"Now you give it a try Tibaut" said Elizabeth looking at him expectantly.

"Huh?"

Tibaut looked at her confused.

"Wasn't the whole point of this showing me how worthless this magic is?"

Elizabeth sighed before walking over to him.

"If it was worthless I wouldn't have gone through the effort of showing it to you." She said.

("Didn't Tina show me it though?")

Speaking of Tina, she was a few meters away half-heartedly terrorizing Grace for laughing at her. She currently had her in a Boston Crab on the ground, dirtying her uniform even more.

"Do I have to? What use is learning it at this point?"

"Stop complaining. For all, we know you could be one of the few in this world that can fully draw out the potential of this magic."

Tibaut rolled his eyes.

"Fine, I'll do it. Let's get this over with."

Elizabeth walked over to Tina and tapped her on the shoulder. She released Grace out of the headlock and turned to face Elizabeth.

"You two finished talking? I want to try my luck against him today."

"Before that, show him how to use the defensive magic you used earlier."

Tina stared at her blankly for a few moments.

"Liz, what the hell are you saying? Do you know how long it will take to do that!?"

"How long did it take you?" She asked.

"Five months."

"Alright, it shouldn't take too long then. I trust your abilities." Elizabeth soon waved before walking off.

Tina held her hand out towards her but couldn't bring herself to tell her to stop. This wasn't all bad though. A cruel grin soon crept over her face. For all the humiliation she had endured from Tibaut's training, she could pay it back tenfold. She started chuckling to herself.

"Hehehe, maybe this isn't so bad Eliza- EEP!?"

She jumped in the air and instinctively covered her butt. She quickly turned to see Grace crouched down and with both of her hands clasped with four fingers pointed up. She had a smirk on her face and quickly ran towards Tibaut.

She gritted her teeth and she walked over but it soon turned into a sprint when she saw her stick out her tongue and pull down a lower eyelid behind him.

Tibaut wasn't sure why she was running at him at full speed but he readied himself.

Before she could throw a blow she felt a gaze pierce through her. She felt like a rabbit standing in front of a lion. This was only the second time in her life she had felt an experience like this. She wanted to attack that little annoyance before her, but she felt a more potent and tangible threat behind her.

("What th- I haven't felt something like this since I sparred with Eliza-")

She quickly looked around to see Elizabeth leaning against a tree, with an annoyed expression on her face looking directly at her.

After weighing her options, she clicked her tongue and loosened up.

Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

"Anyway,"

("We aren't going to fight?") Tibaut thought as he watched her.

"Elizabeth said I'm going to be teaching you defensive magic, so let's get this underway."

She looked around but it seemed Grace had left. Honestly, this might have been for the better.

"Alright now first off, you're gonna have to release your mana."

"Alright." Within seconds the air around became heavier and its appearance began to ever so slightly warp.

"(Tch, he already knows how to do that?) Alright now imagine bringing it to one place. It'd probably feel similar to how you make those fireballs."

"Okay teach."

He brought both his hands forward and got into a similar pose as Tina did earlier.

Tina brought her own hand forward. ("Now time to give him shit about not gathering it properly.") She moved her hand around his body, making sure not to touch him. She moved them all over and began to feel a cold sweat come over her body.

("Eh? No way.") She moved her hands around his body more but didn't feel anything out of the ordinary.

Tibaut started to blush from how close she was getting.

"Um, Tina, what are you doing?"

"I'm feeling for any stray mana you idiot." She got up and stood back.

She looked around the area but didn't see any area where the space looked off. Then she finally looked towards his hands, and within an instant, she could tell he had done it. She moved her hand towards the visible refraction from the mana that had taken on a slight blue tinge and felt it.

"(It's noticeably thick. Even a child would be able to realize something is here) Well, it's a decent start."

Sweat had now formed all over Tibaut and his breathing was noticeable.

"Thanks. Next step please." He said.

"(Finally) Now, now, Tibaut, if holding it like this is difficult then it'll be months before you can use the magic. Rushing isn't going to get us anywhere now is it?" She had the biggest grin on her face as she said this. "But… I suppose unnecessary wasting time doesn't help you…so," She then slowed down the pace she spoke while adding in a bunch of filler words before she gave Tibaut his next instructions. By the time she reached the important part, his breathing had become ragged.

"Imagine that all that mana you have gathered and form it into the shape you want. That's essentially it. Remember if it isn't solid enough it'll just disperse (Hehe after the first week I might tell him the density of it if he begs me enough. It's pretty tricky if it's denser than a rock then it'll just explode from the compression yet if it's less dense than water it'll just disperse)."

Several minutes passed without progress from Tibaut. On his first attempt, it just exploded which thankfully only resulted in dirt being kicked up and noise no louder than a firecracker but every subsequent attempt resulted in the mana dispersing.

At this point, he looked like he had just swam in a river. Tina thanked The Four Gods for having access to water, as she couldn't imagine being near him with a smell like that all week.

She was getting quite bored as his face never faltered during all his failures.

("Well, I suppose it makes sense. It took me around three days of trying before I wanted to throw in the towel.")

An hour soon turned to several and they were still out there practicing. It was now dusk and Grace was under the tree with Elizabeth watching them.

"Shouldn't you stop him at this point?" She asked as she yawned.

"I think he is far more aware of his limits than I am."

Tina looked at him with a stone-cold gaze but in her mind she was conflicted. She enjoyed seeing him struggle but after watching she couldn't help but feel bad without giving the information she had when she learned this.

"Hey, Tibaut the truth is you have t-"

The end of hands, she briefly got a glance but she saw it. The blue was getting deeper. Slowly but surely she saw a circle being formed. She looked at the thickness of it and it was on par with paper. She gulped while looking at this.

"Mind if I test this?"

His exhaustion was nearly at its peak and he simply nodded.

She held out her hand and pulled over her spear. With it in her hands, she swung it at the small circle.

*Creak*

It showed cracks but it didn't shatter.

She soon moved her hand on it. Her hand was surrounded by electricity and the circle shattered.

"Not bad I suppose."

"Thanks."

Tibaut soon passed out on the ground. After ensuring he was unconscious and positioning him to lay on his back, she quickly ran over to Elizabeth with her face pale.

"Wha-what, how did he!?" She stuttered.

"It looks like I don't have unfounded hope placed on him."

"Is that impressive?" Grace asked.

"Is it!? I know it was on and off, and I only practised an hour a day after my third day of trying but he did what took me a few months in one day. Granted, shoddy doesn't even begin to describe it but the fact anything even formed at all should b-" Tina rambled before Elizabeth cut her off.

"Stop trying to downplay him, Tina."

"I-im not it's just…" She held her head and calmed herself down, "honestly it's just amazing. Though I feel he should learned this when he was younger."

"So you don't think, it'll bear fruit anytime this year."

"Huh?" Tina was caught off guard. "I mean, I'm no expert, since I learned from Ezekiel, but I don't think so?" She said not very confident.

"I see. I suppose he can put this on the back burner for the time being."

"Seriously Elizabeth, where the hell did you find him? I didn't know you had an eye for talent."

"You could say he was a gift."

"?"

"?"

They both looked at her oddly but she didn't explain further.