Kalar´s Continent

The first subject of the day was math. Teo however, was not very good in Mathenomics, even though it was considered one of the more important classes by his teachers.

The subject mainly dealt with geometry, calculations and the unique ratios, that often came up in Magic Circles, such as the ratio of a circles circ.u.mference to its diameter, or the characteristic ratio of Rune density to Mana attraction.

It had no real uses in foundation level Magic — making it pretty much useless for the students at the moment— but it was a necessary prerequisite to understand higher subjects, such as Magic Circle construction, Spell Simulation and Magic Superposition, making it an invaluable asset for ones future studies in a Magic Academy.

"Hey Teo! You're early today!" Teo's friend Jack approached him as soon as he entered the classroom.

"Not as early as you, Jack," he replied and sat down at the desk between Jack and Angelika, the third member of their small group. Teo could get along with most of his classmates too, if he wanted, but he liked to stick close to these two, he knew since his first day of school.

Angelika Finch; Teo could still vividly remember, how he had met the shy girl right behind the school gates —obviously lost and close to tears— her long black hair fluttering in the wind. Somehow she had managed to forget, where the reception of new students took place and did not dare ask anyone for help.

In case of Jack, it was more accurate to say, that he found Teo first. He literally came out of nowhere and directly asked with an extended hand, "Hey! I'm also new here, do you want to be friends?" Apparently he had seen, how Teo helped Angelika, while everyone else just walked by, ignoring her. He was an energetic and very direct boy, with a flamboyant personality and a burning sense of justice, so he was delighted, to find someone sensible between all the arrogant pricks.

The unlikely trio spend the next months, getting closer to each other, making fun of their teachers and exploring the limits of the school rules. They also spent a lot of time learning together, or rather being tutored by Angelika, who liked to read and was very quick on the uptake. It was a win-win situation however, since the quiet girl enjoyed the unaccustomed company and liked to study in her free time anyway.

Before Jack could finish the story, of how his father, the commander of the Sigella town guards, gloriously captured three whisp-smugglers yesterday, their teacher had already entered the classroom.

Mr. Nikola Rander was a thinly, pale man in his forties, with shoulder-long, black hair, which always looked greasy and unkempt. One of his favorite pastimes, was torturing unsuspecting students with almost unsolvable math questions, which perfectly complemented his occupational choice.

"Stop babbling already! Close your books and take out a pen, we will have a pop quiz now!"

And there it was again. Pretty much every math test came as a surprise, the intervals between them and the topics tested being completely random; Teo even suspected, that he intentionally did what they expected the least, just to see them fail.

When the sheets were handed out, many shocked gasps and depressed sighs filled the room. Basic algebra, partial volumetry of geometric bodies, fractional arithnomics, rule of proportions, the topics were definitely not easy. Teo had hardly any time to spare for learning and if he did, he would gladly study for another subject instead. Only Angelika seemed unimpressed by the piece of paper on her desk, while Jackson had a facial expression, that seemed to say, "Call the healers, I'm having a heart attack!"

Just like Jack, Teo had no natural talent for numbers and would rather spend his time on something else, he might have been more tranquil on a physical level, but in his mind he was just as panicked. He had a knack for practical Magic, but what did the complex figures and equations on this white sheet of pure terror have to do with Mana or the Elements? Would it bring one closer to the secrets of the world, if one managed to understand them?

After wasting almost half the time on two problems, he had a great idea. Quickly, but as inconspicuous as possible, he used his new secret technique and passed over a strand of Mana to Goliath, who was still resting in the leather purse around his neck.

'Hey, Goliath! You're good at calculations, right?'

'Obviously. I have been designed to be capable of complex tasks, like assisting in experiments and calculating remote coordinates. Why do you ask?' a proud voice echoed in Teo's had, with barely any delay.

'Please help me with my math test! I have barely started and am almost out of time already...' He was really desperate, but having found a ray of hope, Teo could only cling onto it. He quickly imprinted his field of vision on a Mana Thread and sent it over.

'Tell me, when you find harder exercises, these can barely be considered an appetizer. Here you go,' Goliaths melodic voice transmitted into his head after a barely a few seconds, together with a filled out sheet of math problems.

'Thank you so much!' Teo replied hurriedly, as he tried to copy all the answers onto is sheet, while holding the new Mana thread in his mind for referencing, all with a smug grin on his face.

Today Mr. Rander would be in for a surprise.

...

After sitting through the very boring history class of Mrs. Leadford, it was finally time for Teo's favorite subject: Elements. Usually Mr. Kasahara would talk about the basic properties of foundation Magic, Mana or the basic Elements, sometimes even with small practical presentations. Not only Teo took a liking to this subject, even Jack and many other boys in the class were eager to learn about the applications and basic theories behind Magic, as long as it did not get too complicated. Angelika on the other hand, enjoyed it especially, when it got complicated.

"Hello everyone! The class will start now, so please be quiet and sit down," a young looking man with blond hair and green eyes, approximately in his early thirties, proclaimed after entering the cramped classroom. "For anyone wondering, today's topic will be the Air Element. So please pay attention, while I explain the more advanced principles of how it functions and what properties it is associated with, in detail."

In their first year of school, they had only learned about, what Elements there are, how they usually manifest in nature and what to be careful of. The basics of the basics, so to speak. They had also learned a few small tricks to improve their control over the element they possessed. Now however, the lecture seemed to go more into the depth of how and why each Element had its specific properties. It was just too bad, that none of the three could use the Air Element.

"As you all know, Air is one of the three immaterial Elements and is most often represented by movement of air in form of wind, storms, breezes and so forth. However, what many fail to see is, that the Air Element is in fact neither bound to the air we breathe, nor to any material object we can observe."

This point had always puzzled Teo, when he thought about it previously. Fire, Air and Darkness were classified as 'immaterial' Elements, meaning, that they are not bound or transmitted by a specific type of material, but embodied a certain concept itself. Yet he wondered, how was air not a specific material? It did not have a defined shape, but if he held his hand against the wind, he sure felt something pushing against it, almost like a stream of water. So, if the Water Element was material, how was Air, which was so similar in many aspects, not?

"The fundamental concept behind the Air Element is nothing else, but macroscopic movement itself. As we have previously learned, Elements imbue objects and areas where they linger with their attributes, just as areas and objects, that align with the attributes of an Element, attract it. This directly leads to the fallacy, that is most often associated with the Air Element." Mr. Kasahara swept his eyes through the classroom full of students to see, if everybody could follow the explanation, before he continued.

"Air, wind, storms, breezes, they are the definition of freedom, motion, flexibility and change, perfectly aligning them to the Air Element, which gets naturally attracted to them as a result. Meaning, that air is rich in the Air Element, not because it is air, but because it is always in motion."

This explanation may not seem like much, but for half of the class it finally opened their eyes to the real nature of this hard to grasp Element. Even though Teo could not use this specific Element, his new understanding of the laws of nature was sure to benefit both his Arcane Magic and his Enchanting practices.

"There are three famous experiments, that can be used as evidence for this hypotheses. First, by confining air in a closed container, we can restrict its motion enough, to visibly see the leaking of Air Element threads from it. Secondly, rapidly moving water, like in whirlpools and waterfalls, is also naturally rich in the Air Element, even though it is not made up of air. And finally, Electricity, which is a different and more concentrated representation of the Air Element, is completely independent of the surrounding air and properly functions even at the bottom of the ocean. Thus it is commonly believed, that the Air Element is tied to the motion of materials and energies, instead of the air itself. Now let me show you an experiment!"

It seemed, like this school year had still many more surprises in stock for Teo and his friends, positive and negative ones.