"My bad I won't do that more than a few times."
"That's still more tha-haaaaa"
I cut her off with another whirlwind beneath her pushing her into the air.
"Lucasss!"
"You asshole."
I caught her.
"Sorry, sorry, it was too funny not to."
"Not to me."
"Well, that's part of the thrill."
"I'll show you thrill."
She threw an aura slash my way.
"Slashes aren't for rapie-"
I was hit by whirlwind from behind.
"Did you forget I was also a mage?"
"Honestly, I -"
I was prepared for the whirlwind this time.
I slashed an aura sword right back at her, before casting a whirlwind of my own.
She was knocked backward as she was already retreating from my aura slash.
"Lucas, stop."
"It's not fair."
"I'm not as conniving as you."
"Says the 5th star swordswoman who could send fake aura slashes, and real ones from any direction."
"Yea, but that's not humiliating."
"Sure I guess?"
I pulled her up off the ground.
"No, but I honestly did forget you were a mage."
"How?"
"Well, I haven't seen you use magic in almost 2 years."
"I used it during- oh, wait you were on your knight's quest."
"Exactly."
"Anyways, I had fun, but I need to check on the progress of my teammates, it's been nearly 3 hours since we started."
"We've been sparring for 30 minutes. How long have you all been practicing?"
"Since we got out of class really."
"So you've been swinging your sword for 2 and a half hours and I still lost? How embarrassing."
"Not really, I was teaching the other guys for about an hour."
"Wow, that really makes me feel better."
She replied sarcastically.
I blew a
With that she did the same.
"See you during the dungeon Lucas, and next time, I won't lose."
I waved her off with a smile.
She could believe all she wanted.
But I was not going to lose.
I left towards Aisha.
The dummy had eventually reached the 3rd circle, but I needed her to be ready for a 5th circle attack.
So I quickly let a 5th circle spell be slotted in the 3rd circle attack queue.
She watched as it launched.
Her body reacted to block it before her mind registered the 5th circle attack.
It was a blunt attack, but still enough to push her back.
"Sorry, hand slip."
I said as I turned off the machine.
"Really? That's all for today?"
"Yeah, you need to get used to blocking with the shield and defensive mana before we go anywhere with the special defense tactics."
"Got it."
"Well, you're good for today, nothing left on the menu, so if you want you can join us on the second floor for dinner or just head back on your own."
"I'm going to sleep."
"Understood."
With that she left for the dorm.
I went to Morgan, who had been practicing her casts.
"Are you tired from casting?"
"Yeah, tired of casting the same damn spells Lucas."
"How is this even helping me."
"Go ahead and cast water arrow."
I timed her.
"Okay?"
"You are almost a second faster in casting, and your arrow was faster by almost 2 seconds compared to when we started 3 hours ago."
"Really?"
Her eyes lit up with joy.
"Yeah, so just believe in the process a little."
"When are we going to get dinner?"
"Right now actually, you've got nothing else to do."
"All that's left is for me to grab Harry."
"Alright."
With that we walked to Harry.
He was asleep with his head tilted over book still open to the 12th buff spell.
He'd gotten far.
"Harry."
I said shaking him awake.
"Oh."
"Oh my god, Lucas, dude I'm sorry."
"It's fine, you've gotten really far for today."
"Let's go to the cafeteria and get dinner."
"Sure, I'm always down for food."
With that the three of us went to the cafeteria.
"So where is Aisha?"
"She's already sleeping."
"Already?"
"Aisha actually sleeps roughly 14 hours a day, if not more."
"Wow."
Aura's voice sounded behind me.
"What is our resident princess doing here?"
"Lucas, I am your master. Address me as such."
"Yes, Aurelia."
"Much better."
"Holy hell, Lucas, Aurelia's got you on leash, maybe Charlotte is the better choice."
I glared at Mark.
And then I looked behind him at Celeste.
"What're you looking at me for?"
"Looking for you other teammate."
"Oh we took Emma Norak."
The Norak's were a big merchant family next to the Castellans.
They weren't bitter rivals, or good friends, but simply decent competitors in the merchantry business nationwide.
"Oh why her of all people?"
"She can handle Aurelia well."
"She does not 'handle' me."
"Well, she does a pretty good job considering Lucas wasn't there."
"Muuuuu...."
Aura began to pout.
I stroked her head.
"I'm sure they didn't mean that literally, I think you're just fine."
"Wow, he really does."
Another voice came out.
Emma Norak.
"Pleasure to meet your acquaintance, Lucas, knight of Aurelia Svarmet."
"Really, would you mind changing your allegiance to the Norak merchantry?"
"Well, princess Charlotte has already tried that."
"And she succeeded, from what I know."
"Well, Aurelia lent me to her."
"I see, but may I buy your loyalty then?"
"You should know as a merchant yourself, 'Trusting someone who's loyalty was bought-"
"-is like thrusting a knife in your hand' I am aware Mr. Lucas."
"I simply wished to know if I could."
"I'm not asking you to refrain for my sake."
I pointed my finger at Aura glaring daggers at Emma."
"Quite the teammate you guys got."
Morgan spoke up.
"What does that mean?"
Mark retorted.
"It means," Celeste bonking Mark's head, "that she is not very trustworthy."
"Your words not mine."
"Not really, but sure."
"Well, as a merchant, lying to my clients only invites bad reviews, and mistrust, so I do not do that."
"Yes, Ms. Norak, we are aware."
"The Svarmet duchy is well aware of your business and your conduct."
"Then I didn't need to explain myself?"
"Not at all."
Morgan teased.
"I'm not following."
Mark started.
The rest of us laughed.
The other three took seats near us and began to eat.
And with that the first day of the second episode began.
I finished up meal and left for my room.
'Alea?'
'Daddy?'
'Are you doing okay?'
'Yes.'
'Mommy Aura gave me food a few hours ago.'
'Really? What?'
'Mana beast meat.'
Not bad.
'Did it taste good?'
'Sort of.'
'I understand.'
With that I gave Alea more of her favorite snacks-
5th tier monster meat.
I put a few pieces of jerky meat from a 5th tier monster, in Alea's funnel.
With that, I climbed into my bed and promptly fell asleep.
***
*Morgan's Pov*
Lucas was a confusing person, he was at times an overwhelming opponent, and at others a goofy friend.
Sometimes he was a lacking partner and the next he was an experienced teacher.
In once instance he was a poor teammate, and the next a thoughtful leader.
He was a person full of contradictions.
He wasn't a easy person to comprehend, even master had said so.
She said that if she hadn't put forward the idea to accept the both of us, he would have rejected her.
She felt an oppressive aura come from Lucas, which didn't make sense as he was a 3rd circle mage, and she was a 7th.
She told me it probably had something to do with his heritage, that he likely wasn't fully human.
She said he was likely part of a creature that preyed on humans.
And there weren't many that did so.
She warned me of getting too close to him, but the closer I got, the more normal he seemed.
He wasn't predatory towards humans, and in fact is quite the gentleman outside of training.
He treats his spirit companion as a real companion, and makes sure it doesn't receive injuries.
His care and attention to me didn't match what my master described of him.
As time passed I began to observe his normal life, outside of training.
He was quite the diligent person.
He would study at the library, swing his sword, or join either Charlotte, or Aurelia at night for their amusement.
It seemed he was doing it more for them, and not really for himself.
So I wanted to go out with him, for the sake of learning what he wanted.
"Lucas, would you go out with me to the city, later this week?"
"Sure, what time?"
"Would in 2 days time be sufficient?"
"Yes."
"Then I will see you then."
I turned away with my cheeks warm.
He was such a serious time keeper at the wrong times, but I didn't hate that.
It would just take some getting used to, just like his other traits.
***
*Harry's Pov*
Lucas is a great person, and a good group leader.
He innately understands our weaknesses and strengths and moves to enhance our abilities.
He had me memorize 14 buffs and 6 debuffs.
I had 12 buffs, and 2 debuffs memorized within a day.
He thanked me for my work, and continued to praise me for my efforts throughout the week.
Most others would simply complain that I was unable to provide any physical help in battle, but not Lucas.
He repurposed me in a way that made me feel like I had a reason to be in a dungeon outside of my knowledge.
He was different from the others that simply pointed and stared at me.
He changed me from a deadweight in the dungeon into a decent support mage.
I felt really thankful for Lucas.
He put together our group which in itself had a few misfits in the class.
Morgan was a mage, who had a nasty rumor of being a useless 3rd circle mage.
Lucas had her practice everyday with her casting, and eventually she was firing off 4th circle equivalent 3rd circle spells at breakneck speeds.
He optimized her magic usage and refined her combat.
And for Aisha, our resident sleeper, he changed her the most radically.
He put a shield on her, and along with her defensive magic, she became an amazing tank for the dungeon.
She was amazing at blocking seeing and moving to block the incoming attacks.
She had many deflected or glancing off her shield directed back at he opponent, and the one teaching her was Lucas.
She went from a decent offensive mage, to one of the greatest defensive mages in our entire school.
Her 4th circle defense was nothing to scoff at.
It easily brought shame to the 6th circle people here.
Lucas was easily throwing 5th circle spells at her at random by the end of the week.
She intercepted, blocked, deflected, or absorbed the attacks.
She also learned how to move while blocking, and stand her ground while defending it was amazing.
Lucas was at the forefront of all of this, teaching and guiding her through the whole process.
It truly was a miracle for all of us.
***
*Aisha's Pov*
Lucas invited me to join his group.
He put a heavy shield on me and it was annoying.
It got better later.
He also made me move around and forgot about the 5th circle spells.
I think he was doing it on purpose.
But it was fun at the end of the week to catch and block the spells.
It was like a game.
It was as fun as sleeping.
He made me enjoy the shield.
If I had one complaint, it would be the weight of the shield, and that we didn't train more in the end.
When I asked him for a lighter shield, he rejected me.
He told me a lighter shield was less durable and more subjectable to being blown away by a blunt spell.
I told him I understood and continued using the heavier shield.
In the end it was fun to carry and move it around blocking the incoming attacks.
He had Morgan launch a few of her spells towards me to test me, and I blocked them.
The look of shock on her and Harry's face was satisfying.
I thanked Lucas for his friendship and help.