”If they can do it in a day, just because they have good fire Affinity, why do the rest of us have to waste weeks learning them instead of spells we actually have an affinity for?” Christa Abilene complained.
“These spells are the very basics every witch should know after they leave the Academy for the real world. Every element has a strength and a weakness. If you can only use one element, then even the study trips into the wilderness would be too dangerous for you.” Professor Miranda explained in a mildly annoyed voice.
This topic clearly came up every year and got the same explanation.
Can’t you at least let us start with the ones we’re good at? Or start with actual Witch Magic, like plant growth and healing? The academy is already denying us so much, from our servants to our fashion, can’t we at least not waste time on spells we’re never going to use?” The High Noble complained.
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“Of course, I can’t have your ridiculous teaching method wasting my entire year.” The girl retorted.
“Excellent. Since Cassie is still up front, I will have her learn the next spell in the book. With only five minutes of study, she should be able to make the most basic of activations to defend against your water attacks.” The Professor informed the class.
Wolfe came up to study the spell, intending to add it to his repertoire if possible. The spell was [Lightning Armor] followed by [Lightning Bolt], a pattern that Wolfe assumed would go through all the elements in some sort of order.
It was nearly identical to [Flame Armor], with only the element changed, so the spell should be easy. Even the mental projection seemed to be the same.
Once Cassie nodded that she understood, Wolfe focused on the spell and visualized it activating around her while she shaped the way that it formed and allowed him to do the basic casting to avoid having to spend the energy to use an electricity source like the nearby wall plugs as the elemental reagent for the spell.
The effect was interesting, to say the least. Cassie had envisioned a glowing ball gown with a cape in a light blue fabric that crackled with purple electricity. She looked stunning, and Wolfe couldn’t help but step back to admire the view.
“Now, Christa, enter the circle and use your water attacks against Cassie. You will understand why you need multiple elements. Wolfe, please step out of the barrier.
For the rest of you, do you see how easy it was for her to learn a new armour spell? Once you know the basic spells thoroughly in one element, activating them in the others becomes much easier. Fire is the first because it is the easiest for most witches to visualize and create.”
Christa had a haughty look on her face as she entered the circle, but she seemed to have forgotten one very important fact. The way that water interacts with Lightning.
With a graceful flourish, she sent a stream of water at Cassie’s chest, only to be immediately slammed against the barrier by the backlash when it hit Cassie’s elaborate Armor.
“Can anyone other than Wolfe tell me why that happened?” Professor Miranda asked.
“Is the Lightning Armor actually an attack-type spell?” One of the students asked.
“No. But you’re on the right track.”
“Is it because impure water conducts electricity better than air, so the Lightning Armor electrocuted her?” Another student guessed.
“Precisely. Magical water is strong against fire but weak against mana-derived electricity. The Lightning Armor, by contrast, has a hard time dealing with Earth-type attacks, and Lightning attacks do very little to Earth Armor.
That’s why you need a variety of skills in your life.” The Professor explained.
With the show finished, everyone increased their efforts at learning the various spells, and the few who hadn’t previously caught on to the easiest ways to learn the basics made plans to study the elements that they were best at outside of class hours.
The fact they were learning all attack and defence skills to start off their school year when, back in the city, almost all Witch Magic was used for utility made Wolfe suspect that the Covens were hiding something important from everyone.
Learning magical armour first, only for the purpose of going out into the wilderness to gather reagents, didn’t make any sense at all as an excuse. Surely the Academy wasn’t that hard up for materials, and there was a military academy not far away that could provide guards for the Witches, who would all be greatly valued by society after graduation.
He had already noticed the disparity in numbers between students in the Academy and Witches in the city, but there should be no need for the low-level Witches, many of whom were destined to be very limited in their magical abilities, to be combat focused unless they were going to be engaging in a lot more battles than any other use of their magical powers.
Professor Miranda didn’t seem like the sort to just give away secrets if that’s what this was, but Professor Ashcroft just might let Wolfe in on the details. He just had to find her when there wasn’t anyone else around.
Right after the senior class left their afternoon classes, Professor Ashcroft would most likely be alone in her Potions Lab, either cleaning up or preparing for the next morning’s classes, so Wolfe let Ella know that he would be a few minutes behind them.
“I just need to go ask Professor Ashcroft a few questions before I come up for dinner. I shouldn’t be more than ten minutes behind you.” Wolfe whispered.
“That’s fine. We will meet you up there.” Ella replied, holding onto a battery and trying to get [Lightning Armor] to work the way she wanted.
Unlike Cassie, Lightning wasn’t one of her stronger affinities, so even with Wolfe’s attempts at guidance, she was struggling.
That was another thing he planned to ask Professor Ashcroft about. A Pure-Blooded Witch like Christa shouldn’t have any Elemental affinities, Wolfe thought. Or perhaps they were only Earth or Water, which allied with their innate nature magic.
When class let out, Wolfe jogged down the stairs, finding the Professor still cleaning her lab as he had suspected she would be.
“Need any assistance? I was hoping you could help me with a problem I’ve discovered.” Wolfe asked, in case anyone was listening.
“Sure, just close the door so the fumes won’t escape.” The Professor agreed with a wink.