small groups of two or three. Many people’s eyes were subtly glancing over to the other side, with a hint of disdain and hidden jealousy.

Recognizing the sweet-faced person with light brown hair, Aresia exclaimed, “Wendy?”

“It seems that Wendy thinks she become popular but she is only making friends because the people is only using her for connection to the sixth Prince Osweid.”

Karina’s tone was disdainful, but she didn’t actually look down on Wendy’s methods. When she first met Aresia, it was through someone else’s introduction. She felt that their actions were obvious to anyone with keen eyes. The commoner girl was naturally surprised and flattered by the attention she received.

Aresia said, “The teachers is here.”

Mr. Alvin, the professor of Class 1, arrived with the professor of class 2. She was a young and beautiful woman. The two of them walked together with smiles, showing a close relationship.

As soon as the teacher arrived, everyone became quiet.

The two classes were separated and didn’t bother each other. Alvin clapped his hands to indicate that there was something to announce. “Last week, I introduced the basic techniques of elemental magic. In today’s class, we will practice casting fireballs. Have you all memorized the incantation?”

There are ten magic attributes in this world, namely wind, fire, water, earth, wood, lightning, ice, which are known as elemental magic (although ice is considered a variant of water and should not be treated as a separate attribute). The remaining three, light, dark, and space, are classified as special attributes.

Magic users have limitations on which attributes they can learn. They can master elemental magic, but the difference lies in which elemental magic they excel at. As for special attributes like space, they can only be used by those with a high enough level, at least an advanced mage or above so the Royal Academy does not teach space magic.

Even light and dark magic are not taught under special circumstances. Light magic users are heavily monopolized by the church, while dark magic is often associated with necromancy and is generally disliked by other magic users.

It is worth mentioning that the world Aresia originally lived in was a combination of the Light and Dark attributes, belonging to the elemental system that magic users practiced. Among them, the Archmages were considered masters who had achieved a high level of proficiency in multiple magic attributes.

For lower-level magic users, their energy is limited, so they usually choose to specialize in a particular magic attributes.

However, for newcomers, they have the opportunity to make this choice. The first step is to determine their future direction.

Among the different magic attributes, Fire is considered one of the easier ones to control. It serves as a starting point for newcomers to practice casting spells.

Alvin’s question didn’t surprise the students, in fact almost everyone is full of confidence. They believed that since they were attending a magic department and had instructors to teach them, they naturally already familiarized with basic magic, such as the Fireball spell. Some of them had even mastered one or two beginner-level magic techniques.

This alone made them proud.

As Alvin asked, “Who wants to come up and demonstrate?” many people eagerly raised their hands.

One confident person who was chosen stepped forward, standing about five meters away from the target. He raised his hands and began chanting the incantation for the Fireball spell.

Words have power.

Magic incantations are not ordinary chants. In fact, they may sound obscure and profound to others, but they are actually ancient magical languages. Their language is specific to them. The content of the incantation is not just the name of the magic technique; it also includes a prayer to the divine associated with the magic element. When newcomers recite the complete incantation, it helps to enhance the power of their spellcasting. As they become more skilled in magic, they can start reducing the length of the incantation, gradually shortening the chanting time.

The higher the level of magic, the longer the incantation. Even the incantation for a basic fireball spell takes about ten seconds to recite.

After finishing the incantation, the spellcaster’s efforts resulted in a fireball the size of a baby’s fist. The fireball floated in the air for a moment before colliding with the target and disappearing.

Alvin applauded, saying, “Well done.”

The praised individual raised his chin with pride.

Alvin then asked a few others to demonstrate. They successfully cast fireballs using their magic.

“Aresia, they’re really talented,” said Karina nervously. She felt a bit inferior since she was not taken seriously at her home because she is a girl. Karina’s parents had never intended for her to learn magic. Instead, they wanted her to find a noble and advantageous suitor.

But Karina did her best and managed to become acquainted with Aresia. After spending two months together at the royal academy, Aresia encouraged Karina to study magical theory. Karina’s parents hurriedly hired a magic teacher, but he turned out to be a mediocre junior mage. Karina had only been studying for less than two months, mostly focusing on theory, and had not yet achieved any success in spellcasting.

Feeling worried, Karina asked, “What should I do if professor Alvin call me up?”

Aresia reassured her, saying, “Don’t worry, professor Alvin probably won’t call you if you don’t volunteer.”

Karina looked at the students who demonstrated and felt a bit relieved. She realized that they all raised their hands and felt a little more at ease. She decided to fully relax.

“What if I’m the only one in the class who can’t cast a fireball spell?” she asked.

“No worries,” Aresia replied.

After all, how could an entire class have only one person who couldn’t cast a fireball spell?