It was a bright and sunny day, so PMC would be held outside again. Professor Elius was once again ahead of schedule and waiting for the students to arrive.

Slowly, they began filtering through, and with the way he kept bobbing his head as they did, Lily assumed he might be holding some sort of mental checklist.

Some of the students approached him and began conversing, and when she listened in, she found them discussing the last class and what offensive spells they had managed to acquire since then. He continued to casually converse with them, offering tips or advice on either a teacher that could assist them or a basic spell he knew about.

Arakil seemed to enjoy eavesdropping and hearing the names of specific spells or which teachers specialized in certain categories of magic, and Lily predicted he was making his own list as well.

Since the professor had announced what this class would be beforehand, it looked like many of the students had made preparations ahead of time, hoping to produce more favorable results. Lily noticed that a few who were confident in the last lesson looked dismayed this time around, and the opposite was also true.

Out of her own group, only Lotte was looking upset, as she'd hedged her bets on her magic teacher having a solution she could use with poison, and unlike Thomas, she didn't have a fallback prepared.

I definitely need to write a spell out for her. The biggest issue will be helping with the visualization, but perhaps she can do repeated chants. Arakil shouldn't mind, I think… Lotte isn't his direct apprentice, right?

Lily wasn't entirely sure if his high standards also transferred through written instruction. She certainly hoped not, as there was no way he could instruct Lotte directly and Lily still wasn't ready to reveal the entire truth just yet.

"Right, before we start the lesson proper, we will be going over the safety of your Wards and how to properly manage them," Professor Elius announced when the last of the students finally arrived. "Each of you received one and were instructed to keep it on you at all times. Please take them out now, and if you forgot to bring them, then you better run and fetch them."

He gazed over at the class as one by one, everyone pulled out their Ward and held it out in their hand. Lily pulled hers out from behind her ribbon and squeezed it tight in her hand.

"Good," the professor said with a nod and a grin. "I'm glad nobody in this year's batch was actually foolish enough to forget it. Just as a reminder, you're expected to have it on hand at all times while on school grounds. During duels and within the dungeon, wearing it is mandatory, and if you are caught doing unsanctioned duels or without it in a dungeon, then there will be dire consequences."

He reached into his coat pocket and pulled out his own Ward, holding it up for everyone to see.

"For those of you who are unaware of what a Ward is, I'll give a basic rundown. You should treat it as your best friend and protector."

The professor then gave a thorough rundown of what a Ward was. Emphasizing that it would block harmful spells and protect the wearer. He also repeated the rules regarding duels and that once someone's Ward was triggered, all spellcasting was to immediately be halted.

Lily had already known all this, but it was nice to receive a review. What then followed was a rundown on how to examine if your Ward was fully charged, as well as the process on how to recharge it if need be. Effectively, you tried to focus some Mana into it, and you'd receive a tiny jolt back if it was fully charged. If it wasn't, it would greedily suck the Mana it was given.

"However, unlike normal Wards, ours at Regarth are a little special. They take advantage of the dungeon environment, and when inside, they will not only automatically recharge, but also can block up to two attacks against you. Just be warned that there have been rare circumstances where an attack has blown through both protections at once."

[Interesting… I hadn't spotted any difference beyond the improved quality compared to the pair donated to the orphanage. I suspect the enchantment must be entirely dormant when outside of a dungeon.]

Lily wasn't sure if she was more surprised at the improved Ward or the fact that Arakil hadn't noticed the difference. However, she didn't have time to contemplate it for too long as the professor continued talking.

"For our first lesson, we will be doing individual drills before doing another group activity similar to the bees from last time. Each of you will take a position, and I will launch progressively increasing spells at you until your Ward triggers. This will give you a baseline idea of your current maximum defense while also demonstrating the usage of the Wards. Any questions?"

"Can we not cast spells at each other for this one?" Arthur asked.

Elius shook his head. "No. I know some of you are eager for duels, but those will have to wait. This is supposed to be controlled, and while I don't want to belittle your accomplishments, I doubt many of you have the control required to precisely increment your spells."

Arthur grumbled but ultimately accepted the answer. Seeing as there were no more questions, the professor had everyone form an orderly line in front of one of the dueling platforms. Once again, Arthur and Hana rushed to be at the front, with Hana claiming first this time.

The professor checked her Ward personally before instructing her to take her position on the stage. He explained that the stages had protections to ensure spells did not escape their boundaries once activated.

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"Are there any rules?" Hana asked as she took her position.

"You can block or deflect the spell, as long as you do not move from your spot," he answered.

"Great. I like those odds," she replied confidently.

The professor nodded and instructed Hana to defend herself. She cast a spell that formed a sphere of wind around herself. It was a relatively common defensive spell that anyone with air magic would be encouraged to learn.

The professor started things off by throwing a simple firebolt spell, which Hana's shield easily rebounded. It went careening off into the distance, but when it reached the perimeter of the dueling arena, the spell was extinguished.

[It appears to be a Mana-draining shield. Although I do wonder if they have something else to prevent more physical spells from continuing their trajectories.]

The professor then began ramping up the spells, going from firebolt to fireball. Still, Hana's bubble of wind remained unfazed. He upgraded the spell again, forming a flaming javelin, and Lily predicted this would likely breach her shield.

To Lily and some of the audience's surprise, however, Hana did not just stand there and take it. She quickly cast another spell, creating a halved dome of wind directly over her arm, which she bashed against the flaming javelin. Flaming sparks erupted where the two spells met, but the lance was the loser and it was successfully deflected.

The students erupted in cheers, quite excited to see the teacher bested by a student. Even Professor Elius gave a brief clap.

"Well, to think I would need to go to this degree against the very first student. If all of you are like this, then this year is going to certainly be quite a special one."

All of his previous spells were done with minimal chanting, showing off his profound proficiency in basic and intermediary spells. This time, however, he did actually chant.

A hum filled the air as the spell took shape in his hands, light flaring between his fingers and coalescing into a pulsing sphere. Cracks ran along the shell of the sphere, revealing an even hotter flame deep within. Even growing up with Rose, Lily had never seen such an intense-looking fire spell before.

Hana looked a tiny bit nervous, but still stood her ground. Either believing in her defenses or in the Ward that stood as her last line of defense.

The professor flung the spell, which seemed to be dripping liquid fire as it traveled. Hana quickly repeated what she had done before, but when her shield struck it, it was instantly vaporized. Instead, a high-pitched whistle noise was heard, and the Ward around her neck flared into a brilliant iridescent light that both snuffed out the demonic-looking ball of flame, while also announcing her loss.

"Damn it," Hana cursed.

"Don't be discouraged. You did amazingly," he replied, then gestured for the next student.

Hana left the stage while Arthur took her place.

"As you can see, you'll soon learn to love your Ward," Elius said to the rest of the class, before turning to Hana once more, "I suggest you practice trying to recharge it to full while watching the other students."

Hana nodded and began grasping the spent Ward in her hand tightly.

Arthur cast the same bubble of wind as Hana and went through the first few rounds the same. When Elius reached the flaming javelin, Arthur cast the same spell again, except this time he layered it over his original sphere, and it seemed to be rotating in the opposite direction.

To everyone's surprise, his double-layering of wind managed to deflect the flaming javelin with quite some ease, which seemed to annoy the professor a little.

"This is a special year, alright…" he mumbled under his breath.

Once again, he began casting the spell that defeated Hana, and in response, Arthur refreshed his two bubbles while even adding a third. The professor even raised a curious eye, and the class went silent as if praying Arthur would win.

[To be able to keep three simultaneous spells going at once is no easy feat. Although sadly I do not think it will be enough.]

The spell of almost liquid fire went off, immediately crashing through Arthur's first two barriers, but it was momentarily halted by the third. The class began to cheer and holler for only a few seconds before the final barrier cracked and the high-pitched whistle and burst from the Ward was heard.

"Damn, I gotta work on having four at once," he muttered angrily as he began walking off the platform.

"You did extremely well, so please don't be discouraged," Elius said to the back of Arthur's head.

Arthur didn't turn around, simply waving with his one hand over his shoulder while his other clutched his spent Ward in a tight fist. He soon reached Hana and slumped down onto his backside with elbows on his knees to watch the rest of the students.

When the next student cast a small wall of rock and earth to protect himself, Lily swore a brief look of relief flashed across the professor's eyes. The other students were also excited to finally see some different spells being used.

His earthen wall blocked the first two spells with ease, and he brought up a reinforced one made almost entirely out of stone for the javelin. However, to his surprise, it pierced through his fortification with ease. He yelled out in horror, but it was soon drowned out by the sound of his Ward going off.

[That flaming javelin actually has relatively high penetration, so deflecting it would be the preferred plan of action. However, your Nebula Veil has a leg up in that regard since it is highly magic resistant, something that can't be said for the barriers shown thus far.]

The following few students went much faster. Nobody since Hana or Arthur managed to surpass the flaming javelin, and Lily saw some growing relaxation upon the professor's face.

He must have been worried that everyone would be as competitive as those two.

Even a girl who created a wall of water was defeated by the powerful penetration of the flaming javelin, despite water being a known counter for fire mages. Quite a few kids who hadn't practiced enough, or managed to find a defensive spell in time, could only barely block the firebolt and were then swiftly defeated by the fireball spell.

Thomas eventually had his turn, and there was a slight unease from Elius when he also demonstrated the same wind shield that had given him so much trouble previously. Thomas' shield lasted the first two rounds, and when the javelin made its appearance, he attempted to cast another spell.

Unfortunately for him, his spell was not completed in time, as his Ward was struck and triggered, with its whistle being slightly deafened by the thunderous echo of a boom. Thomas cursed his lack of time to prepare, but the teacher gave him some praise as he walked off.

He must have tried to cast that spell his PD tutor recommended after seeing how disrupting the fire javelin worked. Did he try to prepare it while waiting in the line? That's some crazy dedication.

As Lily and Lotte drew closer and closer to the front, Lily saw a growing nervousness from her friend, whose tail kept twitching erratically.

"Gods, if I lose to the firebolt, I think I'm going to cry," she said, clearly exaggerating.

"Can you block it with a mud wall or something?" Lily suggested.

"That's my hope… but I don't think it will be enough. Ugh! I should have looked into that rock skin idea you mentioned…"

"Well… there's always next time," Lily said, returning her gaze to the students trying their best.

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