Three weeks later and Isla only entered Ranked Battles three more times after her first try. She was now on 787 points, which put her in 33rd place.
Sho Murakami had 1700 points, Aria Shinomiya had 1324 points and Kin Wakabayashi had 1190 points.
"You're the only one who came to the lesson today, Isla. I guess everyone else is either slacking or in Ranked Battles. I'll give you ten points for showing up, so you can go if you want."
The instructor said while sighing. She wanted to teach trainees but they mostly neglected lessons. Only those hopeless in a direct one-on-one battle attended all their lessons and people like Isla, who wanted to get as many points as possible.
"No, Instructor Kendall, I want to learn about mana, if possible. That's why I came to your lesson."
"Eh, seriously...? Oh well, I'll teach you what you want to learn."
Instructor Kendall furrowed her brow slightly, however, she gave up and started teaching Isla.
"What do you want to know in particular?"
"I want to know more about... well, I just want to improve myself in terms of mana."
"Oh, then, show me your mana."
Isla stood up and walked up to the front and faced Instruction Kendall.
The white-haired girl waved her hand—a multitude of small spheres of mana surrounded her.
"!"
Instructor Kendall's eyes widened as Isla released her mana. She scratched her head, struggling with how she should encounter this situation.
"Instructor? Is there something wrong?"
"Isla... Who taught you sorcery?"
Isla released the mana that she had released.
"Sorcery? Is that magic or something?"
"No, sorcery and magic are different. Let me just tell you first, those so-called 'mana spheres' you summoned were not mana."
"What?"
"Those were spheres of aether."
"Aether?"
Sorcery and magic were different. The results of each practice seemed similar but they were different from each other.
"Anyway, it's quite rare to see someone who can do both sorcery and magic. People who can do both are called Irregulars. They're quite rare and tend to become powerful."
"Really..."
The girl looked at her hand. She was happy with her instructor's explanation. If all the other Irregulars were extremely powerful then she would one day become so too.
"I'll explain the fundamentals of each. First of all, magic. Magic is built upon mana. Mana is life force taken from different elements in the world and magic gives it concrete form. Magic always has an element. There are some exceptions like when someone blasts a raw sphere of mana."
"Wait, so what you're saying is that magic always had an element?"
"Exactly. Mana cannot take a fixed shape if it does not possess an element. It can take the shape of a sphere like this, but that's it."
Instructor Kendall made a white ball of mana in her hand, demonstrating it to Isla.
"Then, what makes aether different from mana?"
"I can't demonstrate it since I'm not an Irregular but... Sorcery is what magic is to mana. Sorcery is the foundation of aether. Aether is theoretical particles taken from living things. Due to the potency of aether, you can make concrete shapes out of aether. Unlike a mana sphere, that can only be shot straight, if the sorcerer demands it, the aether can bend to his will."
Isla came to a certain realisation.
(I'm guessing, during my first duel, the reason why my opponent did not see my attack coming was that it was aether-concentrated. He expected it to only shoot in one direction but it bent to my will...)
Isla began to realise that she was not exactly the typical Streia. Being an Irregular was merely the tip of the iceberg.
(Now that I think about it... It was my first time using that type of move in battle before. If I had used sorcery in Interblade, a teacher would have noticed. I thought I battled intellectually but I guess I'm more of an instinctive fighter.)
She gave a placid smile as she came to realise more and more about herself. Instructor Kendall noticed her smile but dismissed it.
"Ah, aether is also usually collected and also put into weapons."
The instructor grabbed a dagger from her waist and held it toward Isla.
"That's just a dagger, right? Or is it a magic dagger?"
Instructor Kendall buzzed incorrectly.
"Neither. It's a Rupture Armament."
She removed the dagger's sheath and held it in front of her, away from the white-haired girl beside her.
"Since I'm not trying to kill anyone, I'll amp down the power. Yura; Combust."
The blade of the dagger glowed profoundly. It was almost as if the dagger had a mind of its own. The amount of aether that leaked from the blade was incredible, even if Instructor Kendall did weaken its power.
The girl could tell that the blade would spell death for someone with a single slice.
(A Rupture Armament? Those must be dangerous. That dagger is no joke for its size.)
She thought to herself, observing the aether flowing around the blade.
"As you can probably see, the thing floating around the blade is not mana but aether."
As she stared at it, Isla felt the blade emit an intimidating presence.
"Does aether always feel this prickly?"
"Perhaps to people sensing it for the first time, but the reason you feel anxious right now is that I activated my Rupture Armament."
Rupture Armaments were weapons that gave the wielder a massive advantage in battle. Instead of holding mana within them, they held aether. Although they were powerful weapons that gave an edge in battle, the more powerful the weapon, the harder it is to control.
There are cases where people do not know that their weapons are Rupture Armaments. Yuichi Asame is an example. He wields the Tainted Wisdom, which is a Rupture Armament but does not know. That is because the sword has not yet fully accepted him as its partner.
Rupture Armaments have minds of their own. They are weapons with spirits within them. For the wielder to rupture their weapon successfully, they must be accepted by their weapon. The weapon decides whether to rupture or not.
"Now, I'll tell you this, I can help you with mana but not aether. Sorcery will be something that you'll need to learn on your own."
"Right."
(Sorcery seems flexible. I'll use it more often in Ranked Battles. Perhaps, I'll be able to beat Aria with it.)