"Isn't it quite inappropriate to deceive Teacher Aetna like this?" I barely swallowed back the word "bully". I felt bad for the poor teacher. What kind of mess had she gotten herself into, being played like a fiddle?
It was only in Edenmere that one could find such a naive angelic teacher. If she was on Earth, she would be the typical easy victim, helping to count the money after being scammed.
"How is she pitiful? Didn't you see how fiercely she was yelling at me earlier?" Cyra said, clearly displeased. Suddenly recalling something, she looked at me mockingly.
"What's wrong? Are you captivated by the pretty and cute angel teacher already? Are you even speaking up for her? Let me think, who was it again that woke up so late this morning..."
"No way, don't spout nonsense!" I hadn't expected her to use this against me too. But after understanding Aetna's overly weak personality, even if Cyra exposed my tardiness, it wouldn't be a big deal.
Still, I did feel bad about insisting on the truth after lying to myself. I had no right to accuse others.
"Forget it, do whatever you want!" I conceded unhappily. But I couldn't help reminding Cyra, "You should still focus on your studies. It's not easy to have this opportunity that I couldn't even have in the outside world. Didn't you say you wanted to reach four wings during our stay? What if Elara doesn't allow you to leave Edenmere afterwards? Have you thought about that?"
"Oh...I forgot about that..." Cyra looked somewhat stunned. It seemed she had completely forgotten her promise.
I felt a tinge of despair. Could this girl deliver?
"Are you done?"
Seeing us chat for so long, Aetna finally worked up the courage to ask Cyra and me timidly.
"If you're done, I'll start class..."
"Yes, we're done!" I quickly nodded. She acted in this way mainly because of me. But when it comes to Cyra, she can still maintain some teacher-like manners.
Perhaps Aetna was more suited to being a neighbourhood elder sister than a teacher. She actually matched my imagination of an angel quite well, with no complaints about her looks or figure, apart from that slightly dangerous hairstyle.
"Let's continue our lesson in the air. Cyra, come up with us." After seeing everyone was ready, Aetna gestured and took the lead ascending into the sky. Hesitating for a moment, Cyra finally spread her wings to follow.
"Which of you wants to fly at full speed around the arena first? I want to observe your flying form." Aetna asked Nicola and I in midair.
"I'll go!" Nicola eagerly volunteered and rushed off without waiting for a response. Within a minute, she had circled and returned to her original spot.
"As I expected, you're purely relying on instinct to flap your wings. That would slow you down tremendously." Aetna laughed as she evaluated after watching Nicola's flight.
"You mean we shouldn't use instinct?" I couldn't help butting in. I had always taken for granted that flapping the wings must rely on instinct to fly. Her words completely shattered my assumptions.
"Instinct is enough if you only have one pair of wings, but with two pairs or more, you need to learn to adjust the angles of the other wings. Never flap them all together—the greater thrust would disrupt air currents and reduce speed."
Aetna finally demonstrated some teacher-like manners, patiently explaining to us.
"But I can't consciously control them..." This was the crux of the issue. I started feeling uneasy, afraid I might just drop straight down with one mistake.
"It takes a lot of practice. Admittedly, it's quite difficult for new angels, but most can learn with proficiency over time."
Sensing my apprehension, she reassured me.
"For six-winged angels like us, we usually let the original pair continue flapping by instinct to maintain basic flight while using the other two pairs at varied angles for auxiliary propulsion, like this..."
As she spoke, she turned her back towards us and demonstrated directly with her wings.
"Try to separate each wing pair as I do, then coordinate that with the flapping of the original wings. Once you get the hang of it, your speed will be much faster!"
"So fast..." I couldn't help but be amazed. As soon as she finished speaking, she shot forth like a released arrow, circling the arena at remarkable speed before returning to her original position. It fully matched the impression Serena had left me.
"She's probably about several times faster than me." Even Nicola sighed in admiration. She immediately turned to stare at her wings on her back, trying to imitate the technique.
"But it is difficult..." I followed suit in practicing. It had looked simple, but attempting it made me realize that simultaneously controlling so many wings to move differently was extremely tough. It felt like trying to draw circles with one hand while squares with the other—utterly impossible to master quickly without talent.
And it was easy to destabilize the original pair maintaining balance. Nicola wobbled unsteadily several times, nearly falling from the sky.
"Let's return to the ground for practice." Worried we might crash fatally, Aetna anxiously advised us to stop.
However, Nicola and I were reluctant to change locations. Being in midair made experimentation more convenient, and with Aetna and Cyra watching over us, accidents were unlikely.
"Don't rush for quick results!" Seeing she couldn't persuade us down, Aetna grew slightly frantic but had no other way to force us. She could only continue appealing rationally,
"These things cannot be hurried. You need to familiarize yourself gradually, coordinating with your feel for air currents, until the actions become intuitive memory. Anyway, even if you can't learn it, high-speed flight is an advanced technique for chasing enemies or urgent escape, not a compulsory skill for all angels."
"I'm sorry..." Hearing her on the verge of crying, I heaved a sigh and obediently landed to practice on the ground.
After the previous fiasco and her advice, I realized mastering these high-speed techniques quickly was unlikely.
"Practice proficiently on the ground first before trying out at low altitudes. Never practice alone high up without supervision—that is forbidden." Seeing Nicola also follow me down, Aetna breathed a huge sigh of relief. She repeatedly reminded us of precautions and even came over personally to adjust our wing positions.
"Teacher, I can't get my wings to the angle you mentioned. Can you come over and see?" Batting her eyes pleadingly at Aetna tutoring Nicola hands-on, Cyra flapped her lone wing pair and called out.
"You still have just two wings. Practicing now is useless! Just remember the motions for now." Although puzzled by Cyra's sudden diligence, the naive Aetna still walked over to help adjust her stance.
This was Cyra's little trick. We watched her shamelessly take the chance to snuggle intimately against Aetna, even sneaking peeks at her chest area.
Why are you so skilled in this? I was rendered speechless but could hardly rebuke her with everyone female. At most, I could just let her be.
"Alright, lesson's over for today!" Clapping her hands near noon, Aetna announced the end of class.
The lesson today was simple—just wing movement drills. After a whole morning of practice, Nicola and I had improved. Given a few more lessons, we should be ready for aerial flight.
"What's the lesson this afternoon? More flight drills?" Nicola folded her wings and came over to ask.
"Afternoon?" Aetna froze for a second before laughing. "There's no class in the afternoons! You'll have free time. We only have this one lesson every day."
"So little class time?" I shot an incredulous look at Cyra and she nodded in confirmation.
"That's right, it has always been this way."
"Isn't that an awful waste of time?" I couldn't help blurting in my complaint. Angels did not need sleep and if Aetna said lessons ran round the clock, though hard to accept, I could still understand.
Yet now she was telling me only a few hours daily before ending all lessons. That was equally unacceptable in my opinion.
"Why not have an afternoon class too for better efficiency?" Nicola agreed with me and suggested another session.
Despite Aetna's personality not suitable for teaching, her competence still met our satisfaction so far. We had genuinely learned much within the morning, perhaps the reason Elara assigned her to coach us.
"Why do you care so much about efficiency?" Aetna asked, puzzled.
"You already have six wings. Just take your time with the fundamentals. Angels live very long so there's no need to worry about insufficient time."
So such leisurely pacing was due to their extensive lifespans and fleeting sense of time?
I sort of grasped her perspective, but as former humans, Nicola and I simply could not agree with such a waste of time.
Moreover, who knew how long we'd be stuck here at this rate? I lacked the patience for extended stays in Edenmere.