In Aeon's perspective, his attack was futile. He had a gut feeling that the instructor had ways to readjust himself even while being midair, otherwise, he wouldn't have exposed himself too openly.
Before hitting the wall, Montis' slowed down. He somersaulted midair, gently kicked on the wall, and landed on the ground. His movements were filled with grace that it almost looked like he had the ability to fly. Clearly, he was a wind mage. Whether he was a Seran or a Remoran, Aeon had yet to find out.
"Good one, kid. You made me use magic for the first time." Montis Leroux acknowledged.
Aeon scratched his head, clearly flattered by the compliment. But then he realized something odd about the statement. He suddenly pointed a finger towards Montis Leroux and yelled, "You haven't been using magic the whole time?"
Habitually, Montis Leroux folded his hands behind his back before he responded, "Well, earlier, I did not feel the need to."
"But earlier, there should have been no way for you to dodge my punch based on your stance," Aeon asked. He was still baffled by that scenario.
Montis walked towards him, "Oh. It has nothing to do with magic. It's simply part of the technique I practice."
Aeon, again, punched at Montis who was now right in front of him but the latter blocked it with a single hand.
As expected, his punch was neutralized by an air bubble before landing, a common technique used by wind mages. That punch was not at all light, but it looked like it had almost zero force behind it. Aeon dropped his fist and plopped to the ground. He was panting heavily, completely exhausted. Their exchange was brief, but Aeon exerted himself a lot, draining his energy.
"Really not bad for your first day." Montis commented, "why don't you use the technique that your father uses?"
"What are you saying? I have been using it! It's just… sloppy." Aeon retorted angrily.
"Sorry. I mean no offense," Montis apologized.
Aeon dusted the debris on his shirt, "No problem. I'm really having a hard time practicing without him demonstrating it."
Although Aeon did his best to hide it, Montis was able to catch the tiny bit of sadness in Aeon's voice so he decided to encourage him, "That's okay. You'll get better soon."
"Thanks," Aeon said half-heartedly.
"That's all for today. Recall the battle and analyze it on your own. There's only you in this class so you do it on your own or ask for your father's help." Montis Leroux said as he walked towards the door that Aeon used to enter the room.
Montis left and disappeared.
Now that Aeon was also about to leave, he suddenly realized that there were no other entrances or exits. He thought how Montis Leroux could have been inside the room the whole time, but he had failed to notice his presence or detect him.
Aeon shivered.
Montis was one sneaky person.
Aeon also headed towards the door and left.
….
"Montis Leroux…" Devon Morgan thought, "Nah, doesn't ring a bell!"
Aeon paused from doing his squats, "Really? He sounded like he was familiar with the combat technique that you use."
Pak!
After slapping the back of Aeon's head, Devon Morgan scolded him, "Why are you stopping?"
"I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" Aeon hurriedly apologized.
"First of all, stop calling them combat techniques. You make them sound so common," Devon Morgan harrumphed, "What we're practicing is called Tenro. "
Aeon rolled his eyes. Here he goes again. He continued doing his squats as he listened to his father's lecture about Tenro for the hundredth time.
"As you know, magic flows in each person's body in a unique way. No person is completely like another. Not even you and me. This is due to what we call our Magical Constitution, and it is also one of the aspects that determine which element a mage would awaken to. Based on our Magical Constitution, our bodies develop in certain ways, and practicing Tenro becomes possible. In general, Tenro allows a person to perform a set of movements with more ease compared to other people. On a higher level, it enables the practitioner to perform spells with much more proficiency.
"Because we belong to the same family, we have similar Constitutions. Thus, you are able to train the Tenro that I practice, with the help of the manual."
After witnessing another combat technique, or Tenro as his father called it, Aeon actually paid more attention to his father's lecture. He noticed something odd about his narrative and asked, "You say that it's not common, but as I see it, shouldn't every family have its own Tenro?"
Devon Morgan shook his head. "Not everybody is able to understand his or her own Magical Constitution to the point where the person is able to tailor a technique specifically for them. Some can, but not to the point where you are able to dominate anyone in your level, assuming that your enemy does not use Tenro."
Devon Morgan took the manual for their Tenro from under his pillow. The cover had no words written on it. He looked at it for a few moments before he continued, "According to my dad, your grandfather, this book has been in the family since the first generation. There are tons of mysteries that surround this book, but… one thing's for sure."
Hearing his father say those last words mysteriously, Aeon abruptly stopped doing his squats and turned towards his father. The latter had an amazed look on his face that only fueled Aeon's curiosity. Aeon eagerly waited for his father to continue speaking. As Devon Morgan slowly opened his mouth, Aeon leaned in closer.
"This…" Devon Morgan started, "this book is made of some tough shit, I'll tell you that!"
Aeon fell on the floor, face first, but he immediately got up.
"You hyped me up over something so unimportant?" Aeon yelled.
"What do you mean unimportant? If it wasn't so tough, your old man would not have been able to read it and become so strong!" Devon Morgan retorted.
Aeon clenched his right fist in front of his father, but he could not retort. His old man's got a point.
"Anyway," Devon Morgan suddenly said while fumbling through the pages of the book, "if this Montis Leroux practices a Tenro, or if he made one himself, he must be someone strong. Take his classes seriously."
Aeon nodded resolutely
….
As Aeon entered the Magic Theory class the next morning, the students who were already inside started exiting the room. Aeon was confused about what was happening so he asked a stranger why they were leaving. It turns out that the class would be held in Fria's Bed. Aeon shrugged walked with the other students. Along the way, he met Suri and Korona.
A person stood in front of the open field, just in front of Fria's statue. The person was well-dressed but his black hair was disheveled. The students immediately recognized him as the emotionless administrator from the first test. The administrator, after the students settled down on the floor in front of him, nodded.
He cleared his throat before saying, "Good morning. I will be replacing your professor for this class. You may all call me Faust."
Replace our professor yesterday? Say his name, dammit. Is he also Instructor Bell?!
The students were frustrated but they all greeted him properly. Of course, they did not voice out their question. The mystery remains unsolved.
Faust nodded and started flipping over his tiny notebook that did not fit someone with his looks. After a few moments, he nodded.
"Okay. Let's start. We will be talking about incantations." Faust said as he looked over the students who were sitting in front of him. He randomly pointed a student, and the latter immediately stood up. "Name and element."
The student nodded, "Kily Bremming, water."
"Can you demonstrate a spell that requires a long incantation?"
The student nodded. He moved to the empty space of the field and started casting. As he recited the incantation, the air swirled around his body. Water slowly gathered behind him and formed a huge humanoid figure. After about seven seconds, the water solidified. A giant golem made of ice took shape and stood behind the mage. The student then demonstrated his control over the golem by moving its fists and punching.
"Very good. A solid ice golem," the administrator was visibly pleased. Then he asked the student, "Were you able to use this spell during the group exam?"
Kily smiled when Faust commended him, but after hearing his question, his smile turned crooked. All the other students focused on him, waiting for his answer. In the end, he shook his head. He was relieved, however, when the Professor showed no disappointment.
Faust gestured for the student to sit down and the latter followed. He thought silently for a while before speaking again, "Before entering the academy, you must have practiced magic through a book with a list of incantations and spells. Maybe the book was handed down from generation after generation inside your family. Or the book might have been bought or borrowed from somewhere."
At this point, the students had no idea what the professor was getting at. Yes, most of them learned from a book of incantations. But so what? They were about to dismiss the class as another day of nonsense again when the Professor suddenly said something interesting.
"But have you ever thought about how incantations might have been pointless?"
Aeon's eyes widened. He had yet to cast a spell in his life, but he knew that even his father used incantations when casting a spell. He did know that voicing out the incantations was not completely necessary as the person could simply recite it in his head. Saying the words out loud did help in concentrating. Did he mean that? That reciting out loud was pointless?
Out of nowhere, a golem made of ice popped out of thin air and fell heavily on the ground on its two feet, catching everyone's attention. The professor was actually a water mage too.
The professor stomped his left leg and the golem followed suit. "Why can't you use every spell you know effectively? You all know why! Because some cast times are too long and might leave you open in a battle."
Subconsciously, most of the students nodded. They had always been their dilemma. But they simply dismissed the fact by thinking that they were still too weak. They waited for the professor to continue.
"But what if…"
Boom! Boom!
Two more golems formed behind the administrator. He was just speaking moments ago, but he was still able to create two golems in no time. He did not even chant!
"What if we cut the cast time of those juicy C-ranked spells that you want to use oh so badly?" the usually emotionless professor smiled smugly, "How much stronger would you all become?"
The students' eyebrows furrowed, and many thought about the answer to the question.
How much stronger would they become?
Aeon looked towards Suri. Seeing that the latter was not fazed, he asked, "This is possible?"
"Yeah," Suri responded flatly, invoking a reaction from Aeon.
"You already knew?!" Aeon said in exasperation.
Suri immediately turned to Aeon, his face full of shock, "You don't?"
"Not at all!" Aeon responded.
….