Chapter 113 - Rehearsal (End)

The silence continued, until Brayden broke it by clearing his throat.

"Kuhum! Anyway, let's talk about it later."

The students looked at Brayden incredulously. He was making them extremely curious! They wanted to know what he had meant by his word.

Still, without a care to anyone, Brayden continued his lecture.

"Magic Circle works like a machine. It is built with parts, and each of them help us using Mana better. We can actually use Magic even without the help of Magic Circle, and I believe you have already realized by now, even a non-Mage can use Magic."

The students nodded. They had seen many civilians utilized Mana without the help of Magic Circle, despite how unrefined it was. Furthermore, they had also done the same thing in the Academy.

"It happens because we can naturally utilize Mana with our heart. How good you can control is up to your talent though. This is the reason why some people can never be a Mage. They have a defective heart."

At that, Basil quirked his eyebrow in interest.

"Of course, using your heart to utilize Mana can only get you that far. You need something to help you to really control Mana. That is Magic Circle. By carving it on your heart, you will be able to use the real Magic."

Brayden materialized his Magic Circle, and put it in front of him. "Now, what you see currently is a perfectly carved Magic Circle from my heart. As you can see, it has 7 seven layers of Sub-circle, which is making it a Grand Circle."

The students paid admired his Circle.

"However, that is not the focus of my explanation today. Materialize your Circle, and make sure not to emit any Mana! It will be annoying."

Just right after he said that, the very thing he didn't want to happen, happened.

Boom!

Brayden's mouth turned into a thin line. These accursed students had managed to irk him on the first day. Luckily, there were some students like Basil who knew how to control their Mana.

"Now, inspect all of the symbols written on your Circle, and compare it to mine. If you have a Major Circle, compare it to the first five Sub-circles of my Magic Circle."

He didn't bother to mention anything about the one who had a Minor Circle. He knew there was no such people like that in Randalvine Magic Institute.

"Now, can you spot the difference?" The students nodded. They could spot many differences between the symbols carved on theirs and Brayden's. "It happens because the different Carving Manual you use, and your heart's suitability with it."

Brayden turned his gaze to Basil. "As the winner of the Regional Tournament, may you step forward to give us a demonstration, Mr. Pacifer?"

Basil quirked his eyebrow faintly, before standing up from his seat. Walking to the front of the class, his first Magic Circle followed behind his back.

"Now, this friend of yours has the same quality of Magic Circle as me." Brayden motioned to Basil's Circle. "Despite having the same quality, our Magic Circle is actually different." Brayden inspected Basil's Circle. "For example..."

Brayden blinked his eyes in confusion. He took a double take, and inspected Basil's Circle once again. He went silent, inspected the Circle once more, and went silent again.

Raising his head, he looked at Basil in bewilderment. "What in the bloody hell are you?" He muttered lowly. "A skilled Mage," Basil answered simply.

Brayden became even more bewildered. "'A skilled Mage,' he said? A skilled Mage? A skilled Mage my arse! I can't even understand what is written on his Circle!" Of course, it was said mentally.

Inspecting Basil instead, he looked deep into Basil's eyes. Then, he also noticed Basil had his two other Magic Circles in his eyes.

"Y-you... A-are you a monster?" He had said this exact same thing to Iliana in the past. "I am just a skilled Mage." And, her answer had been the same too.

Looking back to Basil's Magic Circle, he could see Basil was controlling his Sub-circles as if his own hand. As someone who prided himself in his knowledge in Magic Circle, Brayden was left in a state of disbelief.

However, he was professional enough to not let his emotion get the best of him. Therefore, he quickly regained his composure.

"Kuhum! You have a very interesting Carving Manual indeed, Mr. Pacifer. Now, you can get back to your seat."

Basil didn't even give a nod at Brayden. He merely walked back to his seat, while positioning his Magic Circle to his back. Then, he revealed the extra two layers of Sub-circles he had hidden. His Ultimate Circle was finally on full display.

Needless to say, Brayden's eyes widened once again. When he was about to call Basil out, Basil swiftly retracted back the two Sub-circles. He had done it so swift, Brayden thought what he had seen was merely his imagination.

Brayden thought hard. He was debating whether what he had seen earlier was his imagination. In the end though, he decided to postpone thinking about it. He still had a job to do.

"Very well. I will talk about how to improve your Magic Circle's quality. But first of all, let's learn how to configurate your Magic Circles."

The class continued , and no one asked what had just happened. However, they were sure the lunatic freshman, Basil Pacifer, must have done something.

...

When the class ended, Basil quickly separated himself from his peers. He had messed with Brayden merely out of amusement. He didn't want to get questioned by Brayden. Although he could easily dodge his way out, like usual, he didn't want to waste his time.

Therefore, he was heading to the most unpopular yet the most productive class. It was no other than Rehearsal class.

Although it was named Rehearsal, it wasn't meant for students to practice something they wanted to perform. It was named Rehearsal due to the purpose of the class.

Life is a play, where everyone is an actor, and world is the stage. Before getting on stage, one needs to do a rehearsal. This was the origin of the class' name.

Rehearsal class prepared every students to face the world, by letting them to experience it firsthand. They would be sent to an Exploration, Expedition, and even Subjugation.

By doing those mentioned above, not only did they get paid, but also the experience. Surely, every bright side has a dark side. Rehearsal class taught students how to survive the harsh environment. However, the Magic Institute wouldn't guarantee their life.

Therefore, the mortality rate was quite high. It was the reason why very few people dare to take this class despite of the benefits. Furthermore, every students were bound to experience the same thing in Field Practice at the end of the day.

The only difference laid in the mortality rate. Randalvine Magic Institute guaranteed the student's life in the latter. Aside from getting money and a headstart in field practice, what would they get? In their opinion, it was wiser to not take Rehearsal class.

Surely, there were skilled people like Basil, who didn't even care about the risks. He didn't care about those small risks that were always reminded in Rehearsal class. He had faced many far more life-threatening events in his past life.

Upon arriving at the lecture room, Basil was met with someone he was familiar with. As the room was still empty, there were only two of them inside.

"Hoh? You are finally here, Sil?" It was Iliana.

Rehearsal class was known as the habitat for mad students. All of them were either a genius whose prowess was irrefutable or just a plain suicidal person. No one would normally risk their life in such a young age, after all.

Needless to say, Iliana was one of those mad students. She had caught up to every curriculum the Magic Institute taught, she was left bored. Therefore, she did something that could stimulate her adrenaline for her own amusement.

"Hm. I want to see how good Brayden teaches his student." At Basil's word, Iliana chuckled. "Seeing such insolence from a freshman was my first. Aren't you afraid I'm going to tell Brayden?" She looked curiously at Basil.

Even if she was implicitly reprimanding Basil, she was doing the very act herself. Still, she didn't even blush at the shamelessness.

"I have pranked him in my first day. What is there for me to be afraid of him?"

Again, Iliana chuckled softly. "Yeah, I have heard that. Master always laughs whenever he recounts that. He still couldn't imagine Brayden got a taste of his own medicine."

Suddenly, both of the people's attention were attracted to the door. Someone was approaching them silently.

"You are busted, Cray." Iliana motioned with her chin to her front. "Aww... I thought I could fool you this time!" A young man with a fairly short stature came out of the wall.

Cray sighed in disappointment, before looking at Basil. "You! How could you notice me too?" He scurried over to Basil, and looked up to him. "I am very sensitive with Mana. You can never hide from me," Basil answered simply.

Cray clutched his head in frustration. "Kuuhhh! What's wrong with you guys? Are you siblings? Why did you give me the same answer?!" Basil blinked at that.

To be honest, the kid was good. It was just too bad he had tried to sneak on monsters like Basil and Iliana.

"Yo! Failing at your specialty again, Cray?" A young man with tall and fit stature entered the room with the three people behind him. "Shut it, Whitney! Go kill yourself with a spoon!" Cray shouted at Whitney.

Whitney laughed it off, then looked at Basil instead. He was a little bit surprised at Basil's stature. Seeing a tall Mage was very rare. He, being 188 centimeters tall, had been the tallest person in this class, and now Basil had beaten him.

Even the tallest person in the entire Randalvine Magic Institute was professor Alcott, who was as tall as Basil — 192 centimeters tall.

"Woah, you have a great build, mate. I'm sure you have trained a lot." Whitney smiled, and extended his hand. "I am Whitney, a commoner, a Fourth Circle Mage." Basil took Whitney's hand, and shook it. "Basil Pacifer."

When Whitney was about to ask another thing to Basil, Iliana shushed every one of them. "Silence! Professor Alcott has come!" Iliana sat herself, and the other five people followed suit, even Basil was no exception.

"Hello, everyone."

An elderly man with bushy white beard and a big stature came in. He was wearing a glasses to help him see better. It was no other than Professor Alcott, the one who was responsible with Rehearsal class.

Upon sitting himself, Alcott looked at his students. "I have a bad news and a good news. Which one do you want to hear?" In unison, they instantly answered. "The bad news!" True to their reputation, they were indeed different.

"The bad news is, Carter died in this month's expedition." His students sighed, albeit briefly. "What is the good news, then?" Cray was curious. "The good news is, we get to retrieve his body." Once again, his students sighed in relief.

"That's good! Last time, when Dalton died, we can't even retrieve his body. That idiot died in a Devouring Swamp. His body was swallowed completely!" Cray laughed, and followed by the others.

Alcott shook his head, and looked at Basil. "Welcome to Rehearsal class, Basil. As you have already seen, we are a bunch of crazy people."

Basil nodded faintly.. Rehearsal class was different, indeed.