"My name is Phil Oakbde, you can call me whatever you want as long as it doesn't disrupt our csses."

  The teacher introduced himself.

  "This css will discuss the properties of mana control and its practical applications. Leigh Mandir, expin the definition of our subject."

  Fay's descendant got up.

  "Mana control is self expnatory. This is a skill that every people with mana should know about. It is how you control your mana to its absolute extent and its absolute limitations. This is important to learn, because it's the most backbone of magic itself. "

  "Correct, now I will begin the discussion about mana."

  Leigh then sat down, smirking whilst looking at the dwarf whom I still don't know the name is.

  Hmm, it seems like he's not just a young master, he's also an academic achiever huh? I'm pretty proud of your descendant 3rd character of mine.

  What I've wrote about Fay was that she is the smartest character I created in the party.

  The intelligence stat does not only improve the pattern recognition of the character, but also improve in-game trades. She's not only a sharpshooter after all.

  I'm gd her traits passed down to this guy, even if he's arrogant.

  Anyways, the teacher then proceeded to teach the css about mana and its nature.

  To sum up what he's saying, it's this:

  Mana is a type of energy that all living beings can use with the use of their "will." It is common everywhere, just the types of mana will differ, but more on that ter.

  The basics of mana is to first use it like a 3rd hand, controlling it like it's absolutely yours. Only then you can use it.

  For such a thing, one would need a huge amount of resolve. Or they have to be simply born from a high css family who had access to magic and passed it down to their descendants.

  Genetics are terrifying.

  Of course, it would weaken as time passes if the descendants wouldn't use it as skillfully as their predecessors.

  "That's how mana works. Now, for a quick demonstration, Liam Dhorhon, would you like to come up front?"

  Dole's descendant looked at the teacher quietly before going towards him.

  "Do you know how to use mana?"

  "Yes."

  Dhorhon then lits up fire in his hand, which surprised a lot of the students.

  "Hmm, a very intricate fire magic you use there Liam. Then, let me ask you this question. What is the difference between magic and mana?"

  The teacher asked with a smile. I don't know if he's trying to make Liam a bad guy or a good guy. Let's just see.

  "Mana is the fuel while magic is the engine."

  A brief description.

  "Could you perhaps expand that notion?"

  The dwarf then looked towards Professor Oakbde with suspicion.

  Hmm, I'm kind of enjoying the scene though, never engaging with them is cool.

  "Mana is, like I said, a fuel. It acts as the source of power magic needs to fully operate. Magic is just a bunch of math formus squeezed together to code an action. This is where mana comes in to py as it performs the "code" magic set up, thus, making a magic spell."

  *Cp cp cp cp*

  A round of appuse reverberated around the room. It was a great answer so it deserves it.

  Surprisingly, Leigh seems to be the most impressed. Could there be some sort of rivalry coming across those two?

  "An excellent answer Liam! you can go back now," The teacher excimed, with a hard expression. "Now, what I'm about to teach is for mana control."

  A magic circle then appears right above the palm of his right hand. Strange letters or text accompanied the outermost ter part of the circle, as if acting as the "code." And what becomes of that is a white sphere, around double the size of a golf ball.

  "Who could expin this magic spell for me?"

  Leigh raises his hand and began to speak confidently.

  "Based on my observations, it's a sphere made out of pure mana. It derives from a simple equation, but it cks the efficiency to maintain for long."

  Professor Oakbde nodded.

  "Yes, that is correct, and it is made for that reason. All of the students in this subject will perform this spell. Whoever maintains it the longest shall have additional points at the end of this semester, begin."

  And so, our first test in mana control begins.

  First off is trying to figure out how to conjure this spell.

  It's pretty simple, all I need is to copy the professor's magic circle and let it go with the flow.

  I opened my palm and drew it, surprisingly easy.

  Next up, I performed the spell without using my avatar magic.

  My base stats are already terrible, so I have to atleast practice without relying much on my singur strong skill, or else I would fall behind.

  [New skill unlocked: Mana sphere(F-)]

  Suddenly, I performed the magic spell.

  Well, that is to be expected, since this spell was made to be easy. The hard part is maintaining it. Now it's just a matter of perseverance.

  ***

  "Those three are monsters..."

  "Leigh I could understand. Liam, despite not being human, is keeping up. But I'm puzzled how that guy is doing well."

  "I couldn't even manage to st 10 minutes, I just miscalcuted a little bit too..."

  "Don't sweat the small details."

  It has been 20 minutes since the test had started. Almost all of the participants are now out. Now, only the three of us remains.

  Honestly, I didn't know I would make it this far too, but luck seems to be on my side right now.

  [Mana sphere(F+): a simple technique to conjure a ball of mana]

  Generally, a newly obtained skill would have the lowest mana consumption amongst its stronger versions.

  That means I could always put my mana consumption on the lowest, so I could be on par with them for some minutes.

  "This is getting tricky though..."

  I'm starting to really feel sluggish now, though I have the mana consumption advantage, I have the intelligence disadvantage.

  In short, I'm weak at controlling mana. It's even a miracle I kept up to this point.

  Leigh is grunting right now, probably getting annoyed by how much control is needed for this to work.

  Liam on the other hand is performing the spell like a breeze.

  Dwarfs have naturally low mana pools, but the fact that he's doing this for a long time means that he broke that rule huh?

  As for me... Yeah, I'm done.

  "Puwha... Haah... Haa..."

  I breath, a sigh of relief. That was harder than I thought it would be.

  Now, the other two are the only ones keeping up.

  Judging Leigh's facial expressions, I would guess that Liam would win this. But I can't be so sure now, since from what I've observed, Leigh has a very fragile ego he has to protect.

  ***

  40 minutes have passed.

  This was different from what I've expected.

  "Damn, Leigh is having a hard time."

  "But that dwarf Is also starting to make some expressions now..."

  "Damn it, who will win..."

  Yes, even with the struggle Leigh is going through, he's actually putting out quite a fight. Just ignore the fact that he is sweating buckets and is fully focused on the mana sphere.

  Liam is also starting to get tired. Though it does not show much in his face, his hands shaking would be the best indicator.

  Anyways, this shouldn't st longer than it already is. It should be a few more seconds now before Leigh drops dead.

  ***

  "Damn, it took us a full hour to get one of them down."

  "What kind of monsters are they?"

  "As expected of the successors of the great families."

  Yeah, I agree with these comments. What an absolute nightmare.

  "Hey! I just slip up a bit you got that Liam! This isn't over!!"

  Leigh excimed, while Liam just ignored it.

  After that, the css got concluded quite silently, nothing much happened.

  Until I was met by the same elf girl who blocked me earlier to the principal's office.

  "The principal wants to see you."

  Well, it seems like Millia knows after all. Pn A worked.