"Before I start with our first subject, I want you all to promise me something. Please try and keep an open mind," Zeke said. "What I'm about to say next will probably sound disappointing at first. But if you give it a chance, I am sure you'll see eye to eye with me soon."
One after the other, his students nodded.
"The secret to stealth casting is… passive spells."
As expected, the expression on his student's faces fell. To Zeke's utter frustration, passive spells were heavily frowned upon in the empire. So much so, that he had only come across a single instance of it in his entire time at the Elementium.
"Don't make those faces, please. You promised," Zeke rebuked jokingly. Despite his words, he had known this would be their reaction. Years of indoctrination were not so easily overcome. Fortunately, he had a plan on how to break their rigid mindset.
"If I claimed that you have all been lied to about the benefits of passive spells, would you believe me?" Nobody outright said so, but Zeke could read it from their faces. "You wouldn't, right? Makes sense. But what if I told you that I had indisputable proof?"
"Then I would ask for you to show it," Linus said.
Zeke took out something from the inner pocket of his robes. "Here it is."
All eyes focused on the object in his hands. It was a book. The cover was in pristine condition, and the bold, golden letters on it proudly proclaimed its name:
'Basics of Telekinesis in the Geistreich style'
"This book," Zeke began slowly, "was given to me as a present by Sophia Geistreich. It is, as the name proclaims, the imperial family's approach to [Telekinesis]. Owning this might be enough to get someone killed in the empire."
A series of gasps could be heard.
"And guess what?" Zeke asked. "It's about using passive spells." With those words, he let his arm drop to his side. The book, however, stayed suspended in midair. He had used the very method described in the book to make this happen.
"Now, what does this tell us?" Zeke asked. "It tells us that the emperor himself sees the value in passive spells. What's more, he teaches his descendants to harness that power. Don't you think there might be something to it? Something that… might have been kept from you?"
Zeke could feel the change in the room. The dismissive attitude of his students shifted to one of mild interest. This had to be good enough for now.
"Now, let's talk about the pros and cons of passive spellcasting. Who can tell me about the negatives?"
"Passive spells can only use a fraction of the mana," David said.
"True. What else?"
There was silence. People were looking around, but even after a long moment, nobody spoke up.
Zeke smirked. "Nobody? Anything?"
"Isn't that bad enough?" Kerim interjected. "The limitation on mana use is so severe that you can barely do anything with them… I bet you can't lift much more than a book with your telekinesis either."
"That is true," Zeke freely admitted. "I can't lift much while casting the spell passively. Maybe a thick tome, but that's about it. However!" he continued before anybody could interrupt him. "We haven't even begun to talk about the benefits yet. Of which, let me assure you, there are many."
Zeke stepped closer to the class, the book now circling his head like a pesky fly. "First and foremost, can any of you even feel me casting a spell?"
The silence was his only answer as the Grand Mages focused on their ability to sense mana. "Don't strain yourselves too much," Zeke teased. "You won't be able to feel this no matter how hard you focus. And the reason for that is simple. Passive spells only feed off the mana our cores generate automatically.
"As you all know, our senses are trained to ignore that. Otherwise, it would feel like all mages were constantly casting something. It's virtually impossible to feel a passive spell being cast, as there is no fluctuation in the core. This is what I call stealth casting."
Zeke saw some faces change but didn't give them a chance to talk yet. He had more to say. "Secondly, passive spells are easier to control. When casting a regular spell, your attention will always be split between providing the mana and directing the spell. For passive spells, you use the mana that your core generates automatically. This means your control over the spell will be much better. I dare say that it will become almost effortless, with a bit of training."
While Zeke had been talking, the book had landed on his desk. In its place, a sheet of paper and a pen were now following him around. To the utter astonishment of the Mages present, the pen was writing down what Zeke was saying. He didn't even seem to be focusing at all. It was as if the pen had a mind of its own.
The class watched the scene in stunned silence, until eventually, one of the administrators slowly raised his hand.
"What is it, Lena?"
Hesitantly, the man began to speak. "This is a rather impressive display, young lord. But isn't it also true, that passive spells only work this well for you because of your affinities? Most of us here neither have a perfect nor even a high affinity…."
"You bring up a good point," Zeke said with a nod. "And you are absolutely right, I wouldn't be able to do this if my affinities were not as high as they are. However, that is not true for everyone. Don't forget, a core's capability grows with each stage; this also affects your mana generation."
Zeke let his words sink in for a moment before elaborating further. "Your passive generation is about 1% of your maximum output. That's not a lot… at least, not for a True Mage. But let's do the math, shall we? If I can only lift a book as a True Mage, how much would I be able to lift as a Grand Mage? About 10 times more? What would that be? A spear? A sword? Don't forget, others won't be able to notice you casting that spell! I'm sure anybody here could think of a use for that…"
"A well-placed knife might win you a fight if the opponent doesn't expect it," Kerim thought out loud.
Zeke clapped his hands. "That's it. And now think further. An Arch Mage would have around 100 times my power. With that amount of force, you could easily throw a person across the room. All of this would happen before they would even know a spell was being cast. Alternatively, they could just snap your neck…"
He let that image sink in, before continuing. "Now, this is only a single spell. And there are many more applications we haven't even talked about. For example, what I am doing right now," Zeke said while pointing at the pen that was still taking notes. "You don't have to use passive spells only for combat, either. The reduction of available Mana doesn't matter nearly as much for utility spells."
"I am sure, that you, as a shadow Mage, have quite a few ideas about using your Magic more stealthily, David.
"Margret and Kerim, how about you Wind Mages? I know you have levitation engraved, Margret. Ever tried to fly while using the spell passively?
"Lena and Marissa, you will find that a book on [Telekinesis] has been added to the spell repository. I'm sure you will be able to find uses enough for that in your day-to-day lives.
"Linus, ever thought about using your [Earth sense] ability passively? How far could you detect vibrations while casting it like that?
"What about you two, Rauul and Dimitry? As Water Mages, there are so many things that you could do. [Detect Water] will help you sense almost any lifeform nearby. The same goes for you, Ramiro. [Detect Heat] could fill the same role for you.
"And Leo… this might be a difficult task, but I want you to try and use your manipulation spells passively. Both [Earth Manipulation] and [Fire Manipulation] have the potential to be incredibly useful to you. You would be able to change the shape of your obsidian weapons passively, for example."
Zeke watched with utter satisfaction as one after the other, the expressions on the faces of his students changed — from doubt, to contemplation, to excitement.
"This brings me to the last portion of today's class," Zeke said. "Homework!"
Zeke couldn't help but smirk after seeing the looks on everybody's faces. It was clear that none of them had received homework for a long time. By their reaction, it was easy to figure out what kind of students they had been during their time.
David's face had remained stoic. He was diligently waiting for his instructions. Margret seemed tense but ready. Kerim, on the other hand, was scowling deeply. Lena and Marissa, the two Mind Mages, were eagerly waiting. The four guard captains all had sour expressions on their faces, their dismay only overshadowed by one other person: Leo.
The boy was glaring at him. It was clear that he had not missed this specific element of his school life and was none too happy to have it back now…
"Don't be like that, Leo," Zeke said in an exasperated tone. "You don't even know what it is yet."
"Out with it, then."
"Fine, fine," he said, raising his hands in surrender. "This is your task: Before the next class, I want all of you to think of at least one passive application for any of your current spells."
"That is all?" Leo asked suspiciously.
"That is all," Zeke confirmed. "I want you to start thinking about how to incorporate passive spells into your skillset. But for now, one is more than enough to get the ball rolling. See you all in a week."
Same as last time, he turned and left. However, this time he didn't merely try to make a dramatic exit. He actually had a lot to do. There were only a couple of days left until the Thorsten family event and he had to find a way to modify his Soul Sight before then. If he wanted to observe the Spirit Summoning ritual properly, he would have to find a way to use it safely before that.
Furthermore, he couldn't wait to get back to his Blood Magic. Now that he had found a way to compress his blood, growing stronger was merely a question of time and effort. It had been a while since Zeke had felt himself growing stronger at such a rate.
However… no matter what he did, it still felt lacking. How long would it be until he could set any of his real plans in motion?
He had begun to train his subordinates, he had started his engineering business, and he was even on his way to creating the first generation of Mages through his meditation technique. This was all that he dared do. The risk of discovery would be too great if he tried anything on a larger scale.
But… was this really enough?
If he continued like this, it would be almost a decade until he made it to Grand Mage, and decades after that until he could try to advance to Arch Mage. Could he wait for that long? The coming war might already be over by the time he was strong enough to affect it. What if the empire won in the meantime?
Zeke could not let that happen. Not after what they had done — not after what they had done to Maximilian… His jaw clenched as the scene once again played out before his inner eye.
Four Elements surrounding a raging volcano. Richard Feuerkranz's contemptuous sneer. Victor Windtänzers apologetic expression as he betrayed his benefactor. His mentor's last words…
No! They would pay for this! The empire would pay for this!
In his rage-filled state, Zeke didn't even notice how a powerful existence lazily opened one eye and glanced in his direction. For a long moment, the Dragon observed the hatred in the boy's eyes. Eventually, the eye closed again, as the soul returned back to its slumber.