Xavier did not even struggle, and flames immediately lit up on his palms. The crackling of the fire caught everyone's attention, and they were distracted by it.
"Concentrate!" Professor Woods exclaimed, causing most to jump in surprise. "If you were distracted, close your eyes and lower the volume of the distraction. Listen only to your breathing."
Obeying his instructions, some of his pupils managed to stir something up from the ground and on their hands. Others still had no reactions, and they frowned while yelling their frustrations out in their minds.
"Some of you are angry at yourselves right now because you can't feel anything." Professor Woods looked at the students with frowns on their faces. "Don't take your attention away from good thoughts."
"Only focus on positive feelings. You may even refer to your past, happy memories." Professor Woods' face softened when he saw some of them smiling by themselves. Those who did as the professor asked succeeded in their attempt of channelling their magic.
From the fire group, there was a boy who made lava shoot out of his hands. Then, there was another. A girl ignited her whole body in flames, and Xavier quickly aided her when she could only see red. He experienced the same thing when he did not have complete control, so he helped her calm down and reduced it slowly until only her palm was on fire.
There were students gathered under 'earth' who managed to bring life to flowers and plants. Some made small rocks from the ground to hover above their hands, and others made small bumps on the soil.
Under 'air,' a student with the lightning element brought electricity to her fingers. The air molecules that pass by each other caused friction, and that was how she could conjure her magic onto her hands. Sergio, on the other hand, managed to form tiny hurricanes on his palms.
Then, there were those possessing the water element. Victor kept his eyes open and managed to control his face to avoid others noticing his expression change. Still, Elaine saw that his eyes held affection as he channelled his magic.
While some succeeded and others are still attempting to do what the professor taught, Elaine was the only one watching the joy and struggles of the other students trying in the class. She thought that what the professor spoke of was inapplicable to her.
Victor let his arms fall to his sides and watched as Elaine stared at the students with eyes filled with satisfaction. She felt happy with them when someone reached their goals and felt the same helplessness when another couldn't do the same.
Professor Woods stared at Elaine as well and noticed the same things Victor did. They both thought that it was a beautiful sight as she outwardly yet unconsciously showed how selfless a human could be. They were still far from being what Lady Elaine is.
Professor Woods slowly approached Elaine as he knew of her condition. "Are you having difficulties, Elaine?"
Elaine turned around to face the professor, but she did not respond to him.
"Professor Woods knows," Victor whispered as silently as he could to her ear, which made her eyes widen a little. The teacher chuckled at Elaine's delightful reaction when she nodded embarrassingly at his question.
"You may think that you have no happy memories to remember or positive emotions because you are just an empty shell right now." The professor said to Elaine personally and brought her arms up in front of her. He held his student's hand to encourage her. "But, you felt joy just from seeing others succeed with a smile. It could be as simple as that."
"Close your eyes." Professor Woods told Elaine softly, and she did.
"Imagine seeing the smiles of your classmates succeeding." Professor Woods' gentle voice echoed in her ears. She smiled slightly at the short memory implanted in her mind. "Now, let the mana flow freely around you and inside of you. Open your heart to their magic and trust that you can use them."
Elaine relaxed the tense muscles in her body and breathed slowly for a few minutes. Out of nowhere, there was a massive pool of water spreading beyond the horizon in front of her, and she felt peaceful watching its calm waves. She envisioned herself lifting her arms as she was doing so in reality.
'Call God's name, and ask for His strength.' Tiara suddenly appeared beside her with a calm smile. Then, she held Elaine's shaking and cold hands.
Elaine imagined what she was about to do. However, the burden of doing it was too heavy for her body to handle. It felt like Elaine was about to collapse until Tiara helped her.
"Tiara?" Elaine questioned in her mind. "Am I in my subconscious again?"
'No time to explain.' Tiara said. 'Just focus on your class and do as I say.'
Trusting in Tiara's words and having faith in God, Elaine called upon the Father's name. "Father God in Heaven, I pray that you will give me strength." Her words were almost inaudible, but Professor Woods heard it like a mumble.
His eyes widened immediately, and his heart rate sped up. He was confused why the child was praying. "Elaine?"
Elaine could not hear his voice at all, completely absorbed.
'Pray that He would give you strength and ask Him to help you bear the burden of performing this magic.' Tiara told her. 'He is with you. His Spirit is with you.'
"Father God, give me strength and help me bear the burden of this magic." Elaine continued in inaudible whispers. "I pray that Your Spirit will be with me."
The ground began to tremble. The students shouted in confusion, then feared that the building would collapse because of an out-of-control student.
"Calm down!" Professor Woods shouted at the top of his lungs while glancing warily at Elaine. "Shh."The whole class turned silent, but they screamed internally with their eyes shaking.
Prince Lucas was confused by what was happening and searched for Professor Woods for an explanation. However, the professor's focus was solely on Lady Elaine.
Lady Elaine lifted her eyelids, but her iris were glimmering in pure gold. Professor Woods was the only one facing Elaine, and he was also the only one who witnessed the sudden eye colour change.
Elaine's arms were facing down when the professor held her hands. However, as the Spirit of God directed, she rotated her arms upwards, letting her palms face the sky, and obeyed His instructions.
She did the same thing in her vision, and the whole body of water before her began to float above the ground.
Water absorbed by the soil, drops of water sliding down leaves of plants in the Fort, even the artificial waterfall at the other end of the building—Elaine ordered individual liquid molecules to be raised above. Then, she clapped once. Immediately, at an alarming speed, every single water molecule joined and connected. In close to a second, a vast body of water was hovering calmly over everybody's heads.
The students were gaping at the magic. Professor Woods was also in the same state as his students, blinking at Elaine in bewilderment. No one in the history of Athelis had ever done what Elaine did in a beginner's class.
In her vision, Elaine could not believe her eyes and laughed in unbelief. At the same time, Tiara smiled at the clear sky, giving thanks.
'Now, carefully set the water down without a single splash.' Tiara told Elaine, and she nodded.
In her reality, Elaine's touching palms moved swiftly, now with the back of her hands facing each other. Her eyes were still glinting gold when she parted her hands slowly away from each other. This action separated the individual elements that combined the whole body of water. It was like rain droplets froze still in the air.
The whole time, Elaine was silent, and her golden eyes stared at the miracle she performed. Finally, she looked straight at Professor Woods, and her eye colour reverted back to its ocean blue shade.
Immediately, a light rain sprinkled over the entire class.
Elaine smiled upwards in appreciation as she felt the drops of water showering her body, and a rainbow formed not long after. The whole class cheered at the rare scene they've witnessed.
"Elaine," Professor Woods called. "What was that--"
Elaine collapsed after her act, and an unexpected man revealed himself out of thin air and caught her in his arms.
Professor Woods' eyes widened in fear when he saw the man. He was not afraid of him but of another's fury.
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