The was a silence that followed after seraphim's final words were almost suffocating.

Some of the 10 students of Class S sat frozen in their seats, while some of them were wide-eyed with awe. The faint hum of mana still lingered in the air, a ghostly resonance left behind by the runes she casted.

Seraphim started to move again. She then turned, her long amethyst hair catching the light, and with a flick of her wrist conjured a slender rod of pure mana on her hand.

It wasn't an attack spell or anything like that, it was too delicate, too ephemeral. Rather, it looked more like a conductor's baton, faintly glowing with violet energy.

"Well words alone are just nothing," she muttered. "You all heard my king lecture, but having knowledge without actual experience is worthless. To be able to use mana effectively, you must gurst be able to feel it."

She then tapped the very tip of the rod just lightly against the air. And at once, a ripple spread through the classroom, it was like a wave striking very still water.

Some of the students gasped as they felt it: a pressure that brushed against their skin, their lungs, and their very bones. It wasn't painful at all, it was just alien, just like a current passing through them.

"And that," Seraphim said calmly, "is mana in it's purest form. It just flows through every stone in these walls, in every leaf in the gardens behind, the very earth and heartbeat in this room. Now close your eyes, feel the mana flowing through your veins, don't force the mana, don't chase it, just simply listen and let it flow."

For a moment, the was hesitation that riled the room. Then slowly, all the students obeyed, they closed their eyes, and their breaths slowed.

The whole classroom dimmed as the lights responded to seraphim's will, casting an even softer glow, it was less distracting. The silence thickened.

Adam sat there motionless, his silver hair and violet strands stirring faintly as though they were caught by an unseen breeze.

He didn't even need her instruction, as mana had always flowed freely after his reconstruction, and even more so when he awakened his physique.

But he closed his eyes anyway, allowing himself to drift into the rhythm.

He then felt it immediately: the threads of energy woven through the stone beneath him, flowing like the roots of a vast tree.

In the air, faint sparks tiny motes that brushed against his skin. In his own chest, a very quiet pulse, resonating with each beat of his heart.

And beside him, Selena's expression softened, her lips were parting faintly as though she too had slipped into the current.

Her golden hair was shimmering in the dim light, her affinity with water and lightning perhaps attuning her more easily to the glow of mana.

Duke, in contrast, fidgeted. His brow then furrowed, his lips pressing thin. He then clenched his fists on the desk, muttering under his breath "Fell, it feel it!? How the hell do you feel something that's invisible!?"

Adam just opened one eye. "Stop chasing, you're forcing it dude."

Duke blinked at him, he was caught off guard by the quiet advice. "Huh?"

"Just breathe," Adam said simply, then he just shut his eyes again.

Finally, Duke obeyed. A long breath in. And a longer breath out. Slowly, his shoulders then eased. His eyes widened just slightly, surprise was flickering across his face.

"...Oh," he whispered to himself.

Seraphim's lips curved faintly, as though she was just watching the entire exchange take place. "Good, you're beginning to understand. Mana is not a beast that needs to be chained. It's like the river and ocean currents, you must learn its rhythm before you can even hope to play your own."

Shen then lifted the rod again. The glow then intensified, and then suddenly threads of mana, visible now to the naked eye, unraveled from the air itself.

They then curled, spiraled, and then wove into a sphere above her palm, they were pulsing like a second heart.

"This is when mana is gathered," she explained further. "The is a first step to every technique you will ever wield. Once it is gathered, it then may be shaped."

The sphere then shifted. And in an instant, it froze into a shade of ice, glittering with very sharp edges.

With another flick, and it melted into a droplet of water. And the another, it crackled into a bolt of lightning that snapped through the air with a hiss.

Gasps then filled the room, their eyes wide seeing her display of her 3 elemental affinities.

"Elemental Affinity," Seraphim said, then dispersing the energy into harmless sparks, "it determined what form the mana will respond to most naturally. But the principle itself remains the same. It gathers, shapes, then releases."

She then turned her gaze onto the students, her eyes narrowing faintly. "Now it's your turn, show me."

There was a collective murmur of shock that rippled through the class.

Selena blinked, her whole composed facade flipping for the very first time. "Show... here? But how?"

"Of course now," Seraphim said coolly with a chuckle. "What is a better moment than now when the sensation is still lingering in your veins? Just begin with the simplest form: Gathering. I don't really care if you conjure a flame or a spark or even a wisp fo wind. I just want to see wether you'll be able to draw pure mana at all not your elements."

For a heartbeat, no one really moved. Then one boy in the front row, Adam recognized him as Finn, extended his hands, his face was tense with concentration. His fingers trembled, sweat beading at his temple. Slowly, there was a faint wisp of flame that flickered between his palms.

Then almost in an instant, the others followed. A girl to his left conjured a small breeze that ruffled her hair. Then came a hulking boy who just managed to coat his fist in a thin sheath of stone, through it just cracked and crumbled almost instantly.

Duke just leaned forward eagerly, thrusting out his hand "Alright, Light, don't fail me now!" He scrunched his face in concentration, veins standing out on his forehead. For a moment there was nothing. Then, a bright flash, sprang across his fingers, making him yelp.

Then was a hint of laughter that ripped through the whole room, though Duke grinned despite himself. "Hey, a least it's a start!"

Selena just exhaled slowly, her hand was rising with practiced elegance. Lightning cranked instantly at her fingertips, violent but steady. Gasps followed, some were in awe, while others envied her.

Then, all their eyes turned to Adam, the Apex.

He just remained still, watching in silence. But when he finally moved, it was unhurried.

He lifted his one hand, fingers curling slightly as if they were plucking invisible strings. The very air around him warped faintly, the light was bending, and the very space was quivering as though the whole world itself held its breath.

For a heartbeat there was silence.

Then—crack.

A thin rift, it was no wider than a blade of grass, opened above his palm, it glowed with violet light.

It pulsed once, the twice, before snapping shut, leaving only a faint of shimmer in the air.

The classroom froze.

Whispers erupted almost immediately.

"Did you see that—?"

"Sow that's how his space affinity looks like up close?"

"Amy really took that Head on and still went on the offensive"

Seraphim's expression remained unreadable though, her eyes still lingered on Adam with unmistakable intensity. "That's control," she finally said, her voice was cool. "Very impressive for a first attempt that is. But don't let that control deceive you into being arrogant. Even just the smallest right, if mishandled, could consume more than you have intended it to."

Adam just lowered his hand, his expression was calm. And he said nothing.

The whole class continued, each of the students were making their attempts. Some of them succeeded, while the others failed, sparks sputtering or their elements slipping through their fingers. But in the end they were all able to learn basic control albeit not fully mastering it, but the exercise served it's purpose.

The air was alive with the determination of the students, with the thrill of their first true taste of mana.

Finally, Seraphim dismissed the glowing rod she conjured, letting it dissolve into particles of light. She then swept her gaze across the students, still sharp.

"You should all remember this day," she said. "This is the first step you room into a world that is larger and hungrier than you can ever image. Treasure these small victories. Learn from you failures. And also above all, respect the very power you hold. And if you don't, it'll consume you, the outer gods will influence you, and you'll loose those around you."

Her gaze was lingering again, just briefly it landed on Adam. She then turned, her robes sweeping behind her like shadows.

"Class is dismissed."

And with that, she was gone, leaving behind a room that was buzzing with whispers, envy, admiration and above all the first sparks of rivalry.

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