"Feint...casting?"
"Magic cancellation..?"
My students gulped at the showcase of the new techniques.
Some even hold their breath, forgetting that they have to breathe.
But one thing they all had in common, they were all shocked about the thing that they had just learned.
"Please sit down again, Miss Leviathan. I am grateful for your help."
I gestured to her seat, giving her a faint smile before she left the arena.
"You did well. Good job."
After that, I turned my attention back to the rest of my students.
"So, who can tell me what Miss Leviathan just did?"
Nobody answered.
Even though this class was full of elites, nobody could find an answer for what either feint casting or magic cancellation was, thus not being able to explain what had just happened.
They just sat there watching me, with an intimidating pressure of expectation on me.
"I'll explain it. You know what magic is, right?"
My eyes skimmed through the audience, looking for someone -anyone- to raise their hand and answer my question.
No one did.
Although that lacklustre reaction disappointed me, I didn't want to be petty and just started explaining.
As I wanted to give up on them, one girl slowly raised her hand.
Her hand went up slowly, almost shyly. Almost as if she was scared to say something, even though it was an answer that everyone present should have known.
I couldn't understand why they all acted so uncertainly.
I narrowed my eyes, trying to identify who the girl was that raised her hand.
The girl had slightly tanned skin and beautiful snow-white hair. Her eyes were also yellow -almost golden-, similar to the eyes of Baal-hamon.
Her looks made me wonder if she also was from the eastern continent.
My eyes widened slightly as I identified who the girl was.
"Yes, Miss Celine?"
Magicians of the mage tower don't have a last name. As such, joining any mage tower would mean that you would be stripped of your title, even if you were a noble or an emperor before.
And as such, the person that previously existed disappeared, and only the magician's side of the mage kept existing.
"It might not be the answer you were looking for, but magicians in the mage tower have agreed that magic is a part of nature. And...uhm.. they theorized that our world itself also had its own will."
She stopped as she glanced at me carefully, giving me a look that seemed to ask for my confirmation.
I nodded in response, and she exhaled shortly before continuing her explanation, this time with more confidence.
"In a way, it is similar to the Depths in its fulfilment of wishes, but uses mana as compensation. If you have enough mana, you can use that as a tool to trade with the world, and your wish gets fulfilled and comes to life."
"Yes. You did well. That was a perfect explanation."
Celine exhaled once again, this time calming herself down and regaining the confidence that she previously possessed.
"So why do we talk when casting spells, then?"
This time, it was Raum who raised his hand, practically brimming with energy as his hand shot up.
As there was no one else to choose from, I chose him.
"Yes, Mr.Beelzebub?"
"That's easy. Of course, it's to strike a deal with the world! We give it mana, and the world fulfills our wishes. That's also the reason why beings born out of nature itself are almost always strong!"
I couldn't help but chuckle at Raum's enthusiastic answer. Although the answer wasn't wrong by any means, it was just amusing to see how the person that challenged my competence started to cooperate in such a passionate manner.
I've heard that every devil's royal family was cursed with a specific flaw they couldn't eliminate.
In Beelzebub's case, it was 'gluttony'.
I always thought that their gluttony only revolved around food, but seeing it now, I guessed that it meant gluttony in a more general sense.
It could be gluttony about anything.
And seeing the hungry look in Raum's eyes, I guessed that his gluttony revolved around knowledge.
'That's something that I can get behind.'
"Yes, in some way, and no."
I paused for a moment, enjoying the baffled look on the faces of my students.
'I could do this every day.'
Impressing people with my knowledge was by far one of the most fun things that I could do.
I loved watching the faces of my conversation partner turning into one of confusion and then understanding.
It was my guilty pleasure.
"Although it is a way to strike a deal with the world, it doesn't explain how things such as silent casting exist."
"...you're right."
Raum didn't seem displeased about being wrong. Rather, he seemed to be excited about it.
I guessed that his curse of 'gluttony' turned him into some kind of information addict, always craving to learn something new.
"What would it be then?"
Ellen put her hand on her chin and furrowed her eyebrows as she thought about it.
"Celine already said the answer. The world primarily reacts to our...?"
"..Wishes..?"
The class repeated, not knowing where this all would lead to.
"Right, and what can also be used as a way to strike a deal with the world?"
"Talking?"
This time, it was Seraphir who spoke.
Although she sounded uncertain, she still tried to add her own thoughts to that topic, which was quite commendable in my eyes.
I nodded.
"Yes, talking. The funniest thing about that misconception is that the words that you spoke didn't matter. Chanting is only a way to help yourself visualize the spell, which is also the reason why silent casting is possible."
Sounds of understanding echoed throughout the room. It sounded like everyone was slowly understanding what I was trying to say.
"However, Silent casting is quite difficult for many people as it requires the user to be able to perfectly visualize the spell in their head without saying anything."
An expression of realization spread around the students.
"So what if we loudly casted a spell? While using silent casting to cast another spell?"
"You would cast two spells at the same time, but the world recognizes the normal casted spell as the intended spell as it has priority over silent casted spells, meaning that you would visually cast the normal spell."
Ellen furrowed her eyebrows as she leaned forward, dropping her forehead onto her crossed hands. Her mumbling was so loud that everyone in her room could hear her thought process.
"Isn't that similar to dual casting?"
Gasps erupted throughout the audience as they realized another component of feint casting.
I smiled at Ellen's remark.
"Sort of. Although it is not quite the same, you can use that as a sort of blueprint to figure out how to dual cast by yourself."
Although dual casting was something that was widely known among all the magicians, only a few knew how to dual cast.
The reason for that was that every one that is capable of dual casting refused to spread their knowledge, essentially gatekeeping that skill, which was quite understandable as its effectiveness was unimaginable.
The only reason why I knew how that functioned was because of a certain friend who gave me all that information in exchange for me paying for his meals. -
I was sure that a normal person would feel bad about leaking the blueprint to such a technique for free, especially if a close friend entrusted the theory to you.
'I don't think that he would care, though.'
Although dual casting and feint casting were techniques, he often used, his arsenal of other casting techniques was so vast that I doubted giving a few of those away would matter to him.
"But what if you suddenly wished for the silent casted spell to become reality right before you finish casting the normal one? Wouldn't the world react to that, then?"
Seraphir chimed in, ripping me out of my thoughts.
"Certainly..the world would then prioritise the wish and bring the silent casted spell into reality."
I finished explaining.
"That's feint casting."
***
***
Most of the students felt a chill running down their spine as they all stared at Voidwalker.
Even the student's who didn't understand the importance of magic knew that the thing that he had just explained was something big.
"Oh, and magic cancellation is pretty easily explainable."
However, Voidwalker didn't stop them there.
He dropped bombshell after bombshell. not even giving the students a single moment to recover.
"As magic circles are essentially just construct brought to reality, you can just destroy them like every other physical construct. Honestly, I don't even know why nobody realized that until now."
It was easier said than done. Trying to interrupt a magic circle would mean that you would have to directly face the magic, essentially forcing yourself into a dangerous situation.
Until now, nobody ever even thought about directly trying to attack a magic circle.
To do such a thing, you would have to be either suicidal or completely devoid of fear.
Among all the students, a single thought occurred.
"What if I had chosen another course?"
They shivered at the thought of missing out on the information that they just gained.
Everyone looked at Voidwalker with the same eyes.
A feeling of awe that far surpassed respect.
It was almost similar to the devotion to a god.
'What pitiful souls....'
Celine couldn't help but feel pity for all the people that chose the other combat course over this one.
"How do you even know such things?"
A boyish voice rang out.
Celine turned her head to the voice, spotting the owner of that voice almost immediately.
Luke, the second prince of the empire, chose to ask the question that they all had been thinking about inside of their heads.
Voidwalker put his hand up onto his chin, stroking it thoughtfully.
He then formed a faint, almost unrecognizable smile.
"A fairy told me."
Celine furrowed her eyebrows, trying to look for any clues if he was joking or not.
Unfortunately, she couldn't identify any sign of clue on his face and decided that it was just something that she should keep in the back of her mind.
After all, fairies -just like dragons- were beings born of nature. Although some people spotted them, there never was a record of anyone ever having a conversation with one of that kind.
However, she didn't want to exclude that possibility, as that would certainly explain his knowledge about techniques, even though he was not a mage.
-RING -RING
The lecture bell rang out, signalling the end of the class.
Although in most cases, that would be a reason to be happy, almost all the students had the same reaction.
Disappointment.
They all sighed in disappointment, almost in unison, even.
Voidwalker glanced at them with a raised eyebrow before shaking his head, thinking that it was not something worth thinking about.
"Before I forget, I just wanted to notify you that I prepared notes for everyone because I couldn't give advice on my orientation day. If anyone wants their notes, they should come to me after school and ask for them. I'll be in the cafeteria for a short time after school. Meet me there."
And with those words, he left the training centre, acting as if nothing had happened at all.
To him, it was just a normal day.
A normal day as a teacher.
Celine couldn't help but form a faint smile as she watched him leaving the room nonchalantly.
"...What an extraordinary professor."