It was Alexios who stepped in first, bravely facing the flying insect head-on. He went in front of the wasp's flight path, ready to introduce his golden-plated knuckles to the pest.
"He's going to kill it!" a student underneath a desk saw and pointed at Alexios.
It was unstoppable. It was ready to deliver its sting to Alexios' face, and he was set to execute it there, end its life for everyone to see. But he was pushed aside, and he stumbled on the floor. In his place is Bella, the young Mage with a yarn affinity.
"What are you doing!?" Alexios cried in pain.
Bella readied herself, prepared to cast her spell on the insect. Her stance was pathetic. Her legs shook. Nonetheless, she was going to end the wasp. Sort of. Until she decided not to, she jumped where she pushed Alexios off, landing on top of the Komnenos kid.
Jonas had climbed a table and jumped from one table to another. He reached Bella and Alexios as fast as he could to save them. He could see the wasp coming at him. Its stinger pre-spurted some of its goo.
But Jonas squealed. He immediately changed his mind and grabbed Bella and Alexios by the arm, pulling them both down under a table, hiding in cowardice.
"You idiot, you could've killed it!" Alexios said.
The insect buzzed by and left a trail of sizzled goo behind. It flew somewhere in the room, tormented other young Mages. Jonas could still hear the hurried footsteps, flipped tables, and panicked screams.
"Are you hurt?" Jonas asked Stella.
Bella hugged Jonas. "Thank you so much!" she cried, snot ran down her face. It smeared on Jonas' shirt.
Alexios pushed Bella off him to the side. "You idiot! I could've had it!" he said, sat up, and caressed his head.
Bella fell with a thud. "I'm sorry," her mouth was pressed against the floor, her voice was muffled.
"Don't be so hard on her!" Jonas told Alexios off, "You don't have to push a girl!"
Bella could only groan in response. But Alexios glared at Jonas, "You hesitated, too!"
Jonas winced. He was taken aback, and he didn't know what to say.
But Bella quickly glanced at Alexios, "Shut up! He saved my life!" she barked.
Alexios flinched, intimidated by Bella's energy. He clicked his tongue, "Whatever,"
Jonas jerked his head out to see where the wasp was.
There, he saw the insect fly rapidly towards Master Lucy. She stood beside the podium, where the box was, with her arms crossed in a relaxed posture.
"Look out!" Jonas shouted.
Master Lucy smirked and stretched her arm out, and reached for the wasp.
"Domesticate." Master Lucy calmly said.
Then the insect slowed down until it hovered just a few inches from her palms. The flying monstrosity morphed into a sword and drifted horizontally across the master's hand.
It was her spell. The wasp became a weapon. Its shaft was metallic, engraved in silver, and it had an enlarged, textured grip. The steel head has a sharp golden tip. It glowed a faint red, pulsing like a heartbeat.
"What happened to the wasp?" Alexios stood up.
"Did I surprise you? It's the power of my affinity, Bestial Weaponry! I can turn any monster from the Holy Land into a weapon! What I demonstrated to you is a spell of mine, pretty wicked, am I right?"
Master Lucy's personality completely changed as she explained her powers to the apprentice. The class watched her wipe drool from the side of her mouth.
This woman's crazy! Every instructor in this school must be nuts! Jonas thought to himself.
The class slowly and carefully gathered. They help each other from the wreckage that they caused. Bella and Alexios were cautious as they joined the crowd.
"So, did you kill it?" Alexios begrudgingly said, his face frowned, and his teeth gritted.
Master Lucy chuckled, "I did! I gained one soul from the kill!"
"What's the point of the souls anyway?" Alexios tightened his fist.
"Souls are used to level up and gain attribute points, silly! You use those attribute points to upgrade your, well, attributes! Every time you gain enough souls, you level up, and you gain one attribute point, and the soul counter sets a new threshold!" Master Lucy smirked, "And you gain souls by killing anything. Not just monsters. Pressumably."
The class stood in silence. They looked at each other. They understood that the master implied they could kill the heretics who currently occupy the Holy Land.
"What? You thought being a Mage was fun? Being one is a duty, one that you should render for the Emperor!" Master Lucy continued, "Whether you like it or not, you will need to get stronger, and you do that by killing your enemy!"
The mood shifted. It died with the sullen realization that they were not just students; they were soldiers. Recruited for the sole purpose of serving the Empire.
All the while, Jonas was drenched with sweat. He remembered the souls he harvested from Vechta. The ones he killed. All this time, he thought he had just awakened into level 4. He had completely forgotten that what awakened him was the sound of his powers levelling up.
"So we can just grow stronger by killing?" Bella said. She sounded defeated.
Master Lucy took her time, slowly changing her personality entirely again. She felt the young Mage's sadness.
But not all students turned grim. Some were indifferent, but completely understood what they signed up for. Some pondered their role. Some have reservations. But in the end, they need to fulfill their roles in order to maintain their status in the hierarchy. The whole class was split between the responsibility of being tools of war.
Master Lucy sighed, "You can upgrade any of your attributes by simply focusing on improving them without the use of souls. There are those who spend years training, and they are called Cultivators. The practice relies solely on training to get stronger and basically go toe-to-toe with Mages. Fortunately, we don't harbor Cultivators in the Empire."
Jonas and his ears perked up. "So how can they use their spells?"
"Most don't." Master Lucy answered, "They rely on their martial skills."
"Where can I find these Cultivators, Master Lucy?" Jonas was unsure whether to ask further, and the class turned to Jonas.
Suspicious, Master Lucy raised a brow, "You can find them all in the Holy Land."