That the Pearl in front of her was a bronze one and not a silver one like Alex's didn't seem to diminish Hyntia's excitement. Her mouth hung open as she looked at her Pearl from every angle she could. If Alex had to guess, she hadn't even seen that both he and Rin had gotten silver ones, too focused on her own Pearl. Her smile grew wide as her frantic observation slowed down.

  When she finally looked at the Pearl resting on Alex's desk, her mouth fell open again. Eyes wide, she stared at the Pearl and then at Alex, a massive grin on her face. She didn't seem disappointed in getting only a bronze Pearl. Quite the opposite, it seemed she was super happy for Alex for getting a silver one. Her eyes full of hope, her gaze flicked to her opposite side to look at the Pearl resting on Ghel's desk.

  His Pearl was another bronze one, and he was not happy. A scowl rested on his face, and his eyes were staring daggers at both Alex and Rin. This would not help with his anger at this academy, and Alex knew that keeping an eye on him would be that much more important now. A loud thud on the ground from Professor Elderwind's cane forced everyone's attention back on him.

  "Yes, yes, by now you have probably seen that some of you have Silver Pearls, while others have only Bronze Pearls. I assure you there is no favoritism at play when it comes to the Pearls in front of you. After all, you chose your desks yourselves," the professor started his lecture again, once more pacing back and forth in front of the classroom as he spoke. "The placement of the Pearls was random. Even I did not know which desk received which Pearl."

  A young boy in the second row raised his hand.

  "Yes, Mister Kilixter," the professor addressed the boy, giving him permission to ask a question.

  "Uhm, why, Professor?" the boy asked, his voice hesitant.

  "Why what, Mister Kilixter? Use full sentences when asking a question."

  "Why did some people get a Silver Pearl while others got a Bronze one? I thought you said earlier that everyone was equal at the academy?"

  "I did say that, Mister Kilixter. And everyone is equal at the academy. But out there," the professor pointed his cane towards a window, "that isn't the case. Once you leave this academy, some of you will gain power they haven't deserved. And some of you will miss out on power you have earned."

  Professor Elderwind placed his cane back on the ground and walked over the Alex's desk. He picked up the Pearl resting on it and held it up for the entire class to see. Alex wasn't sure anymore that he wanted the entire class to know he had gotten a Silver Pearl. He could already feel a few others staring at him in jealous anger, just like Ghel had.

  "These Pearls are temporary. By the start of the second year, all of you will have given these back to the academy, and most will have done so way sooner. That is why we can use them to teach you this lesson," the professor continued his lecture, gently placing the Pearl back down in the metal holder on Alex's desk. "Do not blame those of you who have gotten a Silver Pearl. You have each had a role in getting the Pearl in front of you. Chance placed the Pearls; choice placed you."

  "Lucky," Alex could hear the student behind him mutter.

  Professor Elderwind walked back to his blackboard and turned around in one smooth motion, his robe slightly lifting off the ground as the air produced by the movement billowed under it. "Now then, are there any other questions?"

  Alex looked over to Ghel, who was still staring at him and the Pearl on his desk. Slowly, he raised his hand to ask a question.

  "Yes, Mister Vansteen?"

  "Can we trade Pearls? Say I don't necessarily want a Silver one, could I make someone else happy with one?" Alex asked, hoping to have found a way to connect with Ghel. The young boy clearly wanted a Silver Pearl. And Alex really didn't mind getting a Bronze one. Getting one at all was already exciting enough. He also didn't know if slotting a Silver Pearl would overclock the voice inside his head, and he would rather not risk it.

  "While commendable, it is sadly something I can not allow. If I were to do so, those with leverage on the outside, money, strength, connections, would force those with Silver Pearls into handing them over to them. Defeating the entire purpose of this demonstration."

  It wasn't exactly the answer Alex had hoped for, but even just asking it seemed to have lessened Ghel's anger towards him. The young man was no longer staring at him in anger; now he was just looking longingly at the Silver Pearl.

  "Any other questions?" Professor Elderwind asks, looking over the room. A student on the second row raises their hand. "Yes, Miss Moonstone?"

  "How does the slotting of a Pearl work? Do we just touch them or is there some kind of ritual?" the student pushed her glasses further up her small nose as she asked the question, her green eyes clinical behind the wooden frame of her glasses. The notebook in front of her was already open on a page halfway full of scribbles made during the class. The sight reminded Alex of both Miss Philaxter and Henry during their tests to build up his mana network.

  "That's an excellent question, Miss Moonstone. And it leads us directly to the next part of the class." Professor Elderwind turned back to the blackboard, grabbing a piece of chalk from a nearby holder. He quickly sketches a crude human figure on the blackboard.

  "To answer your question, Miss Moonstone, there is no ritual, and it is just touching the Pearl to get it started. However, slotting is different for every person," he starts again, "but there are some commonalities between every report we have of people describing their experience, including my own. They all describe a surge of either warmth or cold spreading from the Pearl into their body once the Pearl connection has been accepted."

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  That description seemed to have already sparked questions in a few of the students as several hands raised into the air, Hyntia among them. Using his cane to point to his chosen student, he lets Hyntia ask her question.

  "What do you mean when you say the Pearl connection has been accepted?"

  "Another great question from Miss Lilyxter. I'm sure you have noticed I could pick up Mister Vansteen's Pearl for demonstrational purposes without it immediately being slotted into my network. The reason for this is the Pearl connection. Once you touch a Pearl, a mental connection is formed between you and the Pearl. In it, it asks for permission to slot into your network. You can either deny it and handle the Pearl without trouble, or you can accept the connection and begin the slotting procedure."

  That seemed to have answered the question every student had since they all lowered their hands again. The room was now filled with the scribbling of students taking notes. Seeing no other hands raised, Professor Elderwind returned to his lecture.

  "Once the connection is accepted and the wave of warmth or cold has spread through their entire body, the experience starts to differ for every person. What we have learned is that the experience is influenced by the type of person you are. For those among you who are more analytical, like me, perhaps you'll get your choice of power and information in a structured, readable way. Another common experience is for those of you who consider themselves more social beings. They often report being able to speak to the Pearl and learn about its power that way."

  The entire lecture about how different people experience the slotting in a personalized way fascinated Alex. He wondered how the Pearl and the power it would give him would manifest for him. Would his experience be similar to others? Or would his Otherborn physique make it unique? He stared at the Silver Pearl in front of him, the longing to touch it becoming almost unbearable. The scratching of chalk on the blackboard brought him back to the lecture.

  "Once the Pearl has been slotted, it will manifest itself as a reservoir of concentrated mana in your network. Every being born on this world starts with a single empty reservoir that can get filled up by a Pearl. For most that is located here," the professor explained as he made multiple overlapping circles around where the heart would be on his crude drawing of a humanoid figure, "at the heart. We are not quite sure why, but that seems the most common location."

  "How did they figure out where these reservoirs are?" A student on the third row asked after raising his hand and getting permission from Professor Elderwind.

  For the first time since the class had started, Alex had a pretty good idea about the answer to a question. Fillonia had checked his forming mana network using some kind of magic. Whoever did the research on these reservoirs must have used something similar. He was glad when Professor Elderwind said almost exactly what he was thinking.

  "A lot of those that have restorative powers have a power to sense someone's mana network and thus the reservoirs. About a decade ago, some researchers created an artifact that can serve the same basic functionality with the help of a few healers." Professor Elderwind tapped the board twice with his piece of chalk, thinking. A few specks of chalk fluttered to the ground. "The artifact is not perfect. It can't fully replicate what a trained healer can, but it was enough to confirm the researcher's suspicions. Everyone starts with a single empty reservoir. New ones can be created with enough training, but that is a subject for another class."

  "Now," the professor said, turning back around to face his class of students, "before any of you start imagining yourself as an untouchable hero just because you have a shiny little sphere of mana in front of you, let me make one thing clear."

  His cane hit the floor with a loud thud, bringing attention back to those who had wandered off during his lecture on mana networks.

  "Bronze Pearls contain a single manifestation of power. Silver contain two. And Gold contain three. Ruby and Obsidian...," his eyes narrowed as he pondered how to explain those two, "they are different. Anomalies first-years should not concern themselves with yet."

  A few students with Silver Pearls straightened in their chairs at the mention of choice. Alex could see Rin's grin widen. Her sharp teeth reflected the silver light coming from her Pearl.

  "That choice is where the privilege starts. Choice is power. Power is responsibility. And out there," Professor Elderwind once again pointed outside the window using his cane, "responsibility can get people killed if not handled correctly."

  A silence fell over the room as the reality of being an adventurer sunk in for the students. So far, they had all been excited about receiving powers and showing off with them. Now they realized the responsibility that came with them. People expected adventurers to help those in need. If they couldn't perform adequately, there could be deadly consequences.

  "Alright, now that you have had some time to process that, it is time for rule number three of this class. When it comes to the handling of the Pearls in front of you, you will do exactly what I tell you, when I tell you. Understood?" The professor announced, his eyes sweeping over the student body.

  "Understood," a chorus of students followed.

  "Good," Elderwind planted his cane on the ground, leaning on it for support. "The first part of learning to slot a Pearl is to not slot a Pearl. You need to learn how to deny the connection a Pearl offers. If you can't deny it, you are not in control. And if you are not in control, you are a liability."

  Elderwind paused for a moment before continuing. His eyes once again scanned over the student body to make sure everyone was paying attention. Deeming everyone was, he continued.

  "Now that you all understand, you can touch the Pearl in front of you. Remember, once you feel the connection, deny it."

  The words hadn't even left his mouth yet or several students already grasped for the Pearls in front of them, not dissuaded by the responsibility that came with the powers. The students on either side of Alex, Hyntia and Rin, were among them. Alex was more hesitant. He wanted to reach for it. He'd even been yearning for it all class. But now that it was time, he seemed scared. No scared was not the right word; he was nervous.

  Even though he wasn't sure if the Pearl would be enough, or even if just touching it without forming a connection would be, he was nervous about what would happen once it reached one hundred percent. Would it be gone? Or would it be replaced by something new, something worse? His hand trembling, he slowly reached for the Silver Pearl. It felt cold to the touch as his fingers grazed the smooth surface. A blue holographic display appeared in front of his eyes.