Max couldn't find the answer based on his memory. Perhaps, it was just a coincidence.
After eating, finishing his brunch—breakfast and lunch—Max took a shower and dried his hair before logging in into Apocalypse Online.
…
When he returned to the mana sensitivity chamber, he immediately left. He met a different mage trainee guarding the mana sensitivity chamber as he asked, "Do you know where Teacher—Sir Archmage is?"
When the mage trainee heard how Max addressed Archmage Arlen, his eyes widened in surprise.
He asked, "Are you Maximus Grant? Archmage Arlen's personal student?"
Max was quite surprised. He nodded immediately. "Nice to meet you."
The mage trainee's imposing aura turned into a gentle one.
He said, "Nice to meet you, too. Archmage Arlen is currently in the Instruction Hall, teaching our fellow students about the rune and spell diagram basics."
The mage trainee glanced at the mage trainee who had just passed by and shouted, "Hey, lead him to the instruction hall."
The mage trainee was confused at first, but eventually, he recognized who Max was. His eyes lit up and greeted Max.
He then asked Max to politely follow him to the Instruction Hall.
Max followed him while in deep thought. Basic spell structure? I already know every Tier 1 spell structure no matter the elements.
For now, I must lead the archmage to the requirement to advance to the Arcane Caster Class.
During yesterday's meditation, he actually also gained exp. At the moment, he was already level 5.
For him to earn one of the basic requirements for class advancement required him to reach level 9.
As far as Max remembered, the Arcane Caster's class qualification to be triggered required intermediate level proficiency in mana sensitivity and basic proficiency in mana control.
He didn't have a problem meeting the required conditions, but he must pass Archmage Arlen's evaluation first.
Eventually, they reached the Instruction Hall as the mage trainee politely gestured for Max to enter.
Max smiled at him, expressed his thanks, and opened the door without knocking, afraid to disturb Archmage Arlen from teaching.
Unfortunately, just when he thought the door was located at the back, he was startled after seeing that all of the students as well as Archmage Arlen simultaneously turned their heads towards him.
Max felt awkward and embarrassed as he turned towards Archmage Arlen, bowing deeply.
"I deeply apologize for disturbing your class, Teacher."
Archmage Arlen was pleasantly surprised on his appearance and he chuckled after Max apologized to him.
He said, "No problem, Maximus Grant, or should I begin to call you now, Max. Join our class as I have just begun teaching about the basic arcane runes."
Max bowed deeply once again and said in a very polite tone, "Thank you, Teacher."
"Mhm." Archmage Arlen nodded in glee. He deeply liked how polite and respectful Max was.
Max quickly searched for an empty seat as he was surprised there were already players in the classroom.
The players also recognized him. How could they not? Max was still the same player who was the first to enter the Arcane Cottage with his usual shabby clothes.
"Ah, right, Max. Follow me later in my residence, I'll personally teach you what you need to know. Also, you need a set of new clothes, you appear less of a mage."
Max smiled awkwardly on his seat. He bowed deeply once again. "Yes, Teacher. Thank you in advance."
All of the players directed an envious gaze at Max. They glanced at the name tag above his head and was quite stunned he hid his real name.
To recognize others as players, there was a green arrow pointing at them. To read their names required the player to be at close proximity.
However, they didn't know that a player could hide his real name—in the Apocalypse Online, at least.
At the moment, only Max was aware of it. It was in the settings. He had already hid his name, knowing he would offend someone powerful in the future and he would like to hide his identity.
As for his character reflecting his current appearance? Max was careless. He would barely leave the apartment now and would hide himself using a jacket to prevent his real face from being exposed.
Not giving the other players a chance to acquire his attention, he focused on Archmage Arlen, who introduced the structural language of magic.
He taught the basic arcane runes, mana pathway diagrams, rune stability principles, and common casting mistakes in rune formation in the span of three hours.
Honestly, it was pretty boring. Most of the players were already dozing off.
Max, on the other hand, was quite surprised that he had learned many things even though he already knew most about them.
He ruminated. I was wrong. Returning to basics is really important.
After Archmage Arlen taught for three hours straight without a clear sign of exhaustion, he conducted an activity for the students to draw spell diagrams.
Each of the students were given five blank papers as they must draw as many different spell structures as they could.
Afterwards, in the span of five minutes, Max was already finished.
He was deeply inspired from Archmage Arlen's teaching that he entered the state of flow the moment he grabbed the quill in the table and began drawing.
When he noticed he was the first to finish, he hesitated whether to consult Archmage Arlen's of his work.
Thankfully, Archmage Arlen had been keeping an eye on him, as he said in an upbeat tone, "Let me see your work, Max."
All the students, mostly players, were shocked as they gazed at Max, bringing five papers towards Archmage Arlen.
They were utterly shocked, they had not begun drawing yet as they tried their best to recall the notes they wrote and understood each of the spell diagrams.
There was one player who was already on his second paper, but he paused after seeing Archmage Arlen checking Max's works with a clear delight expression painted on his face.
Archmage Arlen was pleasantly surprised by Max's work. He drew five different spell diagram exercises in the span of five minutes.
Which means Max only took a minute to complete a single spell diagram. Although his drawing was simple, it was clean and precise.
He whispered. "Genius. Really, a genius!"