The Aura Ascendant: A Knight's Unbroken Path

The Spellcasting Fundamentals Class was under Instructor Helvia, a woman with ink-stained fingers… She seemed to have come from writing a bunch of documents, making her fingers like that.

Furthermore, they learned that she would also be their instructor for the next subject, Alchemy & Ingredient Appraisal.

'She's beautiful…' Julia commented in her mind as she saw Helvia for the first time.

Then, Helvia only introduced herself and didn't speak anymore.

Instead, she immediately started her class as she placed five objects on the table.

There was a feather, a copper coin, a vial of water, a candle, and a lump of clay. It seemed quite random, and everyone thought that there would be a ritual.

"These are your spells," she said.

Gian frowned. "Hmm? They're junk…"

The other students couldn't understand why those things were related to spells as well but they decided not to comment.

"Yes…" Helvia replied...

"Magic is the art of transforming junk into miracles. Today, you'll learn 'Telekinesis'—the most overrated and underappreciated Zero-Circle spell. To carry or lift things up, you're probably still using Magic Hands. However, that's already an old method. Telekinesis that also trains the magician's mind is the right way."

She then paused for a moment as she observed their disbelieving expression. They definitely think otherwise, so she had to demonstrate.

She flicked her wrist, and soon, the feather floated.

There was no incantation included, and there was barely any Mana that was used.

"The secret isn't lifting the feather. It's convincing the feather it wants to be lifted and the mana around it will help you... That's an ability that only those blessed to control mana could do."

Julia groaned internally.

'More metaphors. They should just teach us how it really works. If Van is here, he'll be able to explain it better to me.'

Indeed, for her, the Instructor's explanation wasn't helping at all. It was as if they weren't being paid enough to teach them.

'Wait… Is he not paying them their salary?' Julia thought, referring to her father or the Archmage of this Tower.

Julia then shook her head as she erased her random thoughts.

"You all can try using your mind and mana to lift it… Not chanting any Zero-Circle… It must be a simple Mana Control, and this training can help you strengthen your will or Mind Energy..."

As she said this, she showed more feathers to practice.

"Start with the feather first…" She said.

Julia and the rest weren't sure what she was talking about, but they all nodded and started practicing lifting the feather…

Then, in just about two minutes of practice, her feather already twitched.

"Ahhh…" Julia's eyes lit up as she felt that she could do it after a few more tries. There was no incantation, so it was hard to form her mana, but if she focused carefully, she'd be able to somewhat control the mana surrounding the feather.

It was certainly not enough since she also had to get about 2 meters from the feather. However, this was a good start.

On the other hand, Gian's feather immediately shot upward after a few tries, but it suddenly burst into flames.

"This… Ah… Instructor, do you have more feathers?" Gian asked.

He certainly failed, as it seemed that he had used a failed spellcasting to disrupt the flow of air instead.

Helvia sighed as she placed more feathers...

"Continue!" As she said this, she went to a seat at the corner chair reserved for observers and watched her students fail.

Well, there was actually a trick to it, and she deliberately gave vague instructions.

It was to ensure that these students would fail.

After all, they were all geniuses and must've lived their lives where everything was going their way. This time, however, she wanted them to fail many times and realize that they were all just newbies...

Just like that, everyone continued on their practice.

After about 20 minutes, no one had succeeded. They seemed to be missing something…

'Right… Is it my imagination? Renji said something about imagery…' Julia mused.

She then took a deep breath, and this time, she imagined the feather as an extension of her own hand.

It seemed to be the best method to use this 'Telekinesis'…

After a few moments, Julia finally saw a good result…

The feather wobbled—then rose for about three inches and stayed there for a second before dropping…

"I did it…"

Julia smiled as she knew that she was almost there! She just needed to continue practicing.

However, Helvia just scoffed after seeing this… "That's some progress. Now do it with the clay."

Julia was surprised as she felt that it was too hasty…

As expected, her arm trembled, but the clay didn't budge.

It was too much…

'I'm already struggling on a Feather… There's no way I can lift that yet.'

"Exactly…" Helvia spoke. "Weight matters. Mana cost scales exponentially. This is why you'll be doing this every night. Spell efficiency calculations."

It was an obvious matter, but the five didn't speak as this instructor seemed to like torturing her students. However, it was only their first day, and they somewhat knew that this was just their way of introducing themselves.

'Let's endure for now…' Julia thought to herself.

After this class, they used the same room to start the Alchemy and Ingredients class.

Helvia clapped her hands once, and the classroom's walls bloomed open, revealing hidden shelves stocked with jars of dried roots, crystallized sap, and suspended flowers that still pulsed with faint mana.

They were definitely special…

On the other hand, Julia was just impressed by how the room had suddenly changed its vibe.

"Now… Welcome to the slowest, stickiest, and most stubborn branch of magic," Helvia announced, plucking a vibrant purple flower from the table. "Alchemy isn't about explosions, though those happen. It's about conversation."

Again, she was using metaphor and it wasn't helping.

She then handed the flower to Julia. "Tell me what this says to you."

Julia turned the flower in her hands. The petals left glowing dust on her fingertips.

"It's... pretty?"

"Wrong," Helvia said cheerfully. "It's screaming at you. Listen closer."

She then tapped the flower's stem, and a faint chime resonated from its petals.

'Ahh… What's going on?' Julia wasn't sure, but she knew that this Instructor was definitely having fun. She couldn't understand whether she was joking or not!

She even thought that perhaps she could just learn alchemy in the library!

Thankfully, Helvia finally went serious as she paced around the table. As she moved, her skirt brushed against rosemary bushes that shivered at her touch.

"In this class, you will not only learn alchemy but also learn how to identify ingredients. Correct preparation is very important, and you can't just entrust all of it to servants. Even if they prepare the ingredients for you, don't blindly trust them and inspect every material and ingredient you'd use since you're the Magician…" She then paused for a moment to look at them before she continued.

"If the Alchemy failed, you can't blame the servants but only you. Those servants didn't have proper alchemy education, but you have. So keep that in mind.'

It seemed that Helvia had seen many similar mistakes before, so she wanted them to avoid following that.

She then continued with her lecture.

"Identifying ingredients or materials for alchemy is easy as long as you remember their three important features. The Body, the Breath, and the Pulse."

"Body, breath, and pulse?" Julia and the students repeated.

"The body is what you see… The breath is their scent or even their taste… The pulse is the mana rhythm or signature within. This is the method of proper Appraisal."

Julia was excited as she was finally learning something.

However, Helvia's next words surprise them…

"Now… You have to know the taste of the common ingredients you'd be using. These common ingredients had many similar appearances, but their taste were unique."

Just like that, it felt as if she started torturing them once again.

She made them eat the Sunstalk Root. It was crunchy like celery, but it made their teeth buzz… It was a strange sensation.

Then, there was Mistvine Leaves. It melted on the tongue like snow, but there was an aftertaste! In just a few moments, it burned like pepper on their tongue.

Helvia chuckled as she saw her students gasp for water.

"The Mistvine Leaf's 'body' shows 'harmless dew.' However, its 'Breath' says 'betrayal.' This is why we never trust appearances in alchemy. Again, Body, Breath, and Pulse… Remember it."

After that, Helvia continued with their lesson.

"For now… You have to see the five most common plants we use for alchemy… Just from the various combinations of these five plants, we could make a total of 50 Potions." Helvia explained as she soon introduced the plants.

It includes the Moontear Herb. They had silver leaves and were said to grow faster with moonlight. They were the basis for many types of healing salves.

After that was the Emberroot. They were orange roots that stayed warm for a long time and could be stored easily. They were the basis for various stamina potions or various potions that boost energy for combat or even for bed.

"The next is the cheapest ingredient, and you'll have to learn how to grow these things. You'll be using them most of the time. They're called Whispercap Mushrooms and they're used for memory-enhancing teas…"