Chapter 10: First Class

Aurora quickly returned to her classroom, and when she entered, she found Alice surrounded by several students.

“You were great on the test!”

“Yes, yes. Who would have thought an entrant would be so strong?”

“I... I want to ask, is it true that you’re an A-Rank?”

Alice ate her chips quietly and looked at the last young lady who had asked and commented. “Yes, according to the mercenary guild, I’m an A-Rank.”

“Wow!” exclaimed all the surrounding students.

Aurora smiled happily at seeing her friend being the center of attention.

Those young people didn’t seem to be ‘bootlickers’ but were sincerely excited for Alice... It was easy to understand; a young lady close to her age was firm and calm.

With those thoughts, Aurora entered the classroom and sat down next to Alice.

As soon as she approached, they let her have a seat with no intention of looking for trouble, but the look of contempt on some was evident.

Aurora sighed inwardly.

The truth is that there were quite a few students who hid and did nothing. Unfortunately, she not only abandoned her group but was also discovered hiding in the closet... Making it all look as if she had abandoned her group just to hide in fear.

No doubt there were other students just like her, but in the end, the contempt for her was more intense because she was found out.

However, Aurora would not be bothered by those looks. She just thought they were too ‘young,’ and it was customary to guide their opinion by just a few actions.

—You are just as ‘young’ as they are.

Her system responded quickly to her superficial thoughts, and Aurora gave a small, disinterested smile.

—True, but in my case, I have seen and experienced more things than they have... It is typical for a ‘hero,’ mercenary, or adventurer to panic and decide to flee. If there is no risk, the best course of action is to let him retreat, —Aurora replied in her mind.

It’s not as if she thought she was superior. Her thinking was based on the reasoning that someone in fear during battle would be a greater danger than their enemies.

After all, a nervous and frightened mage could not cast his spells because of his lack of concentration, just like a psionic and not to mention fighters or swordsmen, one mistake could lead their companions or themselves to death.

Of course, retreat would be impossible in some cases, but if that were to happen, it would mean that they would already be quite complicated, and the only way forward would be to advance.

However, in the end, it was only an opinion, and someone could argue against it. That was why Aurora did not take their attitudes seriously.

While Aurora thought that, Alice passed her bag of chips.

“Thank you,” Aurora said, as she took out some chips.

Strangely, some ladies looked at her with jealousy ...

Aurora did her best to hide her amusement and looked at the professor, who was arriving.

He was a man in his thirties with a well-fitted suit that made him look elegant but primarily severe.

“I am Laurens Lindbergh, a Rank-A mage and your teacher of ‘Skill Theory’,” said Professor Lindbergh with a severe expression, and without stating any extra words, he began. “Today I will explain to you the basics about skills.”

“As you know before, the ‘Great Cataclysm’ no one had an ability. After that event, ability users awakened. The first to ‘awaken’ were those who could make use of mana or, as you know it, magical energy. This energy allows you to manipulate the ‘normal’ elements and cast spells of different types of magic,” explained Professor Lindbergh and shook his head subtly as he saw that the students were still in a daze.

The next moment, all the students took out their books and wrote notes, while Aurora just turned on her holographic watch camera to subtly record the class.

Alice, for her part, did the same while eating chips.

“Today I will focus on explaining to you a bit about ability users focused on magical energy, psionic energy, and those with talents,” Professor Lindbergh stated, then began his explanation, glancing from time to time at the students to see if they were paying attention.

His explanation was quick and precise.

In that distant world known as ‘Terra nova’ to which the ‘players’ had previously ‘traveled,’ humans could use magical energy without needing a particular affinity and allowing them to use any element, but the humans of earth were very different.

Although both were ‘human,’ their ‘evolution’ was different, and the humans of Earth assimilated magical energy in another way, gaining different abilities.

It all starts with the ability to sense magical energy, and from there, different paths start.

Mages had to have an affinity to an element and convert magical energy to that element, and among those more capable, they could control the aspect at will instead of following different spells.

Mages were known for their ability to control both magical energies from outside and inside their body.

Then there were the ‘martial artists’ who could not control the magical energy from the outside but could control the magic power from within, allowing them to strengthen their body by increasing their physical qualities, gaining more excellent resistance through barriers, or maintaining their skin and body in general.

This group was divided into swordsmen, archers, and fighters.

Swordsmen used weapons such as spears, maces, swords, sabers, daggers, or other similar types of weapons.

They could not only reinforce their body with magical energy, but they could also imbue it in their sword, allowing them in some cases to use their sword to launch different types of attacks infused with magical energy, and they could even reinforce their sword to make it more resistant or sharper.

Archers fell into this particular category, but they imbued their bow and arrow with magical energy, the latter being the one that carried the most power.

Finally, the fighters could reinforce their body with magical energy, increasing their stamina, strength, or agility, basically focusing on improving their physical qualities.

The crucial difference with swordsmen was that fighters were only in charge of improving their bodies while swordsmen had to take their time to improve their sword technique... Sure, some fighters knew different fighting styles, but they were not as important as swordsmen who had to improve their sword techniques to manifest their sword aura.

For Aurora, this was basic knowledge, and like many others, so the teacher was quick with his explanation, keeping in mind the general knowledge.

Aurora turned her attention to psionics.

These humans are capable of using psionic energy and the strength of their minds to perform different abilities.

The abilities were too varied and, in many cases, similar to mages.

They usually used their psionic energy to defend or attack, but in many cases, they had certain precise ‘traits.’

Cryokinesis, which allowed the manipulation of cold, was very similar to the ice magic of wizards, although, with a different process based on different rules, the former being based on physical rules and the latter on magical rules centered on magical energy and the elements.

Telepathy, clairvoyance, telekinesis, or other abilities... Psionics generally had different qualities that, in many cases, others did not have or found difficult to replicate.

Finally, the professor spoke of ‘Talents.’

In very few cases, these types of abilities were related to magical or psionic energy, as they were mostly not about them.

In the first case, the Talents of ‘Sages,’ it was well known those people who suddenly awakened a knowledge about some kind of magic or psionic quality and became theoretical experts, although, in reality, they could not use magical or psionic energy.

There were also ‘Sages’ who awakened knowledge about advanced technology, chemistry, physics, or other types of science.

In other cases, there were ‘Technology related talents,’ in which there were talents such as manipulation of electronic devices that allowed them to control electronic devices such as holographic clocks, drones, or other devices and other skills focused on the ability to breach security systems or in some cases create more rigorous systems.

Also common were talents that could use ‘Technological Enhancement’, sometimes known as ‘Machine Enhancement,’ which gave the user the ability to ‘boost the power’ of some mechanical or electronic equipment, making it much more efficient.

Usually, these talents were focused on electronics and, sometimes, on ‘virtual’ and even some talents on ‘machinery.’

Then there was the ‘Masteries.’

‘Firearms Masteries’ which gives the user not only knowledge but also specific skills capable of being performed through firearms.

Of course, the ‘Masteries’ was not only about certain weapons but also other artistic and craft masteries with a wide variety.

Aurora knew several famous chefs who claimed to have ‘Masteries’ related to cooking, and they indeed showed a culinary skill out of the ‘ordinary’.

As for the ‘Mechanics’ it was a profession that was recently forming and was made up of different individuals who used their talents to achieve the same goal... To achieve technological advances and make technology available to those who could not use magical or psionic energy.

Aurora knew of several ‘Sages’ who had awakened knowledge related to technology who called themselves ‘Mechanics’, although their knowledge was only theoretical.

Professor Lindbergh gave a simple explanation, but this was the first class, and he could not explain all particular skills or ‘professions’ that were rare in the world.

Because Aurora already knew the basics, she slowly listened in a bored and occasionally nodding sleepily as she listened to the crunching sound of the chip gobbler next to her.

******

Walking out of class, Aurora gave a yawn.

“That was exhausting,” Aurora muttered rather tiredly.

Not only did they have with the ‘Skill Theory’ teacher, but they also had ‘History’ and ‘Theology.’

“I liked it,” Alice said as she ate the chips.

Aurora looked at her a little strange.

Throughout the entire class, she had stood eating chips as she listened. It was hard to tell if she was genuinely paying attention to the class or the taste of her chips.

The weird thing was that no teacher or student commented on that fact, as if they had an unspoken agreement not to bother her... Well, after the video of her beating up the duo of students who stole her chips, that could make sense.

Alice ate some chips and commented. “Theology class, it was good... I liked the way Professor Santulli expressed herself about the gods.”

“‘Beings with immeasurable powers that in some cases have control over human reality?’” Aurora asked, remembering Professor Santulli’s words.

Alice nodded and commented. “Humanity thirty years ago did not know if gods existed, now they have knowledge of them and can classify them and even knowing all that a part of humanity talks about them colloquially and in some cases disrespectfully... Isn’t that interesting?”

“Ehmm...”

Aurora didn’t know what to answer; she knew her friend liked history and topics related to gods.

Still, she understood the lack of ‘respect’ many of the non-believers had for some gods.

After all, when the virtual reality machine that allowed connecting to ‘Terra nova’ was active, and people still believed it was a game, a group of players guided by the ‘enemy of humanity’ defeated some ‘Final Bosses’; known as gods... Clearly, that affected the perspective humanity had of the gods.

‘Extremely strong existences but capable of dying like any mortal’... That was a normal thought among non-believers.

However, Aurora didn’t care.

She didn’t believe - had faith - in any gods, and although Alice liked the subjects related to gods as if she was reading Greek mythology, she didn’t believe in any of them.

For Aurora, these classes were just too exhausting.

Who would have thought her first class would be so exhausting?

“I had thought heroes were all about combat.” Aurora muttered honestly.

Now she realized how wrong she was.