Chapter 146 - The Lecture

Jien and his group took an amount of time to settle down from the scare and adrenaline of their encounter with koi and its controller. The encounter had been so short that they could hardly tell where it began and where it ended. What they did now was that they had messed up on a grand scale. All of them felt that the only reason they still lived was due to the quick actions of their mentors.After a long period of being pale faced and shaking eventually blood found its way back to their cheeks and their legs gave way, slumping against the hard stone walls of their small cavern, down to the slightly damp floor. They didn't even have the mind to bother about the cold that seemed to want to seep into their bones. This respite was destined to be short lived as Iris, Barret's prim and proper instructor clapped her hands to grab their attention.The sound was sharp, drawing their attention immediately as it reverberated against the walls. They feared that the sound would continue to echo out and grab the attention of who knew what else was out there. Fortunately, they were all mistaken. The sound faded just as it was about to reach the entrance of the cavern, as if the sound itself was perfectly manipulated by the strict woman before them.Her expression was stoic to the point that one would think it was just a painted mask, the only thing indicating otherwise was the slight flaring of her nostrils as she breathed calmly and in defined intervals. Her deep green eyes seemed to feel like weights sitting on their chests as she swept her gaze over each of them, having acquired their attention. She spoke in a neutral yet melodious tone that one wouldn't expect from such a strict looking woman. "We will now discuss what happened, how it was handled by yourselves, how it was handled by us instructors and what you will need to work on going forward."Her words held nothing but the authoritative tone of a teacher about to discuss the day's lesson with her charge. "First, the discussion of what occurred." she stated as she held up a single finger. "First we found this cave after a well-managed search, followed by a proper organization leading down to this cavern. All together your chosen methods and way of handling the search of both the forest and the beginning of the cave was adequate." She took another look at each of them to see if they had anything to say so far regarding her short analysis.Noticing that nobody had any intention to interrupt she continued on. "After finding this very cavern and noticing the path further down you chose to scout ahead to ensure nothing would come from down below to attack the potential camp. Is that an accurate assumption regarding the reason for your continued search?"This time with a question being asked the heirs all turned to Jien as their leader to answer the question. Seeing this he could only inwardly groan before looking back at the calmly waiting woman. With a sigh he answered in a slightly dejected tone. "Yes, the goal was to ensure that there was nothing below that would attack us, but I was also hoping for a water source to avoid the potential of getting lost searching outside the cave."Iris nodded calmly to the response before continuing. "The plan in this regard was solid. Scouting and protecting the perimeter of your camp is and will always be key to long term survival in the future." She then let out a sigh of her own and her calm eyes seemed to have gained a hint of something new, perhaps a tinge of disappointment. "You found the lower cavern and found your potential water source, spotted the irregularity of the rose and mist above it and then the rest happened."This time Iris didn't wait for any comments as she folder her arms and held up a second finger. "The handling of the engagement with the Sylock Rose was shoddy at best and suicidal at worst." Her tone had gained an icy edge as she spoke these words, her face still a mask of stoicism as if stuck in that way. "Your plan was fairly solid in the way you arranged yourself for the operation, but you did not do a proper job of scouting, you did not set up contingencies or an escape path, you did not seem to consider the use of your spells, and you turned your back on your enemy. Would these be accurate claims?"Once again everyone seemed to face Jien and he was forced to nod, not wanting to say much else. It was true that they had not scouted properly to determine the level of risk, had not set up contingencies or an escape route, having felt that just running straight to the exit would suffice. Lastly not a single one of them had used mana manipulation or a spell, opting for physical battle to try and preserve their mana for uses later. Each decision cascading into the failure of their fight.With the answer given Iris continued with her lesson. She raised a third finger. "I will preface this piece with the fact that I don't expect any of you to be able to match us, your mentors at this time. You are here to learn, and we are here to help you improve. This piece of the discussion is for you to use as reference and for better understanding.""As soon as the threat was identified to be above the level we could let you face Mark, Johnathan, Julian, David and I signaled each other as to our roles. This was done visually, not audibly, using simple predetermined hand signs. Mark would be the rescue party, Johnathan the vanguard, myself the controller, Julian and David a mix of medic and rearguard." When describing this she lowered her arms before tucking them behind the small of her back and taking small pacing steps."Johnathan as the vanguard chose to use the environment and a combination of mana manipulation and spellcraft to maximize on defense. He chose a boulder the koi had loosened and then compacted it to increase its durability and density. Mark used mana manipulation and the slippery state of the cavern floor to propel himself, using small spells to redirect himself while maintaining and adding to his speed with each change in direction."As she had spoken those words she nodded her head to the two mentors, Johnathan who was standing with his back to the stone wall with a casual half smile and Mark who sat, slowly massaging his swollen legs. "My job was to observe changes throughout the fight and communicate them to keep the team cohesive in their action as well as to secure you as Mark left you in the rearguard.""Finally, though you likely were too out of sorts to notice Julian provided you some aid in the form of stabilizing your conditions with first aid spells that will be present at the academy for you to learn while David ensured that nothing came down the path, allowing for a swift retreat up to our current location.""Do you have any questions?"