"Hmm. Alright class, why don't you all group up for now and practice any kind of offensive spells you want while I get Mister Lucius here oriented?"

Aless stood up from his desk, and with a mere snap of his fingers, he further widened the platform in the middle of the classroom and erected several dummies within it, much to Lucius's amazement.

"And remember, no red spells and above. Am I understood?"

"Yes, Master Aless," answered the students excitedly as each of them entered the platform one by one.

"Later, Lucy."

Lucius nodded as Tissette and the other followed the rest of the students to the platform where a variety of spells were already being cast.

That looks...fun.

Aless walked over towards Lucius and sat beside him, grinning. "What are your affinities, Lucius?"

Lucius quickly tore his eyes away from the platform and faced Aless. "I am not aware of it yet, Master Aless."

"Oh, no worries, no worries. Grandmaster El told me in advance that we'll be having a late enlistee, so..."

Lucius watched as Aless reached into his pockets before handing him a dark, sleek inscription device that was much similar in appearance to his Questgiver.

This must be the new age Affinity Tester. How quaint. They have inscription devices for everything, it seems like.

"Here. Just touch the crystal at the bottom of it and bang, boom, we're done!"

Lucius nodded slowly, a bit put off by Aless's jovial attitude. In the end, he did as he was told and put his thumb under the device. This made the glass atop the device glow in two separate colors.

Two elements appeared in the glass, seemingly trying to devour each other ceaselessly rather than coexisting. The two roiled against each other, none bending to the other's will.

Lucius heard some students chatter amongst themselves. Dual affinities, despite not being the most affinities one can have, were uncommon, after all.

Both Lucius and Aless observed the device—their faces almost glued at the glass screen entirely.

"Oh? A light affinity and a darkness affinity? Now that's a dual affinity I haven't seen in a long time," Aless said, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "Hmm, and each of them seems to be a different variant from typical ones too. Corroding Darkness? Nah. Healing Light? Undying Light? Hmm, these are a no-go as well. What then?"

Although he was happy after finally knowing his affinities, Lucius was more curious as to what Aless meant by his words. He knew nothing of affinity variants yet, nor what his affinities meant for his spellcasting.

Getting increasingly intrigued by the second, Lucius was on the verge of asking Aless about his concerns when someone else spoke first.

"Light and darkness? Aren't those the most useless synergy of affinities I've ever heard," Dario said offhandedly from the platform, eliciting a few snickers from the students around him.

"This will not hamper my ability to cast spells, will it?" Lucius said, not paying any heed to Dario's jeers as he went straight to the point of his worries.

With a reassuring smile on his face, Aless replied, "Well no, but dual affinities are usually expected to have synergy with each other. Like lightning and steel, or nature and water, for example. Light and darkness, on the other hand..."

"I see." Lucius nodded after having his suspicions confirmed. Despite what he just learned, however, his lips were still curved into a wide, hopeful grin.

Light and darkness. It's as if my mother and father left me something of theirs, after all...

"Interesting. Very, very interesting," Aless said as he rubbed his hands together before standing up and leaving the classroom without even a word of goodbye.

Utterly confused, Lucius threw a glance at Tissette who simply shrugged at him before hurtling a ball of concentrated wind in her hand, knocking the head off of a dummy.

Not even ten seconds later, Aless returned to the classroom with a round, white-colored rock in hand and an excited look on his face.

"Here, use this Spellstone and cast the spell immediately after. " Aless said as he handed the still-confused Lucius the Spellstone with a wide smile on his face. He rubbed his hands together as he continued, "I don't have any dark element spellbooks for now, but I want to see what variant your light affinity is."

Lucius palmed the Spellstone and a small grin.

So this is a Spellstone? Hmm. I would much rather tackle a spellbook or two and learn spells manually but I have to admit this is very convenient. No wonder why people nowadays learn spells so easily. «Aestimo».

Item Appraised Successfully

Requrement/s for appraisal:

30 Sensus

Item Name: Illuminate Spellstone

Item Class: Consumable

Rarity: Common

Description

A light-element Spellstone that contains the full knowledge of a spell. Can be used to learn Illuminate instantly. Improvement in casting scales with Sensus.

After reading the prompts, Lucius finally nodded. "As you wish, Master Aless. «Use [Illuminate Spellstone]»."

Item Usage

A consumable item: Illuminate Spellstone has been used.

You have learned the spell ‹Illuminate›!

After its usage, the spellbook slowly crumbled into tiny fragments of light before vanishing completely, never to be seen again.

Here it is. My first spell...

Never in Lucius's dreams did he ever imagine that his first spell would be given to him by an Outworlder. And while the spell was merely a common one, he wasn't one to complain. With how hard they were to acquire, a Spellstone was still a Spellstone after all.

"Good. Now try casting—"

"‹Illuminate›!"

Lucius was right ahead of Aless. Barely able to contain his excitement, he quickly thrust out his hand, and without any further alterations to his incantation, brought about a flash of bright, white light that seeped into even the deepest nooks and crannies of the entire classroom—the intense, almost-burning glare temporarily blinding the students inside.

"Well done!" Seemingly unbothered by the light, Aless clapped before hearing the cries of the other students. Then, with a wry smile, he continued, "Woah there, watch your form and degree, Mister Lucius! Tone it down!"

Lucius, in his excitement, did not hear Aless's protests. He simply looked at his spell in awe, his mouth hanging slightly open.

That was, however, until a dark-purple flash of darkness from the edge of Aless's finger came upon the light on his hand, seemingly devouring every bit of it in a matter of seconds.

Spell Countered

Your Illuminate has been countered by an opposing spell: Darken. Your casting has been terminated.

Lucius frowned at Aless initially, but when he saw the pitiful state of the other students, his expression eased. After checking his stats, he realized that he might have gone a bit overboard as he had lost a total of 7 Aether Points just from merely casting a low-rarity spell for a few seconds.

"Good job, Lucius! I wasn't able to ascertain what variant your light affinity was but it sure was a hell of a spell!" Aless said while clapping his hands.

"Good job? That idiot almost blinded us, Master Aless!" Dario said while rubbing his eyes along with every student on the platform.

Aless shot one blank look at Dario. It was enough to make the latter go back to hurtling spells towards a dummy in a hurry.

"Thank you, Master Aless," Lucius said as he breathed heavily—not from tiredness but from the excitement upon casting his very first spell.

"Hey kid, you were found in Askanar Castle, weren't you? What were you doing in there?"

Don't tell him anything.

Lucius frowned as he immediately recognized Elrond's voice that rang out softly in his head. Telepathy, he guessed.

Why? And where are you right now? Are you watching—

Oh, and visit me tomorrow in your free time. We have much to talk about. Another thing. This spell only goes one way. I'm sorry, but if you're talking right now I'm afraid I can't hear you.

After realizing that his replies were for naught, Lucius finally answered Aless's question. "Nothing in particular, Master Aless. I was just attracted by the sounds of fighting there. I believe that student over there was responsible."

Lucius pointed at Aidan who saw him and waved with a small, polite smile on his face.

"Oh. Is that so? I've been told that Mister Aidan's certainly been busy with quests outside the academy nowadays. Ever diligent, that one is," Aless said with a thoughtful nod. "In any case, you have the potential to become a great magus, Lucius. With your current stats, may I suggest going for a Pure Magic Specialist build, if you know what that is? I have a book—"

"I've already read it, Master Aless." Lucius smiled inwardly, a bit proud of himself. "Your suggestion is a sensible one, Master Aless, but I must decline. The path of a magus just isn't for me."

"Oh? If that's the case, then it is understandable. After all, we all are free to follow our own paths, aren't we?" Aless smiled, his eyes glinting as he nodded at Lucius. "Although, just out of curiosity, what path do you intend to follow?"

"The path of a hero, Master Aless." Lucius smiled back. "And it always has been."