-Cyril POV-

Right now, I am standing in front of my new students once again on the training field for our second day of training. I told them after our spars yesterday to spend the rest of the day thinking what they could have improved on and now I am waiting for each of their answers. The only exceptions to this is Elena since she didn’t have a spar with me yet.

After looking over each of them one last time I finally decided to begin our lesson.

“So, what did you each figure out after yesterday’s spars, we’ll start with you Lex, because even though we didn’t spar, you still made mistakes.” (Cyril)

“Honestly, I am not entirely sure if it was because you are that much stronger or that I am just weaker in defense, I felt that if I had a stronger defense than I could have handled your attack.” (Lex)

“Half a point on your answer, you need to learn two things if you want to be someone who uses a shield.” (Cyril)

While saying that I raised my hand while gesturing towards the shield that I gave Lex and told him to raise it up.

“First thing you need to understand is you can’t block everything with your shield. Even if you try to angle the attack to deflect it, sometimes that isn’t enough. The reason is evident when you got knocked back and your shield was destroyed because you overestimated the attacks weight and power or in other words you assumed since it wasn’t a large attack than you could stop it.” (Cyril)

“Can I ask about that, I see where you are heading about the weight of the attack, but how can an attack that small be so heavy?” (Lex)

“I guess I can’t blame you since basics and understanding of physics aren’t that advanced along, well to put it simply the force of the projectile equals the mass x velocity. Since the mass of the projectile is small, the velocity makes up for that by being fired at high speeds thus giving it a strong force.” (Cyril)

I’m not going to explain further since even though this is my class, I never cared to remember physics and the laws of motions and what not, but this should give them a general idea of it.

“I noticed that when I fired, you instinctively defended, but you felt the pressure that it gave off before impact, this was why you also physically reinforced yourself from the threat to your life. Second also stems from the first lesson and that is that it never crossed your mind what if the attack is meant to bypass defense.” (Cyril)

Even though I said that, I could only see question marks floating around his head.

“Do you remember when I said that I changed the property from penetration to blunt force. If I didn’t change the property before firing, your shield wouldn’t have been turned into that malformed scape of metal.” (Cyril)

“Why is that then?” (Lex)

“Because instead of scrape metal, there would only be a small hole in your shield and your chest. In other words, the bullet is meant to penetrate and since mine are stronger than a normal bullet since its made from mana, than your shield and magic would be like paper to it and it would pierce through with ease.” (Cyril)

At the harsh truth, I could see a shiver move up Lex’s body before he settled and nodded towards my critique and advice.

“On to the second point can I assume that you never had anyone strike your shield, but you still got hurt from their attack as if you never blocked it at all, am I correct.”

“I guess, I have had attacks strike my shield head on and I still got hurt because I couldn’t handle the difference in shield, but the damage was minimal since I blocked it.” (Lex)

“Good, this makes it easier for me since I can show you personally. I want you to try blocking my attack with you shield when I say so.” (Cyril)

After nodding his head in confirmation, Lex raised his shield in a ready stance while he waited. Since this will be the first time he feels this I’ll go easy on him so I don’t cause to much harm.

Saying that, I stood about arm’s length away from Lex before I took a calm deep breath and in an instant I sharply exhaled the air while I thrust my arm towards Lex’s shield with my fist while injecting a small amount of my mana while focusing the concentration of mana into my fist and pushing it outward.

I added a bit of rotation into my fist just as it connected with Lex’s shield and the ping of metal rang out.

Everyone was looking at the demonstration while watching closely, but nothing seemed to happen is what their eyes were saying.

Silence hung in the air before it was interrupted by Lex who fell to his knees while letting go of his shield before collapsing onto his side. His breathing was rough while his body was shaking with slight spasms while he closed his eyes tightly in hopes of easing the pain.

Florian was the first to move when she moved to his side while she forced him to lay down on his back before turning to me.

“Mr. Cyril, may I ask what you did to Lex and how I can ease the pain since it seems that it won’t go away with time based on how his mana is reacting from your attack.” (Florian)

She asked that with a calm voice while patiently waiting for my response, but this is a test for Lex where no one can help him, but I can assure you that it must hurt like hell.

“When I attacked, I injected some mana into my fist so that when my fist struck, I bypassed his defenses by pushing my mana through his shield and cause his mana pathways to become disrupted because of the foreign mana that was forcefully injected into his body by me.” (Cyril)

I learned this from another hero that was a monk that used martial arts that focused on the bodies chi and what not. I developed an attack like his because, I apparently didn’t have much talent with understanding things involving chi and things related, but that didn’t matter to me since I could get some tips from him about it anyways.

When I developed this technique, which took years of practice before I was able to master it correctly to utilize it in practical combat, but time is something I always have.

This attack can be compared to a magic parasite since I inject my mana into their body which causes extreme pain and even prevents them from properly casting magic correctly. This is less effective against highly skilled mages since they are should be skilled in manipulating their mana, but it will still make it somewhat difficult and make an opening against them.

“You don’t need to worry because nothing can be done unless Lex fixes it himself by forcefully regaining control over his mana and expelling the foreign mana that is currently circulating throughout his body. You don’t need to worry since there is no risk of death unless I wanted to kill him since it was one of those damn conditions I agreed to.” (Cyril)

“Conditio-” (Florian)

“Alright let’s move on since I took a bit too much time explaining and demonstrating, next up on the list will be Halbert since his is the easiest. So halbert what did you figure out what you need to improve on.” (Cyril)

I guess this was frustrating for him since I noticed a slight twitch in his eyes that was followed with slight agitation.

“I need to mostly improve my form and learn some martial arts to help me, seeing as I couldn’t even hit you once.” (Halbert)

“While that is correct, in my opinion your attacks were to telegraphed making you an open book, but it also seemed as if as the spar went on you gradually kept getting faster as if you were holding back constant, but we talk about it another day.” (Cyril)

Since I want to get started on training them since you never know what could happen, even though I was told by Alvena that we have roughly three years to prepare, there are other things that need to be done before then.

I have a plan laid out and the first step will be in a few weeks when they hold the summoning party to celebrate the heroes summoned. The only problem is that I need to have the other heroes ready and it seems that only one of them is at the level needed.

“Next on the list will be Florian and the places you can improve on.” (Florian)

With a slight nod, she began talking while explaining what she could improve on.

“I still need to improve the efficiency and fuel consumption of my magic since a lot of my spells still consume a lot of mana. I have mostly solved the consumption problem for my tier 2 and lower spells as much as I can, but higher tier spells still cost a lot for me to cast.” (Florian)

“That’s correct and like I said, I have some training and advice that will help with that, but you also need to learn to invoke spells by either cutting down that chant time or creating pseudo chants and I will teach you and Lex together and teach this.” (Cyril)

I got in confirmations a nod from Florian and a pained groan from Lex who was still on the ground, but he has improved seeing as his breathing is under control even though he still can move.

“Wait. What do you mean by pseudo chant? Isn’t it possible to completely eliminate chants if you are skilled enough.” (Aearial)

Her argument is very reasonable since this eliminating the incantations and chants is possible in a lot of places, but unfortunately not here on this world.

“This world is special because the mana here is in a way much denser than usual which makes it harder to control it which is why it is a natural rule of magic on this world that there must be a chant to control the spell so that you can invoke it properly.” (Cyril)

“So, what’s a pseudo chant than” (Elena)

“What I meant by pseudo chants is using a method that takes the place of a chant such as what I do to condense mana using my own mana instead of external mana in the air which I’ll explain on a later date. The other way is the closer you are to the density of the mana in the air than the easier it is to control it such as with Ambrosia but even she needs to use key words to properly visual some of her strong spells.” (Cyril)

With that quick lesson on the magic of this world and how the mana density effects the users magic I could once again resume our little analysis on their areas to improve.

“Next is Aearial and what you can improve on.” (Cyril)

“It’s embarrassing to say but I felt that I placed too much faith in my ability and assumed you fought in a certain way and didn’t assume you could fight using different styles even though you said you’re a jack of all trades. I was surprised when you suddenly had Mai change from a gun to a knife and came at me the way you did which threw me off and caused me to not expect you letting go of her and secretly grabbing me without me noticing and finishing me with that kick.” (Aearial)

I see she is very self-aware of her mistakes down to every detail she messed up on and understands how to correct them.

“I also completely psyched myself out when I faced you and I felt the pressure you gave off, but still felt that I had the chance to beat you after observing your spar with Halbert.” (Aearial)

She said that while smiling and rubbing the back of her head, but I can see that she falls under the category of fighters that love a good brawl and don’t care if they win or lose in the end. The only problem is that they tend to want to fight you more if you win every time as if it fuels them like food and they need to win to survive.

“Good, last one is Erline and her areas to improve.” (Cyril)

Hearing it’s her turn, Erline nodded and began with her answer.

“I need to continue practicing my movements and increasing my speed while I refine my strikes while adding in more variance in my attack pattern I assume is the correct answer, but unfortunately I can’t after a certain instructor went and broke my sword that was a family heirloom for a long time and I am still waiting for adequate compensation to be paid for it.” (Erline)

She is still anger at that piece of crap that looked like it would be able to handle one more attack in its life. Even though she got everything correct about what she needs to improve on, she still doesn’t learn to give up beginning pissed off about things that break.

“No use crying over spilled milk, your answers were all more or less correct and we will begin working on them tomorrow. I will group each of you in pairs to make training easier to teach, starting with group one will be Florian and Lex since they are the only two with capabilities for magic. Group two will be our two hand-to-hand fighters with Aearial and Halbert and the last group will have Erline and Elena.” (Cyril)

After everyone understood how things will be working they nodded while Lex still grunted on the ground.

“Aearial can I also ask you to assist in training and correcting Halbert’s fighting style whenever I am working with the others.” (Cyril)

“Hm... that’s fine with me, I may have no experience in teaching, but I can give advice and tips to help him.” (Aearial)

“That’s good enough, that okay with you Halbert, because while you have experience, you may not have any in fighting stronger opponents as an everyday occurrence.” (Cyril)

“Sure, I guess if it helps me than I’m good.” (Halbert)

“Last one is Elena, but just so I understand correctly, what areas are you proficient in, I know that martial arts aren’t your strong suit, but what weapons are you used to in particular.” (Cyril)

“Proficient in huh, well I am used to fighting using mid-range combat so throwing projectiles and I have a little experience in wielding a short sword but not enough to help in a fight against skilled opponents.” (Elena)

“Anything else such as any special skills or whatnot?” (Cyril)

“I can answer that one since she tends to overlook it, but she has abnormally good eyesight that she can clearly see things that are miles away without any difficulty!” (Aearial)

Aearial who answered my question with glee and had a proud look on her face as if she was bragging about herself, but still, if she is telling the truth than this should work out for her.

“Alright, based on what Aearial said, then I am going to need to test it first before we leave.” (Cyril)

Looking around I found a perfect target to test her eyesight with, but first I am going to need to confirm an exact target.

“If you would kindly Mai.” (Cyril)

It will be my pleasure. (Mai)

Mai replied happily to my request by communicating through our mental link since she was currently residing in my soul today and not holding up in the library.

I began visualizing my desired weapon that I need right now which was easy because of the amount of times I have visualized and used it throughout the years.

The weapon I visualized was a long-range sniper rifle that was called the L115A3 that I regularly use to help me when I need to take out targets discretely. It’s a bolt action rifle and its original caliber was .338 Lapua magnum, but I won’t go into too much specifics since I am not really that much into knowing about guns except what I need to about it.

Also, since I create the bullets using condensed mana, it makes it very easy to fire through even stone or a mana barrier if I need to since the bullet is extremely strong compared to the original bullets.

After Mai finished changing into the rifle, I then raised the rifle while resting the stock against my right shoulder and aimed at the academy tower where the wyverns land and take off.

I rested my cheek on the cheek piece so that I could easily look down the rifles scope while I adjusted the magnification and focus of the scope taking into account of the distance.

Once I adjusted the scope to the right settings, I scanned the railings of the landing bridge that were built to prevent anyone from falling easily until I found two riders who were standing while leaning on the rails talking to each other.

Both were young males in their late twenties, the one on the right had curly dark brown hair with tanned skin while the other had short dirty blonde hair and did not have a tan as much as the other guy.

If I had to give an exact measurement on the distance than it would be hard because the rifle doesn’t have any markings to tell me the exact distance or anything of that nature except for markings that tell what magnification and focus I set it too.

This is one of the limitations I have because I forgot what the markings showed and so thus they don’t appear on the rifle except the ones I do use and know.

To compensate for this I got skilled at estimations at judging distances and making calculations on the fly when I need to. So, based on that and using the school’s distance between each floor as a reference point, then I would guess that the tower is roughly around 400 meters tall from the bottom to where the two guys currently are.

Once I roughly confirmed the distance I changed from looking through the scope to trying to spot them the best I can using just my own eyesight without the scope.

To be honest while I could roughly see the two figures, it was impossible to even tell what they were if I didn’t already see them before because they are a blur.

Confirming that it was hard for me to even make them out, I turned to Elena and the others who I was ignoring them and their questions that they asked while I was focusing on aiming.

“Alright Elena, I want you to look up at the landing bridge and tell me what you see from here.” (Cyril)

I gave her a few moments while I watched her follow my instructions and looked upward while squinting her eyes slightly.

Few seconds later Elena looked back and turned to me before she gave her answer.

“All I could make out was two figures near the railings, I couldn’t clearly make them out but if I had to guess than based on their build then the two are most likely male with one having dark brown hair and the other having a lighter shade of brown or blonde hair.” (Elena)

“Anything else that you could see” (Cyril)

“Sorry, everything else is harder to clearly make out except the hair color though.” (Elena)

The only thing that’s clear is that her eyesight is indeed very good and Aearial was indeed correct. Even though she wasn’t completely certain about her answers it still passes with flying colors that I could formulate a training guide for her.

“Alright I have a good idea on how to train you now, but you’ll find out tomorrow.” (Cyril)

Alright with that out the way without any difficulties I could move on to the next thing on the schedule today.

“With that out the way, we can move on with the next objective, getting everyone new equipment prepared.” (Cyril)

“Equipment? So, we are going to visit a blacksmith to get equipment, but can’t we do that by ourselves if we have money.” (Elena)

“That is correct, but it will be a blacksmith that I recommend since she is probably the best blacksmith to go to for our needs, but I need to ask a question before heading there.” (Cyril)

Saying that I turned towards Florian, Erline, and Lex who surprisingly is finally recovered enough to sit up compared to before where he was laying on his back which means he is close to expelling all my mana inside him.

“This is a question for you three and what you need to decide right now.” (Cyril)

“For three of us?” (Lex)

“Yes, as you may have noticed or not noticed except for Erline, the four of us are summoned heroes given the task of protecting the natural balance in the future. What I want to know is what are you three going to do since you aren’t obligated to follow us and fight. Also, don’t get mistaken, I will still teach you three and train you with what I know, but you aren’t committed to having to fight with us.” (Cyril)

This question is important because while they aren’t heroes and their souls won’t disappear should they be killed by the fallen legends, they can still die and leave this world. This is the choice that will decide if they will risk their lives fighting with us and possibly experience pain, regret, and even death or refusing and possibly living a long and happy life.

Either way I need their choice now because I need to see if they have the resolution to take that step towards the cliff and walking off without hesitation with violent rapids below.

Taking that step off the cliff will lead to two things for them, either they fall towards their death or they learn to fly and grow wings that will carry them.

All three of them stayed silent for a few moments while they thought about it, but I somewhat can guess already that Erline will chose to fight since I practically watched her grow up and she constantly heard how she wanted to protect others when she grew up.

After a few more seconds of silence, just like I guess, Erline stepped forward first while her eyes carried a shine to them.

“Even though you already know my answer, I still need to state my answer. I will choose to fight alongside you, not because of obligation as a princess who works to protect her citizens, but as myself who desires to protect people just as I was when I was younger.” (Erline)

After proudly saying her answer, the next to step forward was Lex who’s eyes also carried a shine to them.

“Coming to this academy, I have a dream that will I pursue till I see it fulfill. There were never any teachers that could teach me in using shields without a sword so I practiced and taught myself, but when I was approached by the headmaster and asked to enter this class, she said if I did enter this class then I will find the key that will open the door to a path towards my dream and she was right. I know already that learning from you doesn’t require my having to fight, but I feel that by following you all and fighting alongside you then I will be able to easily see my dream fulfilled.” (Lex)

“If I may ask, what is your dream exactly Lex?” (Elena)

“Well, as I said before how I could never find someone to teach me how to fight only using shields, this is because this style of shields without a weapon is looked down on in favor of magic and swordsmanship. My dream is to overturn the idea that only using shields is worthless and show the world the glory of shields and make everyone acknowledge my way of life as useful.” (Lex)

I can understand his determination because I have met a lot of people just like him and these individuals will usually make an impact. His dream may not be realistically possible but that is what makes it that much more tempting to pursue.

After Lex showed his determination to follow us, the only one left is Florian who finally stepped forward.

“While I have no desire to risk my life, I do feel that just like Lex said, following along with you will help me achieve my goals so I will fight as well. I guess you can’t achieve anything without equal risk, but just so you know I won’t say my goals like Lex did.” (Florian)

“Come on why don’t you just be honest and say you don’t want to see your best friend fight alone without you having my back.” (Lex)

While throwing his arm around her shoulder, Lex said that while Florian simply ignored him without minding him his contact, even looking subtly pleasured with it.

“Alright, since that’s finished, why don’t we start heading out now.” (Cyril)

With that I began leading everyone towards the main gates and towards the southern district where they will order their new equipment from a bear.