The Magic of Elements was quite a special class. Professor Sionn would take students to the special Gate and create an artificial world inside it. The students would go inside the world with fantastical elements of nature and try to interact with them.

“Why can’t I use mana?” David Eastmere asked the professor. After his lord, Willard Albarone was kicked out of the Academy, he had two options. He could have either gone back with his lord, or he could have stayed in the academy. Not going back was an option that he hadn’t considered. It would be a crime not to listen to his lord and his family would also have been implicated. However, he didn’t want to go back. He knew that he wouldn’t get a chance like this ever again and if he let this chance go, he would regret this his whole life. This was a chance that would bring his family up the ladder of Noble Society.

So he made a decision. He went to someone he believed would help him get out of this situation. He went to Nora Forde. Nora’s mother was the Supreme Commander of the Ruvonnian Army, and her words were second to only King himself. Nora listened to David’s plea and agreed to talk to her mother. She liked David’s upright personality and his ambition to do something great. Mehr and Sirius, who were sitting to the side, also chimed in and said that they would talk to Blake Elmare about it.

And now officially, David Eastmere had been kicked out of his House for disrespecting The Lord’s command. The family wouldn’t be implicated though, as ordered by Anna Forde, The Supreme Commander, herself. It was a wonder why the Supreme Commander would give out such a command for a mere child of a minor Noble House, but High Nobility's politics was seldom understood by people. And Blake…. Well, a letter was sent to House Albarone which stated that the child of minor House Eastmere had been deemed an acquaintance of his young master Sirius, and if any harm were to come to the child’s family…

It was quite obvious. The Albarones could afford to go against Anna Forde, but Blake Elmare and the House Frye were sleeping beasts that no one dared to disturb. And so the matter was promptly settled with mere banishment of David.

“This is a world without mana, and the elements are abundant,” Professor Sionn said, “You must have learned from Professor Cecilia that mana rejects the magic of elements. So, this world without mana is the most suitable to understand the elements. Try to interact with nature just like you interact with mana outside.”

The students started their learning. Some went and sat beneath the tree while some dipped their legs in the river. Some tried to feel the wind while some basked under the sun.

“What are we supposed to do exactly?” Mehr asked in an annoyed tone. The task at hand was vague at best. ‘Interact with elements? Should I eat trees and bathe in the mud?’ Mehr thought.

“Try calling the elements just like you call mana to yourself,” Hope answered from the side. She was sitting crossed legged in the grass while focusing on the nature around herself.

“Just like mana?” Mehr closed his eyes and tried to spread his senses. As the wind touched his body and the rustling of trees tickled his ears, he felt something within him move. A feeling of freedom and a rush of ecstasy raced within his body. Mehr's eyes were shut tight as his throat went dry. He felt as if he wasn’t in control of his actions and a pervasive force had made a home in his body. He fought against the feeling for an amount of time he couldn’t account for. He struggled for a long time and then, opened his eyes only to be surprised at the scene.

Around his body, several different elements were wiggling around. He could see a flame burning on top of his palms and water flowing around his torso. He could see the wind swirling under his legs and the most prominent of all, he saw thunder dancing on his body. His body felt a bit stiff from the burden. He let go of his breath and relaxed his body, and the elements around him disappeared.

Clap clap.

“Good job, Mehr. You were the fourth one to succeed.” Professor Sionn said while inspecting Mehr’s body for any sort of damage.

“Fourth? May I know who the other three are?”

“Sirius Frye, Hope Woodrow and Daniel Goodstay.” Professor Sionn gestured to the other three people. Sirius and Hope were sitting near the river playing with water while Daniel Goodstay was sitting in the corner practising with wind and fire elements. Mehr turned his eyes away from Daniel and looked at the rest of his friends. Nora and Fynn were still struggling a bit but he could see elements slowly gathering around their bodies. He then looked at Adhara who was sitting beneath a tree comfortably with her eyes closed, as the leaves flew around her.

Mehr smiled and walked towards Sirius and Hope. They had created a spiral of water that was hanging in the air and were making the fish swim through it while laughing happily.

“Mehr, choose your fish. We are making them race.” Sirius chirped when he noticed Mehr coming towards them. Mehr chuckled and sat down beside them. He waved his hand towards the river and tried to lift some water in the air. It was a bit difficult to control at first, but Mehr was learning fairly quickly. He lifted a blob of water that contained a fish inside it. He slowly controlled that blob of water and merged it with the spiral that Sirius and Hope had created.

“There is my fish,” Mehr said. The children would control the heat inside the water spiral to create currents and move their fishes. The one with the best control would win. And so the children played and trained in their innovative ways for a while. It was made evident fairly quickly that Hope was much better than Mehr and Sirius in the control of elements as she won almost every race. The only times she lost were when Mehr and Sirius worked together to defeat her.

“Do not worry, little children. This lady shall teach you the ways.” Hope giggled while trying to mimic Mehr and Sirius, while they controlled their irritation at someone else getting better of them.

The class went on for quite some time and all the students had interacted with elements. Every one of the students was playing around with some sort of element and trying to learn what suited them best when Professor Sionn called everyone.

“Now that you’ve learned the basics, try to do it in the real world as well. Try to create a balance between mana and elements but do not force it lest you make mana angry. Do you all understand?”

“Yes, Professor.” The students said in unison.

“When you leave the Gate, the mana will interact with your body and try to remove the influence of elements on you. It will be a bit uncomfortable and for some of you, it might even be a bit painful. But try to endure it and bring balance inside your body. It will be a very critical period when you step outside. Don’t be flustered and keep your calm at all times.”

Professor Sionn said while waving his hands in the air. The world around slowly broke apart and darkness engulfed everyone. In the hanging dark space, a Gate appeared in front of the students. The students walked in one by one, while getting ready for the discomfort to set in.

As soon as the students stepped out of the Gate, mana rushed towards them and covered their bodies as if to get rid of the impurities inside them. For some, the process was soothing while for some, it was mildly discomforting. There were a few students who felt pain throughout their body but it soon subsided.

Sirius was one of the people who felt pain, but it went away as suddenly as it attacked him. Sirius tried to control mana and elements in tandem and was excited to find himself successful. He had created a ball of mana on one hand, and a ball of fire on the other. His expression was shared by everyone around him. Happy faces with excited hearts were trying out different things and checking how much influence they had over nature.

Nora, on the other side, was trying to control the air around her to make herself lift. She created wind and tried to forcefully move it vertically across her body. She shot up in the air immediately and her cackling laughter was heard by everyone. She tried moving the wind around her for directional change but found herself unsuccessful. Her body was now falling rapidly as she struggled to create another strong wind like before but her control receded with her calmness.

She was about to scream her heart out when her body stopped mid-air and then proceeded to slowly drift down to the ground.

“Do not try such advanced techniques yet. You can get hurt miserably.” Professor Sionn relaxed his hand that was raised high as he controlled the wind around Nora perfectly.

Bam.

It was when everyone was joyously trying out their new powers when the floor beneath them cracked. Everyone heard the muffled groans of the person as he brought his hands down to punch the floor again. They looked at him in bewilderment. His skin was cracking bit by bit and blood was seeping from his orifices. He was kneeling and painful groans would escape his mouth unwittingly.

“Mehr!” Sirius dashed towards Mehr as soon as he saw the state he was in. “Professor!”

Professor Sionn also rushed towards Mehr and used healing arts as soon as he got near him. Mehr’s physical pain slowly subsided but his head felt like it was splitting apart.

“What is happening?” Mehr struggled to eke out words that everyone wanted to ask. Sirius was holding Mehr’s hand worriedly while looking at the professor.

“This is strange. Mana’s influence on your body is extremely potent. Child, when did you first start using mana?” Professor Sionn asked while inspecting Mehr’s body.

“At the age of eight.” It was Sirius who answered the professor’s question. Mehr knew it was wrong, but he didn’t say anything. He couldn’t be honest about how he learned mana utilisation at the age of four.

“Very odd.” Professor Sionn rubbed his chin while using healing arts again. “This is quite rare, Mehr, but it seems you won’t be able to use the magic of elements at all. Close your eyes and don’t worry about anything else for now.”

Professor Sionn slowly rubbed Mehr’s eyes and Mehr’s body relaxed instantly. His pain vanished and his head felt light as he asked, “Isn’t there a solution to this?”

Mehr felt vexed at this situation. He felt robbed of a power he should have. He looked at Professor Sionn who was still inspecting his body.

“No. You will never be able to use elements but you should not worry. Even though it is extremely rare that mana rejects elements to this degree, this doesn’t mean that you will be weaker than anyone else. It’s just that you wouldn’t have as many options and as much versatility as other people.”

Mehr closed his eyes and relaxed back on the floor. The physical pain had subsided but mental anguish had taken its place. Inside his mind, countless thoughts were swirling around pertaining to a single topic.

‘Fuck! Mana’s influence on my body is potent? This is my fucking body, bastard!’