Gatan took his sword, glad Gaus didn't ask about the 'extra lesson'.
This time around, Gatan was the first to attack. Gaus drew his sword. He used every tactic at his disposal to increase his speed and strength, but when they clashed, Gatan pushed him back hard until his back hit the wall behind. He slashed again from the left. Gaus reached out with his sword and managed to block it, even though the force from his opponent snatched his sword out of his hands and threw it to the side. Before he could pick it up, Gatan had put a sword to his throat.
"I won," Gatan said.
Gaus could use Blink or Rewind to win, but that would defeat the purpose of the exercise. In addition, Gatan would see his skills and probably ruin the restart. He wouldn't be surprised if Gatan exposed everything in the class interface to 'honor' the patriarch.
"Let's go again," Gatan said. He seemed to be suddenly enjoying the fight.
The same couldn't be said for Gaus who after ten more sessions realized how vastly weaker he was compared to his classmates in terms of physical strength. Gatan always won. Gaus was getting better at using advanced levitation though. The original technique was used, as Linc put it, to turn an arrow or any weapon away from a target, but since Gaus had a physique problem he decided to apply it in another way. Doing so had been easy for him, but it seemed it would take some time for him to master it.
The session went on for another hour before they called it a day.
Afterward, he went to the cafeteria to get some food and then went to his room to read the book he received from XM9997.
Alteration was being described as different from the usual branches of enchantment. Instead of using a quill to write a rune, in alteration, the quill was used to change a written rune. An 'explode' rune would require the runic syllable to be written through runic writing and then brought to life through mana insignia. But in alteration, you didn't need to write any rune. No, what you needed was to change the existing rune. So you didn't need runic syllable, or runic writing, or mana insignia. All you needed was a constant called K.
There was mutation, enhancement, and erasure. As it was written in the book:
Erasure = Runic Writing + Mana insignia +/- Compression +/- Advanced compression + K
Enhancer = K + Mo factor + Runic writing / Mana insignia / compression / advanced compression
Mutator = K + Mu factor + Runic writing
So if 1 MP was used to write a rune through runic writing, 1 MP was used to make it a rune through mana insignia, and then 2 MP for compression, the amount of mana needed to erase the rune would be 1 + 1 + 2 + 20 = 24 MP.
On the other hand, enhancement only worked on a part of the seal at a time. For example, it could enhance the text used to create the rune by upgrading the writing. Or it might add strength to the compression. Increasing the strength of each component could increase the strength of the rune in general or at individual parts. It could increase the intensity of an 'explosion' for example. Or it could further tighten the seal by compressing it.
Mutation, however, changed the seal to a slightly different one. In the lines associated with the rune, you could delete a part, or add another, though you must leave at least 50% of the original stamp behind or you would destroy it.
Mo factor changed your mana to resemble the mana used to create the rune, whereas the Mu factor settled the mana difference between the new, altered runic writing and the old one. If you wrote the rune, then the Mo factor would be zero since it was your mana that created the rune in the first place.
Gaus re-read the first few chapters. After making sure he understood everything, he pulled out a practice stone from his inventory and began experimenting.
He created a small lamp that shone bright red. Then he pushed 20 MP into the rune responsible for creating the red color.
K value achieved.
Alteration activated.
Assessing mana equivalents for the rune...
Assessment done.
----------------------------------------
Mo factor = 0
Mu factor = ??
Runic writing = 2 MP
Mana insignia = 1 MP
----------------------------------------
Erase for 3 MP? Y/N?
Enhance runic writing for 2 MP? Y/N?
Enhance mana insignia for 1MP? Y/N?
Activate Mutator? Y/N?
He chose runic writing and pushed 2 MP into it. The rune glowed and after a second it melted. Then it reassembled itself and shone brighter. The red glow was increased by about 30 percent.
He picked up another practice stone and drew the same rune. But this time around, he enhanced mana insignia instead. The red light increased just like before. It seemed to have the same effect as enhancing runic writing.
He erased the rune using 3 MP. It was all straightforward and self-explanatory. The only difference was in the use of the mutator. After selecting the option, the rune lit up. Three points changed color to blue.
Select each of the mutation points to determine the Mu factor.
Gaus moved his quill closer and pressed on the first black dot.
Mu factor is 7 MP for the selected mutation point.
Activate? Y/N?
He clicked Yes.
The rune glowed and the color coming from it changed from red to orange. Some white dots that seemed to change shape appeared in it. Gaus stared at it for a minute. Instead of making the color more intense, mutation changed the color entirely. It was like creating a new lamp or adding bulbs with different colors. It looked amazing.
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Gaus chose the next mutation point. Now the red changed to reddish-purple. He chose the next one and the red changed to white. It was like a normal fluorescent light from Earth.
He used another practice stone to draw a blue color. He used it to repeat his experiments. Each time he enhanced it, the intensity of the color would increase. Erasing just deleted it, and mutation changed the color. After experimenting with color, he drew the rune for explosion.
Mu factor is 14 MP for the selected mutation point.
Activate? Y/N?
Gaus winced at the high MP. One thing he noted was that the mana required to mutate any rune was equivalent to the size of the mutation and how different the results would be from the original. However, mutation didn't always provide the best results, which was a big difference with enhancement. For example, of the three mutation points available for the explosion rune, only one increased the intensity of the explosion by adding a variant shockwave. But the remaining two only affected the color of the explosion, which he noted was useless.
He focused on the book for the remaining hours of the day.
The next morning, Gaus booked a seat for Raya. He escorted her to her room after class. Later on that day, Tiara started spreading rumors about him and Raya. Before the day ended, all class 1 and class 2 initiates heard about Gaus and Raya. The love birds, she called them. One of these days Gaus would dedicate an entire restart just to work on that girl. How did she even get so much information about so many people? Nothing seemed to happen in the academy without her knowing.
He sighed. It meant little to him now, in fact, that was exactly what he was looking for.
He went back to XM9997 after finishing the book but she asked him to wait for Nostalgia's response. Linc continued to teach him how to 'levitation water', but with little progress. It wasn't just the emotional ramifications of the teacher's methods, the texture of objects played a significant role in levitation it seemed. Gaus kept on trying.
Whenever he got tired of it, he would look for Gatan to spar. With the help of advanced levitation and spinning and constantly trying, Gaus was able to raise his strength to 18. He was finding it increasingly easier to swing his blade and strike his opponents.
After five days of the same routine, Gaus progressed his skills except for water levitation. Linc was frustrated and was already regretting signing up for the mentor-mentee program with him. On his part, Gaus considered going to Antelina as he had done in the past. But before that, he wanted to see if his treatment of Raya would make any difference in the loop.
The following day came and Gaus was the first to arrive in class. He kept all his swords and explosives by his side. If he was right then it would happen today.
An hour later, the other members of the class arrived. Linc still didn't come.
"I sensed the mana of the teacher," Bor said proudly, eyes closed. "He would be coming in three... two... one."
The class turned to the entrance door where two people came into the classroom. They both looked to be over 30 years of age.
Antelina glanced at Bor as if to tell him he was wrong and he didn't sense the teacher. It had become a thing in the class for someone to pick up the teacher using mana sense before the teacher came into the classroom.
"Where's Linc?" One of the two men who came in asked.
"He's on his way," said Antelina, who was sitting at the front seat.
The man shook his head and murmured something about teachers coming late.
"Where's the class rep?" He said.
Gaus raised his hand. "I'm here."
"This is Tyren," said the man, pointing to the other man who seemed to be a bit shy. "He's a new student who will be joining your class because of his affinity for mind and soul magic. I'll leave him in your hands before Linc arrives."
With that, he turned and left, leaving Tyren there.
"My name is Tyren Onis," said Tyren, bowing his head slightly and eying Gaus through the corner of his eyes. "Take care of me, please."
Gaus got up from his chair and walked to the front of the classroom where Tyren was standing. Raya who was sitting next to him was a little confused to see him clenching his fists, but she decided not to interfere.
Gaus grabbed Tyren's collar and, to everyone's surprise, punched him in the face. The force of the blow threw Tyren backward to hit the wall behind him. Gaus pocketed his hands and turned back to his chair as if nothing had happened.
The class silently watched him as he returned to his seat, dumbstruck. Some of them knitted their brows, some put their hands over their head, some dropped their jaws, all in shock.
Tyren wiped the blood from his mouth and stood. He was smiling contrary to what the class expected. But then he retrieved a bow and an arrow from his inventory. He nocked the arrow and pointed at Gaus.
"Die!" Tyren shouted with a playful tone and a smirk on his face.
The class started running around as Tyren released the arrow. The arrow flew straight toward Gaus. When it was a meter away, it suddenly changed direction and passed over his left shoulder. Tyren fired another shot. It, too, flew toward Gaus just like the first one but it avoided him in the last second.
In a fit of rage, Gaus drew his bow and pointed at the other man. Then Linc came into the classroom.
"What's going on here?" He asked.
Tyren returned his arrow to his inventory. So was Gaus.
"Class Rep, I ask a question, what's going on here?"
Gaus looked at Tyren and then turned to the rest of the class. "We were doing advanced levitation exercises, sir," he said.
Linc stared at him for a long moment before shaking his head.
"Meet me in my office after class."
The rest of the class stood there in amazement. Advanced levitation exercises...? They looked at Gaus and then at Tyren. None of it made any sense to them.
"Everyone should go back to their seat," Linc said. He then further introduced Tyren.
Before the lesson, Tyren was tested for mana sense and he managed to dodge 67 stones.
Everyone was surprised but not Gaus. He fully knew who Tyren was. Even if he were to dodge all the hundred stones, Gaus wouldn't be impressed.
The same lesson on sharpening, levitation, and spinning was given. Gaus wasn't paying attention to the lesson. His eyes were fixed on Tyren. He kept running different scenarios in his head where he plunged a dagger in the guy's heart, or at the back of his head.
After the lesson, Linc asked Gaus and Tyren to follow him to his office immediately.
"Can any of you tell me what's going on?" Linc asked after they were both seated in his office.
Silence.
The teacher frowned as he stared at them up and down.
"Either you tell me what's going on or I'll make it hard for both of you. Trust me, you don't want that to happen."
Silence.
Linc got up from his chair and walked in front of them.
"I got a report," Linc said. "Class rep, you started it all. You punched him and he shot you with an arrow. What you both did was wrong, but you're both promising students so I can forgive you. What I can't forgive is the enmity between you. I saw the way you two looked at each other. In this school, we are all brothers and sisters. You have to unite and help each other. That's the only way you can help LA and The Master." He paused, waiting for them to smile and hug each other. When he realized it wasn't going to happen, he brought his chair forward so he could see them closely. "I don't want to see this look in your eyes, idiots."
"He started it," Tyren complained, pointing at Gaus.
Gaus wanted to attack him right there. Just how many balls did the guy has to do that?
Seeing that the hatred in their eyes didn't lessen, Linc turned furiously to his desk. He picked up some papers and went through them. Then he picked up his comm ayrid and called the school dungeon control room.
"I'm XM1002, is the orange room available?"
There was some silence and a voice came through the stone.
"Yes, sir, it is available."
"Okay," said Linc. "Thanks. I'll be bringing two students right now."
He put the ayrid comm down and turned to them.
"Follow me," he said. He walked out of the office with the two students walking behind him.
Luckily for the two students, XM9997 was also coming from her office at the same time and they met on the way down.
"Little Linc," she said. "Where are you going?"
Linc bowed in greeting. "Teacher, I'm going to the dungeon beneath." He glanced at Gaus and Tyren. "I will be back in a minute. I just need to throw these two students in the orange room and come back. Do you want me to do something for you?"
XM9997 looked at Gaus and then at Tyren.
"Then it's good that I found you here," said the old woman. "I told Nostalgia about Gaus. She will be deciding on it shortly. It will be a pain if she were to come looking for him and he's not around. Why don't you postpone the punishment till the end of the month."
Linc bit his lip but he didn't object it. There was still no regret or compassion in the eyes of the class rep or the newcomer. He wondered if there was some bad blood between them even before coming to the academy. But he would teach them some hard lessons. They would bring problems to him if The Master were to find out that the two most promising students in his class weren't working together for the betterment of the school.