According to the original syllabus, after Water Magic, we were supposed to transition directly into Wind Magic.

  But... the schedule was abruptly changed.

  The reason was blatantly obvious. Following the explosive publication of The Fundamentals of the Electrical Element by "Merlin," the Academy's ruling council had panicked in the best way possible.

  URGENT! This is a revolutionary breakthrough! Electromagic must be added to the curriculum immediately!

  And so, here we were. The first period of the day.

  The Academy was buzzing. Literally and figuratively. Every single student in the Elite Class was vibrating with excitement. Even the swordsmen were leaning forward in their seats.

  The instructor walked into the classroom, his chest puffed out with pride.

  "Today marks the first official lesson in Electromagic," he announced grandly. "Made possible entirely by the monumental, newly discovered work of the Great Merlin."

  I politely coughed into my hand to muffle a violent urge to burst into hysterical laughter.

  Elinia's Lightning: An Absolute Flex

  At the front of the room, the instructor demonstrated the core concepts detailed in the book: generating a basic spark, accumulating static charge, directing a current, firing a kinetic pulse, and erecting a miniature electromagnetic barrier.

  "You will all be able to master these within a few days, provided you meticulously study the new textbook," the instructor assured us.

  The class erupted into enthusiastic murmurs. "The book is absolutely genius!" "It makes so much sense!" "The phrasing is so simple and logical!"

  Elinia was sitting at her desk, glowing with such intense pride it looked as though they were praising her personally.

  Which... well, they partially were.

  She gracefully raised her hand. "Instructor? May I demonstrate?"

  The instructor nearly dropped his chalk. "Of course, Your Highness! The floor is yours."

  Elinia stood up. Without a single wasted movement, she generated a crackling static cocoon around her palm. She flawlessly compressed it into a jagged lightning arrow and fired it directly into the target dummy. She instantly followed up by erecting an electromagnetic barrier that aggressively repelled a splash of water, and finished by using a magnetic pulse to yank a steel throwing knife from across the room directly into her hand.

  The class lost their minds. "Woooooah!" "That's incredible!" "She's amazing!"

  I sat in the back row, grinding my teeth. That is my magic. That is ALL MY MAGIC.

  The Class Evolves

  It wasn't just the Princess. The rest of the class immediately began finding creative, terrifying applications for the new element.

  Edgar discovered that he could use electrical currents to rapidly superheat and fuse his metal constructs. Finn realized that infusing his fire with static electricity caused localized, highly volatile explosions. Noah began threading currents through his illusions, causing the air itself to vibrate and hum realistically. The swordsmen used micro-currents to artificially stimulate their muscle fibers, drastically increasing their speed. Astra tried using low-voltage pulses to stimulate cellular regeneration (though she nearly passed out from the effort).

  Everyone was sparking with joy and inspiration.

  And I... I had to pretend to be a pathetic weakling.

  Which led directly to the most humiliating moment of my reincarnated life.

  My "Accidental" Electrocution

  "Zen," the instructor called out. "Your turn. Demonstrate a weak, controlled discharge."

  "Right..." I muttered.

  I extended my hand, mumbled a fake, hesitant incantation, and...

  BZZT!

  I intentionally shocked my own hand. I let out a sharp gasp, taking a dramatic step backward, and clutched my chest right over my heart.

  "Oh... my heart..." I wheezed theatrically.

  The class gasped in horror. "Are you okay, Zen?!" "Is it too difficult?!" "Don't push yourself!"

  Elinia calmly walked over to my desk. She let out a long, disappointed sigh, looking down at me with an expression that made me genuinely want to strangle her.

  "Well, Helvard," she said condescendingly. "The book explicitly states that 'the current will always follow the path of least resistance.' Did you forget to read that chapter?"

  I LITERALLY WROTE THAT CHAPTER! I screamed internally.

  She leaned in closer, a wicked smirk playing on her lips. "Furthermore, the author explicitly warns: 'Never route an ungrounded current across your own chest cavity unless you wish to stop your own heart.' It seems you got your polarities mixed up, didn't you?"

  "Uh-huh..." I hissed through gritted teeth.

  She patted my shoulder patronizingly. "Don't worry. I'm sure one day you'll reach the level of an absolute novice."

  I clenched my jaw so hard the instructor probably thought I was having a secondary seizure.

  But the absolute worst part? The class actually believed her.

  Finn turned to the front. "Instructor, is that true? You shouldn't pass a current through your chest?" "Yes, Finn. It is highly lethal," the instructor confirmed gravely.

  Astra wrung her hands. "Zen, please be careful! I'm right here if you need healing!"

  Edgar shook his head sympathetically. "Man... you really need to train more."

  Only Noah stared at me from across the room, his dark eyes narrowed in suspicion. "Strange..." he murmured quietly. "You didn't actually look scared... but your facial expression belongs in a theater tragedy."

  Siren tilted his head. "...Did you do that on purpose?"

  "N-No!" I stammered defensively.

  Behind me, I could practically hear Elinia's smug thoughts: He absolutely did that on purpose.

  By the end of the lesson, everyone was thrilled, inspired, and overly confident. Everyone believed that electricity was an incredible, manageable tool.

  Everyone except me. Because I had just voluntarily electrocuted myself, looked like a complete idiot, became the primary target for the Princess's merciless teasing, and was entirely forbidden from screaming that I WAS THE ONE WHO WROTE THE DAMN BOOK.

  As we walked toward the exit, Elinia brushed past me and whispered, "Helvard, if you're struggling, I could tutor you on a few of the formulas. I understand them perfectly. Much better than you do, clearly."

  "I'm... aware," I muttered flatly.

  She gave me a look of such overwhelming, victorious smugness that I seriously considered plunging the entire Academy into a permanent electrical blackout.

  After classes ended, Elinia marched up to me with the unwavering confidence of a ruler about to declare war on a neighboring nation.

  "Zenkhald." "Yes?" "Duel. Right now. Electricity only." "...At full power?" "At. Full. Power."

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  She didn't even blink.

  Oh, she's serious, I realized with a sudden chill. She actually wants to incinerate me.

  We relocated to an abandoned, overgrown training ground deep in the forest behind the Academy. It was quiet. The wind was calm. Birds were chirping.

  But the moment Elinia raised her hand, the entire atmosphere violently shifted.

  The tall grass flattened against the earth, as if a massive, invisible weight had just been dropped on the clearing. Dust swirled upward, defying gravity. Tiny pebbles began to levitate and vibrate rapidly.

  And her hair... waves of golden blonde hair defied gravity, floating upward as if she were standing in the dead center of a typhoon.

  Her eyes began to glow a blinding, ethereal blue—far brighter than they ever had in physical combat.

  And the sky obeyed her.

  Massive, bruised thunderclouds rapidly descended, blotting out the sun, hovering ominously low directly over her head. It was as if nature itself was bowing to her will.

  I felt a genuine twinge of demonic respect. If she were born in the Underworld, she would absolutely hold the title of 'Archdemon of the Storm.'

  The First Strike

  Elinia raised both arms toward the sky.

  "Zenkhald Helvard..." she commanded, her voice echoing unnaturally. "Brace yourself."

  The earth shuddered. The air grew impossibly dense and completely still.

  And then, the lightning tore downward.

  KRAK-KAAAAAAAA-BOOOOOOOOOOM!!!!!!!

  The sound was deafening. The light was blindingly absolute. The smell of ozone instantly burned the inside of my nose. The very air around my skin violently vibrated.

  If I hadn't instantly and invisibly redirected the lethal charge through the soles of my boots directly into the bedrock... I would have been instantly vaporized into a fine red mist.

  As the blinding flash faded, the ground where I had been standing was a blackened, smoking crater.

  "Are you... are you alive?!" Elinia cried out, dropping her arms, suddenly looking genuinely horrified.

  I materialized a few feet to the left, coughing on the smoke. "I... uh... I dodged!"

  The Second Strike

  Seeing that I had survived (and allegedly dodged), Elinia's panic vanished, instantly replaced by fierce, competitive determination.

  Oh, the first one missed? her expression clearly said. THEN I'LL CRANK IT UP.

  She levitated a few feet off the ground. The wind howled violently. The birds fled the forest in mass panic. The entire clearing became a minefield of static electricity—tiny, jagged blue arcs of lightning danced frantically across the grass.

  She threw her arms wide, looking as though she were physically embracing the thunderstorm above us.

  In that moment, she didn't look human. She looked like a fledgling Goddess of Thunder. Like a devastating Calamity-class monster.

  When the second strike began to build in the clouds, I didn't just hear it. I felt it in my marrow. The vibration of the air was physically deafening. The static charge was so intense that my clothes were actively repelling away from my skin, and my hair was standing up like a ruined broom.

  I realized two things very quickly. First: She was about to drop a tactical nuke on this forest. Second: If I didn't get out of here right now, the sheer noise and magical pressure would draw the entire Academy faculty to this location in under a minute.

  So, I made the absolute wisest decision of my short human life:

  I ran.

  I ran so fast I physically tore the grass out of the earth behind me.

  While the Princess was still hovering in her majestic "I am about to unleash the wrath of the heavens" pose... I was already behind a bush. Then deep in the forest. Then practically back at the dormitory gates.

  When the instructors and the rest of the Elite Class finally arrived at the clearing, panting and panicked by the massive magical discharge, they were greeted by a terrifying sight.

  A massive, smoldering circle of scorched earth. Dozens of blackened, splintered trees. And Elinia, standing in the center of the crater, her hair standing on end, looking around frantically.

  "He... he was JUST THERE! Where did he go?!"

  I casually stepped out from the tree line, doing my absolute best to look thoroughly traumatized. "What's... what's going on here?"

  "ZENKHALD?!" the instructors gasped. "Are you alright?!"

  I was covered in soot, and my hair was still statically charged, sticking out in every direction. "Y-Yeah... I just... I ran away... I got scared..."

  The entire class stared at me, then at the crater. "OF ELINIA'S LIGHTNING?!"

  Elinia stared at me in absolute, unadulterated shock. "...How... did you... survive that?"

  I just offered a weak, trembling smile. But internally, I was deeply disturbed. If this is her baseline power level as a novice... by the time she's an adult, I am never, ever standing within a ten-mile radius of her.

  Fortunately, the instructors bought my story that I had simply fled the clearing in terror before the blast hit. Elinia, on the other hand, had a lot of explaining to do regarding the massive crater she had just carved into the Academy's forest.

  That night, back in my room, I stood in front of the mirror.

  My hair was a chaotic mess. The tips were slightly singed. My eyebrows were singed. My clothes smelled like a severe thunderstorm.

  "What a terrifying girl..." I muttered to my reflection. "Give her a few years, and she'll be fighting on the level of the Gods."

  But deep down... I found myself smiling.

  Good. Things are finally getting interesting.

  The Wind Returns

  To be entirely honest, the Electromagic course was canceled shockingly fast. Suspiciously fast, even.

  The reason was simple: a classroom full of highly competitive teenagers had started treating high-voltage lightning like a children's toy.

  Finn had tried to "jumpstart" Edgar's heart as a joke. Edgar had tried to force his metal golems to "feed" on raw current, turning them into walking hazards. Astra had attempted to triage a wound while holding a sphere of static charge and nearly electrocuted herself into a coma. Tara tried to "supercharge" her sword and accidentally set an entire hallway carpet on fire. Noah was running currents through his illusions, causing the very air in the dormitories to vibrate nauseatingly.

  And one particularly unfortunate second-year from a different class... well, his hair was now permanently stuck standing straight up.

  After a week of absolute chaos, the Academy Council issued an emergency decree: "Electromagic classes are temporarily suspended until the training facilities undergo structural repairs and all students pass a mandatory safety re-certification."

  The faculty looked as though they had just survived a war. The Dark Magic instructor sighed heavily. "It's a miracle no one was reduced to ash."

  Elinia, however, remained radiant. She had finally found HER true element, and she refused to let the suspension dampen her mood.

  But the curriculum had to move forward.

  December arrived. The snow fell softly, almost weightlessly over the Academy grounds. In this world, winter didn't arrive gradually; it fell upon the land violently, overnight.

  The next morning, we were introduced to our Wind Magic instructor. He was tall, gaunt, and his long hair constantly swirled around his face, despite the classroom windows being shut tight.

  Kairen stood in the front row... and he was practically glowing. He looked like a man who had finally come home after a long journey.

  "Today, we will begin with the absolute basics of manipulating air currents," the instructor announced, raising a single hand.

  He didn't even flick his wrist—but the students in the front row physically leaned backward as a sudden, heavy gust of wind pushed against their chests.

  "Finally..." Kairen whispered reverently. "My element..."

  His eyes were shining. His ambient mana was already passively reacting to the instructor's draft. He looked like he was a physical extension of the air itself.

  And me? I was currently debating how to act.

  I was... well... good at Wind Magic. Calling it "good" was actually a massive understatement.

  Back in the Underworld, Mira and I used to race each other across ten-kilometer stretches of jagged mountains using localized vacuum-tunnels to accelerate our bodies to supersonic speeds. We used to play catch with active typhoons. Hurricanes were our idea of a fun afternoon distraction.

  But here... I had to be the weak, struggling student again.

  Alright. Wind is subtle. I'll just pretend to be a slow learner.

  Elinia was standing next to me. Out of the corner of my eye, I could practically hear the gears turning in her head: I wonder how he'll perform in this element? Is he going to pretend to be a weakling again?

  The instructor lowered his hand. The air in the room seemed to come alive, swirling gently around our ankles.

  "Wind is freedom," the instructor lectured quietly. "Wind is constant motion. But it is also the most disobedient of all the elements. If you try to force it, it will scatter. If you try to cage it, it will violently break out. You cannot fight the wind... you must negotiate with it."

  The underlying philosophy was obvious: Do not break the element. Guide it.

  Kairen listened with his mouth slightly open. His breathing had completely synchronized with the ambient drafts in the room. He was literally feeling the magic through his pores.

  He's definitely going to excel here, I noted.

  "For your first practical exercise: generate a controlled, continuous flow of air around the palm of your hand," the instructor ordered. "Your palm is the anchor point. Do not attempt to create the wind. Call it to you."

  Whatever that meant.

  A few students managed to summon a weak breeze. Others felt a slight, humming vibration.

  Kairen? He already had a perfectly formed, high-speed miniature tornado spinning seamlessly over his open palm.

  Elinia, however, was visibly straining. She adored the violent, decisive nature of lightning, but the wind was stubbornly resisting her attempts to command it. It was as if the air refused to take her royal authority seriously.

  I effortlessly conjured a weak, barely visible wisp of air over my hand, perfectly calibrating it to look pathetic.

  The instructor slowly walked down the aisle and paused in front of my desk.

  "Helvard." "Yes, sir?" "You can do better than that."

  I blinked in feigned confusion. "Uh... no? I'm barely holding onto this..."

  The instructor offered a faint, knowing smile—as if he perceived a truth the rest of the room was blind to—and walked away without another word.

  Dammit... I cursed internally. Can he actually sense my real capacity?

  A Cold December Warning

  When the lesson ended, we filed out into the courtyard. The snow was falling steadily, and the crisp December air bit at our cheeks.

  The class dispersed quickly to stay warm. Kairen was practically skipping, overjoyed to have finally found his true calling. Finn was loudly complaining that wind was a "coward's element." Edgar grumbled that the cold air made his metal brittle. Miella was happily using tailwinds to glide smoothly across the snow. Lucille was highly irritated, complaining that the shifting air pressure was interfering with her spatial calculations. Astra was just happy that a gentle breeze helped dry her medicinal herbs faster.

  But Elinia...

  Elinia didn't leave. She stood in the snow, staring at me with a sharp, piercing intensity.

  "Zen," she said quietly. "Yes?" "You're faking it again."

  I nearly choked on the frigid air. "Uh... what makes you say that?"

  She took a slow step closer, her icy blue eyes locking onto mine. "Because today is the very first time I have ever seen the wind... naturally obey someone. Even when you were actively trying to hide it, the air was bending around you."

  She took another step closer, lowering her voice to a whisper.

  "I am going to be watching you, Helvard. You are far too quiet. And you are far too strange."

  She turned and walked away into the snow, leaving me standing alone with a deeply unsettling realization. My cover wasn't just cracking. Elinia was actively preparing to tear it down.