The students were seated in their seats, while the family members were currently standing. The room had around two hundred people with no wall inside, as there wasn't a limit to the number of guests one was allowed to bring in, and all of this was just in one classroom.
The teacher had walked in wearing the traditional style of clothing, a dark green-colored robe that slightly split at the bottom. It would drag across the floor, only his robe wasn't touching the floor. Instead, it was slightly hovering above it to not touch the dirt on the ground—an enchanted robe.
"No, this won't do," the teacher said, shaking his head as he looked up at all the parents. "Students, huddle up and come closer to the front. Stay in the same position that you are usually in, and family members, you are to stay in the back. Now please remember that today is still very much about the students, so please refrain from interrupting as much as possible."
The family members and students did as asked, shuffling about, moving to the back. However, one person in particular didn't move right away. Instead, the young white-haired man stood looking at the teacher in question.
'That's Professor Quartz, so he's still teaching here after all. At least I'm glad that the corruption of the academy didn't get to you as well,' Raze thought to himself as he hid his smile and began to move.
Being a professor, Raze was bound to run into more people that he knew and disliked, but he was happy to know that at least the class he was in now would be with one of the professors he got along with while he was here.
When Raze sat down, he had chosen a seat right up by the wall. This way, no one could sit on the other side, and he would just be next to one person. As for that one person, Alen had insisted that he be that person, pushing past the other family members who seemed to have no problem at all listening to his requests.
"I hope you don't mind," Alen said.
When Alen sat down, Raze scooched as close to the wall as he could, afraid he might touch him by accident. "I don't, but remember we need to stay quiet during the lesson."
Raze folded his arms, wishing to give the impression he wanted to stay distant, at least for the time being.
"Alright, that looks a lot better," Professor Quartz said, pushing his glasses up with his index finger. "Now, I want to continue with the lesson that we left off with tomorrow and talk about Counter Magic…"
The professor went on to explain a few basic counters and why it was important for a mage to know so many different types of magic. After a brief explanation, he handed out a quiz to each of the students.
On the quiz itself, there was a list of spells, and the students had to write down the counter spell that they would use if they were in that particular situation.
"Alright, time's up!" Quartz said, clapping his hands, and all of the test papers started to flow from their desks and were landing right where he was. He then lifted all of the test papers in the air. They were all showing up in front of him like a pack of cards. With his eyes, he scanned through each of the answers until he pulled out one in particular and placed it on the table.
"Whose answer sheet does this belong to?" the professor asked.
Immediately and proudly, Aurora stood up. "This sheet is mine, sir."
She recognized her own writing and was proud that she would be called. It was to be expected. There were over twenty spells on the sheet, and she remembered the counter to each of the spells perfectly. Seeing the answers, even some of the parents were nodding their heads, as they were quite surprised the last two could be answered so well.
"Do you remember my lesson to you yesterday?" the professor asked.
"Ah, yes, sir," Aurora replied, taken aback a bit.
"Then, do you mind telling me why you decided to put the counter spell for 'Ember' as 'Water Spout' again?" Quartz asked.
Aurora actually somewhat expected the teacher to maybe point this out, but she felt that before, there was nothing wrong with her answer, which was why she had placed it again. With the family members watching, wouldn't they surely call out the teacher for his wrongful assessment? That's why Aurora proceeded to answer.
"I still think that 'Water Spout' is the best counter for the skill 'Ember.' The flames from 'Ember' tend to spread out further than the targeted attack due to the properties of the fire. However, it is not a strong fire spell in itself. In order to counter it fully, the use of 'Water Spout' will be able to block out all of the attack."
Aurora was confident as she gave her answer, and many of those watching had agreed with what she said; they could see nothing wrong.
"She needs to think outside of the box a bit," Raze mumbled, and this didn't go unheard by her brother.
The professor shook his head; if he said the same stuff as he did yesterday, he knew she wouldn't understand. But when looking at the wall of answers, he could see one that stood out to him. He then placed Aurora's answer sheet to the side and placed another one down, projecting it so the others could see.
"And as for this answer sheet, the one that wrote the answer 'Gust,' could they please stand?"
Moments later, rubbing the side of her arm, Kelly stood up for the others to see.
"Of course she would put 'Gust,'" Aurora commented. "The wind spell would cause 'Ember' to go all over the place; it wouldn't even be able to completely stop the attack."
This was common reasoning; it was why nearly none of the students put a wind spell when it came to fire spells as a counter.
"Kelly, do you mind explaining your reasoning for using the spell 'Gust'?" the professor asked.
Nervous, she looked around the room; she wasn't used to being in this position, but she had given her answer anyway because the reason for her answer was all because of her new 'brother.'
"'Gust' is a wind spell, and wind magic is one of the fastest magics to conjure. Although the spell 'Gust' might not completely get rid of the flames, it will be enough to stop the main attack, only getting hit with a few marks here and there. If one were to be in a fight, then using wind magic, they could follow up with another wind spell after. I chose this spell because I was thinking of how useful it would be in battle and what would happen after."
After giving her answer, almost immediately, the professor started to clap. His loud claps were filling the sound of the whole room.
"Now, that is exactly how I wanted you all to think when thinking about Counter Magic, that is a 10/10 answer."
Quickly, Kelly went to sit back down. She didn't want any more attention, and Aurora, she couldn't help but turn back around and look at her.
'That damn girl, what is she trying to do? Is she trying to say all of that just to embarrass me? She could have just moved on or something. What the heck? Does she think she's better than me just because she got one answer right?'
'You want to talk about counter magic, well, in a real fight, let's see how you guys will do then. I could beat you with just a few spells. You are not important in this world; you are nothing, so why the heck are you trying to stand out?'
The blood was pumping furiously around her body. This was her day, her day of glory, her day to show her family and others that she was also special. She was just as good as everyone else, and it was now being completely ruined.
The bell rang, marking the end of the lesson, and it was time for their next class, Practical Magic.
