As soon as Lagertha announced the end of the class, the sweating and exhausted students hurriedly returned their various weapons to the walls in an orderly manner, all under Lagertha's watchful gaze.
The monotone voice responsible for announcements made itself heard shortly after, declaring that dinner would be served in the next fifteen minutes.
Immediately after the announcement the students all left the hall, this time it didn't matter if it was students with Main Hero Status or the opposite leaving first, their next destination was the Dispensary Hall.
Stare together with Bobby and surprisingly Joel who had left his clique of students with Main Status to join them, made their way to the hall.
Attending the second dispensary for the first time, Stare was unsure of how it differed from the morning one.
Upon arrival at the hall, Stare, Bobby, and Joel, much like in the morning, chose a table at the far end.
The hall quickly filled with students, and the seating hierarchy mirrored the morning session, with those possessing status or backing seated at the front, leaving others toward the back.
The newly formed groups and denominations also continued with their attempt at recruiting new members, but aside from these efforts, there were no significant moves from students with Main Hero Status or Elites at that moment, which was a relief.
The Second Dispensary also had a strict time limit, with the doors closing immediately after the fifteen-minute mark. Dinner was served in the form of a variety of dishes.
To Stare, it would have been a delightful meal if he hadn't continuously noticed Riley, the golden-haired Elite amongst Elites, occasionally stealing glances at him.
Stare couldn't decipher Riley's thoughts or the reason for these glances, this was expected as Seers had a habit of unpredictability, however if he was to make a guess, he suspected it might be related to his issue with Raziel, plus it was very unlikely that Riley already had a vision related to Stare, especially since they hadn't met or crossed path and he was most likely not even up to Tier I yet and was probably having issues using his fief properly.
As long as he didn't make an attempt to approach him, Stare didn't see an issue with just stealing glances and decided to simply ignore the occasional glances like he had been doing to the many others before.
Surprisingly, this time, there didn't appear to be a set deadline for leaving the hall, as the usual announcement was noticeably absent even after thirty minutes had passed.
This absence of a deadline made sense since there were no other lectures or activities scheduled afterward, except for Lights Out, which was still a couple of hours away. This afforded the students approximately two extra hours to spend as they wished, including idle conversation in the dispensary hall.
Some students took advantage of this free time for casual chats, mostly among those with Main Hero Status. Many of the Supporting Hero Status students had already left the hall, possibly to avoid potential bullying by the Main Hero Status students.
Both Bobby and Joel suggested they leave as well, a proposal to which Stare readily agreed. He felt uncomfortable in the hall, despite the lack of harassment from other students, possibly due to Raziel's anticipated actions. Additionally, Riley continued to cast curious glances in his direction and then there was also the personal fief training he had planned.
Stare joined Bobby and Joel in their dorm but quickly excused himself, claiming to have forgotten something back in the dispensary hall. He left the dorm, leaving both Bobby and Joel with skeptical gazes.
His plan was to begin his training in the combat class hall, which he considered the perfect place for such an endeavor. Not only did he expect minimal interruptions, given his experience from the previous day, but the hall's spaciousness made it ideal for practicing his fief, especially since it was equipped with various weapons for experimentation.
Once in the hall, Stare locked the door behind him and instructed his AI, Paraclete, to alert him 20 minutes before Lights Out. He then positioned himself at the center of the hall.
Unsure of how to begin, Stare had been contemplating this issue throughout the day and had developed a few ideas that he believed could aid his training. However, he needed to understand the current limitations of his fief before proceeding.
Stare wasn't naive enough to believe that his fief had no limitations, especially since he hadn't even honed it to Tier I. Limitations were an integral part of his fief, and this held true not just for him but also for the Elites who could currently activate their fiefs.
Stare was aware that they probably had their own individual limitations. This seemed highly likely, as if the situation were different, the academy would have likely descended into chaos right from the first day.
With his eyes closed, Stare took a deep breath, recalling Joel's mention of an activation process for using a fief. He remembered that before he had unintentionally teleported to his dorm, he had pictured himself being in the dorm, specifically on his bed. This was likely his activation process: visualizing his destination for teleportation.
He began to visualize a specific location in his mind – the end of the hall where he stood. As he expected, a familiar, chilling sensation enveloped his entire body. He experienced rapid movements, becoming intangible, followed by a brief moment of blankness. When he opened his eyes, he found himself standing exactly where he had imagined.
A small smile appeared on his face, acknowledging his ability to activate his fief. However, his moment of triumph was cut short when he was suddenly struck by a sharp and severe headache. The intense pain and discomfort overwhelmed him, but before he could react, the pain vanished just as suddenly as it had come.
Stare instinctively touched his temple, still apprehensive about the pain he had experienced. Though it was brief, it had definitely shook him.
The pain was so excruciating that it made him reconsider using his fief. Fortunately, the brief pain left no lasting aftereffects, and he quickly regained his composure to continue testing his fief's limits.
This time, he asked Paraclete to set a timer to measure the time it took to teleport from one point to another. He vividly pictured the next spot in the hall he wanted to be in and repeated the same process as the first time. After a brief moment of blankness, Stare found himself standing in the spot he had envisioned.
His head was once again assaulted by the nasty headache, and this time, it seemed even more painful than the first, though Stare couldn't be certain as the pain didn't last for more than a second.
[3 Seconds]
Paraclete immediately announced the result of his experiment, prompting Stare to nod, visibly impressed. Being able to teleport from one point to another in just 3 seconds was an impressive feat, especially for someone who had only just started using his fief. The speed at which he could teleport was a valuable advantage, particularly against beginners and amateurs.
Stare decided to continue his test, but this time he didn't picture a specific location in the hall; he simply visualized being inside the hall.
He wanted to determine if his fief would teleport him randomly to any location or if there would be no reaction at all. After forming this mental image, he experienced the familiar blankness and then opened his eyes to find himself at a different spot in the hall. It confirmed that his fief could indeed teleport him randomly within the hall.
As Stare made a mental note of this, he was hit by the expected headache, but this time it was far more intense than the previous one. His body reacted quickly, and he clutched the side of his head, gritting his teeth and squinting with red eyes.
The pain felt like his head was on the verge of exploding, as if it were being continuously inflated and deflated, each moment just as excruciating as the last. Fortunately, like before, the pain didn't persist for long and abruptly disappeared, leaving behind only a slight trace of dizziness.
Stare slowly released his head from his grasp, his ragged breathing returning to normal.
He attempted to use his fief as before, but there was no response. Despite repeating the process after the initial failure, he obtained the same result.
It was clear to him at this point that he had reached his limit. Three teleportations were fewer than he had hoped for, but it wasn't entirely discouraging, especially considering how fast each teleportation was.
Stare remained in the hall, hoping that his fief might have a short cooldown period. However, even after waiting for several minutes, he saw no tangible results, except for a faint chill he felt with each attempt.
Paraclete soon reminded him of the twenty minutes until Lights Out, which forced him to postpone further training until the next day.