As Ren and Elara entered the class, their eyes widened.
The classroom was enormous, with several hologram projectors floating across the room. The floor was completely white, like polished pearl.
To their left were columns of desks arranged in a round shape, and in front was a big stage.
Ren and Elara went to sit in the back seats, near the window.
There were not many students in the class, only a handful-some sitting together and some alone in the corners.
Suddenly, the screen at the front lit up— a screen big large enough to seen from all the way in the back.
A message displayed in it:
'Congratulations to all the students who got the chance to attend the classes early.'
Just as the text disappeared, a woman entered.
She has crystal white hair, her eyes looks like autumn leaves, she wore a white coat — long enough to reach her knees, over a pale blue-white lined sweater and red cotton long pants.
On the face of the pocket of her coat, the emblem of the university is printed.
A golden fish
She stood on the stage in black heels and introduced herself in a bold, confident voice.
"I am Rebecca Sauna, your AM professor."
Everyone stood up and greeted in harmony,
"Good morning, Prof. Sauna."
"Good morning, young minds!
This year, there are more early birds then last.
so let's start our first lecture!"
said Prof. Sauna, her face confident and commanding.
She touched a button on her band;
Suddenly the lights dimmed, the large screen switched off, and a hologram of a human body was projected on the stage.
"This is an average human body.
These blue lines here shows the nerves, the red lines shows the blood vessels of a human body.
The glowing patches here represents the heart and brain,"
Prof. Sauna explained.
"I will ask some questions to test your basic knowledge, so be ready!"
"What is the most prominent base through which the human body works?"
A hand raised in the back-
it was Elara. As she stood, she shouted,
"Information!" With a confident face.
Prof. Sauna nodded with agreement.
"What's your name young girl?"
"Elara Selena," she replied, a little nervous.
The professor signaled her to sit and continued her explanation.
"Information!
Our body works on the basis of all the information collected by our nerves through signalling, which is decoded by our brain, stimulating responses based on chemical reactions."
"But scientists were confused by a question: why and how does our brain decode information?"
The hologram of the human body turned, showing motions and actions like running and jumping.
"Thks information to jump and run is all stimulated by our brain, decoding information from our surroundings through our senses."
As the hologram stopped and stood still, some red lights started to glow
nose, eyes, mouth, ears, and hands. Are all glowing red.
"These are the points of senses: vision, smell, taste, touch, and sound."
Suddenly, all the lights went off, and a glowing aura emitted from the human hologram, covering the layer of its skin.
"Sixth sense, often misinterpreted as just an intellectual property of human mind, but it is actually 'the connection of the surroundings through the brain itself.'"
The lights turned back on, and in front of them was a glove that looked normal.
As the professor put it on, a small wire jumped out with a pointy needle at the top, attaching itself to the blood vessel in her hand.
All the students looked curiously, with a mix of excitement, shock, and fear on their faces.
She pointed her gloved hand toward the window at the back of the class and shouted,
"Status: Activated!
Element: Ice,
Move: Icing shards."
Suddenly, the air in front of her hand condensed.
The air first turned into a water ball, then instantly froze to form an ice ball, and then-
"Fire!!"
The ice ball shattered, forming shards that flicked towards the window at an unreal speed.
The students sitting nearby were shocked and excited.
The professor turned and asks a question.
"Can anyone tell me what happened just now?"
A hand raised at the front desk-
a boy with crimson red hair, wearing a red robe over a white shirt and black pants, eyes red like a bloody moon. He stood and answered in a sharp, confident voice,
"The air from the surroundings was compressed, but only enough to form water molecules by joining hydrogen and oxygen atoms under pressure.
Then, as the water ball was created, the pressure suddenly decreased so much that it formed ice, despite the temperature."
"Exactly!" said the professor with a proud look.
"Your name, genius?" she asked.
"Virgil Cromwell," the boy replied with no hesitation.
She smiles a little and ask a new question.
"Does anyone know how I did it?"
The room was silent. Understanding the reason, Prof. Sauna opened a new hologram-
this time 3D hologram of the human brain.
"A human brain has the power not only to control our body but, with sufficient requirements to meet, it can control the surroundings too."
The hologram showed a hand with a glove, and the brain connected with a single blood vessels, to which the glove's needle was injected.
"This glove creates a pseudo-dome in our surrounding.
A dome invisible, made of EMG waves emitted from the glove.
The frequency of the EMG wave is optimized to our brain waves, making the dome work and behave like a part of our body."
The hologram projected a dome, visible only for demonstration. The professor continued,
"Inside the dome, all the particles and molecules are one with our brain, like an extended body part."
"This device uses the DNA information collected to form a correct wave that replicate our rhythm"
All students were fascinated and amazed.
Suddenly, a hand raised at the far back-it was Ren.
"Do you have a question, young man?" Said the prof.
He stood up, his eyes again blanked
"Everything comes with a cost. There will be something that it takes from its user?"
Prof. Sauna smiled.
With a click, the hologram returned to its original human form.
"We humans have infinite potential, but the limit is set by our brain, which weakens our growth.
Using magi-sci or in simpler words artificial magic, the mind breaks the limit barrier, resulting in enhance abilities.
But It fatigues your muscles and puts significant pressure on your brain. That's why not everyone is suitable to use it!"
Hearing this, Ren sat down without asking anything further.
The professor smiled and said,
"Everyone, come to the AM: Elemental Lab.
We will see if some of you have the ability to use any element," she said as she started to leave.
"I will explain other topics there."
As everyone started to head to the lab, Ren sat there silently, deciding whether it was okay to go or not, a little afraid of something that may go wrong or something bad happening.
Elara suddenly grabbed his hand.
"Come on, Ren! They are already gone. Move, fast!"
Her words calmed his tense mind. He stood up and walked toward the lab with Elara.
The door to the lab opened.
In front of the students were big tubes with glowing liquids and chunks of elements in them.
Some seniors were already testing and researching the elements and their properties.
The walls of the lab were made of solid titanium to absorb any blast. There were many cameras monitoring every motion.
At the front, almost 30 meters away, was a huge computer-so big that a normal human looked like an ant in front of it, stretching all the way up to the ceiling.
In front of the computer was a human-sized pod, connected to the computer's roots, like tree roots connecting to the soil.
As they all stepped in, the ceiling started to open. The sky was bright but not too hot.
The professor stepped toward the machine and explained its function.
"This is EART, or you can say Elemental Ability Requirement Tester."
"Now, everyone must come one by one as your name announced and stand inside this pod. It will take just a minute to test if you're qualified or not."
Suddenly, the lights started to flicker. The machine started up, sounding like a heavy engine roared. The screen lit up, and a voice-different from a normal AI, more cracky and mechanical.
All the students looked afraid of whatever that thing was.
Suddenly, the machine announced the first name
"First Student: Virgil Cromwell."
The boy with crimson hair stepped inside the pod without hesitation. The glass closed, a green gas filled the pod, needles drew blood, and a machine covered his head to examine its strength and condition.
The process ended in just a minute. Virgil stepped out, still showing no fear.
The machine announced his result.
"Physical condition: Outstanding
Mental condition: Excellent
Blood type: AB+
IQ estimate: 179
QUALIFIED: YES!"
Computing suitable element:
"Most suitable: Thunder/Electric
Potential: High
Rank: Updated [H ---> C]
Overall Score: 88/100"
"Congratulations," said Prof. Sauna, excited.
"Electric inheritance in a world of electricity is the most useful element."
Virgil did not reply, unfazed by the powers, returned to the group of students standing.
Everyone was in awe-some jealous, some impressed-while Ren looked a little cautious, glancing at Elara, who was excited to try the machine.
He laughed a little, seeing how excited one could be to do something so risky, hiding his own excitement inside.
The computer announced names one after another.
All others after Virgil failed to qualify.
The computer announced again, this time someone known.
"Next student: Elara Selena."
She stepped forward, Ren nodding and backing her up. She stepped inside the pod.
The inside filled with green gas, needles extracted a blood sample, and a machine covered her head.
The gas worked like anesthesia to dull the pain.
She stepped out of the pod, looking the same, with no fear in her eyes .
Ren released the fist he had clenched in anxiety as she entered.
Shortly, the computer announced the results
"Physical condition: Very Good
Mental condition: Excellent
Blood type: O+
IQ estimate: 195
QUALIFIED: YES!"
Computing suitable element:
"Most suitable: Fire
Potential: High
Rank: Updated [H--->D]
Overall score: 78/100"
She jumped with joy as she qualified, again forgetting about her shoes' air boomers enhancing her jumps, loses her balance once again and started to fell, but Ren caught her just at the right time.
As she open her eyes, the concerned face of Ren was in her front, her heart skipped as she lost looking at him, Ren too can't understand what is happening. Suddenly the noise of others bring them back to reality.
Some students looked at them as if they were lovers.
Both, embarrassed, quickly returned to their spots.
While others gossiped about them, Virgil was a little cautious about Ren.
The professor congratulated Elara on qualifying.
The computer announced a new name.
"Next student: Renarius Aurelith."
Ren, a little afraid, stepped inside the pod with some hesitation.
The door closed in front of his eyes, green gas sprayed from above, needles injected to draw blood, and a helmet-like machine covered his head, generating a magnetic field to examine his brain.
After a minute, the pod opened. Ren stepped out, now relaxed as nothing bad had happened, except he expected to fail.
The results were announced:
"Physical condition: Outstanding
Mental condition: Good
Blood type: B+
IQ estimate: 216
QUALIFIED: YES!"
Computing suitable element:"
Most suitable: Earth/Ground
Potential: Error
Rank: Updated [H--->D]
Overall score: 77/100"
Everyone was shocked at the IQ-even Ren.
The professor congratulated Ren.
Elara looked at him, smiling as they both passed.
"Hehe, intelligent boy!" said Elara with a smirk.
Ren laughed at her funny face.
"Like you can talk, with 195 IQ and a higher overall score."
As they both laughed, the test came to an end.
Only three students from the class had qualified.
Others looked at them with envy and jealousy; some with admiration.
As they all left for their next class,
Prof. Sauna stood in front of the computer. A man in a blue coat stood beside her, the glaring sunlight from the open ceiling covering his face.
"It's the first time I've seen 'potential: error.'
Do you think it's a mistake, Rebecca?" said the man in a shrill voice.
"Who knows?" she said
As she started to leave she looks at the spot where Ren caught Elara-
30 meters from the original spot, which he traveled in three seconds.
She smiled with a hidden meaning behind it and left the lab.
The next class was Artificial Magic: Terraforming.
The band projected a hologram, reminding them of their remaining class schedule.
Both Elara and Ren were excited for their next class.
As they walked, the atmosphere was a little turbulent; there was an unknown feeling between them. They talked normally but sometimes hesitated.
As they reached the Terraforming class, the professor they met on their first day stood in front of the gate waiting for them.
As he saw them, he shouted
"Both young geniuses are here!" smiling brightly.
"I forgot to introduce myself yesterday. I am William Marshall, the head professor of Terraforming and lead researcher in AFCA."
Welcome to the place where we create the world.
As the door to class opens, Ren and Elara gets shocked like never before.