Earth-Style Magic Course

February 9 was the official first day of school.

First, following the instructions of the academy leaders, all the new students stayed in a large classroom until the so-called opening ceremony ended, then left happily one after another.

After returning to their dormitories, they began reading through the academy's various rules and regulations.

The academy's management was generally quite relaxed. Students could remain at the academy for sixty years without accomplishing anything. However, after sixty years, anyone who had not reached the level of a Sixth-level Mage would be expelled.

Yet at Ernst Academy, no one had ever been heard of being expelled.

At Ernst Academy, classes were held during the first eight days of each month, while there were no classes during the final two days.

Earth-style magic was taught from eight to ten in the morning, fire-style magic from ten-thirty to twelve-thirty, water-style magic from two to four in the afternoon, wind-style magic from four-thirty to six-thirty, lightning-style magic from seven to nine at night, and light-style magic from nine-thirty to eleven-thirty at night.

Light, lightning, earth, fire, water, and wind each had six grades, with a separate building for every grade. Beginners and First-level Mages attended the first grade, Second-level Mages attended the second grade, Third-level Mages attended the third grade... and so on. Thus, Ernst Academy's teaching district alone had thirty-six buildings for students.

Sixth-grade students could apply for graduation at any time. Of course, they could also continue studying if they did not apply.

On March 1, in the first-grade earth-style magic classroom.

The first-grade earth-style magic classroom was enormous, with several hundred seats inside.

At this moment, more than twenty students had already arrived. Arnold and Linley found seats near the front. By eight o'clock, there were already more than fifty students in the classroom. Once most of them had arrived, the instructor began speaking.

"Hello, everyone." Standing at the front of the classroom was a kindly middle-aged man with brown hair. "My name is Wendy, and I am your earth-style magic teacher. Today, we have nearly twenty new students joining us. As usual, let us have the old and new students introduce themselves in turn, so everyone can get acquainted."

At once, the students began going up one by one to introduce themselves.

"My name is Gerhan, and I come from the Easternmost Great Prairie."

On the geographical map of the Yulan Continent, the Holy Alliance and Dark Alliance lay west of the Warcraft Mountain Range. To the east of the Warcraft Mountain Range were the Four Great Empires, while the Easternmost Great Prairie lay even farther east, beyond those empires. It was no ordinary distance from Ernst Academy.

Linley and Arnold also gave brief introductions of themselves.

After all the students had finished introducing themselves, Wendy, the earth-style mage, began boasting about earth-style magic. Only in the latter half of the class did she begin explaining earth-style magic itself, finally teaching the beginners about meditation and refining magical power.

However, after class, Linley said to Arnold beside him, "Arnold, from now on, I'll only attend this earth-style magic class once a month."

Hearing Linley say this, Arnold asked pointedly, "Linley, are you planning to specialize in wind-style magic?"

Linley neither confirmed nor denied it, offering no answer.

From then on, Linley no longer attended earth-style magic classes with Arnold.

Before entering Ernst Academy, Arnold had not possessed even the slightest foundation in magic.

Therefore, Arnold's main goal now was to begin refining magical power and first become an official First-level Mage.

At night, he meditated. Although Arnold's spiritual force was high enough that he could actually advance before the third level without meditating, he still did not want to give up the chance to improve his spiritual force.

Thus, Arnold spent every morning from eight to ten attending earth-style magic classes, and every afternoon from four-thirty to six-thirty attending wind-style magic classes. He used all the rest of the daytime to refine magical power. At night, he also set aside four hours for meditation, focusing on training his spiritual force.

The days passed one by one, and Arnold's progress was obvious.

Before reaching the First-level Mage rank, Arnold simply sat cross-legged on the ground in his dormitory courtyard, drawing earth-style elements into his body.

Very soon, Arnold had his first experience refining magical power within his body.

The earth-style elements were refined by Arnold into magical power and stored within his body. At the same time, those elements flowed through his body and were naturally absorbed by his organs, muscles, bones, and other parts. Arnold could feel his physique steadily improving as well. Of course, this was only compared to before he had refined earth elements; a warrior's cultivation improved the physique far more than a mage's did.

As long as one had talent, going from nothing to something was very fast. Besides, Arnold's affinity for earth-style elements was so high that calling himself a genius would not have been boasting.

In merely half a month, the amount of magical power in Arnold's body had reached the level of a First-level Mage.

Aside from the first few days, when the earth-style instructor Wendy gave beginners a little guidance on refining magical power, she no longer concerned herself with beginners like Arnold. Wendy continued explaining magic instead. A First-level Mage could naturally only use first-level magic, so she explained several first-level earth-style spells, such as Earth Spike, Shattering Stone, and Earthshaking Art.

After reaching the First-level Mage rank, Arnold no longer rushed as he had before. Apart from having enough magical power in their bodies to reach the corresponding level, the most important criterion for judging a mage was whether they could cast magic matching that level.

Now that he had become a First-level Mage, Arnold had to formally begin learning and practicing magic.

A mage's advancement was absolutely not just a matter of refining magical power, then purifying it step by step. Mages needed to learn magic because, in the process of studying it, their unique affinity for the elements allowed them to comprehend countless principles. These principles might not immediately increase their combat power in the early stages of cultivation, but as time passed, once they reached the higher stages of mage cultivation, the principles they had understood before would allow them to travel farther down the path of magic.

Since he needed to practice magic, he certainly could not remain in the dormitory courtyard. Learning magic was accompanied by earth-shaking noise. If he disturbed others, he should not expect to keep practicing peacefully without being disturbed himself.

So, like Linley, Arnold casually chose a place in the back mountain of Ernst Academy as a long-term training site.

Naturally, he would not deliberately train together with Linley. From the fact that Linley planned to attend earth-style magic class only once a month, Arnold could tell Linley had certain secrets, and he would not force others to tell him.

There were only a few lowest-level, first-level earth-style spells: Earth Spike, Shattering Stone, Earthshaking Art, and the like.

As a beginner spell, Earthshaking Art caused a slight earthquake on the ground after being cast. It had no real destructive power, but it was quite effective at disrupting enemies. Arnold liked the spell as soon as he saw it.

A mage needed little more than the magical power within their body and their own spiritual force to cast magic. Incantations merely served as assistance. If one's spiritual force was strong enough, magic could be cast instantly.

After casually finding a place with mountains and streams in the back mountain of Ernst Academy, Arnold began concentrating on practicing magic.

First-level spell incantations were easy enough to memorize. It did not take Arnold long to become proficient at silently reciting the incantation for Earthshaking Art.

Then came casting it. Staring at a patch of ground, Arnold began silently reciting the incantation for the first spell of his life—Earthshaking Art.

As he recited the incantation, Arnold felt as though his soul had entered a peculiar state.

The earth-style magical power in his chest immediately surged, and as Arnold spread out his spiritual force, the earth-style elements between heaven and earth were drawn in as well.

The ground before Arnold, an area of roughly three or four square meters, began to tremble. Even Arnold himself was affected.

The moment Arnold was distracted, Earthshaking Art immediately lost its effect, and the ground stopped shaking. Arnold also felt a stifling sensation in his chest.

Arnold knew this was his first time casting magic. There was nothing to be done if it was not good enough. Once he practiced it several hundred more times, he would definitely master the spell.

In the days that followed, Arnold continued refining magical power, though he spent part of his time practicing the few spells he had learned. Naturally, he still spent most of his time meditating and training his spiritual force. As long as his spiritual force reached the required level, refining magical power would be very fast. Arnold gradually became more and more proficient with Earthshaking Art, Shattering Stone, Earth Spike, and the other spells.

In the blink of an eye, another three months passed. Arnold had reached the middle stage of the First-level Mage rank. In truth, mages were simply classified from the first level to the ninth level, and there was no official division within each level. Arnold himself divided each rank into lower, middle, and upper stages. An ordinary person would need several years to advance from a First-level Mage to a Second-level Mage, while even a genius would need around two years. Thus, Arnold would likely need more than another year before advancing in mage rank.