Hardrial greeted her as soon as he saw her.
"Miss Laura, you're early."
"Good morning, Professor Hardrial. Who is he?" Laura stood up to greet him and was stunned when she saw Louis.
His white hair, so different from hers, immediately caught her attention.
Hardrial stepped aside.
"This is Louis. He's a new member of our class and the Armamentalists department at the Academy."
Louis introduced himself, as did Laura, since they would study together.
A few minutes later, they were both sitting in front of the teacher.
"Louis, my classes don't cover general topics. All we study are specialized subjects related to Armamentalists and Arkanoesis Magic, their main source. Therefore, starting today and for the next four years, everything I teach you will be vitally important on your magical journey in this world," said Hardrial, staring intently at Louis.
Then he looked at Laura. "Miss Laura, I'll spend today teaching Louis, starting with the basics. If you'd like, you can take the day off."
Laura shook her head. "I'll stay and listen," she replied.
"All right. Then... let's begin."
"Louis, what do you know about being an Armamentalist? In your mind, what does it mean to be an Armamentalist?" he asked.
Louis thought for a moment. There was a lot to think about, as this was a slightly complicated question to answer.
What was it to be an Armamentalist?
"An Armamentalist is someone who studies firearms as a catalyst. They study the power and concentration of energy to unleash a powerful shot," he replied.
Hardrial nodded. "Do you know what energy they study?"
"Passive Energy."
"And do you know exactly what it's used for?"
At this point, Louis stopped responding. Saying that it was used for shooting would have been meaningless. He wanted a different answer. But his memories were fragmented; there wasn't much information to search for there.
So he couldn't answer.
Hardrial smiled.
"Good. Then we'll start from the beginning." Hardrial turned around and drew three fundamental things in this world on the blackboard in the middle of the room.
The first was a firearm, a revolver. The second was some lines that seemed to move around a globe. The third was a magical pattern, constructed in detail but simply.
The third drawing brought back a small memory for Louis, but it quickly faded, preventing him from understanding where he had seen something like that before.
When he finished drawing, Hardrial turned around to explain.
"First, you must know that scholars throughout the ages have called magic the Arkanoesis Magic System. Arkanoesis is the source of all power in this world. But it goes back even further, to Passive Energy." He began his detailed explanation.
"Passive Energy is not just useless energy whose origin is unknown; it has the most important function in this world: to bring us magic..."
Passive Energy seemed useless as a form of energy, but it was not. The Arcane Magic of this world comes from it.
Arcane Magic is a union of knowledge, study, and manipulation of the natural and supernatural laws of this world. Its use depends entirely on understanding.
But understanding of what?
Of Magical Patterns.
Also called Arkanometric Fabrics.
They are basically magical formulas.
Humans do not create Arkanometric Fabrics. They are found in Passive Energy—or rather, in the Fabrics of Passive Energy.
These fabrics are nothing more than threads everywhere in the world. They intertwine with each other and form different patterns that may or may not be seen, but can be perceived.
These threads are called the Arcanometric Flow Theorem.
It is not only in this world. This web of fabrics traverses the entire universe. It is logical and magical, forming the structure known as Arcanometric Flow or Universal Fabrics.
This is where the Arkanometric Fabrics studied by Magicians, Sorcerers, Wizards, Necromancers, Illusionists, etc., in general, any type of Magician, come from.
Even Armamentalists study it, and they gave it the name most commonly used today: Power Runes.
That means that Arcane Magic is extracted from the understanding of Passive Energy. And it doesn't end there, passive energy is also Mana. That's why, on that occasion fighting in the dungeon, Louis felt that when he leveled up, part of his passive energy was restored.
That's because mana and passive energy are practically the same thing, except that mana becomes an active principle once it transforms into Arkanometric Fabrics (Power Runes).
Louis listened intently, feeling that, although it was a lot of information, it was vitally important.
"Professor, does that mean that Armamentalists are actually Mages?"
Hardrial nodded.
"That's right. We are magicians in essence, but the peculiarity of our weapon allows us to be physical attackers as well," he replied.
"If that's the case..." Louis noticed something strange. "Why aren't there many Armamentalists? If we're magicians, why do they think we're useless?"
"Good question, kid." Hardrial smiled. Then he turned around and drew a large circle around the three drawings. "The gun represents us. These threads moving on a globe represent the Fabrics. And this magical pattern represents Magic. They are divided, but in reality, we are all the same."
"We also need to use Power Runes to launch our attacks. We also use Mana. The problem is that..."
Hardrial laughed mockingly at this point. "Mages are stubborn. They have lived for thousands of years with Arcane Magic and have forgotten something important: Our Passive Energy is not as passive as it seems."
"It is constantly changing and evolving," he assured.
"Just as in the beginning there was only Arcane Magic, and then Swordsmen and Martial Artists appeared who studied Passive Energy in different ways, the Art that studies Firearms emerged the moment humans created this weapon."
"Because there was no way Passive Energy could remain silent in the face of such a great revolution: a weapon capable of killing in seconds. It needed to evolve."
"That's how we were born." He smiled and went to look for a book on the table. "In the end, we are products of the same magical evolution. That's why they will eventually accept us and realize our importance. But that will take a long time. Maybe hundreds of years. Or maybe... we must give birth to a new God. One who can represent us."
Louis nodded. 'In the end, it's because many people are against change and revolution,' thought.
Now he had a more important question.
"According to you, the Arcanometric Flow Theorem, are these threads everywhere? Walls, the floor, the air..."
His question made Hardrial stop looking at the book and suddenly look at him.
Even the young woman beside him looked at him, shocked.
"Can you see them?"