After the lesson had concluded, nearly all the students began the slow trudge back to the dorms. While the day started off with them all getting battered by a battle maniac instructor, it ended with them having to utilize every fiber of their existence in physical training. Exhausted and pain finally caught up to them as the adrenaline finally began to wear off. The only one without this issue was Joe. Although he had taken a few strikes from Instructor Summers, he faired far better than his peers. Even the physical training had little effect on his composition. He had long been training his body to withstand the brutalities that he could face in life.
Seeing that only he remained behind, Instructor Summers had a curious look take over her face. "What, did you not take enough of a beating earlier and want me to instill more pain into your body?"
Being pulled from his own thoughts, Joe looked directly into the green eyes of the woman in front of him. "Actually ma'am, there's something I was curious about. Rather, something has been bothering me since earlier and I was wondering if you'd be willing to help me with an experiment to see if my theory is correct or not."
"What would this experiment be proving exactly?" Her curiosity began to seep from her face as this young man had yet again done something outside her expectations.
"I'm not entirely sure what it is I would be proving. Hell, I'm not even sure if this experiment would prove the cause. However, if it fails then I would at least rule out the only possibility that has been in my mind all this time." Without a stutter, Joe prepared himself to face whatever may come next. Either way he was determined to see this through.
"Very well, what do you need from me exactly? I can at least hear you out." Instructor Summers took a couple steps closer to Joe to gauge his mental state thus far. He gave off a different aura than the typical rich kids that attended the Academy and she wanted to know why.
"When you 'rewarded' me earlier, I felt a minor fluctuation in my magic. Initially, I thought it was from physical exertion or even from shock. After focusing on it for a short while, I decided to gauge my magic. To my surprise, it increased by a level. I would like to ask you to repeat what happened earlier." Standing tall and without a single shake to his determination, Joe voiced that which had been bothering him the entire lesson. He was fully ready to leave once his request was shot down.
"Fine, however, you will need to gauge you magic before and after. If I don't see this growth that you mentioned, then I will 'reprimand' you accordingly. This is the only chance I'm giving you to walk away if you are just messing around." The expected reaction never came. Instead, Joe took an Armorite crystal from his pocket and began pouring his magic into it. On completion, he shows the reading of one hundred eighteen to the curious woman in front of him.
"This is my reading now. If the same thing happens again, then it should read a level higher within minutes after you finish assisting me. Like earlier, you are free to act on your own." Putting the crystal back in his pocket, Joe's hand found their way into both his pockets. He fully intended to do nothing except reenact the events of earlier. If everything worked out, then he would have a baseline to build off in the future.
"You better not be lying, or I won't hold back when I beat you senseless." With a slightly embarrassed look to her, Instructor Summers quickly closed the distance between their faces and gently pressed her lips on his. Slowly coming back down onto her feet, she took half a step back while refusing to make eye contact. "How long do we need to wait for it to stabilize?"
"It took a couple minutes last time. For some reason, this fluctuation is larger than the last so it may take a moment longer. Once I have it under control, I will show you the reading again. If it is unchanged, I won't even fight back." Joe then sat on the ground and began to focus on the magic swirling within himself. As he expected, there was a portion that was moving out of sync with the rest. Focusing on that section alone, he began to conform it to the rest of his magic.
Once he had all his magic moving in a uniform pattern, Joe opened his eyes and came to his feet. Pulling the crystal from his pocket once again, he repeated the gauging process. With a slight smirk on his face, Joe turned the crystal towards the awaiting woman. Shock was the only readable emotion on her face. In just over five minutes, she witnessed Joe's magic level go from one hundred eighteen to one hundred twenty-one. A three-level growth that would take anyone else decades to achieve was done in five minutes.
"How is that possible" was all she could mutter.
"I may not know all of the specifics about it, hell, I know near nothing about this. However, I did learn one thing if nothing else. Your lips seem to make me stronger." With a genuine smile and a slightly joyous appearance, Joe looked down into the nervous eyes of his instructor.