Professor Burbank observed everybody's reaction. A small percentage of students remained relatively calm, while the rest looked confused. Professor Burbank wasn't surprised by this outcome. Only a small percentage of the students have graduated from college and had to write a dissertation. Most of the others have never heard the term in the first place. Magic talent does not discriminate based on a person's wealth or education; it's either inherited or randomly selected.
"Over the course of this semester, I will teach you much about magic, and for this paper, I want answers to a simple question: what is magic to you?" Professor Burbank uttered. "I want a minimum of 30-50 pages, and it must be handed in three days before our last class. I cannot tell how much point this final paper is worth, but understand this: it's enough to instantly put anyone in the first place, no matter how low they rank throughout the year."
Zane frowned. One of the things he hated was when one assignment was enough to determine an entire course. He has seen his fair share of professors abusing such power during his time in school. Unfortunately, his preferences are irrelevant in this scenario, so no matter what, he must write the best paper possible and secure first place.
Professor Burbank once again emailed everybody: "This is the format and rubric for the paper. I've also added two papers that I considered elite grade for you to observe and learn from."
Zane checked his email, briefly read the rubric, then opened the magic web link to the two papers to read the first paragraph of the thesis. The result was intriguing. One person saw magic as music, while the other saw it more as architecture. He wanted to read more, but the professor's voice drew him away from the holographic screen.
"I know many of you don't even know what a dissertation paper is," Professor Burbank stated. "Don't worry. On our class website, I will upload a lengthy video teaching you the ins and outs. You can also visit the Virtual Learning Lab for hands-on learning."
Is it unfair for these students who have never written a dissertation paper, or even an essay more than five pages long? Yes. But life is inherently unfair. The tower has done its best to accommodate them, especially since many were illiterate. So, the rest was up to them. As long as they are willing to put in the extra effort, their future will be bright.
Magic is an extraordinary path deeply linked to knowledge and study. While some mages can choose the Path of the Battle Mage, which focuses entirely on the battle or killing aspects, they still cannot escape studying. And without enough knowledge, no mage can survive the process of becoming a Grand Mage.
"Are there any questions?" Looking around, Professor Burbank waited for a few seconds without seeing any hands raised. "Good. If you do think of a question, email me during office hours. Now, let's begin the first lesson."
Walking to the central board, Professor Burbank pointed before saying: " Earth, Water, Wind, Fire, Lightning, Light, Darkness, Life, Death/Necromancy, Arcane, Mind/Soul, Space, Time, Summoning, Divination, and Transmutation/Alchemy — these are the 16 officially recognized magic fields."
Professor Burbank turned to look at the crowd. "However, I don't want you to think that these fields are absolute or that magic is so easily categorized. In fact, many mages don't even recognize some of these fields as independent.
"For example, many believe divination is another form of Time Magic; summoning is just a combination of Mind, Space, and Life Magic. Some extremists even believed that Life, Death, Light, and Dark magic are one and the same."
Professor Burbank stopped for a few seconds to allow them to digest his words.
"Moreover, those are the only magic that exists. There are unique magics, such as Dream or Painting Magic, and even in those official fields, there are subcategories. For example, a subcategory of water magic is Ice Magic. I'm not even touching on shamanism, which is a form of magic heavily influenced by a civilization's culture."
Zane listened attentively while taking notes. On top of that, his phone was recording every word the professor said; he did not want to miss a single thing. Zane then suddenly raised his hand:
"Yes, Mr. Skylar."
As soon as the professor uttered these words, Zane felt a chill run down his spine. His perception suddenly activated, and he sensed countless eyes on him. After more than two weeks, he thought he had gained absolute control over his extraordinary perception, but it appeared things were not so simple. These mages' gaze seemed even more intense. Zane took a deep breath to calm down before finally asking his question:
"Do shamans also classify their magic into fields?"
"No," Professor Burbank shook his head. "Shamanism is the first form of magic that our human ancestors learned or created. At its inception, it was raw, primitive, and steeped in tradition. The concepts of the different fields and classification of magic did not happen until after the very first [Mages] appeared.
"Although Shamanism later was forced to learn from [Mages] to prevent their decline, they still preserve many of their tradition, including not dividing magic into this rigid and structured system such as the 16 fields."
"Who exactly created the [Mage] system?" Zane asked.
"We will cover the history of magic during this class, so your question will be answered," Professor Burbank responded, and Zane nodded. Although he had plenty of questions, he knew it would be unwise to stop the class momentum by hijacking the conversation.
"Does anyone else have a question on what I said? No, ten, let me introduce you to all 16 fields in detail. Let's start with the 5 elemental fields," Professor Burbank announced before walking to the central board and beginning to write with a chalk.
"Elemental magic is the most common form of magic. Throughout the Astral Cosmos, as long as a dimension has mana, there is a 90-95% chance of some form of elemental magic existing. Because of their widespread use, they are the most developed field with the most spells, resources, and knowledge.
"Let's start with the element of fire. There is nothing much to say: fire magic allows the user to control flame and heat, from small fireballs to creating a sun, everything is included. However, fire magic is not just about creating larger fireballs. Elemental Transformation Runes allow a caster to mold the flame into shapes such as walls, arrows, phoenixes, and dragons, improving the variety and complexity of this field.
"Subcategories of Flame Magic included control of smoke, ash, soot, and smog. However, smog is often debated as more of a Transmutation Spell, but we will not get into that today.
"Water Magic allows the control and transformation of water and its three states: gas, liquid, and solid. However, talented Water Mages can also heal, since water contains the power to nourish the life force. However, Water Healing is a technique usually mastered by shamans.
"Subcategories are Ice and Fog.
"Earth is the element of stability, which makes it the best element for defense against physical attacks. Subcategories are varied: metal control, sand, mud, and various earth-related environments. Interestingly enough, Earth Magic also involved the control of mass and Gravity Magic."
Professor Burbank suddenly paused. "The Field of Arcane magic involved the control and utilization of pure mana, along with the usage of Forces, meaning that Gravity Magic should belong to it. However, Earth Mages refused to relinquish control. Of course, two other fields have also claimed dominion over gravity. Can anyone guess which one?"
Professor Burbank calmly waited as three students raised their hands: Zane, Tom Nguyen, and a white woman with dark hair and brown eyes. He immediately recognized her as one of the A-Class talents.
"Mrs. Johnson."
"Space," Daisy Johnson calmly responded.
"That's right. Gravity is the curvature of space-time, so the Space Department has taken claim of it. 2 points for you." Daisy Johnson's name suddenly appeared in the 18th spot of the list with the number 2 next to it.
"What's the other one?" Professor Burbank asked, but no one had an answer.
"The answer is Darkness."
"What does darkness have to do with gravity?" someone suddenly asked.
Professor Burbank calmly replied: "Darkness magic is complicated. You'll understand once we get to it. Before that, let's continue.
"Wind Magic is not just the manipulation of air, but also the power to mold it into physical and tangible form, such as the wind blade. Subcategories include Kinetic Manipulation and Vibration Manipulation. However, as I told you, Kinetic Force is also under the Arcane Field, and Earth Mages have also claimed Vibration Manipulation because of Earthquakes."
Zane listened attentively, wondering why these mages care so much about which subcategories belong to which. Is it just out of pride and ego, or are there any benefits to doing so? He leaned more on the former.
"Finally, there is the best and coolest element: lightning. Just like fire, lightning magic is not about shooting lightning bolts, but about wielding and molding lightning into your will. And since thunder always comes with lightning, Lightning Mages have also claimed Sonic or Vibration Magic."
"This professor is definitely a lightning mage," Zane thought, feeling the bias oozing from the man.
"Subcategories include Electromagnetism. I can talk all day about the wonders of electromagnetism. However, I feel like you Earthlings know even better than I do."
Zane and the other students looked at him, their puzzlement evident.
"Professor, what do you mean by that?"