Shang listened to the teacher's words.
This was important knowledge!
"Standard spells," the teacher said in his deep voice as he grabbed a piece of chalk.
His arms moved, and in just two seconds, a diagram appeared on the blackboard.
Shang looked with surprise and confusion at the diagram.
It was an octagon, but there were many confusing and senseless lines connecting seemingly random spots inside the octagon.
In the end, a mess of lines and forms could be seen inside the octagon.
Shang had absolutely no idea what this was supposed to represent. He saw no logic in the diagram.
"Mana step," the teacher said as he wrote these two words above the diagram. "As you can see, the V-diagram is in there, symbolizing the access of general Mana. The Lion-Diagram shows a gathering of force. The Z-Diagram shows a transportation of force. The Alpha-Diagram shows the transformation of Mana into physical power. The Side-V shows the release of force."
Shang's eyes widened in surprise.
The teacher explained the confusing diagram in only a couple of sentences and broke it down into something that made sense to Shang.
However, it was still difficult for Shang to discern how the lines were connected exactly. Where do they begin? Where do they end?
"The Mana step is the most common and easiest to learn Element-Neutral Apprentice Rank Spell Mages can learn. It simply gathers Mana and releases it in their feet, allowing them to jump to the side."
"The Invocation of the spell is also counter-proportional, which is the dangerous thing about this spell."
The teacher looked at the two students without red uniforms.
"That means, the quicker the Mage speaks the Invocation, the stronger the Spell. Of course, it also takes more Mana."
"If a Mage takes a full second to speak the Invocation, the effect will be minuscule. They essentially spend no Mana and move only a little."
"The Invocation is…"
Then, the teacher made some confusing sounds with his voice.
Shang's mind returned to the time he had met Duke Whirlwind. He had spoken similar words back then.
Shang also remembered that Duke Whirlwind had suddenly appeared in front of Shang after around a second of him fleeing.
'Had Duke Whirlwind used that Spell back then to catch up to me? Additionally, he has taken nearly a second to cast it, which meant that he was essentially only using the bare minimum of Mana.'
'Yet, that had been enough to jump nearly a hundred meters!'
'And even Apprentices can learn that Spell?!'
"This Spell allows the Mage to reach speeds one level above themselves compared to warriors of the same level. That means that a Peak Apprentice can reach the speed of an Initial General Stage warrior for an instant," the teacher explained.
Shang was reminded of his own ability to shoot himself away with his Ice Blast and Fire Blast.
Mages could do the same thing but without injuring themselves?
Then, the teacher drew another diagram in just a couple of seconds, and this one had way more lines, which were even more confusing to Shang.
"Mana Shield, the second easiest Element-Neutral Apprentice Rank Spell," the teacher said.
Then, the teacher went over all the different patterns inside the diagram, explaining what each of them did.
"As you can see, Mana Shield creates a continuous shield of Mana around the Mage. As soon as it is activated, they don't need to focus on it anymore. It will stay active and counter any outside physical force it experiences. The Mage doesn't experience any knockback or backlash during all of this, meaning that their concentration will not be broken."
"However, it is a double-edged sword. If a hit is too powerful, the Mana Shield might sap all the Mana out of the Mage, making them defenseless."
"Mana Push," the teacher said as he drew another diagram.
Shang's eyes widened as he saw the diagram.
It was insanely complex!
He could barely discern anything!
The teacher had also taken nearly six seconds to draw it with his impressive speed.
Then, the teacher took nearly three minutes to explain all the different diagrams.
Shang's head was thrown into confusion as he tried to keep up with the explanation.
Sadly, he couldn't. It was just too complex.
"Only very talented Apprentices can learn that Spell, and also only in the Late Apprentice Realm or higher. It's very complicated, as you can see."
"It allows the Apprentice to create a force field around a part of their body, which they can use to redirect enemy attacks. You can essentially view it as a very powerful magnet that pushes your weapon away instead of attracting it."
"Element-Specific Apprentice Rank Defensive Spells," the teacher announced.
"Redirecting explosion."
The next diagram was less complex, but it also inherently looked different somehow. Shang wasn't quite sure why.
As Shang listened, the teacher began to list one Spell after another.
In the end, it took half the lesson to explain all the different kinds of Defensive Spells.
After that, the teacher talked about the weaknesses of each Spell, ways on how to discern what spell the opponent was casting, most likely next moves, counters, things to avoid, and many other things.
Shang was basically stunned through the entire lesson.
Mages fought so very differently from anything Shang had ever fought.
However, Shang absorbed the knowledge like a sponge. It was presented and explained in a relatively understandable manner, and Shang could hear the epitome of experience inside the teacher's voice.
He knew what he was talking about.
Near the end of the lesson, the teacher talked about something else.
"The Day of Chaos is in two weeks," he said. "I will decide which of you gets the quota based on how you perform in the practical exam next week. As a Vice-Dean, I can bring up to five people, which means that three of you will have to stay home."
Obviously, he didn't even think about the people not wearing red uniforms.
'Day of Chaos?' Shang thought in confusion.
'What's that?'
