Sage Rasmus was angry.

“This is pitiful. You want your three choices to be Duranium, Promethium, and Adamantium? Not only do none of those metals alloy with each other, but even with double your current mana, you can’t create more than an ounce of any one of these,” Sage Rasmus said, getting more and more angry. “You fail your first assignment, so I will choose your three elements for you. You are getting iron, zinc, and ceramic. The perfect three for the sewer technician you will undoubtedly end up as.”

Hugo winced at the diatribe, just glad that it wasn’t directed at him. He held his page of notes and looked over them one more time.

The next student got his first few choices approved right away, but Hugo’s ears perked up when he heard them discussing the third choice.

“You know you have to get a permit for platinum, right? Have you already discussed that with your parents?”

With a nod the student said, “The duke promised to pay for the permit as long as my grades were good by the time the choice came up.”

That was interesting, he hadn’t known that some element choices were restricted. It was probably because platinum was used in making money. He knew there were a few other domains involved too. If he had to guess, certain runic and ritual magics required a permit as well.

Hugo organized his notes when he saw Lenna walk up, he was up right after her.

Lenna handed over her neatly written notes and said, “I know the choices are a bit unorthodox, but the research shows that they should be able to create amazing armor.”

The sage didn’t read her notes and just said, “Yes, I talked to your mother about the possibilities during last year’s conference. But have you thought about what happens before then? Any one of these will be incredibly weak and you will have to survive three cullings before you get what you are going for here.”

“Yes, I have thought about it. I have purchased a few things to help me out in the interim.”

Nodding, Sage Rasmus said, “Alright. I just wanted to make sure you knew what to expect. All three choices are approved. I hope this gamble pays off for you.”

Then it was Hugo’s turn.

Passing over his notes, Hugo said, “I decided that I would rather go into construction rather than focusing on attack or defense. So I guess that is why I choose some weaker metals. I mean, they aren’t weak, they are just...”

“Focus Hugo,” Sage Rasmus said, looking at the notes he had been handed.

“I want to choose Aluminum, magnesium, and glass. Aluminum is useful in a few situations, but when it is alloyed with magnesium it becomes very strong. It is the combination that they use to create train bodies, industrial roofing, and small ship hulls.”

Rasmus was nodding along. Hugo didn’t mention the main reason he wanted to choose this combination of elements, because he knew it made up the pressure vessels for shimmer casters. If he couldn’t be a shimmer corpsman, maybe he could still have their armaments.

Continuing, Hugo said, “And my final choice is glass, the soda glass version since it is the clear one used for windows.”

After he finished glancing over Hugo’s notes, Rasmus said, “Your first two choices seem well thought out. But the last choice seems like an afterthought. You are approved to select aluminum for your first choice. But I want you to continue to research your third element. Try and choose something that synergizes better with your first two choices, or something that gives you options you didn’t have before. Plenty of mundane craftsmen can create adequate windows, it isn’t a role you need to fill with magic.”

Hugo nodded and mentally pulled up his stat screen. Selecting the choice on his stat screen was getting easier and easier, and in short order he had his selection made.

Hugo Rebane [Formation Domain]

Strength 13

Dexterity 12

Resilience 9

Regeneration 11

Intelligence 10

Wisdom 9

Charisma 11

Perception 8

Rank 2

52/300 Points

Health 11/11

Mana 26/26

Skills: Fabricate 1

Elements: Aluminum

As he got up and walked back to his friends, he smiled. He had mana, he had an element. He was well on his way to being a mage. Real power was just a few years away. He couldn’t wait to try it out.

Oskar clapped him on the shoulder and said, “Welcome to the club. I started out with iron, what did you choose?”

“Aluminum. I know it’s weak on its own, but I am eventually going to make train parts,” Hugo said.

With a barked laugh, Oskar said, “That’s not weak, Lenna’s element is weak.”

“What did you choose?” said Hugo, turning to her.

She grumbled and pushed Oskar away, “I started with spider silk. I have a plan.”

Oskar just laughed again and said, “Yeah, you might have a plan, but not a weapon! You are going to be the weakest one out there on culling days.”

Hugo thought about it then shrugged, “I don’t know about that. I bet spider silk is pretty versatile. It has a low adjusted mana score, I bet she can create a lot of it pretty quickly. Quickly forming sticky ropes would be pretty useful, right?”

“Right,” Lenna said with a smile, “And my next few choices may seem weak on their own, but combined they will be very powerful.”

“What are your other two choices?” said Hugo.

She looked away, “I can’t tell you.”

Oskar looked affronted, “Why not? I told you my three. Iron, carbon, and titanium.”

“I can’t tell you because I am trying something new out. I worked with my mother to design something new. If it works, then everyone will be racing to choose these three elements. I need to have a competitive advantage for as long as possible.”

“What if it doesn’t work?” Hugo said.

“Then I will be able to make very fancy ropes,” Lenna said. “I’m just kidding. It would suck if it didn’t work, but my mom promised to get me to rank twenty-four right after academy so I can choose a fourth element right away.”

Hugo looked away to hide his frown. He knew how she was going to get to rank twenty-four, by false ranking. She was going to go out on monster hunts with higher ranked people, contributing just enough for the system to recognize her. She would get her rank, but none of the skills and good habits that normally came along with the higher ranks. His dad and Marius had often disparaged false rankers. Hugo didn’t want Lenna to know what he thought of the practice. He didn’t want to talk to Oskar about it either, he was feeling hypocritical enough as it was after his trip up the mountain.

Rasmus stood and clapped his hands, “Alright, that is the last of them. Everyone is level two, has unlocked an element, and has enough mana to start experimenting. Let’s get into things, shall we? Everyone take a seat at a crafting station. One person to a station, no doubling up.”

They had spent the class in the crafting room, but now that they were actually going to use them, Hugo took a look at what they consisted of. Much like a student’s regular desk, it had a small table with a chair attached. Hugo sat down at an unoccupied station near Oskar and looked it over. Instead of a wooden top, it had a glass inlay, so he could see the storage chamber inside.

“Alright, everyone go ahead and stick both your hands into the holes at the base,” Rasmus said. He started walking around the room to ensure everyone was following directions.

Hugo leaned back and saw the two holes facing the seat. Once he put his hands through the holes, he could see his hands through the glass. The wood inside the box was heavily lacquered and smooth. He looked up at Rasmus as he continued.

“Let’s start with something easy. Do we have a suggestion from the class?” said Rasmus. A few ideas were shouted out, a sword, a helmet, a dagger. “Let’s do that one, a dagger. Everyone is going to use their element to create a four inch dagger. It should have a small hilt and a handle that fits your hand. Don’t start yet, just think about what it would look like.” He paused and looked at a few raised hands. He sighed and said, “Yes, even you two Lenna and Mia, you can still make a dagger with your elements even though they aren’t solid at room temperature. This is just practice.”

Rasmus walked to the classroom door and peeked out. He walked back to the center of the classroom and said, “Now that everyone has had a chance to envision your short dagger, I want you to activate your fabricate skill. It’s the only skill you have at the moment, it should be easy. After that you will be able to pull a string of mana from your soul core and push it into the space between your hands. Think of your dagger as a cup and you are pouring it full of mana, slowly filling out its shape.”

Hugo followed the instructions. First he activated his fabricate skill and envisioned a dagger. Then he pulled a few drops of mana from his soul core and pushed it into the shape he imagined in his mind. Twin streams of mana traveled through his left arm. He wasn’t moving it, the skill was.

As the mana left his hand, a silver dagger quickly started taking shape. Or rather aluminum, he corrected himself. Starting at the tip and slowly building out, Hugo had to keep dipping into the well of his core for more mana. He was about a third of the way done with his dagger when a pop sounded from a few desks away.

The heavy-set boy at that desk started screaming, and pulled his hands out of the crafting desk. They were covered in lacerations and bleeding. He had failed to correctly create his dagger.

The idea of failure spread like a wave, and a series of pops spread across the classroom. More and more students cried out in pain, holding their bleeding hands in front of them. Some tried to give up before they failed, but that just created a failure anyway and the result was the same.

Hugo tried to ignore their cries of pain. He knew he could do this. Just because most failed didn’t mean that he would. He was down to the hilt now, and it started spreading wide. Then it popped just like the rest. All of the mana in his creation exploded at once and quickly dissipated. His hands were quickly covered in shallow cuts.

He took them out of the crafting box and looked around the classroom as his hands slowly oozed blood. No one was seriously hurt, but you wouldn’t know that from listening to them. Most of his fellow classmates were crying out like they lost an arm and were in danger of bleeding out. Hugo was not impressed. He had worse from fighting in school as a young child, these people needed to toughen up.

Lenna was one of the few not crying at all, and Hugo nodded to her in respect. A closer look at her hands showed that she hadn’t been cut from when her creation exploded. Not so impressive after all.

“Alright, quiet down,” Rasmus said evenly. When this didn’t have the desired effect, he yelled, “Shut up! You are fine, no one was seriously injured. That is what the crafting station is for.” He walked to the back of the room and opened the door wide.

“Just as you were able to practice your skill for the first time today, so will the life domain students. I am fairly certain they will be successful where you failed,” Rasmus said.

Twenty students walked into the room. They had a black armband on to denote that they were life students, and each one wore gloves. They walked up to the bleeding students and started healing them. They stretched out their hands and a soft red glow enveloped the bleeding student’s hands. The life domain students healed lacerated hands, one after another.

Since there were twenty life domain students and thirty-five injured formation domain students, half of the class had to wait their turn. But within ten minutes, everyone was healed. The life domain teacher thanked Rasmus for the chance to practice and led his students out the door. The life students were considerably more run down than when they had first entered the room. Some had to be helped out.

“Now,” Sage Rasmus said and clapped his hands, “Can anyone tell me why you all failed so miserably?”

“It’s really hard?” one student answered.

“Because you didn’t teach us the right way to do it?” Lenna said.

“Because you set us up to fail?” another student offered.

Normally a teacher of the academy was afforded more respect than this, but the students were understandably upset with their teacher right now.

He smiled and continued, “You failed so this could be a learning experience for you. First off, the number one rule of formation is not to experiment with new physical designs on your own. You have seen the results of failures. It is a harsh lesson to learn this way, and I apologize that it had to be so painful. Trust me when I say I had to teach it this way, too many kids ignore the warnings until they can feel the results of failure for themselves.

“A longer answer about why you failed is that as new students you are lacking in two key areas. Math and mana manipulation. If you had a firm design in mind, with all the polynomial slopes calculated out, then your creation wouldn’t have burst. In addition, if you had a firmer control of your mana, when it failed you would have been able to reabsorb it, instead of it exploding.

“Over the next three days we will be having a refresher on polynomial slopes and derivatives in my afternoon classes. You will practice your mana manipulation in Sage Marta’s morning classes.”

There was a general groaning at the mention of math, but no one seemed to mind more classes with Sage Marta. Her teaching style wasn’t quite as extreme as Sage Rasmus.

He walked up to the chalkboard and started scratching out an equation. He just kept writing. Three rows later he finally stopped. “This is the correct equation to create a dagger. Pretty simple math, to be honest.” He pointed out a few spots on the equation and said, “Right here is where you input the frequency of your element, or elements. And over here is where you adjust for your mana input amplitude. It is different for everyone. If we had solved this equation for everyone before we had started, maybe a third of you would have succeeded. But then today’s lesson wouldn’t have been as effective.”

Hugo frowned. He would have liked to at least have had a chance at avoiding the pain. He imagined most of his classmates were thinking the same thing.

“Now, last thing. Cleaning out your blood. No one is allowed to leave without first cleaning out your own station. The tops lift off. Cleaning rags and solution are in the wings. Clean out your crafting station thoroughly, I don’t want to see a drop of blood left,” Rasmus said.

Hugo quickly lifted the lid to his crafting desk and walked over to grab some cleaning solution in a bucket and a rag. In short order his desk was clean. He knew why it had been so heavily lacquered now. So that the blood wouldn’t stain it. Once his station was spotless, he wandered over to where Oskar was still working on cleaning his crafting desk. He was just smearing it around. Apparently his upbringing involved more cleaning than his roommate’s.

A few boys called Rasmus over to inspect their desks so they could leave for the day. Hugo thought he recognized lord whats-his-face’s son as one of the two.

Their teacher looked over the desks and said, “They look spotless.” The boys beamed. Rasmus continued, “But of course they do, these stations weren’t used. Your desks were over there. You two dolts thought I wasn’t paying attention to where you were sitting and tried to pass off one of the unused desks as your own. Just because I have the formation domain, doesn’t mean I don’t have enough wisdom to have a flawless memory. Get your rags and be glad that I don’t feel like punishing anyone today.”

With long honed instincts, Hugo faded into the background as the two boys angrily stomped on by. He knew better than to provide an easy outlet for their anger. Hugo had no plans on developing a rivalry with the well connected students. As far as they were concerned, he didn’t exist. The nobles were still working on their desks when Hugo and his friends left.

“Simple math, he says. Like it is easy to calculate polynomial slopes on the fly,” Oskar said as they were walking out.

“I have always been good with math, so I am not worried about it,” Lenna said.

“What are polynomial slopes anyway?” asked Hugo.

“Those are the ones that have amplitude and attitude like the one Sage Rasmus did on the board,” Lenna said.

“I have never seen that kind of equations before,” Hugo said.

“Oh yeah, I wish,” Oskar said. When he realized that Hugo wasn’t joking, his face turned grim. “Oh man, you are stuffed. It took me three months to learn it, you aren't going to pick it up in three days.”

Hugo turned to Lenna, wondering what she thought.

“Um, yeah. It took me a few months to get the hang of when my tutor brought it up. It isn’t easy. But you said you did good in your school right? Maybe you will pick it up easily.”

Hugo had a sinking feeling.

He couldn’t concentrate at all during cryptozoology. He kept circling back to the math problems Rasmus had given them. He had been excellent in math during school, but this seemed so foreign to him.

Eventually he brought his wandering attention back to the class. They had moved on from ants, thankfully. A glance down at his neighbor's book showed that they were reading the selection on axe beaks.

“...although flightless, the axe beak still has wings. In addition to the danger from its clawed feet and eponymous beak, the wings have a claw each. The only safe way to attack is from a distance. Naturally, this isn’t an option for most, so the next few paragraphs are devoted to the accepted close combat strategies...”