(A/N Big thanks to everyone for the Power stones and Golden tickets, they mean a lot. As usual, please don't hesitate to comment or drop a review. ENJOY)

Power stones people, Gimme it.

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"This is important for two reasons. First: unstable mana wastes energy. Second: unstable mana interferes with analysis."

Her eyes flicked toward one of the SD students in the front.

"Those of you studying magical signatures and structural readings will quickly realize how impossible it is to examine a foreign source of mana if your own is shaking violently."

A few students chuckled quietly.

Ophelia continued.

"Now for the exercise. Coax your mana gently outward—but only until it reaches the boundary of your core. Do not externalize it. Keep it inside."

A faint hum filled the room again as they followed her instructions.

"Good. Now," she said softly, "make it still."

This proved more difficult.

Some pushed again.

Some lost control.

Some made no progress at all.

Orion, however, understood something immediately: his mana stabilized on its own. Or rather—his vacuum-like core pulled it into stillness.

Lady Ophelia nodded in satisfaction as she looked around the room.

"This skill, once mastered," she said, "allows you to conserve energy, improve accuracy, and execute spells without leaking. It is one of the most important parts of mana discipline."

She let them practice for another minute before lifting her cane again.

"Enough. Release your mana and relax."

The tension lifted from the room.

Ophelia resumed her place at the center.

"That concludes the first phase of today's lesson. Awareness, coaxing, and stabilization. The three pillars of your foundation."

Then she added:

"In the coming weeks, we will progress to expansion, compression, rotational control, external projection, and analytical structuring. But only once you master these three."

She rested both hands on her cane.

"Now. Before we move to practical demonstrations, I will answer exactly three questions."

Immediately, hands shot into the air.

Lady Ophelia chuckled softly.

"And so it begins."

The introductory class had officially begun.

The rest of Lady Ophelia's class passed quickly.

After the three foundational exercises, she guided them through short repetitions—nothing complex, nothing advanced, just enough to confirm who struggled and who adapted fast. The differences were immediate.

Most students were still wrestling with stabilization. A few managed decent control. Only two maintained steady, clean results from start to finish: Selene, whose mana behaved like a quiet stream… and Orion, whose vacuum-like core naturally pulled everything into stillness.

Lady Ophelia noticed.

She didn't praise him, but her eyes lingered for a moment longer than usual.

By the end of the hour, every student had at least felt their mana behave differently, and that was the point of day one. She dismissed them after summarizing the core principles.

"Awareness. Coaxing. Stabilization. Practice gently, not aggressively. Your bodies are adjusting to your grown cores."

The class bowed slightly—habitual courtesy.

Orion stood, collecting his pack. The others stretched, exchanged comments, or quietly evaluated their own performance. Seris seemed pleased with herself. Caelum looked like he wanted another round. Selene made a few notes before closing her book.

They stepped out of the building into the open walkways connecting the different A1 course halls.

This period was a shift period—ten minutes before next classes began.

They naturally formed a small cluster.

"What do you have next?" Seris asked.

"Magical Medicine," Orion answered.

"Ah." She winced. "Scholar stuff. Good luck."

"It's introductory," Selene added. "You'll be fine."

Caelum pointed toward another hallway. "I'll be in the lounge in case of anything."

Orion gave a small nod before walking away, "I'll see you all in the next class."

They separated.

Orion followed the usual procedure to get to the lecture room.

The class was held in a hybrid lab-lecture room. Bright stone counters, arranged seats, mana-conductive instruments neatly arranged. A good number of SD students were present already, though unless his memory was starting to fail him, he was currently the only CD student.

He took a seat near the center.

At exactly the second the clock struck the hour, the door swung open.

A woman burst into the room.

Not walked—burst.

Her hair was in a messy bun, half falling out. Her coat was buttoned wrong. She carried three books, a mana tablet, and an half empty bottle.

"Good morning, everyone!" she announced cheerfully before nearly tripping on the platform step. "I am perfectly fine—nobody panic."

Nobody panicked.

But several looked concerned.

She cleared her throat and straightened her glasses—which immediately slid back down her nose.

"I am Instructor Lyra, and I will be teaching you Introduction to Magical Medicine. I expect brilliance, obedience, curiosity, and the ability to keep up even when I forget what I'm saying halfway through—because it will happen."

She pointed at them with her pen.

"I forget things. Not important things—just things."

Orion blinked. She was… chaotic. But her mana signature was precise. Very precise.

Lyra clasped her hands.

"This is an introductory class. Which means today, we start at the beginning—biology, chemistry, and their magical equivalents. The Chronos Academy does not train healers who only know magic without understanding the body."

She tapped the board behind her, and diagrams appeared—muscle fibers, veins, mana channels.

"Today we cover the basics of biological structure. I will not overwhelm you. Yet."

She launched into the lecture.

And to Orion's surprise, she was… good.

Despite her scattered energy, her explanations were neat, direct, and easy to follow. She related normal biological processes to their magical counterparts, explained how mana integrates with tissues, how excess density affects healing.

Her eccentricity somehow made it easier—not harder—to learn.

Orion didn't hide his pace. He absorbed information rapidly, answered when she asked something to the class, and noted how SD students approached theory differently than CD ones. Both had their strengths.

Class ended with a simple closing remark:

"You will all be brilliant. Or you will cry. Either way—we'll make progress!"

Orion had no comment.

They had spatial manipulation (theoretical) next.

By the time he reached the class hall, the hallways were far more crowded. Every A1 student converged toward the same destination. Spatial studies were the backbone of the academy—no exceptions, no alternatives.

The lecture hall itself was different.

Not a hall.

A library.

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