After we finished our lunch, we talked for a bit longer before heading to our next class: Spell Casting. It is held in the arena, so we all headed there.
On our way, we found Aaron walking by himself, so we called out to him, but he didn't respond and walked away.
"What's wrong with him?" Araki asked.
Zek and Orin gave me a concerned look, and I couldn't blame them.
'It's making him isolate himself. I need to hurry.' I thought as I watched him walk away.
After a while, we all ended up standing in the middle of the arena.
Its layout had changed since the entrance exam and was now a grassy field rather than just dirt.
Our group stood together off to one side. Around us, the other students—about thirty-two in total—gathered in small clusters.
Most wore the school uniform, something that practically screamed 'noble,' with gold-stitched hems and accessories that cost more than a year of food. But a few familiar faces from Amanda's class were here too, other commoners like us.
Exactly when the clock hit 1 PM, the time class should start, a darker-skinned man with short black hair and a coat that was half battle-worn leather, half old army gear, stepped up to the center of the field. A sword hung from his hip, which I found odd, as this was a Spell Casting class.
"Alright, students!" he called out with a grin that could cut stone. "Welcome to Spell Casting. My name is Matthew Arrow. I'll be your teacher not just for this class, but also for physical combat and mixed combat if you're taking them.
You'll find the other teachers only specialize in one of those. I specialize in all of them as I am a spellblade, though they may be around to help during mixed combat classes."
'That explains the sword.' I thought to myself, amused.
He looked around, eyes glinting with something like amusement. "Before we begin, why don't you tell me which teachers you've had so far and why you took this class?"
A few nobles eagerly stepped forward, name-dropping their classes. Several of them looked proud just to say who their teacher was, as if it made them important by association.
We commoners said "Amanda," and I noticed Matthew's eyes light up.
"Oh?" he said, grinning wider. "You're in Amanda's class? Excellent. That's my wife, so I expect you to be nice to both of us."
That surprised us, even me, as we didn't expect it. But considering his last name was Arrow, it didn't take long to realize he married into the family and wasn't a relative.
Though that is only on the commoner side of the class. The nobles, though surprised, started whispering, and a few snickers were heard.
One particularly loud guy tried to whisper, "Married the commoner teacher? I thought the Arrow family had standards," like it was the most offensive thing he'd ever heard.
Before the laughter could build, Matthew vanished.
At least, that's what it looked like to most of the students.
To me, Araki, Orin, and Aaron, we saw the burst of movement, the snap of mana, and the precise footwork he used to launch himself.
Then he was suddenly in front of the snickering nobles, hand resting casually on the hilt of his sword.
The nobles froze in fear.
"If I hear anyone mocking my wife or her family, the Arrows, again…" he said, smiling far too pleasantly, "…I'll give them some personal lessons. I promise you, they will be very thorough."
Silence.
I clapped slowly, grinning. "Congratulations on your marriage, Professor."
"Thank you, young man!" he beamed at me and walked back to the center like nothing had happened. "Now, let's get started!"
He turned toward the field where dummies had been lined up with painted targets over the chest and head.
"Today will be simple. Show me what you can do. Cast your spells. Let me see your power. That's all."
The nobles, clearly eager to redeem their pride, rushed to be first.
One pulled out a wand and chanted confidently as a small flame started on their wand.
"O radiant spark, heed my decree,
Let blazing wrath be loosed by me.
From finger's tip to burning mark,
Deliver fire, swift and stark."
"Fire Bolt!" A small botl of fire flew and hit the target in the chest, not breaking anything but leaving a scorch mark at least.
I had to hide my laughter as I realized he was proud of such a spell.
Another stepped up and began to chant as water began to accumulate around the end of their wand.
"Clear as truth and sharp as a blade,
Let water's edge by words be made.
From stillborn calm to cutting tide,
Now strike the foe I cast aside."
"Water Blade!" they then swing their wand and the water formed an arc and sliced forward and nicked the dummy's shoulder,shaking it ubt nothing more.
Many more followed, mainly those two, along with [Earth Spike] [Wind Arrow].
The spells were fine, good even, for beginners.
These nobles had clearly only started learning magic within the last few months at most, while some commoners, like me and Zek, started learning at half their age.
I just shook my head in disappointment.
I was expecting them to be bad, but this was excessive. They are first years in the lower-ranked noble classes (classes 9 to 7), but this was far below my expectations for nobles.
Zek stood beside me, arms crossed, having similar thoughts. He didn't say anything, but I could see the flicker of amusement in his eyes.
Araki crossed his arms and chuckled softly.
Even Aaron smirked.
Orin just shook his head.
All of them were clearly confident they were stronger than them, and they weren't wrong.
I smiled at Orin's reaction to this, though. Orin can't cast spells, but knowing his strength and speed, he can easily beat them all up before they cast a spell, especially since they don't know how to Quick Cast.
After the nobles finished, the commoners took their turns and almost instantly broke the nobles' pride as they cast spells at least twice their strength.
Zek laughed at the scene before him as he just watched the nobles slowly sink into despair.
After they finished their spells, I stepped forward and pulled out my wand.
^Do you want some help?^ Volt asked inside my head, his tone curious.
^No,^ I replied. ^This is all me.^
I raised the wand and made a single swish. Five magic circles flared into existence around me, humming with crackling blue light.
I swiped the wand again.
[Lightning Arrow]
Five bolts of lightning burst from the circles and slammed into ten of the targets, passing through the first ones hit, in perfect synchronicity.
The smell of ozone filled the air as the dummies exploded into scorched debris.
Gasps. Silence.
The teacher blinked. "M-multi casting, impressive," he said, surprised.
The nobles just stared.
Zek… burst out laughing.
I turned and gave him a sly smile.
I walked back to the others, and Zek started walking up himself.
"Showoff," he muttered with a grin as we passed each other.
I got back to the others and turned to watch Zek, but also heard the nobles mocking him.
I was surprised they recovered so fast, but looking over, I could see their egos tempered a lot. They likely thought Zek was weaker, as he is a kobold, and hearing them only confirmed my suspicions.
"What do you think the short lizard is going to do?" one asked his friend.
"Bite it?" the friend responded.
"It's cute. Do you think I could keep it as a pet?" a girl said.
*tch* I looked away in disgust and disappointment and watched Zek.
Zek took a stance and raised his staff, the orange fire crystal gleaming in the sun. Without a word, he pointed the ice end at the ground, then swept it upward.
"[Ice Tower]."
The earth rumbled.
A pillar of ice erupted beneath him, lifting him up as it expanded, shocking the nobles and the teacher.
It kept growing taller and didn't stop until it was around thirty feet tall. Zek laughed from the top like a goblin king.
He raised the fire end of his staff, aimed at the targets, and called:
"[Fire Ball]."
A massive ball of fire shot out from the staff, at least one and a half meters in diameter and equally as powerful.
The resulting explosion destroyed more than half of the remaining dummies.
Several nobles had fallen over in shock, and several had defeated looks on their faces as they realized they were nothing special and weaker than a kobold.
A massive hurt to their pride, as kobolds are commonly believed to be weak by nobles. It's not entirely wrong, as physically they are, but their strength doesn't lie in combat, but in traps and creativity. Zek is just an outlier, as he can cast powerful magic.
The commoners looked to Zek in amazement, and a sign of determination shone in their faces as they made up their minds to climb as high as he was. (Power-wise, not because he is in a tower.)
The others all stared in shock as they finally got a glimpse of Zek's power.
Even I raised an eyebrow. 'That was good, low B Rank at least.' I thought.
The teacher clapped, impressed. "Incredible! Two third-tier spells with shortened chants.. How?"
Zek twirled his staff as he lowered the tower, letting himself get down. "My master taught me. Before they vanished, they taught me spell compression, silent casting, and how to expand my mana pool. I owe it all to them."
Matthew nodded thoughtfully. "You and Jack might be a little beyond what I'm capable of teaching currently. Would you both be willing to move to a higher class?"
I shook my head and pointed at Araki, Orin, and Ark. "We are with them. We planned on helping them get better at casting rather than getting better ourselves."
Zek nodded in agreement.
Matthew nodded and took a second before asking, "In that case, would you be willing to help me with the class and teach other students as well? I am willing to pay you, of course."
Zek looked at me. I shrugged, smiling.
"Sure," I said.
"Why not?" Zek added.
Matthew grinned. "Excellent. We'll talk about this in more detail later. For now, please keep an eye on the other students and help them if needed."
We nodded and walked back to our group.
A few more noble students stepped up, hoping to recover their pride, but only managed to cast small spells, and a few failed to cast as the spell backfired—they were too distracted and wallowing in self-pity.
Matthew looked at me and Zek, concerned, and we both shrugged. We didn't expect or plan on showing them up that much, but we had to show our power levels properly.
I hoped that this would at least humble the nobles and eventually spark a desire to grow strong rather than rely on a name. It is a little foolish to think that, but it was all I could do.
After a few more people, Araki walked forward.
He scratched his cheek. "I'm not good at normal spells. I'm more of an arcane archer. I do spell circles and infusion on my arrows, not spell casting."
Matthew blinked, then lit up. "That's fine. I have just the thing…"
He walked over to a nearby table and picked up a strange-looking bow. It had no string, but shimmered with faint magic and runes.
Zek gasped. "Is that a magic bow?"
I chuckled. "Yup." Also, a little surprised they had that here.
Matthew handed it to Araki. "This doesn't use arrows. Infuse the bow like you do with arrows, and it will cast a spell instead. It's also great for practicing infusion magic, as it's more difficult."
Araki's eyes sparkled. "Can I really use it?"
"Of course."
As Matthew stepped back, I grabbed Ark, Orin, and Zek and pulled them back. (Aaron wasn't nearby so I couldn't grab him, plus with how he was acting I figured it was better not to.)
"What's he doing, and why are we moving away?" Ark asked.
I only smiled and pointed. "Watch."
Ark turned back and did so.
Araki took a deep breath. His fingers moved to the empty space where the string should be—and a line of water started forming, flowing into a gleaming thread of liquid.
He pulled it back. A swirling mass of water formed into an arrow.
He aimed, exhaled and released.
*BOOOOOMMM*