(A/N Big thanks to everyone for the Power stones and Golden tickets, they mean a lot. As usual, please don't hesitate to comment or drop a review. ENJOY)

Power stones people, Gimme it.

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"Lastly," she added with a small smile, "I do not tolerate laziness. Nor excuses. Nor half-effort. But I do tolerate mistakes—provided you learn from them."

Her eyes landed briefly on Orion.

He met her gaze.

She smiled faintly.

"Now then," she said, lifting her cane and tapping the floor once more, "let's begin with the basics."

And class officially started.

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Lady Ophelia let the silence settle for a moment after her last sentence, giving the class time to prepare themselves. Then she lifted her cane and tapped it gently against the floor.

"Before anything else," she began, "you must understand one truth: mana is not a river inside you. It is not something that simply flows without direction. It is a living force—responsive, reactive, and deeply influenced by your intent."

She adjusted her glasses again, her expression sharpening just slightly.

"So let us start with the most basic foundation: awareness. Before you can control mana, you must know where it is."

She tapped her chest lightly.

"Every one of you has a Nexus. Some call it a nucleus, some a center, some simply 'the heart of mana.' Its name doesn't matter. What matters is that it exists, and yours has been active since you were five. Your first task is to locate it—not physically, but mentally."

She raised her hand and made a simple circular gesture.

"For some of you, this will take only a moment. For others, several minutes. There is no shame in either. The goal right now is awareness, not mastery."

She leaned back slightly, posture relaxed.

"Close your eyes."

One by one, students complied. A soft hush settled across the room.

Orion closed his eyes as well, letting darkness fill his vision. He could feel the faint hum of mana within him—he always could—but he followed her instructions anyway. No shortcuts.

"Your Nexus," Lady Ophelia continued in a calm voice, "feels like weight. Not physical weight, but presence. A density deeper than muscle or bone. Some feel it as warmth, others as a pulse, some as a quiet pressure."

Her voice remained even, as if guiding them through something as simple as breathing.

"If you cannot feel it yet, do not force it. Forcing leads to turbulence. Instead, simply listen."

Several seconds passed.

One student exhaled sharply in understanding.

Another shifted slightly—perhaps finding it, perhaps losing it.

Orion located his almost instantly. It sat in the center of his solar plexus, dense and quietly rotating. His Nexus had always been… different. Heavy, but smooth. A vacuum rather than a flame. A pull rather than a push.

"Once you have located it," Lady Ophelia said, "observe it. Do not interfere. Do not try to move it. Just feel."

Silence deepened.

After nearly a minute, she said softly, "Good. Open your eyes."

They obeyed.

When Orion opened his, he found Ophelia watching them with a small smile.

"Awareness is the first step. The easiest step, in truth. But it is also the one skipped most often. And skipped foundations lead to fractured techniques."

She shifted forward slightly.

"Now we move to the first controlled action: coaxing."

A faint curiosity rippled through the class.

"Coaxing," she explained, "is the act of gently guiding mana outward from the core. Not pushing. Not forcing. Simply encouraging movement."

She lifted her free hand, palm open.

"Imagine brushing dust off a surface. You do not slam your hand down. You do not grab the dust. You move past it, lightly, and it follows."

She made a soft sweeping motion.

"That is coaxing."

She glanced briefly toward the CD students.

"Some of you have been pushing your mana out aggressively since childhood. Your instincts were built for combat. This class will require you to break that habit."

Then she looked toward the SD students.

"And some of you have never really applied much effort to move your mana out. You will need to build the habit."

She set her cane against the chair and raised both hands very slowly.

"Now. Sit upright. Relax your shoulders. Place a portion of your focus on your core."

They obeyed, adjusting their positions.

"Begin coaxing."

The class fell silent again.

Mana stirred.

The results varied.

A faint vibration filled the room—several students were pushing instead of coaxing, their mana responding with resistance.

They were used to forcing and although that worked, there was always resistance.

Lady Ophelia raised a hand.

"Stop."

Everyone halted.

Her smile did not fade, but her tone sharpened lightly.

"Most of you just tried to command your mana. That is not coaxing. Mana is not a weapon yet. It is a companion. If you bark orders at a companion, it follows reluctantly. If you guide gently, it follows naturally."

She tapped her cane again.

"Let us try something simpler. Instead of moving your mana outward, try to move it slightly. Barely. Just a shift in pressure."

Her brows softened kindly.

"You are not lifting a boulder. You are turning your head."

The room quieted, and they tried again.

This time, the movement was subtler—more controlled. A slow, barely perceptible shift inside each student.

Orion suppressed his instincts and coaxed his, differently from his usual method—quietly, without force, letting it respond like a natural current.

Lady Ophelia nodded.

"Better. Much better."

She paced slowly—cane tapping lightly.

"What we just did is the cornerstone of all future techniques. Externalizing mana, shaping it into forms, constructing magical frameworks—none of that is possible without precise internal guidance."

She stopped near the front row.

"Now, we proceed to the second foundation: stabilization."

She turned and gestured lightly.

"Your mana, even when coaxed properly, is never perfectly still. It has rhythm—like breath or heartbeat. Stabilization is the act of quieting that rhythm."

She lifted her hand again.

"This is important for two reasons. First: unstable mana wastes energy. Second: unstable mana interferes with analysis."

Her eyes flicked toward one of the SD students in the front.

"Those of you studying magical signatures and structural readings will quickly realize how impossible it is to examine a foreign source of mana if your own is shaking violently."

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