The Retired Hero is an Extra

'I can't really use the space element though,' Jash sighed inwardly, lamenting the loss of an overpowered ability.

It was common knowledge that those with a pure space element affinity have a hard time controlling their emotions.

Moreover, it was said that their mental defenses were weak and they could easily be manipulated.

However, everything about himself had been quite the opposite, contrary to the public information about him.

That's why Sharon was having a headache, trying to make sense of the situation, but couldn't think of any possible answer.

"Wait, that's it, is there something wrong with the orb?"

Such whispers in a low voice were heard loud and clear by Sharon, but she dispelled them instantly.

"Alright, as everyone is done testing their elemental affinities, keep them in mind and try to awaken your element," She advised.

"Now, I will teach you about the mana flow pathway of a mage, which is similar but also different from other hunters."

Following her words, a diagram of a human inner mana circulation appeared behind her on the wall.

"A person usually emits mana through these channels to amplify and densify their aura," she began, pointing at the outermost part of the mana veins.

After that, she continued her explanation of how a mage used a similar mana circuit, though its application varied.

The main emphasis was on spells, or simply the structure of the magic needed to perform.

'Boring,' Jash thought, skipping past the boring stuff as he already knew about it and stopped paying attention.

Of course, he still listened half-heartedly so as to have a rough idea of what she was teaching.

'Can't have Rank 1 failing the written exams now, can we?' he asked himself sarcastically.

Listening to the explanations on different spells and how the higher rank spell was more complex to cast and what not, Jash frowned.

'These explanations... are they for real?' he thought in disbelief, his eyes darting around to check for anyone similar to him.

Sadly, all he saw were the students' focused gaze as they wrote down notes and listened attentively.

Well, it was not like Sharon was wrong or anything, but the person Jash compared it all to was simply a genius.

In fact, the term 'genius' didn't fully capture his skill leve.

That was a mage who could perform complex and higher tier spells with ease, shortening the amount of calculations and complexity to a minimum.

'That's the true power that a mage can emit,' he mused, comparing the current childish display to that monstrous one.

Still, Jash was no stranger to novels about magic and even RPG and MMO games, so he had seen all kinds of crazy stuff.

'If only I could replicate this reality,' he lamented inwardly.

If only he could replicate that certain girl who could only cast a single spell and go around saying

"Explosion is ART!"

A shadow of a smile appeared on his face as he remembered watching that anime and several others flashed in his head.

It was truly surprising how he had the mental capacity to be distracted while also listening to Sharon.

But only he seemed to know of this, considering it normal...

He had no idea how wrong he was; this abnormal mental capacity and strength, along with that strange energy protecting his soul, could easily help him reach SSS-Rank despite using the Space Element.

However, one thing that he had long noticed was that his mana veins were somewhat stranger than an average hunter's.

It was different from when his grandfather Inigo was surprised after the event, but Jash had noticed an abnormality.

After he had formed those pseudo-cores, nodes, or junctions of mana inside his mana circuit, the mana was always passively flowing.

Due to the movements of his internal organs, the mana could obviously not stay in one place, being forced to move to the next, cycling at a slow pace.

'Will I also become a Magic Swordsman? Wielding a sword in one hand and casting formidable spells from another?'

Jash thought about it, but didn't seem to have any happy thoughts about it.

While a normal person might indeed call it fortune and walk both paths, trying to become invincible, Jash had no such lofty goals.

All he wanted was to get strong enough so that others didn't mess with them at all.

But he often thought how it would be far better to have the strongest strongest family in the world, allowing him to laze around without worrying about the future.

'If not for the threat being out of their capabilities, I would've not even bothered awakening,' he sighed with a hint of melancholy in his eyes.

Unlike some oblivious idiot, he knew that his so-called paradies—his family—he loved so much could also vanish in this heartless world.

'Even the protagonist barely won with his life clinging by a thread,' he recalled, not knowing it wasn't the end.

After that event, there was more, but he had no idea, a cloud hovering in his consciousness, preventing his mind from penetrating the hidden memories.

If only he knew that the plot armor protagonist was nothing more than doomed in the end, he would've tried even harder, maybe.

However, there was no reality based on what-ifs.

Reality was based on solid facts, and fact was Jash was lost in reminiscing when he heard something interesting, bringing him back to the class.

"...but there is one other way to cast a high-tier spell without doing it yourself," Sharon paused, making some students quite surprised.

Well, the privileged class didn't even care, but Jash found it interesting for a different reason altogether.

"One can use an artifact, although the amount of mana required is lower than doing it yourself, you cannot control the output of the spell."

Her words calmed down the agitated students as she was quite good at explaining but it had dragged too long, making some students a bit sleepy.

Sensing the class coming to and end, Jash began musing the possibility of spellcasting but gave up for now.

'Maybe I can give it a try after preventing my impending doom,' he concluded, knowing that at most he would be better than most mages.

After all, he knew the way to shorten the complexity of the steps required in each spell, having heard of it from the genius himself.

Well, not really heard, but read it in the novel, but same thing, same thing.

Still, it was important to mention that he could only produce similar results, not exactly like that, but inferior.

However, all that was talk for future as the goals in his mind were increasing his master of his sword and awakening his latent elements.

His instincts told him to focus on growing stronger in the shortest time possible, but it was not like he could neglect the foundation.

At that time, Sharon ended the class.

"That's all, see you again," she said and began walking away, before stopping mid-way.

"I would suggest going read things from the library to get a better understanding of things before coming to me with questions."

Her tone was quite firm unlike her earlier soft-spoken voice, startling the students, but they understood her intent, nodding instantly.

'She's probably been through a bombardment of meaningless questions, so she hates it.'

That was the thought on the minds of the students from humble origins, but the privileged ones knew the real reason.