The laughter lingered throughout the classroom for several awkward seconds before gradually dying down.
Meanwhile, Catherine Vale simply stared at me.
Honestly, that reaction felt worse somehow.
An [S-Rank] Awakener silently analyzing you was not an experience I recommended to anyone.
Especially not someone like Catherine whose entire specialty revolved around reading people and manipulating perception.
For one horrifying moment, I genuinely wondered if she really thinking about killing me after hearing the bets.
Thankfully—
She eventually looked away.
Crisis avoided.
Probably.
"For someone who spent nearly three months under disciplinary punishment," Catherine said evenly, "your attitude remains surprisingly relaxed."
I shrugged lightly.
"Panic seemed unhealthy."
"That depends entirely on the situation."
"Fair point."
A few students snorted quietly again.
Honestly, the classroom atmosphere had become bizarre.
People clearly still hated Damian.
That part hadn't changed.
But now they also didn't know how to react to me anymore.
Which was honestly preferable to open hostility.
Catherine finally turned toward the board behind her.
With a simple motion of her fingers—
Mana rippled softly through the air.
Then glowing letters began forming across the blackboard by themselves in shimmering blue light.
[FUNDAMENTALS OF MANA CONTROL]
The classroom immediately quieted properly this time.
Catherine clasped her hands behind her back calmly.
"I know that I already thought you this lesson," she said, "but we are learning again becouse that way Mr. Valtor won't be feeling left out and you will be able review the foundation of all awakened abilities again."
Wow, looked at her even if she hates evil...she still performing her role as professor Good enough.
Without giving any chance to rebuked her decision she began.
Her sharp gaze swept across the room.
"Mana."
The glowing word on the board pulsed faintly.
"Every awakened individual possesses a Mana Core. You all know this already."
Several students nodded instinctively.
"But knowledge and understanding are not the same thing."
Her fingers tapped lightly against the desk.
"Most first-year students treat mana as merely fuel for abilities."
She paused.
"That mindset is precisely why most of you will never surpass mediocrity."
Catherine continued calmly.
"Mana is not energy alone."
The glowing letters shifted.
A rough diagram of the human body appeared beside the word.
"It is an extension of the soul."
My eyes narrowed slightly.
Ah.
This part.
The deeper theory behind mana wasn't revealed properly until later volumes.
Most ordinary people believed Mana Cores were simply biological mutations awakened through talent.
That explanation wasn't entirely wrong.
But it also wasn't the complete truth.
Mana responded directly to emotion, instinct, perception, and mental state.
Which was exactly why strong awakeners often possessed terrifying levels of willpower.
A weak mind created unstable mana.
Meanwhile—
A powerful mind could bend reality itself through mana eventually.
Catherine pointed toward the diagram.
"When a child awakens between the ages of eleven and fifteen, the Mana Core begins reshaping the body gradually."
"Stronger muscles."
"Sharper senses."
"Greater lifespan."
"Faster reflexes."
"Natural resistance against disease."
She glanced around the classroom.
"That alone already separates awakened individuals from ordinary humans permanently."
Several students straightened proudly.
Typical noble reactions.
Meanwhile, Catherine's expression remained cold.
"Unfortunately," she continued, "most of you are wasting your potential already."
Direct hit.
Again.
"Mana refinement is not merely increasing quantity."
The diagram shifted once more.
Now the glowing image displayed streams of mana flowing throughout the human body.
"Control matters more."
"Efficiency matters more."
"Understanding matters more."
Her purple eyes sharpened slightly.
"A poorly controlled [B-Rank] awakener can lose to a properly trained [D-Rank] opponent."
That immediately caught everyone's attention.
Even I focused properly now.
Because unlike flashy combat classes—
This information genuinely mattered.
Catherine raised one hand slowly.
A small flame appeared above her palm.
Simple.
Tiny.
Barely larger than a candle flame.
Then—
The classroom lights flickered violently.
Pressure filled the room instantly.
The tiny flame distorted.
Compressed.
The air around it warped unnaturally.
Several students visibly paled.
Just main cherecterd were doing slightly better then others.
"This," Catherine said calmly, "contains enough compressed mana to erase half this classroom."
Silence.
Absolute silence.
The tiny flame vanished instantly afterward.
Pressure disappeared together with it.
Several students exhaled shakily.
Meanwhile, Catherine remained perfectly composed.
"Quantity alone means nothing."
Ah.
There it was.
The lesson every powerful character eventually learned.
Mana wasn't about having more.
It was about using it better.
Which honestly explained why Damian's build was so tragic.
He possessed enormous potential.
Yet absolutely horrific efficiency.
Catherine suddenly looked directly toward one male student near the front row.
"You."
The poor guy stiffened instantly.
"Y-Yes, Professor?"
"What Rank is your Mana Core?"
"[F+]Rank!"
"Demonstrate basic reinforcement."
The student immediately stood.
Mana gathered awkwardly around his arm.
A faint blue glow spread unevenly across his skin.
It was mess.
Honestly painful to watch even for me.
Catherine observed silently for three seconds.
Then—
"Terrible."
The student looked spiritually destroyed.
"You are leaking nearly forty percent of your mana output unnecessarily."
Oof.
"Your circulation is unstable."
"Your breathing pattern is inefficient."
"And your emotional focus is inconsistent."
She tilted her head slightly.
"At your current level, a prolonged fight would exhaust you within minutes."
The student sat back down looking like his ancestors personally got insulted.
Meanwhile, the entire classroom suddenly looked much more nervous then before.
I also increased my focused more then before.
My mana control is also mess, I needed to improve it very quickly and best way to do to is watching her explaining things about fundamental that i don't even bother to know it.
How foolish I was .
After all fundamental matters.
The lecture continue for next hour and after it was another lecture by an old professor.