Rudy's spells were fast. The moment between when it was cast and when it hit the target was barely a second or two. Yet for him, it felt like an eternity. He saw the young boy stand there, right in the way of the cutting strike. He wouldn't dodge in time. His aura was still too unpolished. Too weak. It wouldn't hold. Despite everything, the dread of being responsible for his death was the worst feeling Rudy had felt in the last couple of centuries.

"Ha! That almost got me!" said Manuel, his voice suddenly coming from behind the demon.

Rudy turned around. Both the wizard and the young farmer were floating through the air.

"Don't move, or you'll fall down," the wizard instructed his apprentice, who froze at those words.

Rudy frowned. Manuel was just lying there, and his mouth did not move when he spoke. The paralysis was working, yet he still managed to dodge. How was this possible?

Despite the prolonged observation, the demon still couldn't figure out how Manuel's magic worked. He could teleport within milliseconds after any attack would come close enough, but it seemed to be more complex than that. He could transport himself even to places outside of his vision. The distance didn't seem to matter either. Not to mention that there was still the unresolved mystery of how he could teleport others.

Manuel's body shook and he stood up, stretching. "Paralysis. Very clever. Another neat thing magic can do—influencing the bodies of others. Quite complicated to do. You need to know a lot about anatomy and chemistry if you wish to pull it off, but Rudy seems quite skilled on that front."

"How can you move?" the demon barked at him.

"Simply. If you can use magic to paralyze me, I can just undo it. Controlling your own body with magic is even easier than with the bodies of other people."

Despair was flooding Rudy's heart. That was it, his best attack. He counted on the stunning strike to disable Manuel, yet it seemed that he had an answer to everything. There was no additional step to the demon's plan. Now that Manuel saw this other side of his spells, he would be even more careful. Nothing Rudy did moved him even a step closer to victory.

"Okay, well, we really have two more subjects to cover, so, Rudy, have you figured it out yet?" Manuel smirked at him as he and Jin slowly descended back to the ground.

"Figured out what?"

"Why you can't hit me."

The demon gritted his teeth. "No, I haven't," he admitted honestly. His frustrations were letting hope slip between his fingers like grains of sand.

"Would you like me to tell you?" Manuel teased.

"Arrogant prick," Rudy muttered. "You really think you can underestimate me?"

"Underestimate you? No, of course not. I will admit I did at first, but you actually got stronger even after such a long time in the sword. I'm more than surprised."

"Then why go easy on me? Why would you reveal your spell?"

"Hahaha, quite simple really," the smile on Manuel's face suddenly carried something sinister behind it as he looked the demon straight in the eyes. "Even if I tell you all about it, you will never be able to counter it. You will never find a weakness. You will never hit me again."

Tiny lights appeared all around them. It was like watching the night sky. There were thousands of them, each about half a metre away from its brethren. They hovered around like an endless sea of gold, stretching far over the forest, the village, and even the few rocks on the cloud sea. Even the sky itself was filled with them.

"What is this?" Rudy gasped at the sheer range of the magic.

Manuel's aura turned visible. It was massive but appeared weak. Like a mere fog surrounding everything in his close vicinity.

"This is perfection. I call this spell The Untouchable. Did you know that if there is an anchor point between you and the destination of your teleportation, you travel almost instantaneously and without a physical trajectory? You just poof here and appear there." He spread his arms around victoriously. "Well, that's what you're looking at. My body automatically releases these small teleportation anchors. They are everywhere. The aura I have around me is big but doesn't actually protect me from anything, be it kinetic energy or elements. Most of the time, I go completely unprotected. But that aura has a different purpose. It scans everything that touches is and if it's dangerous, it moves me automatically to the nearest safe anchor. Of course, your little paralysis spells managed to bypass that, but now that I know about it, it's quite simple to add it as a rule for the aura. Now even that will not be able to touch me."

Rudy looked around, completely stunned. There was no way he could ever destroy all those anchors. If what Manuel said was true, then he was truly out of options. How ironic it was. He wore no armour, yet was the most protected wizard of all.

"See, kids? This is what spells are all about. You can't just always do everything manually. It would turn your brains into soup! The end goal of every advanced spell is to minimize the work you have to do. Have the spells work for you based on an algorithm."

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He slowly walked towards the demon. "So, how do you see it? Do you still want to continue?"

Rudy sighed. The aura around him faded into nothing. "I really can't defeat you, can I?"

"No, but that's not something to feel bad about. It's the same as feeling down about the fact that you can't drink the entire ocean or rid the world of all air. Some tasks are simply impossible. There is no shame in failing to do them."

Those words that were intended to comfort were like a knife into the demon's heart. Manuel wasn't a law of nature. He was a man. A man who considered himself untouchable for far too long.

"Now then, if we're done here, I will proceed to demonstrate the final lesson." He teleported much higher up. His voice was carried on the wind as he spoke.

"Some spells are easier to perform than others. You need to have a personal connection to them. You need to enjoy using them. That's why my spells glow. I like it that way. It's also why some people yell out the names of their spells. Or why others happily reveal their inner workings. It creates a sense of pride and achievement that boosts the spell's power. Hence your auras are naturally different, each with its own shade of colour. It's based on what you like and prefer. But there is one more thing most wizards forget."

The glowing anchors turned invisible once more. Clouds were obscuring the sun. It was a particularly gloomy day, and yet, as if everything around them was suddenly slowly turning brighter.

"Fire spells are stronger in hot environments. Ice spells in cold ones and so on. Complex spells might have crazy rules and conditions that might not always be met. That's why sometimes a wizard needs to create those optimal conditions." He waved his arms around slowly, like two hands of a clock. One moved up, the other moved down. "Usually, these conditions are easy to create in a closed environment, like a single room. You fill it with magic, then heat it up, and boom, a hot place for hot spells. But using such a technique outside is difficult. Out here, the magic tends to run wild. There are no walls to keep it in place."

Yellow barriers began rising around the entire village. The area they enclosed was so large it terrified Rudy. Just how big of a spell could Manuel use? If he wanted to, he could target each and every citizen there.

"So sometimes, you need to create your own walls. Your own little temporary room. And there, you can adjust the environment to fit your spells. Like with my magic, which gets stronger in the light,"

The barrier closed around them. A massive ball of light appeared high above the wizard. It was so bright everyone had to squint their eyes to avoid being blinded completely. The grey sky turned golden and cloudless as if they had suddenly entered the realm of gods.

"Now, even the simplest of my spells is much more powerful." An enormous golden spear slowly materialized next to the wizard. For the kids, it was almost impossible to look at it. Only Rudy, with magic protecting his eyes, spotted the massive weapon aiming towards him. The sheer size of the spear was enough to destroy the entire tower. No matter how much the demon wanted to simply run away, his legs would not move. Where could he go? Manuel could teleport anywhere. His anchors were all over the nearby area. Not to mention that the massive light spear would be able to wipe him off the face of the world even from far away.

Rudy fell onto his knees. Not a drop of anger was left in him. At least not the kind that would be aimed at Manuel. Instead, he was angry at himself. He could've simply escaped. He could have left the mines not through the portal, but through the main entrance. He could have kept on enjoying his life without ever looking at Manuel again. No, all of this was his own doing. His anger and vengeance brought him his own demise. All he could do now was simply accept it. He closed his eyes, which were already burning from all that bright light, and he prepared for the worst.

Suddenly, the light disappeared. He expected himself to be already dead. Perhaps dying would not be nearly as painful as he imagined. He opened his eyes once more but saw only the beautiful nature around him, albeit slightly devastated by his scuffle with Manuel.

"Relax, I won't kill you," said the wizard standing behind him.

Rudy turned around just in time to see a glowing sword descend upon his head. A hollow "Bonk!" resonated throughout his entire body. It was like all his bones suddenly compressed and shifted. He fell down to the ground, unaware of what just happened. Manuel smiled and turned his attention to the kids.

"Alright, that concludes our only lesson. Any questions?"

Cia had about a million of them. She took a step forward but stumbled. Her entire world was spinning and if it wasn't for the ability to lean against Kaili, she would've surely fallen on the ground.

"Oh dear," Manuel sighed and quickly rushed over to them. He had to admit that for a group of total rookies, they had to endure a whole lot of magic that day.

"Here you go. I brought tea for my four new students," he exclaimed happily, but the children could only force themselves to mutter a faint "thanks" in an exhausted unison. It didn't matter that they each had their own bedroom. With how much their bodies ached, they were happy to be able to lie on something as soft as Jin's massive royal bed.

"Airo..." Jin growled.

"Yeah?"

"Your hair's flowing in my mouth."

"Spit it out."

"It keeps doing it."

"Then tie it down."

"I don't have anything to tie it down with."

"Bummer, that's too bad. Just don't eat them."

Cia's eyes looked at Manuel, who slowly set down a plate with four steaming mugs. "Can't you just heal us? Like you did with my arm?" She looked back at her hand. After the wizard's healing spell, there wasn't even a hint that it had ever been sprained.

"Sorry, but magical fatigue is something else. I can't just treat that with magic. That would make it even worse. Don't worry though, it should wear off in a day or two."

"Great. Can you turn the time forward?" Airo growled at him.

Manuel looked up at the ceiling and scratched his chin. "Hmm... I never tried that. But I doubt that would work. Unless I somehow force the whole Grand Line to move faster? No, that wouldn't really accelerate time. Unless..."

"Ugh, forget I asked," the young Cloudfolk dismissed his question.

"I will be around if you need anything. And don't worry, I will take care of your deliveries for the next few days. I've also made a deal with a certain fairy to watch over you when I'm gone."

"Is it the same kind as the water wisp in the bathroom?" Jin asked.

"Yes, in fact. Those two are old friends."

The four youngsters groaned in unison at the idea of how crazy this new helper could be.

The daylight moved on and made way for the night. Manuel roamed the tower alone once more. The children were fast asleep, which was for the best. So was the demon, who had still not awakened. He lay on the table, back inside his broken sword. A pile of five packages waited in the living room downstairs. Manuel sighed and began going over the addresses. He clicked with his tongue as he quietly read them. "Hmm... Such boring places. And I believe there's a rainy season here? Damn it! Why can't I go on a tropical holiday?"

He froze. One of the addresses was far too familiar. "Oh? Did he order something? Strange... What need would a deity have for my services?"