Four months slowly passed within the walls of the academy and right now, Logan was in Battle class close to the forest.
Aaron was in the middle of a demonstration.
"It is possible for a mage to cast a spell of another element- one they don't possess an affinity for." He gestured to a student with blue streaks.
The student walked up to him. "Pour as much of your mana into me as you can." He gave the instruction that the student didn't hesitate to follow.
As Aaron stood as the focus of the entire class, faint blue streaks that appeared sickly and unnatural slowly appeared in his hair.
Aaron dismissed the student.
"It should be common knowledge what my elemental affinities are and clearly water isn't amongst them." He lifted his hand and a rotating sphere of water appeared.
"This is called Mana Transfer. It's only ever used in battle during otherwise perilous situations." He explained as he made different shapes with the sphere.
He let the sphere turn into fine droplets and the blue streaks disappeared.
"There are naturally consequences attached to such a crude process." He started to warn the students as he saw excitement beginning to bubble in their eyes.
"You will hardly notice it because my mana is infinitely more powerful than his but this process can cause mana poisoning and damage your mana core in the long run." He finished his warning.
"But for this lesson, I'll look the other way. Partner up and exchange mana. Experience what it feels like." Aaron said in his usual relaxed tone.
The students slowly formed pairs until everyone had one- except Logan.
The white haired boy in question looked around and could spot around six groups with three members.
Despite the risk attached to the exchange, they would rather damage their mana core than partner up with him.
Logan met the disgusted looks they gave him with cold indifference.
He never really cared about people's opinion of him. The only time they'd have an issue was if they came after him or got in his way.
"Let's go on with the lesson shall we?" Logan's attention was pulled by Aaron's voice.
"Here, I'll do the exercise with you." He spoke with interest lingering in his tone.
Gasps of shock resounded from the students who were quite close to them.
With an outstretched hand, he urged Logan to accept.
Logan took his hand and felt a massive surge of energy passing through him.
He gripped his chest as it felt like there was magma flowing through him and he wasn't a fan of the pain.
The pain slowly subsided and Logan could see Aaron's furrowed eyebrows.
'His hair should have gained red streaks at the very least.' Aaron pondered the nature of Logan's lack of streaks.
The kingdom alongside the academy had done a fair level of research on Logan and his body while he was hospitalized for two months but all efforts had come out fruitless.
They dropped the matter after realizing that their research was affecting his recovery. This was why no teacher had asked him about his condition but Logan had no idea of this.
Aaron looked at Logan's hair which appeared to have whitened further.
"Here, cast this." Space flickered around Aaron's hand and a small scroll appeared.
Logan's eyes twitched as he saw the spell's details.
Hell Hounds(A-rank): Creates wolves made of fire.
"Sorry, this was the weakest spell I had but don't worry, you have S-rank mana running through you." He tapped Logan's shoulder.
"Are you sure you don't have like a D-rank spell but for, I don't know, the Darkness element?" Logan asked with an innocent expression.
"Hahaha. Nice try." Aaron laughed out loud before reigning himself back in.
Letting out a sigh, he opened the spell and started casting without even trying to memorize the spell.
When he finished, it felt like someone had drained him of life.
He collapsed onto the ground and with his blurry vision could see a wolf standing at two meters tall made completely out of flames.
The appearance of the beautiful yet frightening entity caught the attention of the entire class.
Some whispered in curiosity but others, most in fear and insecurity.
Aaron extended his hand to Logan and the latter took it.
He pulled Logan to his feet and patted his back, "Impressive. You have real potential." He smiled before leaving the still weakened Logan to himself.
Logan waited until the end of the class before heading to the training hall.
He went to an empty room and locked the door behind him.
With his eyes focused, he fought off all exhaustion and started practicing his mana art while standing.
The mana conduits now reached the finger he had been aiming for. Not only that but it covered about a quarter of his legs.
Mana flowed through the conduits and filled his body with pain and strength alike.
He gritted his teeth and cast Dark Flash. His body was a blur as he ran at unprecedented speeds.
The combination of the mana art and Dark Flash allowed him to reach speeds otherwise unattainable by someone in the E-rank.
As he ran, waves of pain rolled through him. With the increased output followed the same for the mana consumed.
His mana core emptied far too quickly.
Logan had to stop to conserve the little mana he had left.
He brought his sword out from his Dark Space and practiced a few of the moves he had been learning from Aaron on the side.
By now, he had familiarized himself with using the blade to cast Dark Shots as it was faster and more efficient.
His tachi cut through the air with ease and his movements although clunky and lacking fluidity were far better than they had been when Aaron had tested his proficiency with the blade.
"In hindsight, that was utterly ridiculous. Proficiency in the blade I had just gotten? He was just looking for a reason to fight me." Logan sighed as he took a break from his training.
He left the training hall for his room when someone stopped him on the way.
Logan immediately recognized the person, it was the noble whose nose he had broken.
"Freak! I challenge you to a Royal Duel!" He yelled at the top of his lungs drawing the attention of everyone present.