In the lull that followed, Adrien seated himself on the floor. He absentmindedly rolled the staff between the palms of his hands, then looked up at Val. "Anyway, uh -- so, for Earth magic -- is the exercise going to be -- making something heavy?".

Val chuckled softly. "That would be quite silly... No, the Earth exercise will be to stop the pendulum of a clock".

"That's Earth magic?", Adrien said, wide-eyed. "I wasn't expecting that".

"What were you expecting?".

Adrien paused. "Actually, I'm not sure. I don't really have a good idea of what Earth magic is like", he said. "Sorry", he then added with a crease in his brow.

"That's alright. It is an often-overlooked type of magic", Val replied, seating himself down on the floor in front of Adrien. "You won't meet many sorcerers who specialize in elemental Earth magic".

"How come?".

"Because Earth is what is always under our feet. What is always there is often taken for granted".