"Ugh..." Cecil was currently in class and he was groaning in annoyance.
It was the next day and class was in session. School was a curiosity for Cecil, so he very much looked forward to every day he spent in class, however, today was different. It was a first for Cecil and he thought it was unthinkable for him, but right now he only had thoughts of running away from class.
Why? This was because the rest of his classmates were all enthusiastically trying to crowd around Lucia and him. Cecil had to thank Lucia since she was, in a way, blocking the crowd of people flocking towards him.
Lucia had fully recovered from her mana depletion after a single night's rest and was able to attend class the next day. Earlier, when they walked into the class, their classmates had started crowding around them immediately and began expressing their admiration to their battle yesterday.
Some raised the question on how they were able to get so strong, to which Lucia answered simply, "We trained real hard."
Then the questions barreled down from there. The first question led to a second, the second led to a third and so on. Questions like, how did they train? How did they cultivate their mana? What combat style did they use in yesterday's match? What techniques and spells did Lucia use? How many original spells did she create? How did Cecil come out unharmed from her all-out attack? What was the aura that wrapped around their bodies during the fight?
Other such questions were asked and this caused Cecil to become annoyed even though he wasn't the one answering them. It gave him a headache so he grabbed Lucia and flashed to his seat and he was now cowering behind her in silence while fiddling with his MID.
'Annoying...'
Lucia was patiently answering their classmates' questions to the best of her abilities right now while Cecil just stayed quiet behind her. He had to give her praise at how well she got along with other people and how patient she was because if it was him, he would've disappeared from the spot.
Although it was annoying, on the bright side, however, their classmates no longer avoided their small clique anymore. This was something Cecil welcomed, but the current overenthusiasm that his classmates had was unsettling for him.
'Where is the instructor when you need him?' Cecil inwardly complained.
"Lucia, that aura and mana technique, what exactly was that?" a curious harpy girl asked. The girl was called Aery Fenix and she was ranked 15th in class.
"Oh that..." It was a question that Lucia kept on avoiding to answer. Before, another student would just ask a different question to which Lucia would immediately answer and avoid the aforementioned question, but now, with her answering all the other inquiries, only this question remained unanswered and the enthusiastic class was now waiting for her to give them an answer.
"Uh... that's Cecil's technique! I learned it from him so you should ask him instead!" Lucia dodged the bullet and passed the baton over to Cecil.
Cecil, who was fiddling with his MID, looked up to see that multiple curious eyes were gazing back at him. He didn't know how to reply, but as he was thinking about a response, he was fortunately saved from the effort when Instructor Jin abruptly dashed into the class in high spirits as he roared, "GOOOOD MOOORRRNNIIIINNNGGG YOUNGSTERS!!!"
Everyone quickly scrambled back to their seats and greeted the rowdy instructor.
"GOOD MORNING, INSTRUCTOR!"
"Good! Haha, you kids. Seriously, you have given me a lot of face! WAHAHAHA!"
After motioning for the class to sit down, Instructor Jin continued, "I'm very pleased with all of your assessment results! Now, it's time for morning announcements!"
Instructor Jin began giving some general info about the school's news, activities, and that first year classes would officially start today. After the general announcement, it was finally time for the assessment result announcements.
"Okay! Yesterday's results were beyond satisfactory for our class! But, nevertheless, there are some of you who have gone above and beyond! And that means there will be rewards due!"
The students who won their match yesterday immediately became excited after hearing his words. The rewards were the reason why all of them tried so hard yesterday to defeat their own classmates even though they were friends. Some were let down by their results while others were happy, and thankfully, it seemed that the ones who lost yesterday didn't hold any grudges to the ones that won.
"For the winners, the headmaster has given you permission to go to the academy's library to pick a combat technique, magic spell, or mana cultivation manual! You can only pick one and you may freely choose from the 1st to 4th floor of the library!"
The winners in class immediately cheered while the losers, however, could only sigh in disappointment at the missed opportunity.
"Now, now. Let me finish first, alright?!"
The class immediately calmed down at the instructor's words.
"For the losers, don't worry. The headmaster has agreed to give everyone a chance to choose a technique, spell, or manual from the 1st or 2nd floor of the library! Now, remember this, the techniques may have different grades and it goes without saying that the higher the grade, the stronger it is! But, keep this in mind, the stronger it is the more difficult it is to cultivate! So pick a technique, spell, or manual that is compatible with you, don't bite off more than you can chew! Now everyone, get up! We're heading to the library!!"
The class immediately erupted into a cheer and they followed the instructor out of the class room. At the back of the group, Cecil and his clique were currently discussing on what kind of technique they wanted to get.
"What're you getting, Lulu?" Fina asked.
"Dunno... I'll wait and see if there are any good spells or techniques I want."
"Why not choose a manual? Oh wait, I almost forgot you're at the Mana Core Stage."
"Well, even if I wasn't in the core stage, I'd still not choose a manual. My family has a traditional manual that we use and it's something passed down in the family so I won't consider changing my training method~"
"Oh! So you're just like me then, Lulu?" Fina asked in surprised.
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"You have one too, Fina? Haha, we're the same then!"
"I'm using my family's manual too," Eli added.
"Hehe, that goes without saying for me!" Ainz haughtily said. "Let's choose a magic spell or technique later then! I'm going straight to the 4th floor HAHA!"
"What about you Cecil? What're you going to get?" Eli asked the fox boy next to her.
"..."
"Cecil?"
Cecil who was deep in thought, snapped his head back in their direction after hearing his name being called and exclaimed, "AH! W-What?"
"... Eli asked what you're going to get at the library... What're you spacing out for, huh, Cel?" Lucia asked with a frown.
"I was just thinking about what I should get... I have no need for techniques or spells, so I might get a manual for references' sake."
"Oh, you don't have a mana cultivation method of your own?" Eli inquired curiously.
She thought that Cecil was bound to have a top-notch cultivation method since his stage was high and he was able to leap stages and fight Lucia who was at the core stage.
"No, I have one. It's just I want another one for reference and comparison."
His words caused his 3 friends to give him a puzzled look. Why would someone want a manual just for reference and comparison? Comparison for what?
While he was lying with a straight face, only Lucia knew that Cecil actually didn't have a cultivation method. The only reason Cecil had an abnormal amount of mana was because of his body's constitution. He's never actually learned how to cultivate mana, and the meditations he's been doing was only there to help him calm his mind and strengthen the foundation of his mana point.
If he wanted a proper cultivation method then this was a good opportunity for him to get one. It's been over half a year since he's tested his mana quantity back at Fauxe Village and the amount of mana he's gained from the months of meditation was negligible and he was stuck in the same place all this time.
Silver was a monster, so he didn't need a cultivation method. All he needed to do was accumulate mana inside his body's mana point and quickly condense his beast core and repeat this process to raise his stage.
Lucia had her mother's cultivation method and went from the Mana Vapor Stage to the Mana Sea Stage in only a few months after they left the village once she started to cultivate seriously because of Cecil's influence. Despite what people thought from seeing her entrance exam results, she was still only at the advanced Mana Sea stage. The results only tested her mana level and thanks to her unique cultivation method, she had more mana than the usual person would have at her real cultivation stage.
She needed to cultivate a while longer before she could actually achieve the stage that was reported on her entrance exam results. She never clarified to anyone her cultivation level because it was going to be really tough to explain why she had more mana than the average person and if she told anyone that it was because of her cultivation method, they'd definitely try to hound her for it.
To save herself from all the trouble, she just remained silent and treated herself as someone from the Mana Core Stage. The same was true for Cecil. He just went along with it and declared himself at the Mana Sea Stage when he was supposed to still be at the Mana Vapor Stage, the stage that everyone in Class S had long since surpassed.
Speaking about stage, Cecil was a little angry that his cultivation level had stagnated. After reaching a certain point, the mana in his mana point could no longer increase in level as there was some kind of barrier limiting it. After continuously examining his body to figure out why this was happening, he came to the conclusion that it was because of his lack of a proper cultivation method.
Cecil had only been lucky when he somehow condensed the mana inside his mana point into a liquid state without the proper guidance of a cultivation method. However, because of that, the rest of the mana inside his body remained in a gaseous state. He did try to condense the mana into liquid form, but it wouldn't work. He figured that he needed more mana in his body in order to be able to condense it, but when he tried to increase the mana in his body, it similarly did not work.
He tried learning some cultivation methods he and Lucia found throughout their journey, regardless of what level it was, but Cecil couldn't learn any of them. Lucia had even tried teaching him her family's unique cultivation method, but just like the rest, Cecil couldn't learn it. They even asked for help from Lucia's mother, Anna, and thankfully, she found the reason why he couldn't cultivate any other cultivation method.
"It's because you're already using a cultivation method! And from what you've told me, it seems to be one that's been deeply rooted into your body, so it's practically impossible for you to switch cultivation methods!"
When Cecil thought about it deeply, he realized that his family's martial arts manual may be a Mana Cultivation manual as well. During his journey, whenever he meditated and trained, his mana would involuntarily start circulating throughout his body and when he used his family's breathing technique, his body would start generating mana very, very slowly.
This was actually how he managed to increase the mana in his mana point and eventually condense it into liquid form. He just didn't know it back then until Mrs. Anna finally pointed it out to him. Thanks to this, Cecil knew that he definitely had a Mana Cultivation Method, so he started comparing various manuals with his family's martial arts manual to try and systemize as well as optimize the cultivation method.
It was why he was more interested in the library's manuals and was hoping to use them to refine his own cultivation method. The thought of being able to create and own an exclusive mana cultivation manual made Cecil's face brighten and he began smiling slightly. His mood was so good that he even began humming.
Cecil wasn't usually very expressive, so his out-of-character actions caused Eli, Fina, and Ainz to look at him in surprise. Lucia, however, had a tired expression on her face when she saw him acting like this.
'Argh, I know that look... *sigh* here we go again.'