29. Freezing Water

Aphrodite abruptly appeared at the door and blocked Blaze's path, making him stop walking.

"Where do you think you're going?" Aphrodite questioned, but Blaze kept staring at her without saying anything.

Aphrodite quickly put her two hands on his chest and pushed him back slowly, and Blaze moved back step by step with each push. When they got to the seat, she forced him into the seat.

"You just want to go outside the school without getting ready? At least wait until your mana veins are healed. You need five hours to refill your mana core after the injury. However, you only need thirty minutes to refill your core before the Mana veins injury," Aphrodite explained.

However, Blaze just kept staring at her with a straight face and 'What do you think you're doing' eyes

"Uhmm… If you leave now, you will surely get in trouble. Let's assume your instincts are right, and you get into a big fight. You will be on the back foot as you haven't learned to freeze water. You only beat the Ice Reaper because you caught him unprepared and he was already tired," Aphrodite rushed to explain as Blaze kept staring at her with unchanging eyes.

"Got it. Time to refill my core," Blaze spoke and walked outside. He decided to ignore the unease until he reached his peak condition to enter a heated battle.

"Phew!" Aphrodite let out a relieved breath, feeling the tension dissipate. She noticed Blaze's casual gaze on her, but his unreadable expression made it challenging to gauge his true thoughts. Convincing someone with such an inscrutable demeanor was difficult, as it was impossible to discern whether they were truly convinced by the presented argument.

———

The next day, Blaze was sitting in class. This time around, both the nobles and civilians avoided him like a plague. However, Blaze had a lazy expression. Robin kept winking at Blaze from his seat.

A professor walked through the portal.

The man was tall with a potbelly. He had short black hair.

"Good morning class!"

"Good morning, sir!" the class chorused.

The man nodded in approval and said, "I am Desmond Harman, and I will be your coordinator in Battle Magic. Well, this course is how you use mana in battle. Let's go to the training field. Martial Arts is less talking and more action." Desmond turned and walked towards the spatial gate.

"Every planet loves this thing. Using a pot-bellied professor to teach martial arts," Blaze muttered under his breath.

When they got through the portal, they appeared at the training field, where Blaze and Liam had their previous battle.

On the edges, seven Professors were sitting with a banner in front of them, indicating each element.

"So, you have to meet the Professor associated with your element to guide you. Then you pick your training partner," Desmond yelled at the top of his lungs.

Everybody went to their respective element stand. Blaze walked towards his element stand and stood at the back. The abrupt presence of a person by his side made him turn to the side. Aurora stood beside him without looking at him, with an aloof expression. Blaze returned his gaze to the Professor in the front.

It was a young woman with white hair, like Aurora. She had sea-blue eyes, perky lips, and a heart-shaped face. She wore the regular teacher's robe that had a silver lining.

"You are the only water mage that is good at blacksmithing. It is easier for fire mages to control the flames because the universal flame inscription does not need to convert their mana," Aurora suddenly spoke, disrupting Blaze's thought, who was observing his new Professor.

'She wanted me to start a conversation? Her trick is too old-fashioned,' Blaze thought.

Blaze responded calmly, "I suppose it's just natural. Nothing extraordinary."

Aurora chimed in, remarking, "Just like an S-class student."

However, their conversation was abruptly interrupted as the Professor's stern voice commanded, "Okay, everyone, quiet."

'All the beautiful girls in this school are frosty.' Blaze watched from the back.

"I'm Aria Stephen, your instructor for battle water magic," Professor Aria introduced herself, her expression detached and aloof. "Today, we will begin with water conversion. For those of you who have already mastered creating ice or who awoke it naturally, we will focus on learning the technique of defrosting." The room fell into silence as everyone listened attentively.

"The boy at the back with a manly face," Aria's voice rang out once again, causing Blaze to swiftly turn around and inspect his surroundings. However, his search revealed that he was the last person.

"The isolated boy close to Miss Aurora. Stop turning around," Aria's voice called out, prompting Blaze to realize that everyone was standing at least two meters away from him, except for Aurora.

Maintaining his composure and expression unchanged, Blaze locked his gaze onto Professor Aria.

"Why are you isolated?" She asked.

"You should ask the mfs," Blaze said calmly.

"Mfs?" Aria raised her eyebrows curiously because it was the first time she heard the acronym.

"Mother fu…motherly friends." Blaze quickly corrected himself.

"Mf, what's your name?" Aria asked Blaze.

It made Blaze's contort into a nasty grimace.

"Blaze Draven," Blaze replied calmly, holding back his truckload of curses.

"The boy who influenced them to adjust the rules? No wonder you have an intriguing name," Aria remarked, her tone carrying a hint of curiosity. "So, why do you possess a name that contrasts with your elemental affinity, mf?" she inquired, emphasizing the last word.

'Can she get on with her teaching?' Blaze grumbled.

"You know my name. Calling me mf instead of my real name makes me uncomfortable," Blaze tried to put an end to the 'mf', before saying, "As for my name, I never knew the element I was going to awake."

"Okay, mf. Let's get to today's lecture," Aria said with a smile for the first time before turning to the students. It made Blaze's face contort.

"Is she doing it on purpose? Does she know the meaning?" Blaze speculated under his breath.

However, Aria never knew the meaning. She found 'mf' extremely short to call.

"Water element conversion is really easy. It's just by controlling the heat content in the water. Addition and removal of heat can cause water to change state," Aria said.

'Latent heat?' Blaze thought.

"For example," Aria suddenly waved her hand and conjured ice instantly.

The speed at which she conjured an ice cube shocked Blaze. Ice Reaper couldn't even do that.

With a wave of her hand, the levitating cube of ice changed into water. Then it started spinning. Before it changed into steam. The steam that was about to disperse abruptly changed into a flat ice plate.

Aria finally waved her hands and the ice vanished.

"Now, everybody stays three meters from each other, and slowly release your element," Aria ordered coldly, reverting to her icy self.

Everybody did the same. A blob of water formed on Blaze's palm.

"The next step involves sensing the heat within your water element through the connection you establish. Once you establish the connection, you can extract the heat, causing the water blob to solidify," Professor Aria explained, guiding the students through the process. "For those with ice elements, you'll need to draw the heat from the surroundings to dissolve your ice. Adding heat to the ice can be more challenging as you are pulling it from the surrounding environment, which may offer some resistance. However, with more experience, you'll find it easier to accomplish."

"To increase the heat content within your conjured element, you simply establish a connection with the heat present in your element," Aria continued, providing further instructions. "Once the connection is established, utilize it to draw heat from the surrounding environment. Remember, the heat in your mana, be it ice or water, is interconnected with the world around you. Everything in nature is interconnected."

As everyone began working on the task, Blaze made his initial attempt and immediately felt a strong connection when he focused on sensing the heat. Without wasting any time, he proceeded to extract it, causing the water to solidify before his eyes. Astonished, he couldn't help but open his mouth wide in disbelief. It had been an incredibly smooth and effortless process that took him a mere fifteen seconds to accomplish. When Blaze glanced around, he realized he had finished second, just behind Aurora. The majority of the other students were still struggling with the task.

"Perhaps it's due to the ancient curse," Aphrodite suddenly speculated, causing Blaze to nod in agreement. He had already come to terms with having an average mana affinity, but the curse seemed to compensate for that deficiency. Blaze had intended to dedicate more time to honing his skills to match the other students, but now he questioned how much of an advantage the curse provided.

"Okay mf, you can go and choose your partner and train to get adept in the conversion," Aria's voice came from the front.

'Jeez! Can she stop calling me that? I've shot myself in the foot,' Blaze thought with frustration.

Lost in thought, Blaze walked towards the training field, his gaze fixed on the ground. Suddenly, a wave of searing heat hit him from the front, while a contrasting blast of cold air came from behind. Reacting instinctively, Blaze jumped to the side without a second thought.

As he regained his footing, Blaze's face contorted in surprise and disbelief. The ground where he had been standing moments ago was frozen solid, with flames blazing upon it. To his left stood Aurora, and to his right was Cherry, both of them displaying their respective elemental prowess in an attempt to destroy him.

"You can't accept payment for training and then refuse to fulfill your end of the deal," Cherry spoke with gritted teeth, her frustration evident.

Aurora's voice cut through the tense atmosphere, devoid of emotion or warmth. "I will expose the mask you wear," she said, her expression aloof and detached.

Blaze's expression twisted with a mixture of confusion and frustration at their accusations. "Refuse to train? Facade? Are you both out of your minds?" he questioned, his voice laced with incredulity.

The synchronized response from Cherry and Aurora sent a chill down Blaze's spine. "You're about to find out," they declared in tandem.

Blaze's eyes widened in astonishment as Aurora closed her eyes, summoning a large orb of water that hovered before her. To his amazement, the watery sphere split into numerous smaller blobs, which began to reshape themselves. Transformed into multiple finger-length icicles, they glistened with an icy chill. Blaze found himself confronted by fifty of these formidable frozen projectiles, resembling a smaller size of the Ice Reapers' icicles, but with more numbers.

Amid this spectacle, Aurora muttered a single word, her hands thrusting forward with determination. "Horizontal rain," she whispered. With astonishing speed, the fifty icicles were launched towards Blaze, hurtling through the air like swift bullets, to mince him.

Not to be outdone, Cherry, sensing the urgency of the situation, swiftly extended her palm toward Blaze, her voice commanding and resolute. "Flamethrower!" she shouted. A massive pillar of intense flames erupted from her outstretched hand, hurtling towards Blaze with a fierce intensity, threatening to engulf him in its scorching heat.

'Madness!' Blaze's inner thoughts spiraled into chaos as he silently screamed in disbelief. He couldn't help but feel a surge of gratitude that he hadn't left the premises. If he had encountered ten Auroras outside, he was certain that he would have met an untimely demise, leaving no trace of his existence. The gravity of the situation began to sink in, filling him with apprehension.