"So you met Lerin The Wise already? How did it go?" - Devin questions J.
"Nothing too serious, Dad. I was surprised when I first looked at her as she had The Blessing of The Eye, but I managed to dodge that ability and continue with her conversation. At the very least, I got her into a deal." - J answers.
J explains the entire story to Devin. Basically, he wants to get extra information about the Families as well as hints about his parents by going into the Library of Time. However, that place is not available for everyone so he accepts to teach them how to learn his quick spell.
"Be careful, Son. Once you let them know your skills, they might be able to know your actual identity as a spy. That will put you in a tough position." - Devin reminds.
"I know what I have to do, Dad. As long as I am still Devin then no one will ever know my identity." - J emphasizes.
"The next time you meet Lerin, try not to answer too much. She is one of the strongest Mind Readers in our country. Her Blessing can get almost every single thing out of a person when he/she looks at her directly. Our group worked with her several time in the past before you became a permanent member, so we know pretty sure how impactful her ability is." - Devin gives J one last piece of advice before ending the channel.
"You met her before?" - J asks.
"Yes, our groups worked for the King back then. That was when I knew your parents. Lerin was just a little girl, but somehow she achieve the Blessing at a really young age. After that, she became one of the most important people as she can identify weak points with her eyes which can turn a losing battle in her favor." - Devin sighs.
"And that Blessing of her is also one of the easiest Blessing we can block away, am I right?" - J smiles back at Devin and ends the channel right away.
"..."
"This kid... I have to say that he starts to get a bit out of hand. I get that he is knowledgeable and the strongest spy we have ever created, but to this extent is ridiculous. Not only can he realize the ability, but he also knows how to get away with it. Lerin's Blessing has one weak point, and it is really crucial. Only me and his parents know about that. Where in the world did this kid get this information from?" - Devin look shocked after hearing what J just said.
...
The second class starts. J walks to school as usual. All of a sudden, a shadow slowly appears behind him, but he is not surprised at all as this shadow is familiar to him at this point.
"Can you leave me alone, you crazy woman?" - J quickly run away from the shadow.
"Do you think you can run away from me, Dylan? Speed - Activated!" - Lucy from behind uses her spell to catch J. The moment she is about to touch him, J suddenly disappears. J cannot help but smile at Lucy's expression as she looks completely confused.
"That is Teleportation for you. Next time, you might want to use it if you want to catch a person who is fast than you." - J goes straight to his classroom without looking back.
"Just you wait!" - Lucy pouts then goes to her classroom.
...
The moment students see J coming in, they all turn silent. The classroom is as full as the first day since everyone now is waiting for his lecture. It is fully packed that some of them have to stand right at the door just to join his class. J says nothing and looks around once. Everyone can feel the chills through his stare.
"Did you practice your Focus point?" - J starts his lecture.
"YES, PROFESSOR!" - All students speak up at once.
"Good. However, that is what you report to me. I will now check your Focus point myself. Everyone stand up!" - J speaks.
J divides the students into groups where each group represents their power specialty. During this time he silently casts a spell to help him check for Focus points, and every single student has at least some baselines as he expected. This is an excellent time to move on to the next part of the lecture.
"I already checked your Focus. Everyone pass! Now it is time for the second lecture. For each group: Have one student introduce your group specialty to everyone here." - J looks at the students.
"I never have "Second" in my mind, so I will go first: My name is Margaret Sovirenka - The daughter of the great Sovirenka Family! I personally represent our group of Mage." - Margaret proudly presents herself as usual in front of everyone.
"There are many Families within each land. I am not sure if Dad has information about the Sovirenka Family, but this can be a seed they plant within LMS for future uses. I have to be cautious about her." - J looks at Margaret while listening to her introduction.
"Hello everyone. My name is Ariksen Variean. I am representing our group of Weapon Master." - Ariksen first introduces himself.
"Hi, my name is Tera Inafiel - representing our group of Brawler." - Tera makes her first appearance.
"Margaret, Ariksen, Tera. Thank you all three of you for the introduction. Now I will start the lecture for today. This will be new for the first-year. The second-year might or might not learn about this before, but at the end of the day, everyone will be able to achieve the same goal: Generating Mana and Focus all together." - J emphasizes in his lecture.
"You all have Focus points up to this moment. The question is how should you use it effectively. You know how to cast an ability using Mana, but you are not 100% used to the Focus point. What I want all three groups to do in class is to channel your Mana plus Focus point and see if you can maintain both of them at the same time or not. You have an hour to practice and figure it out yourself. No question during that time as I will go over again later on. Now start!" - J sets the classrooms into several sections so every group can have some spaces to practice on their own. He even uses the hallway in front of his classroom to help out the students.
As expected, a lot of them struggle to maintain both energy sources at the same time. This is what J expected before coming in. However, the top students in both first-year and second-year are able to keep both their Mana and Focus for a few seconds longer than the others. Everyone cannot help but look at them with admiration. Those students are the three that spoke up earlier as they are recognized by their classmates as the top students due to their high understanding of Mana. An hour goes by and the students look exhausted as if they deplete their Mana completely.
"We are sorry, Professor Dylan. This is as far as we can go." - Tera speaks up.
"To maintain for that along, I will admit that you all are learning fast. Now stand up and go back to your seat. Restoration - Activated!" - J heals every single student with a single spell of his.
"A mass healing? Normally, this will cost a huge amount of Mana to perform since it is based on how strong your Mana is. Professor Dylan just cast it as if it is nothing to him? Not even Mother can do it this fast!" - Margaret receives the healing from J, and she keeps on questioning herself about him.
"The reason why it is hard to maintain the balance is that you did not fully utilize your own specialty." - J speaks.
"Our own specialty?" - Everyone discusses with each other.
"Silence! I will tell you why. First, all three of the Mage, Weapon Master, and Brawler used only one method of getting Focus: channel it from the entire body back to one single point which is your chest. This method works great for Mana as it helps condense the Mana throughout your body, and you can conveniently control it however you like. Focus point is different from that. It is a natural essence in each person. Therefore, you must let it flow naturally and make it adapted to your personal specialty. In other words, the Mage - Your Focus should be channeled through your wands/grimoires. The Weapon Master - Focus should be located within your weapons. Doing it incorrectly will only cost you more energy to get Focus point, which you will end up with exhaustion." - J explains the idea of the Focus point.
"Professor Dylan, but we did not feel exhausted at all? Although we did the same thing as the other group?" - Tera raises her hand.
"Did I give you the time for questions, Miss Tera?" - J looks back at her.
"I...I'm sorry.." - Tera looks scared after looking at J.
"Anyway, it is just like Tera said. The Brawler group, although you used the same method, did not get the same exhaustion as the other groups. The reason is that Brawlers are so used to fighting with their hands. This is crucial as when you channel the Focus point, it conveniently flows directly to your hands which is your main weapon. Now, time for your questions." - J allows for questions at this time.
"Professor Dylan! Then are they getting an advantage basically as they will learn Focus point faster than the rest of us?" - Ariksen quickly asks.
"Yes and no. Yes - the Brawler group will be just a bit quicker in adapting both Mana and Focus into the body, No - every group has its own pros and cons. Understanding the pros and cons of your power will get you through a new level of practice. Brawlers can gather both Mana and Focus points much quicker but they have to do it every single time; Mages are slower but when you gain Focus points then they will stay within you for a long time; Weapon Masters do not achieve quickly like Brawlers and do not have a large mana pool like Mages, but your weapons are tools to fuse your Mana and Focus points into. Once you are depleted then your weapons will back you up right away." - J explains each group really carefully.
"This is crazy. I have never understood something like that. It seems like a lot, but once you pay close attention then what he said makes perfect sense! I need to tell my parents about Professor Dylan. My name Family will be greatly benefited from him!" - The exact same thought appears in the mind of Margaret, Ariksen, and Tera.
"So far, that is the 3 groups in our class. From now on, I will give you time to get used to your inner energy. Mana and Focus points need absolute attention from the user in order to better maintain those two sources. That will be your assignment before our next class. Next time, I will check each group, and if I see that you all are in a stable form of energy then we will have a quick spar. That way you will get to know yourself and your enemy much better. Alright, class dismissed!" - J says one last thing before ending his class.
"Professor Dylan, do we get something out of the spar next week?" - Some students ask our of curiosity.
"Do not get ahead of yourself! Either you enter the spar or you don't. The reward is that you will be stronger. However, I understand that you need motivation. Therefore, I will give you this: Whoever wins the spar will have a one-on-one session with me. I will personally teach you about your own power. How's that?" - J looks at them.
"REALLY? Then we will try our best, professor Dylan!" - The competitiveness sparks within each person in the room.
"I will win that spar and get him to my side. I cannot miss this!" - The same thought appears to Margaret, Ariksen, and Tera again.
...
After class, J walks back to his office where he sees Lucy and another woman standing in front.
"Hi Lucy, do you need help with something?" - J asks.
"Hi Dylan. Finally, you are here! Can we move into your office for a talk?" - Lucy pull both J and the woman into his office.
"Ok, what is it now?" - J complains.
"Hehe sorry about that. Anyway, let me introduce my best friend here: This is Kimberly. We knew each other since we were little kids. She also teaches here for the second-year students as a Battle Formation Examinator. She heard about your rumor, so she wants to make some friends." - Her cheerful attitude annoys J as always.
"Rumors through who?" - J glares back at Lucy.
"Err...Me?" - Lucy profusely sweats.
"Ugh...Anyway, hi Kimberly. My name is Dylan. I am a new professor, and really nice to see you."- J shows a smile toward Kimberly. Kimberly is a year older than both J and Lucy. She looks mature on the outside with her noticeable dark skin color and short black hair.
"H...Hello, Nice to meet you, too." - Kimberly shyly responds.
"Well, this is kinda late. We are all tired now. Why don't we talk at a later time when we are all free?" - J suggests.
"Awesome! How about this weekend? We can have a lot of time talking. Downtown Loran is pretty new to me and J, so why don't we head there?" - Lucy excitedly recommends the weekend for all three of them.
They agree to Lucy's suggestion and head back to their place separately.
...
"Son, there is an unknown group coming to Loran tomorrow night. We tracked them for a long time now as they somehow related to our mission. I want you to investigate them to see what they are after, and if things get worse then you are allowed to eliminate them." - Devin who is working at the moment gives J a mission through their channel.
"Roger that, Colonel!" - J avoids saying "Dad" when he is working as he still feels awkward in front of his staff. Receiving the letter, J looks surprised as he finds the target somewhat familiar.
"They are....?" - J mumbles.
Episode 7 - End