The class was quiet as Mr Black paced in front of us. The first thing he did was ask us to list our skills. Unlike my accomplishments, this task was a lot easier to tell the truth in.

Earth creation, earth manipulation, metal manipulation, pain tolerance, fear tolerance, mana sense, mana manipulation, meditation, and stone grasp.

The only skills I didn't list were the Mark and Celestial Convergence.

I could see Gold nestled by the window and peeking at Amanda’s list curiously.

The papers floated into the air and there were only five papers that glowed red, the signal that their author was holding back information.

“Better.” Mr Black spoke.

He placed the stack of papers onto his desk and stroked his chin as he glanced at each paper. Then when he was done, he put them down and turned back to us.

“How many of you have an elemental manipulation ability?” He tapped the top of the paper stack impatiently.

I put my hand up and a quick scan of the classroom showed over three quarters of the students doing the same. Amanda had her hand up beside me.

Mr Black gestured with his hands, and we put our arms down. He pointed towards the section of the board that said, ‘why do we need skills?’.

“Most of you have or will have an elemental manipulation skill. It is important to note that this skill may be common among magicians, but it is still considered extremely rare when surveying the general population.”

His gaze drifted towards the students that hadn’t put their hands up. “It is also one of the best skills to add to your resume when looking for a job. It is versatile, and it can mimic many other skills to a lesser degree.”

“The only difference between manipulation skills and the skills they can mimic is how specialised the individual skills are. Manipulating water across an irrigation channel is possible with constant effort and concentration, however, having a spell automatically do this without having to think about it or keep it active can save time and effort.”

"This will help enormously when you go out into society. Even if you do not have a class suited for a job, your skill may be what they need. In other words, a class isn't always necessary for your everyday life, and some use that to their advantage by holding off their class advancement."

I nodded my head. I’d noted the same thing when I'd used stone grasp on the practice dummies at Zodiac. I could hold people with earth manipulation, but it wouldn’t be as firm or strong as stone grasp was.

My earth manipulation levels didn’t contribute to how hard the earth was, or how much pressure it could put on the targets I was using it on. Levelling stone grasp directly did these things.

“In other words, using a specific skill for the job does the action better.” Mr Black’s head looked up as he heard snickering. “Yes, I know it sounds simple. You laugh now, but if you lack this mindset, it can hold you back dramatically. Skills are not born of luck, they are forged through dedication, discipline, and necessity. You can coast your life trying to live off a manipulation skill but it won't get you access to everything you might want.”

He moved to the next section of the blackboard, ‘what do skills do?’.

“They do what you can already do, but better. And no, I do not mean that they do whatever elemental manipulation does.” Mr Black sat back against the wall. “Skills enhance single, specific attributes or abilities. This creates a natural hard limit on the skills that we can learn because we can't take certain actions that would lead to obtaining them. Can anyone give me an example of this kind of skill?”

I raised my hand and Mr Black nodded at me.

“Elemental creation skills.” My voice echoed across the room.

“Good. Yes.” Mr Black nodded at me. “Creation skills are a fine example. Mostly seen during the first skill selection, it is almost impossible to gain one through one’s own efforts.”

“This is because our natural ability to create something from nothing is limited. Alternatively, the skills we do unlock tend to be ones associated with things we already do. Elemental manipulation is a natural extension of our connection to the elemental attunement inside us.”

“So, why am I telling you this?” Mr Black smiled. “It is because your class options follow this same logic when deciding what skills, they will offer you.”

That got our attention. The students in the class all leaned forward. There were two words left on the blackboard, ‘General skills’ and ‘Class skills.’

“There is a distinction between skills that can be gained during the course of your life, and skills that can be obtained when you choose your class.” Mr Black looked at us.

He clapped his hands and sheets of paper appeared in front of us.

“Write down what you think the differences are and discuss it with the person next to you.”

Amanda and I looked at each other. Then I went over the different types of skills in my mind. My dad had explained them to me during his lessons.

General skills were exactly as Mr Black said, improvements on our current abilities. That was why he had started teaching me about symbols from a young age. The more I knew about them and working with them, the easier it would be for me to unlock their related skills. It was possible to learn skills that you had little or no experience with, but it was infinitely more difficult.

It was similar to trying to learn spells of elements that you weren’t attuned to. It was possible but the time and effort used to do it would make the accomplishment worthless.

Classes were different. They offered options beyond what you could do.

There were three types of classes. Common, rare, and legendary. There are also three types of class skills to match these.

Enhancers, mixed skills, and original skills.

Amanda and I whispered to each other alongside the rest of the class as we spent our time working out the kinks in our knowledge. Amanda knew as much as I did. It was mostly common knowledge, with the specific skills and classes being the advantage that Koshima provided.

Finally, Mr Black collected our work and coughed to get our attention. It reverberated across the room and the students grew quiet.

He breezed through the papers in seconds and pursed his lips.

“Most of you got the three skill categories correct. Some of you did not. This is the base level of knowledge you should have during this time of your life. Do not worry, I will go over them thoroughly and you can see me after class if you need further clarification.”

His eyes wandered towards a few students, and I recognised one of them as the girl that had obtained her class already.

Mr Black wrote the three categories of skills on the board. “Enhancers. The most common of class skills.”

“These are skill options that improve on your current skills. There is always a minimum of one enhancer skill offered with any class, regardless of class rarity.”

He turned towards us and asked us at random if we knew any enhancer skills.

My stone grasp skill technically counted as one. Maybe. My impression was that it was an enhancement of my earth manipulation skill.

Then I frowned. I don’t think that was exactly right. From the answers that students were giving, it seemed that enhancer skills would be more obvious about their upgrades.

One student said that ‘water stream’ would turn into ‘water spout’ and then ‘water torrent’.

Clearly the definition of an enhanced skill was a lot more specific than I’d thought. I didn’t know any enhancer skills that involved my element. I didn’t have that kind of information yet. Mr Black asked one last student and then turned towards the blackboard again.

“Mixed skills are a jumble of two or more skills that merge to create a new skill with enhanced properties of both. There is always a minimum of one offered for rare and legendary class options.”

He didn’t ask for examples this time. People tended to keep that level of information to themselves.

“Finally, there are original skills. They are abilities that are not based on your previously existing skills. There are lists available for which original skills certain classes unlock. There is always a minimum of one original skill offered for legendary class options. Sometimes they will be offered for rare class options as well.”

This category I knew about. My Mark was one of these skills, and my earth creation skill was another. One had been given to me and the other was a reward for surviving the first night.

I don’t think I’d be able to unlock earth creation through hard work alone if I tried to.

Original skills all followed that theme.

These kinds of skills took more than just an active imagination and hard work. A magician could dedicate their entire life towards unlocking them and never get close.

I fed Gold some treats as he waddled back to my shoulder. Mr Black's lecture was interesting, and also familiar.

Skills were weighted in the same way that accomplishments were. If a person focused on skills that belong to a certain field, then their class would reflect this in their skill options.

For example, an earth magician would always obtain an enhancer skill that focused on one of their earth skills, but the list of skill options would only be based on the person's previously existing skills and not unique to the class itself. It would also be limited to rarity of the class.

A common class might give a single enhancer skill, and a rare class might give three.

However, skill progression and variety changed the class offered, and even the rarity of the class offered.

That meant that although skills influenced the skill options provided. Ultimately, they were more important for their influence on class options.

The better the class, the more variety and rarity in the skill options that were offered.

“And finally, we come to the important issue of levelling.” Mr Black tapped the desk in front of him to get our attention. “Your skills will level as you focus on them, and your highest-level skills are the ones that are weighted the highest when it comes to deciding your class and skill options.”

“It is important to focus on levelling the skills that you would like your class to be based on. This is a major part of the guidance I will be providing to you.”

That meant that my earth creation skill, and my earth manipulation skill, would be the highest weighted options.

“The exception to this is when you procure skills that supersede your current ones. For example, skills belonging to a middle-ranked element such as ice will weigh heavier than its base element, water, when classes are taking your skills into consideration.”

Mr Black’s words broke through my misconception. If what he was saying was true, which it would be, that meant that my metal manipulation would be my highest weight skill.

I didn’t mind that. It had always been my goal to focus on elemental magic. I’d hoped to get something that combined my symbol knowledge with the elements, but I hadn’t gotten any symbol skills yet.

“Is there an easier way to level up skills?” A student's voice broke through my thoughts.

“Using them in new ways or in novel situations will always provide more experience than doing the same thing over and over again. Tense situations tend to provide both of these in spades.” Mr Black frowned. “This does not mean that you should start throwing yourself into danger. There are alternatives that have been used for decades and work just as well, and your fellow students can help you with this.”

He gestured towards us.

“A wonderful way to test your skills is to practice against a partner. Preferably the same person on a consistent basis and in a safe space.” Mr Black crossed his arms. “This mutual growth method is used around the world. It is also the reason why some students go around challenging others.”

I listened intently to his words until Mr Black finished up the class by recapping what we’d gone through. I stood up when the class finished, and thoughts raced through my head.

Practicing my skills with a sparring partner was my biggest challenge.

Unlike Koshima academy, or the Wilhelm’s island, the Zodiac compound didn't have a place to safely train recruits like me. I’d assumed they had to have one, but it wouldn’t be available for a provisional employee in the symbol division.

They had soldiers that needed to use it more than I did.

Amanda shifted beside me and began packing up her things. Agni hopped onto her shoulder and chirped at Gold. Then she made way for my hand as I tapped Amanda on the shoulder.

“Hey.”

She turned her head towards me. “Are you thinking what I’m thinking?”

“I think I am.”

We both turned to look towards the window.

“There’s the arena.” Amanda gestured towards the dome. “Why don’t we practice there? We can schedule a time during the break.”

I raised my arm for Gold to land on.

I could feel my emotions rolling over me. Every time I wasn’t distracted, they would come back in full force. The events of last night crossed through my mind at every moment.

“Sure.”

It would be nice to let off some steam.

“Let’s do it.”