Chapter 27: Elements
The professor explained what types of hardship they will face in the different kinds of classes. In brief, the class of Mage needed the most mental strength and Spirit affinity. Though spirit affinity was only the benchmark for the potential, it does show the strength of one spirit which was extremely important for higher-level Guardian irrespective of the classes. Be it, Warrier, Mage, Healer or an Artificer, all need a certain level of spirit force to reach Fifth order or higher.
"Now that all the testing is done, let's get to the class." Aleister rose from the seat and came forward before the students again."Basic mana application. During the test, I saw some of you have no idea about welding mana. I don't blame you for that. It was not even a week for you, and I won't blame you either if it takes months for you to learn. . . ."
"Is there really someone so dumb that took a month to learn mana applications?" Shin asked under his breath.
'You would be surprised, Shin.' Elior shook his head in thought. Not everyone was blessed with talent like them.
While the teacher was talking about mana application, Elior was already training his mana with open eyes. The mana swirled inside his circulation system as Elior divided some of his perception on it.
For an experiment, he tried to imagine, light. A candle burning and illumining the surroundings. For some time, he succeeded, but only after a few moments, his mind drift off to the emptiness again. The fire shook and then it was engulfed by a hole of emptiness.
'Is this the reason my affinity with fire decreases?' Elior questioned. He sighed and continued revolving the mana, taking a mental note to experiment on it more later.
Meanwhile, Aleister was explaining the basics of mana applications to the students. "There are two primary factors that influence the mana application. First is the revolution speed, and the second is proficiency; how well you could manipulate it.
"Both are equally important. Without a decent speed, any release would not have the desired effect even if you are articulate in the usage. And in the other way around is true as well. If you are not very well at manipulating the strands of mana, but have a decent pace, it would only be a little more useful compared to the other case. It will be like forcing everything with raw strength.
"Without the mastery in both of them, you could not show the full potential of the mana."
"Sir, how would we be able to learn both?" a student stood up and asked.
"That is what I'll be teaching you today," Aleister said, gesturing to the student to sit down. "The most novice and accurate way are to start with visualisations and meditation. It helps not only in the speed of revolution but in your mastery of wielding the mana as well."
The instructor told them how the visualisation works. He told them to imagine something simple related to their element. For the wind element, imagine a slow breeze carrying leaves. For Fire, imagine a candle flame, illumining. For Earth, it was simple at the start, but it was quite difficult after that. It was a lot harder to manipulate earth compared to wind or water. For earth elements, the students were asked to visualise some small land distinctive from others.
"For the students with an earth element, you have to be more patient than others. Perseverance is the key. Be as persistent as a mountain." Aleister then looked towards Elior, and contemplated in his mind for a brief moment. "Space is even trickier compared to earth. Even some guardians could not touch on the concept of it. For now, you should refrain from touching the element, and train the fire element for now."
Elior said nothing, nor did he nod. What his teacher told was applicable to normal people, but not to him. Yes, he did have many problems manipulating space even when he was over level-100 in the previous time, but with all the experience of the previous time, he found no restriction in learning. Moreover, he found it even easier than before, though he still needed to work to get used to it.
"Even though space is a rare element to get by, our institute has a few users," Aleister added, noticing the flat face of Elior. "They will teach you when you are ready."
Elior did not come clean about his ability. It was not time yet. He needed to do a couple more things. 'I need to level up the [Abstraction of Void] as soon as possible.'
Aleister moved to the other students when Ileana, who was beside Elior, stood up.
"Professor, can you advise me a little on the ways?" Ileana asked hesitantly. "In the test, I have an affinity with all the five fundamental elements."
"I know," Aleister said, nodding. "As I said, you are one of the anomalies. With proper passion and perseverance, you could be a true diamond, but you need to work hardest among all the students here. Having an affinity for more elements is a blessing and a curse at the same time. The more element you have an affinity with, the slower your progress will be. But if you can hold on to it for long, you will go a long way.
"What you need is to balance out the element for now. Do not try to connect them with each other. You are still decades away from there. You need to find the equilibrium between all the elements."
Ileana frowned. "So I have to train all the five elements one by one?" she asked, finding it quite stressful. 'Would it not be slow to train one element after another rather than just training one?'
"Not five. It's four: Air, Water, Earth, and Fire. Leave the element of space for now," Aleister said, raising an eyebrow at her. "Train the four elements equally now. If you have a problem, ask me or any other instructor."
Aleister then moved to his seat and sat, letting one leg above another. "There are special training chambers here in the institute that are just meant for training mana application. But the allocation to such a chamber depends on your academic progress. All depends on the academic points, so strive to gain as many as possible.
"Now that I explained the basics, get down to work."
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Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone