The next day, Arthur came to the Lecture Hall like usual, ignoring the constant chatter and whispers going around the room.
Even if the information was suppressed so that people couldn't speak about it openly, in the place where it happened, and where some students were still hanging about, it was inevitable that some people saw the events that transpired.
"Did you see it yesterday? Andrea actually-".
"Shush! Don't say it out loud! The Elders might punish us if we talk about it freely!".
"But you saw that green coloured light yesterday right?! I mean that can only be-".
Most of Arthur's "classmates" looked around the room, glancing at both Arthur and Randolf.
Arthur was undoubtably the strongest out of all of them, and in terms of combat prowess, no-one could fight him one-on-one. His talent might not be the highest out of everyone, but no-one wanted to partner up with him when it came to the practical classes.
Randolf on the other than possessed the highest talent out of all of them. Being a first-tier talent, his origin essence sea and origin essence regeneration was better than all of them, in addition to him possessing the fastest cultivation speed.
Everyone thought that Randolf would be the first one to reach liquid quartz origin essence, but-.
Randolf sat quietly, looking down at his notebook, reading over his notes studiously, ignoring the voices that came from his "classmates".
Even though Arthur was still the "strongest", he wasn't the most "talented" anymore.
That title, belonged to someone-.
"Everyone take their seats!".
One of the Elders came into the room, followed by two Rank 2 Fae Masters.
One of them was Arthur's older sister, Chensa Kovacs.
Her appearance was similar to his own, with a thin, tall frame, unlike that of the vast majority of those bearing the Kovacs bloodline.
She glanced at him for a moment, nodding slightly before standing at the entrance to the classroom.
Her gaze solely focused on the young girl who just entered the room.
Arthur's gaze flickered towards Andrea, and met her own, but quickly moved back towards the window.
Andrea's face turned slightly red at all the attention everyone was giving her, and was thankfully interrupted by the Elder at the front of the room.
"Stop starring you imbeciles! This isn't a petting zoo! Andrea take your seat. Why can't you guys be more like Randolf, or Arthur! Look at them!".
Everyone turned their attention to the two figures sitting at the back of the room.
One gazing silently out the window, the other, looking down at his notebook in front of him.
The Elder nodded.
"These two took first and second place in the tournament this time around! If anything, you should be starring at them! They are the goals which all of you should strive to surpass!".
Randolf glanced at Arthur, but the latter just sighed, continuing to stare silently out the window.
In his mind, Arthur couldn't help but smile.
'These guys.... moving the focus away from Andrea, someone with one of the Thirty Three Sovereign Boundary Physiques, towards me? A second-tier talent? This was definitely Father's idea'.
Andrea would undoubtably be received a lot more attention that she did before. From friends, family and people claiming to be her friends and family.
At least in a classroom setting, it would be better to everyone's focus away from her and towards someone else.
Arthur and Randolf were perfect, especially after both of their performances in the Clan Tournament.
Arthur needed to play the part, and if he did well, he might be able to get somethings in return.
His smile grew a fraction of an inch.
His gaze turned towards the rest of the room.
"Since I bet Andrea in the tournament, does that mean I'm stronger than one of the Sovereign Boundary Physiques?".
His gaze turned towards the Elder at the front of the room.
The Elder snorted, obviously sensing Arthur's sarcasm.
"Don't get cocky Arthur! If you don't keep up your hard work, then I can guarantee you won't be able to keep your position in the next tournament!".
The Elder turned to the rest of the class.
"All of you! If you aren't able to increase your standing in the next tournament, I'll request the Clan Leader to give you another years worth of Lectures!".
All of the class quietened down.
None of them wanted to repeat a year again, especially since it would slow down their cultivation significantly.
Elder Igor nodded slightly before turning and nodding towards Arthur's sister and the other Fae Master.
These two were here to protect Andrea. And at all times at least one of them had to stay by her side.
Arthur smiled, being correct about the sudden increase in security.
The Lecture continued throughout the day, until the time came for martial arts lessons.
Arthur noticed that Chensa kept her distance from Dominic, not wanting to get caught up in his antics like Arthur had been before.
She watched over Andrea silently, occasionally turning her head and gesturing to the other Fae Master on duty.
"Arthur! Why don't you help some of your classmates this lesson? I'll give a little bit more of a hands on approach to some of the more.... experienced members".
Arthur sighed, nodding his head slightly.
The experienced members pretty much meant everyone who won more than half of their fights in the tournament. Their foundations in martial arts and combat were pretty good and needed help refining their technique more than actual practice.
Arthur had taught martial arts before so when he gazed around he saw a couple of familiar faces.
Alina, Ratimir, Borik, Randolf and Andrea all came over to his group, leaving Dominic with none of the Fae Masters who made it through to the finals.
Dominic smirked at Arthur, causing the latter to sigh, rubbing the gap between his eyes.
"Alright then. I guess I'll talk about how to incorporate Fae into martial arts".
That seemed to attract some attention.
Arthur had.... other ideas in store for the future, and one of them involved getting close to the wielder of the Boundless Forest Yearning Sovereign Boundary Physique.
Who had it?
Arthur didn't really care.
A man could have it and he would still try and get close to them.
"Incorporating Fae into martial arts seems difficult as it takes the right fae to build around one's martial arts. Since practicing martial arts from a young age helps build a good foundation, it may be hard to incorporate fae into martial arts, however this is wrong".
Ratimir and Alina both raised an eyebrow.
Arthur continued.
"It's actually more important to build your martial arts around your Fae.... Yes Alina?".
The girl raised her hand, with a questioning look on her face.
"But it's very difficult for a person to match their martial arts with their fae, if they don't know what type of fae they'll awaken. Wouldn't that put then at a disadvantage if they do that?".
Everyone turned to look towards Arthur.
Arthur shook his head.
"I didn't use my Origin Fae during the competition. I used other Fae".
Alina opened her mouth to retort, but Arthur kept going.
"You see, Fae come in many types and sizes and attributes, but at the end of the day, most are similar, or carry some variation of one another. Fae can only have a single ability and while the crimson fae can shoot fireballs, the scarlet fae can shoot flame arrows. The bone sword fae can create a bone sword that can regenerate, while the moonsword fae has superior cutting power".
Arthur raised his hands and made a gesture.
"Similar, but different".
"The most important thing to do, is to put one, or perhaps two fae as the central aspect of your martial arts. The other fae you will possess will supplement these fae's abilities. For example, Randolf has the crimson fae and the flamespike fae, and can use the former for ranged attack, and the latter for defensive purposes".
"However, during our fight he kept the crimson fae fireballs in his hand and swiped out at me, using it in short range".
Arthur gave them all a peculiar look.
"Might not be martial arts, but if Randolf can build some palm techniques around the use of his crimson fae, he'll be able to thrust fireballs instead of thrusting his palm. For you Alina, I'm sure if I took away your fae and gave you Ratimir's fae and Ratimir Alina's fae, you both would be able to come up with something".
Ratimir and Alina turned to each other giving a small nod.
"Let me give you another example".
Arthur pointed to Andrea, who stood at the very back of the group.
She jumped slightly, feeling the attention of everyone on her, and turned slightly red in the face as she looked towards Arthur.
"In our fight, Andrea used woodpecker fae and flash fae. Neither one creates a weapon, or some sort of ranged ability capable of dealing damage. Woodpecker fae enhances piercing ability while flash fae can blind the opponents. Andrea built her martial arts around the fae, not the other way around".
"In the future, when Andrea awakens her Affection Tree Fae, she won't be able to use this Fae to supplement her combat abilities. This fae is more suited to taming spirit beasts and could be used in tandem with other more complimentary fae".
Arthur held out his hands as if trying to show he had nothing to hide.
"Using fae to compliment fae and using martial arts to compliment fae are the same thing. However, instead of using one fae to enhance the other, you are using your own body to enhance the fae. There is no difference. Do you understand me?".
Most of the commoners just gave shallow nods, looking at each other as their eyes betrayed them, while Ratimir, Alina and Randolf all showed looks of realization.
'So that's what he means!', they thought.
Instead of using fae to compliment themselves, they use themselves to compliment fae. They use martial arts to compliment fae!
A respectful look could be seen in their eyes.
Arthur scratched the back of his head.
'This type of stuff is taught to outer disciples in major sects and clans. To use it on a bunch of country bumpkins like the Kovacs Clan, almost seems like a waste'.
He sighed.
"At any rate, just talking won't get us anywhere. Ratimir and Alina, come up to the stage and swap fae. Then, fight".