John quickly realised that whilst in theory learning magic was cool, it wasn't all nearly as fun as he'd expected. The first class he took was magical theory which was compulsory even for him. It was essentially just 45 minutes of an old gnomish woman explaining methods to aid in visualisation and the application of intent. It also gave John a new skill.

Skill Gained NAME: Meditation You are able to place yourself in a trance, promoting recovery and improving focus and mental acuity Effects-Increases the effectiveness of the INT and WIS attributes by 1% per skill level whilst actively meditating. MP cost- 10 Activation Time- 5 Minutes Level 1

Not only would it allow his mana to regenerate faster but it would also aid him in creating and learning new spells. Boring but useful, basically summarised the entirety of that class. The weird thing was that he seemed to be the only one who was getting bored in the class, all the other students seemed to be just as bubbly as ever. He noticed he was getting more than a few funny looks when he let his attitude slip but just pretended he didn't notice them.

He then went immediately from that class into a light manipulation class. This class was much smaller than the previous class that had been in a room with nearly two thousand other students, this one was in a small, well-lit classroom with maybe 2 dozen seats. There were already 4 other students present, who were sat next to each other at the front of class just chatting. John waved to them in greeting and took a seat towards the back of the class. The other students gave her really weird looks again and the other students that came in gave her the same look before sitting towards the front of the class and striking up a conversation with the others. He wasn’t really sure what he was doing wrong but clearly something. Eventually, the class filled up, leaving only 3 empty chairs on the back row with him and the teacher walked in.

This time it was a man, much younger than the previous teacher. He was wearing a brilliantly white robe with bronze trimmings, his hair a striking blonde and as he stepped into the centre of the room a brilliant smile blossomed on his face. 

"Hello, students! I'm professor Nightshade, lovely to meet you all and as you could probably have figured out I'll be your teacher for beginners light manipulation." He scanned the room, his gaze crossing the empty seats and lingering on John for a moment before he turned his focus to the light in the magical light hanging from the ceiling.

"This class is all about teaching you how to manipulate light, rather than what to do with it once you have. Now, since you have already been through magical theory I won't explain what intent is but dealing with light is different than most elements, it is fast and it behaves strangely. First, I want each of you to saturate an area above your desk with your mana."

John pushed his mana into an area just in front of him and sent his let his consciousness fall into it. He immediately felt the dirt particles in the air and droplets of water in the air that he felt he could control.

"Good it seems you've all managed that, next comes the hard part, light is hard to locate, it fills the space completely, to the point where it's hard to distinguish what's there. Picture a spiders web, so tightly wound together that despite being incredibly thin they completely saturate the space. Let your mana guide you how you should arrange these webs. Once you've done that try to scrunch the threads up into a tight ball"

John sat there for long minutes, along with the other students, trying to imagine what was being described to him. That much was relatively easy, however, allowing his mana to guide him was hard. He understood what the professor was saying, he could feel that there was something when he focused on the threads but it took nearly 25 minutes to align them as he felt they should be, in that time most of the other students had already managed to form a ball of shining light in front of them. When he finally managed to screw up the threads a window popped up for him.

Skill Gained NAME: Light Manipulation You use your will to direct the direction, reflection and refraction of light. Effects- Allows you to control the shape, movement and intensity of light, proficiency and efficiency increases with skill level MP cost- Variable Activation Time- 3s Level 1

As he gained the skill, he was able to sense the rays of light filling the space of his mana, however, with this he was able to discern something new, a void that seemed to dance between the different rays of light, a moving shadow that filled the gaps where the light wasn't. Picturing this cloud of shadow, John pulled it from his mana space, squeezing and condensing it into a ball.

Skill Gained NAME: Darkness Manipulation You can will the darkness of the world to conform to the shapes of your thoughts Effects- Allows you to control the shape and movement of Darkness, proficiency and efficiency increases with skill level MP cost- Variable Activation Time- 3s Level 1

John sat, his left hand holding a glowing orb of light, the other a shifting sphere of blackness. Looking around he saw that a few of the other students were staring at him.

"Very good miss, but if you would refrain from using your other skills in this class and just focus on the task it would be appreciated."

"B-but..."

before he could explain that he had just learned the skill the professor had already walked off and was talking to one of the other students who didn't yet have a light ball in front of them. Noticing that the other students that had created their light orbs were already leaving, he stood up and left the room. There was only a few minutes before the end of class anyway. For the next few days, this was all he did before he managed to get all of the other elements on offer.

Skill Gained NAME: Fire Manipulation You control the intensity and movement of heat with your will Effects- Allows you to control the shape, movement and intensity of fire, proficiency and efficiency increases with skill level MP cost- Variable Activation Time- 3s Level 1 Skill Gained NAME: Wind Manipulation You use your will to guide the flow of wind, directing it into the states you wish Effects- Allows you to control the shape and movement of Wind, proficiency and efficiency increases with skill level MP cost- Variable Activation Time- 3s Level 1 Skill Gained NAME: Lightning Manipulation You can direct the flow of electricity with your will Effects- Allows you to control the shape and movement of Lightning, proficiency and efficiency increases with skill level MP cost- Variable Activation Time- 3s Level 1

Next step, runes and magic.