Asher continued sifting through various books, but all the other spells housed in the Restricted Section were Tier 3 or higher.
After going through a few more books, Asher turned his attention to more foundational works and the research conducted by various people concerning the Black Element.
Most of the research related to magic was housed within the Mage Association, and apart from them, only the World Academy had records about various magic research that hadn't been shared with the rest of the world.
Some of these books were donated to the World Academy by Silvus Grandus himself.
However, none of them were about the Black Element.
Asher was engrossed in the books when he heard footsteps. Looking up, he saw Professor Arman enter the Restricted Area.
Arman, the youngest 3 Star Professor in the World Academy, often visited the Restricted Section to read various books.
"It seems you are quite a diligent student," Arman commented, surprised to see Asher in the restricted section.
"But I would recommend you also try learning in the VIP Section, as the books here are very hard to comprehend, and the limited time might hinder you," Arman suggested, approaching Asher.
Asher closed the book he was reading and returned it to its place.
Unlike the Rune Section, other sections were considerably larger.
"It's fine," Asher replied.
Arman got the impression that Asher might not have taken his advice to heart, but he couldn't force a student from an elite family to follow his guidance.
He was correct; if it were anyone other than Asher, they would have a hard time learning from these books. All of them were very complex, and even professors would spend weeks on a single book.
It was clear why Arman suggested that Asher visit the VIP Section, where simpler books more suitable for beginners were available.
'Well, he can do as he wants,' Arman thought as he went to pick out the book he had been reading last time.
Asher watched him leave, then exited the Black Element section, done for the day.
Increasing Magic Mastery was only possible through understanding more about magic and improving mastery over the element you were working with.
The current classes were only about the basics, where most spells were only explained at a fundamental level.
The first year was when the World Academy's subjects were tailored to suit the majority of the students who had not previously received any training.
Meanwhile, on the 9th Floor of the Ranker's Dorm, six people were gathered together.
"I don't know what the pattern of the Mid-Term would look like, but it will involve Dungeons for sure," Eva said.
"And Professor Dahlia already told us that they will score all teams, so we should prepare to increase our synergy," Eva added.
At that moment, she was discussing the strategy for the Mid-Term Examination with her team, which consisted of Kevin Whiteheart, Elena Rothschild, Lishia Halcyon, Matthew, and Ria Adler.
"We have 3 mages and 3 weapon users, so I think we are pretty balanced," Elena noted, looking around.
Eva, herself, and Lishia were mages, Kevin was a spear user, and Ria and Matthew used swords.
"Kevin and Matthew will be in the front while Ria assists you. We will place Eva in the center with me and Lishia around her," Elena suggested.
"Seems good. I can manage to protect you guys, and we can increase our efficiency as well," Eva replied, thinking that Elena's idea was sound.
"We can perform really well with this team," Kevin said, looking at Elena.
Elena smiled, hearing Kevin's response.
"I heard they have five Rankers on their team as well," Matthew said, drawing everyone's attention.
"So?" Kevin asked.
"I'm just saying that Asher Greville's Team is also quite good. I'm not sure we can take the first place," Matthew voiced his honest thoughts.
"But this time, the test will be about clearing the Dungeon, not killing monsters for evaluation like last time," Lishia said, looking at Matthew.
"She is right. We don't need to focus on them. Instead, we should work on our synergy," Eva said.
But Matthew wasn't convinced. Ignoring Asher, he knew that Sam wasn't at his real rank. He had sparred with him several times before the Rankings were out, so he knew Sam was somewhere around the Top 5 or 6.
And just like them, a meeting was happening in Damian's room where everyone on their team, except Asher and Alyssa, was present.
"So she declined to practice with us?" Amelia asked Venessa.
"Not exactly. She said that her presence wouldn't help us at all," Venessa tried to put it nicely, but it was obvious that Alyssa didn't want to attend the practice.
"Well, then it's just us four," Sam said, trying to lighten the mood.
"Then we can spar in teams of two," Amelia decided, not wanting to waste their time, and decided to ignore the current situation.
She had been pondering how to get along with Alyssa, but her absence from the practice solved that issue.
"Me, Damian, and you two together," Amelia proposed, looking at Sam and Venessa.
There were only two months until the Mid-Terms would start, and they needed to practice as much as possible.
The next day, Asher was in the Runic Theory class. Neyman was standing in front of Asher at that moment, observing him with an amused look.
"Hmm, you've learned a lot, and your intent is very clear despite the rune you use," Neyman analyzed Asher's work so far.
He looked around, noticing that the number of students had dropped, and even those still attending had difficulty controlling and creating runes.
"Well, these are only Basic Runes, so you need to perfect them before you move on to complex runes," Neyman advised the class.
"We will conclude the class for now," Neyman announced, much to the excitement of some students becoming frustrated by repeatedly working on the same runes.
"But remember, my exams are not easy, so don't expect to pass my subjects easily," Neyman smirked, stroking his beard.
His words made many students nervous and anxious, as this could affect their overall scores in the end.
Mid-Terms were crucial, as they were the only exams apart from the End-of-Year exams that affected their grades.
Throughout the year, Mid-Term and End-of-Year exams were extremely important. They could affect your rankings going into the Second Year.
Even though Rankings could change with Duels, you could only challenge a person ranked 100 spots below you.
However, even if you changed your ranks, your score at the end of the year affected your rankings going into the Second Year.
Climbing to lower ranks was useless if your grades were not up to par with your ranks.
The World Academy's Ranking system was fairly accurate, making it nearly impossible for anyone, apart from the Top 100 students, to climb the ranks easily.
Most changes happened within the Top 100 ranks.
Asher stood up and left the class, and while going towards the Ranker's Dorm, he received a message from Sylvie.
"It happened couple months later this time," Asher said, looking at the message.
***
Five Days Ago at the Mage Association, Nathan was standing outside the room that Arthur was using.
"This brat really made me wait this whole time," Nathan grumbled as he sensed the changes happening due to Arthur's ranking up.
'I should mask his mana. I can't let that mage bastard sense it,' Nathan thought, aware of Silvus's mana sensitivity that rivaled theirs. He wanted to mask Arthur's mana to keep Arthur's Bloodline ability a secret.
While watching his son reach the SS Rank, Nathan was reminded of Ivar.
He recalled that Ivar would always joke around with Arthur when he reached SS Rank before Arthur.
"I couldn't protect you, but I will protect your kids," Nathan vowed as he noticed the mana emanating from Arthur's room.
Nathan flared his mana as Arthur's mana kept rising until it reached near the peak of SS Rank.
Nathan smiled, his eyes shining, as he sensed the powerful mana emanating from Arthur.
At the top floor of the Mage Association, Silvus was wondering.
"So he has reached SS Rank, but why is that old guy flaring his mana? Is he trying to compete with his own son?" Silvus wondered, not understanding why Nathan was showing his mana.
But he shrugged it off.
It didn't matter how Nathan and Arthur behaved with each other. Now that Arthur Greville was done, Nathaniel Greville would leave as well.
"I wonder how the others will react," Silvus mused, looking at the Kalvas Gala invitation sent to him.
The SSS Rank Hunter, known as the Pillars of Humanity, was given the first invitations. After a week, all the Elite families would receive their invitations separately.
Silvus studied the letter, undecided about whether to attend or not.
Part of him was concerned about his grandchildren who had grown up without experiencing the upper society.
He didn't want his grandchildren to get involved in the scheming of the Elite families, so he arranged a special class for them at World Academy.
But he didn't want to deprive them of experiences that could help them deal with people from Elite families.
"Well, I'll think about it later," Silvus decided, setting the letter aside as he looked at the documents on the table.
