The councilor’s final words got all the students to face the still frozen wall. The classes over the past weeks had gotten Wilt used to following the orders of the councilor. His air of command was enough to make his strange methodology seem normal, and he had done things like this before. He often did things that mixed teamwork with competition, and this situation was no different. Despite the value in working together, most students tended to struggle by themselves. The only person Wilt had been able to work with consistently was Stella, though that was because she was far ahead of the others in terms of her studies.

It was only thanks to her help that he had managed to keep up with the other students. Well, that and his Ein. His Ein capacity would always be a reason for his success, regardless of what other talents he had. It didn’t bother him, but it didn’t really make him anymore prideful. His Ein wasn’t really something to be proud of, it was just a random twist of fate.

He was determined though, and he was somewhat confident in this lesson. It sounded like he could succeed just by abusing his Ein, but he wanted to try and do it properly. Before trying the chant, he pulled out one of his notebooks. He copied down the chant perfectly, easily able to remember the councilor's words.

Summon cold fire to freeze instead of burn.

Wilt didn’t actually think that he would forget but didn’t want to risk it either way. After he had it written down, he began breaking down the chant as Councilor Janette had taught. Every chant could be broken down into parts, and usually, each part could be understood as a modification to someone’s Ein.

The first term was meant to create an element. ‘Summon” was the most commonly used word for elemental-based chants. It essentially meant that he was using his Ein to summon something else, rather than modifying the Ein directly. The phrase ‘cold fire’ denoted the element that was desired, even if the element didn’t exist. The rest of the phrase was actually a single component. It essentially described the extremeness of the flame. Simply summoning a cold fire, could mean that the fire was just slightly colder than normal, by stating that he wanted it to freeze instead of burn, then the chant would be much more potent. That would increase the Ein costs, but this group was supposed to be able to handle that.

The others were already making their first attempts by now, though they didn’t manage to make it work. They managed to make a blue flame, but it didn’t freeze the same way as the councilor’s had. Wilt guessed they weren’t using enough Ein and decided he would use a little extra for his chant. He spoke the words softly, holding his hand toward the wall. Rather than try and form the flame, then throw it, he would try and just make it happen immediately. He believed that it would be easier that way.

“Summon cold fire to freeze instead of burn”

He spoke the words, pouring in Ein as he did with every chant. The chants essentially acted like pathways, and all he needed to do was fill them with Ein. He gave it a little more than he thought was necessary and watched as blue fire erupted from his hand. It didn’t come out as a small fire that spread quickly, rather it came out like an eruption of blue flames. They swarmed the already frozen wall and even along some of the floor and ceiling. However, it didn’t form any additional ice, and it certainly didn’t spread as a normal flame would.

Once he stopped pouring Ein into the chant, the whole flame actually turned to ice. It was probably one of the most beautiful things he had ever seen as every intricate bend of the flame had been immortalized by the ice. He wished that Stella was around because she would definitely love to see something like this. Plus, it would help him repay her for all the help she had been giving him. Wilt was surprised by how much help she had given him, and he knew that he had chosen the right faction. The others were much more competitive, and he doubted that he would receive the same aid.

The councilor walked over to his flame, and Wilt realized that everyone was staring at the frozen fire. The councilor turned towards him, opening his mouth slowly before closing it again. After a second, he revealed his thoughts.

“This is impressive for a first attempt. I have no doubts that you used an excessive amount of Ein, not that it matters for you. However, it is completely worthless.”

As the man finished speaking, he pressed his hand into the ice, and it crumpled easily. It turned out that his ice wasn’t sturdy, or very cold based on how the instructor was treating it. It also crumpled from where the councilor had touched it, and after a second, the whole thing collapsed. Wilt was a little embarrassed, obviously having done the exact opposite of what he intended.

Wilt had wanted to be efficient, and demonstrate some skill, rather than brute-forcing the chant. In the end, he did neither, by somehow both brute-forcing the chant and failing spectacularly at the same time. Even with his embarrassment, he tried to remember how the Ein had flowed for that chant. He still wanted to show Stella after all. Wilt grabbed his notebook and wrote down what he had done, while also including possible variations to the chant to ensure that the effect could be replicated more accurately. He could even try it with more permanent elements.

The councilor didn’t have anything else to say and returned to his seat once Wilt had started writing in his notebook. To the councilor, it must have seemed like Wilt had a breakthrough. He was trying to improve his useless failure. Despite what the councilor had said and felt, Wilt liked the effect and didn’t want to forget it. He would need to do some more tests, though that could wait until after he left the room. Practicing something that the councilor deemed useless, in his very room no less, would be a mistake.

Instead, Wilt started working on getting the intended effect again. Although he was struggling to maintain a balance with the chant. His fires either froze quickly into brittle ice or simply came out as ice-shaped fires. He wished he could just make the fire and then just change what he needed to. As he thought about it that way, he considered if that could work. Didn’t councilor Pali say something about imparting his will onto the Ein? Could that work here? Wilt grabbed his notebook again trying to see if there was something he could do with that.

As he contemplated an alternative, their group had their first success. Ashley had managed a success, and Wilt watched as her flame spread on the wall and formed another layer of frost on top of the previous one. The councilor rose from his desk again, walking over to Ashley, and, for the first time, he looked genuinely happy. He whispered something to her, and she stood a bit straighter. The boy next to her was not willing to ask her any questions, but Wilt held no such reserves. While she wasn’t as likely to help as Stella, he still wanted to ask.

“How did you do that, and can you check what I’m working on?”

Wilt asked her the questions, once he saw councilor Pali returning to his desk. However, the man stopped when he heard Wilt’s words. Ashley was looking at his notebook, and her face seemed slightly disturbed.

“What are you trying to do, why shorten the chant?”

Her words drew his attention away from the watching councilor and Wilt explained his intentions to the best of his ability.

“Well, I figured if I wanted to make the cold fire without going too far overboard, I just needed to make it more costly. If I used the will imparting thing that your father used, then maybe I could make the fire do what I wanted.”

Her eyebrows rose at the implication of his words. She had realized what doing something like this would mean. She swiped the notebook, reading the notes more carefully, and Wilt even saw the councilor looking at his notes. Ashley quickly handed back the book, looking angry and determined as she responded.

“I think it will work.”

The words seemed to be painful for her to say, and Wilt realized that she had the same pride as her father. She really didn’t like accepting that Wilt had come up with a solution like that. As she spoke the next chant, Wilt realized she was trying to do what he had come up with. It felt a little rude to him, but he let it go. Honestly, he didn’t really care if others could do what he did, it was just annoying that he didn’t get to try it first.

However, seeing her failure had made him glad that he didn’t try it first. She had managed to summon the blue flame, but when she tried changing something about it, it caused an extreme reaction. And the fire quickly spread to her and froze part of her hair and arm. Thankfully it was the harmless type of ice like his initial attempt, and Wilt couldn’t help but chuckle a little. Seeing her display did give him an idea though and he realized that the fire needed to be more directly linked with his intentions.

After making one final change to his chant, he spoke the new words.

“Summon fire of my will-t.”

He hadn’t been planning on using his name at first but thought of it as he saw the pun. At first, he thought it was just a stupid pun, but considered what it would mean if the chant actually worked. What better way to make the connection more personal, than using his own name for the chant?

A little surprisingly he felt the pathway as he chanted and began filling it with Ein. It was by far the biggest pathway he had ever encountered. It took more than triple the Ein of his previous attempt, and he bet that some chanters would never be able to do the same. He wasn’t worried about draining all of his Ein. It hadn’t happened yet, and if it did, this was a safe environment to test his limits.

It took a little bit of time for the sufficient amount of Ein to enter the pathway, but eventually, the flame winked into existence. It looked like the flame of a candle, though it was the size of his hand. He felt a connection to it and realized that it was constantly draining some of his Ein. He imagined it becoming cold as the councilor wanted and actually felt a stronger tug on his Ein. The flame was really connected to him, and it drained the Ein as it needed to. The process was actually automatic, and while that could be risky for someone with less Ein, he could actually manage it quite easily.

Once the flame became blue, he imagined it splitting slightly, and for a part of the flame to head towards the wall. He imagined that piece making contact and replicating the effect he had seen from the councilor’s chant. He was shocked when it worked, and a new layer of ice was painted over the previous. Then he imagined the flame returning to the one that he had still floating beside him. It did so, following his commands perfectly. Once it rejoined the flame they stabilized returning to the size and shape that it originally had. Then he dismissed the creation, letting the fire dissipate into nothingness.

The room was deathly still and quiet. Wilt turned his head and realized that the others were staring at him, the councilor included. Only from seeing their awe-filled expressions, did Wilt realize what he had just done. He had crafted a personalized chant and used it perfectly. Not only was it extremely versatile, but it seemed like that one chant would be applicable to any element. That was actually what Wilt had been hoping for but thought that it would fail. The first to gather themselves was the councilor, and he spoke firmly, obviously in a tone that said that Wilt could not refuse.

“Go to councilor Janette and share with her what you have done here. After which write down your exact methodology so that we can see who is capable of learning it. Also, exclusively use that style of chant moving forward. I am certain that there is no better attunement you could get, however you will probably want confirmation from Janette.”

Wilt rushed in packing his bag, stuffing his notebook in roughly. He didn’t bother saying any goodbyes as his actions were dawning on him. Running to councilor Janette’s room, Wilt was glad to hear that she was inside. He needed someone who could explain things to him, and he still believed that she was the best in that department.