It was morning in the Hidden Phoenix Village. Josec, Harry, Buern, Jason and Estelle prepared for classes once more. They were headed towards their school ground which was not very far from the Temple. Many other Jo-lan Students were also heading towards the school grounds.
"We've had quite an exciting stay in the Hidden Phoenix Village" Jason said as they headed towards school.
"In the short time we've stayed here, we've learnt so many things concerning our histories as well as new skills. It's so exciting, I wonder what we'll be learning today" Buern said.
"It's interesting to see Buern excited about something other than fighting for a change" Harry teased.
"Don't start with me Harry" Buern chuckled slightly.
"Back in Ferus Village, these two were always fighting, even in the presence of teachers. They would never stop arguing regardless of how many times you tried to stop them" Josec whispered to Jason and Estelle.
"We heard that!" Buern and Harry roared as they shot Josec warning glares.
"See what I mean?" Josec laughed.
Estelle and Jason couldn't help but laugh as well.
Very soon, they were walking along the corridors of their school. As they approached their classroom, Estelle accidentally bumped into another girl who appeared to busy herself with a book. Both of them fell to the ground dropping their belongings.
"I'm so sorry, are you alright?" Estelle apologized.
The girl struggled to gather her belongings. Estelle offered a hand.
"I'm okay" the girl said as she continued to pick up her stuff.
"Fleur?" Josec suddenly called.
No one had noticed the girl yet since her book concealed her face as she approached and her head was lowered as she gathered her belongings.
"Josec?" the girl called.
"Fleur!" everyone suddenly called out in joy and surprise.
"What are you doing here?!" they all asked excitedly.
"So this is where you guys have been. Never thought I'd find you in the Book Of Jo-lan" Fleur laughed.
"You found the Hidden Phoenix Village all on your own?" Buern asked excitedly.
"More like I stumbled into it out of curiosity" Fleur said with a laugh.
"Tell us about it" Estelle asked with a smile.
"I've been recently studying into flora and fauna to increase my capacity to serve more efficiently as…" Fleur was saying when Josec interrupted with a chuckle.
"…Yggdrasil's sentinel" Josec said.
Fleur laughed.
"Yeah, I recalled the first time I bonded with Yggdrasil. Before then, all of us of the Port Town had been doing our best to help our damaged forests recover. I bonded with Yggdrasil just around the time the rumours concerning the heatwaves in Vung began to circulate. Jo-lan said Jason and I awakened the Class Of Dryad simultaneously" Fleur said.
"That should have been roughly a month before we came to your village for the drought resistant seeds and the Earth-Suturing Seeds" Josec noted.
Fleur nodded.
"It coincides with the timing of my first encounter with Jo-lan" Jason agreed.
Fleur nodded.
"Josec, I have always enjoyed the woods. It's been roughly six years since I first encountered Yggdrasil" Fleur said.
"It's been roughly two years since we requested the Earth-Suturing Seeds and drought resistant seeds. You were ten when we first encountered you so you should be roughly twelve years of age now. Then you should have first encountered Yggdrasil when you were only six" Josec noted.
Fleur nodded.
"Yep, and since then he's been teaching me many things about fauna, flora and Psychorages. I began to intensify my studies into these subjects shortly before you requested the Earth-Suturing Seeds. Yggdrasil noted how much you three had grown. I wondered whether there were any clues within the Book Of Jo-lan that could help me protect Yggdrasil better and when I opened the Book, I found my location recorded as a position within a village different from the Port Town which was my current location. I knew the Book Of Jo-lan was flawless and I also recalled that my first encounter with Jo-lan was within the Book Of Jo-lan. I asked Yggdrasil if it were possible for me to travel to the realm within the Book Of Jo-lan. He said it might actually help me catch up to you guys in terms of experience since the flow of time within the Book Of Jo-lan is not affected by the time flow within the natural world. I've been studying here for almost two years now" Fleur noted.
"You've actually been here way longer than we have and you discovered this realm even before we did? Pretty impressive Fleur!" Josec praised.
"Thanks" Fleur laughed. "Lately, my class has been learning Delta Type Techniques as a means of enhancing our ability to protect the forests" Fleur said.
"I see, so you're headed to our class now" Jason noted.
Fleur nodded.
"Then let's all head to class together" Estelle suggested.
The six Students eventually arrived in class. They took their seats, Fleur taking her position beside Buern. Moments later, the class began to fill up with Students. The Students spent some time conversing before Ken arrived in class. When Ken arrived, they began to pay close attention ceasing all their conversations at once.
"Good morning class. I hope you spent the previous day reviewing your lessons on Terrain Alteration Abilities" Ken greeted.
There was silence.
"Today, I will be teaching you a bit more about Terrain Alteration Abilities. To be specific, we will be studying into detail, Enhancing Terrain Alteration Abilities. I will not be teaching you how to utilize Debilitating Terrain Alteration Abilities though because they do not only damage your opponent but their environment as well and they most at times damage more than a single party. I taught you the theory behind Debilitating Terrain Alteration Techniques to widen your awareness of them by making you aware of their existence. Knowing that they exist and knowing how they can be used against you will increase your ability to defend against attacks of this nature and will allow you to sense when they are being used" Ken said.
The Students paid close attention.
"Debilitating Terrain Alteration Abilities come in all sorts of forms. Some are utilized to harm opponents by damaging or altering their physical environment. Others are utilized to damage an opponent by harming or altering their social environment. Debilitating Terrain Alteration Abilities can only be countered through Enhancing Terrain Alteration Abilities. By utilizing Enhancing Terrain Alteration Abilities that improve the physical environment of your allies, you can strengthen them against Debilitating Terrain Alteration Abilities that are designed to harm them through their physical environment. Also by utilizing Enhancing Terrain Alteration Abilities that improve the social spheres of your allies, you can protect them from Debilitating Terrain Alteration Abilities designed to harm them mentally or emotionally through their social spheres. It just goes to say that problems and enemies come in all manner of forms" Ken said.
"Makes sense" Buern thought. "I was originally sent to spy on Josec and Harry by maintaining contact with them through their school activities" Buern realized. "So Josec must have in a sense utilized an Enhancing Terrain Alteration Ability when he freed me from Souryu's control" Buern realized.
"Not all enemies will confront you physically. Some of them attack by infiltrating social spheres" Harry noted. "One of the reasons I was originally very wary of Buern. But seeing her concern for Josec especially in the town of Gate changed my opinion of her and gradually allowed me to lower my guard" Harry thought.
"So are you all ready to learn about Enhancing Terrain Alteration Abilities?" Ken asked with a smirk.
"Yes! Let's get this started!" the Students cheered.
"I see; an instant response. Enthusiasm should be encouraged especially in the youth. Well then…I'll have you learn about Enhancing Terrain Alteration Abilities by undergoing a special test I designed for you. I call it 'Farming the Desert Of Confusion!'" Ken said with a laugh.
The Students cheered.
"Everyone seems so gung ho about the lesson though they do not even know the nature of the test" Buern laughed.
"I want to see what the test is all about as well" Estelle said.
"Even Fleur seems excited" Josec pointed.
Fleur was cheering with the rest of the Students.
"Ready? Alright! It's time to depart!" Ken called.