Max showed up in the woods, on time to teach his martial arts class. Quite predictably, all of his friends had questions for him. In particular, Tessa Alvarez seemed eager for answers as to how Max had become so much more powerful so quickly. Everyone did stretches on their own as they listened to Max's response.

Earlier, during his short meditation back in his room, Max had anticipated that someone would ask him questions like this. He had prepared answers that, while not particularly untrue, didn't volunteer too much information either.

The story he was sticking to was that although there had been a mistake and he'd been sent to a different dungeon than he'd chosen, he'd been able to find great rewards. He tried to downplay the betrayal and he didn’t talk about his execution of the Quartet-born.

During the entire time Max explained this, Gantry Pliss was uncommonly quiet. He kept rubbing the spot where Max had broken his bones, looking thoughtful. Max had actually worried that the man might be a little resentful.

All of them seemed almost a bit disappointed when Max stopped the impromptu question and answer session to get to business. He asked them to show how they'd improved with some of the forms he'd taught them. Then, over the course of the next thirty minutes, Max carefully watched his students, trying to decide how best he could help them with equipment that would suit their bodies, personality, and style..

It was ironic that Tessa Alvarez had been the most outspoken with her questions because she was also possibly the easiest person for Max to help. Her chosen weapon was a spear, which made finding relatively inexpensive upgrades for her in the central area exponentially easier, given that a good chunk of the Quartet specialized in spears. All of the weapon shops were practically full of them.

Momo, however, was likely going to be the most expensive to help. Max wasn't sure exactly what he could do to help her with her chosen melee weapon, her strange weighted whip. Enchanted throwing knives came in all sorts of different flavors, but they were all expensive, probably because almost all of them had some sort of magic retrieval functionality built in.

They didn't have to be a master work like Headmaster Territ Mond's spear, but they still wouldn’t be cheap.

Benjamin G. Northside was an interesting case because although he was using a large axe now, Max actually didn't think that it was a very good weapon for the man. Instead, he was planning to buy him a large sword similar to the practice weapon he’d used when Max first saw him in group combat class. Not only did Max think a sword would fit Benjamin’s body and fighting style better, it was also a weapon that Max could offer far more help in mastering.

Apparently Benjamin had lucked into a decent axe and had switched weapons because of it. It was still a mystery where Benjamin had gotten the axe from, but from what Max understood, it had something to do with a chance encounter with an amorous, older woman. Max didn’t know all the details and some of it had sounded silly so he hadn’t pried. Maybe if he thought about it later, he could ask.

Gantry was actually the easiest of all of them for Max to help. Whenever he was able to access his spatial inventory, Max still had the two short swords that he'd taken from the kobold dungeon on Earth. Due to Gantry's fluid fighting style and the skilled spirit assisting him, Mas was planning to encourage Gantry to try fighting florentine–with a sword in each hand. His contracted spirit should be able to help him adapt more quickly. Both short swords from the kobold dungeon were decent weapons and would probably serve Gantry well for a long time.

Eolus, the last of Max's students, would likely benefit from a rapier-type weapon. But these types of blades were rare in the weapon shops, at least from what Max had seen. The fewer of a type of weapon the shops had, the more expensive they tended to be.

Max wasn't planning on telling his students about his plans to buy some of them weapons. It’d be a surprise. He was hoping it would just cost him a small fortune, though–not a large one.

After the quick assessment of his students, Max taught them a new form, did a run-through of its practical application, and then asked them to all stand in a semicircle around him.

"Okay, everybody," he said. "I haven't been gone that long, but we're getting closer to the end of the semester. Has anybody found and contracted with any new spirits yet that might change their fighting style or anything else I should know about?"

Three of the class raised their hand—Momo, Benjamin, and Gantry.

"Really? Gantry too?" asked Max. Based on how the rest of the academy performed, it could be considered surprising, very surprising, that so many members of this group had found new spirits so quickly. But not only were these some of the most driven students in their respective years, they were also in the middle of learning a new Path—the same path, in fact, that Max's students on Earth had acquired. Max activated his third eye briefly and verified it. All of them were a Summoner and Mana Swordsman.

Gantry grunted. "Yes, I contracted a new spirit, and I understand why you're surprised. I didn't even get the chance to use his power against you in the spar earlier because you beat me too fast."

The other students laughed good-naturedly at Gantry's frustration. Max chuckled too and asked, "What does your new spirit do?"

Gantry scratched his cheek. "He's a screamer class. Name’s Yatto. He can shriek in one of my opponent’s ears. It can be startling or even mess with their concentration if the shriek goes on long enough."

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"How long can it last?" asked Max.

"Right now, like five or six seconds, but I'm pretty sure that if I keep working with my spirit, we can get it up higher."

"And how long does it take between shrieks?" asked Max.

"Maybe another five seconds."

"Can other people hear it if the spirit shrieks in their ear?"

"Nope." Now Gantry was showing obvious pride, and Max understood why. It would be a useful ability against any opponent, whether monster or human, unless they just couldn't hear. But even if the shriek didn't ruin their concentration or startle them, it would still take away one of their senses, potentially creating openings.

"What about you, Momo?" asked Max.

Momo's red eyes were hooded, and she seemed unusually vulnerable. "I actually have two new spirits."

"Really?"

"Yes. I've only told my friends in the dorm so far. But, yes. Only one has combat capability. I got a mover class that's actually really fast. She can move things that belong to me. Really fast. Really really fast."

"So, that means that you basically can throw knives farther and more accurately than before, right?" asked Max.

"Correct."

Aeolus frowned. "Wait? What did you mean, ‘belongs’ to you?"

Momo shrugged. "It's up to the spirit to decide, but I think she considers anything that I own or that I've worn or used for long enough to belong to me."

"That's good to know," said Max. "It's good that you were able to find a spirit that complements your skills."

Momo gave a small smile and said, "Yes, as it turns out, I was actually practicing throwing knives and she just showed up."

"Lucky," said Aeolus. "Compatible spirits just approaching us is super rare, especially in the Quartet."

Max thought about how he'd met Lavinia and kept his mouth shut. "What about your other spirit?" he asked.

"Like I said, the other is not really combat related. He is a memory spirit and is very wise. He's kind of like Gantry's spirit that shows him how to fight with swords better, but he—uh—" she paused, "—he was a professional chef, so I'm learning to cook really well."

"Oh," he said. "That’s…handy."

Momo grinned. "I'm not very good yet, but perhaps later, after I’ve had time to practice more?"

Max nodded slowly. “Yeah. Maybe later.”

He was glad that Momo had found and embraced both of her new spirits, but he couldn’t help but admit this was why the other Paths currently thought Summoners were so weak. If every Summoner could only meet a limited number of spirits in a lifetime, and some of them could get the bad luck to find compatible spirits that didn’t confer abilities that helped them get stronger, it was almost like…wasted opportunity.

But as he considered it further, Max realized he was maybe thinking too narrowly. After all, people still needed to eat, and sometimes knowing what foods were poisonous or how to prepare certain meals might save one’s own life or an entire team. On top of that, if it were possible to contract with spirits that could teach other skills, not just martial skills, it would make a Summoner a far more well-rounded, dynamic person…but only if they were able to find and contract more spirits.

Max already had three contracted spirits, and one was warlord level. Of course, he couldn't compare his arts students to himself. Or, who knew, maybe they would all eventually surpass him.

The feeling hadn’t been coming as often lately, but he was still struck by how little he actually knew about Summoners.

Benjamin, the tall mysterious man, raised a hand. He said, "Now I can do this." Suddenly, a blue flame manifested above his palm. "I got pretty lucky. This flame I can generate for a while, it lets me burn whatever I want to burn and not burn things that I choose not to."

He picked up his wooden training axe and suddenly it was covered in the same blue fire. "I can also transfer the flame to anything I'm holding."

"Oh wow," said Gantry.

"That’s a pretty blue," Momo murmured.

The rest of the class gave voice to their admiration as well. Max could already understand the strengths and weaknesses of the power. Benjamin would have to carefully time when he'd use the flame since he couldn't keep it manifested the entire fight. But how quickly it could burned something would matter a lot for how powerful it would truly be.

"Have you begun experimenting with what it will burn and how fast?"

"A little bit," said Benjamin. "I definitely understand where you're going with that, and I agree that it's something I need to know."

Max nodded and looked up in thought as he crossed his arms. Then he said, "Everybody, eventually I'm going to be able to show you something else other than martial arts. Maybe a way for all of you to meet and hopefully make contracts with other spirits more easily."

Are you going to give my circle to them? Lavinia mentally asked.

No, replied Max. Even if you'd let me, it's far too dangerous as it is. I'm not going to do anything until I figure out how to make it safer.

If you do that, it will be less effective.

Yeah, well, nobody here is going to be able to fight anymore if something eats their soul, Max replied.

Good point, said Lavinia. Saliron chuckled.

“What do you mean?” asked Gantry.

“I’m thinking about sharing a secret magic circle I’ve been working on that will make it much easier for all of you to meet new spirits.”

"Are you serious!?” exclaimed Eolus. His spear dangled from slack fingers.

“Yes, but before I hand out anything, I want to get some magically binding contracts because this would be coming from me, not from the Academy, and I don't want the information to spread."

Gantry slowly asked, "Why not? If it's a way to help Summoners meet new spirits, wouldn't it help everybody?"

That was a good question, and Max didn't know quite how to answer without telling everybody about the current politics and power plays in the quartet. "I'm not convinced that helping everybody wouldn't end up making me more of a target than I already am. I am also not sure that the unintended consequences might be worse than everyone being weaker, like now.” He realized as the words came out of his mouth that this pretty closely reflected how he’d felt about everyone on Earth with the talent to do so learning to be a Mana Swordsman.

His students slowly nodded at that. After all, everybody in the Summoner Academy knew who Max was and what he'd done at the Mystic Spear Path Academy by this point. Even the students who had been inconvenienced or their romances temporarily put on hold had mostly admitted by this point that what Max did probably should have been done. There were still plenty of students who didn't like him, but a lot of the fallout, at least in the Summoner Academy, had abated.

"Okay, everybody, I'm going to show you all one more form today, and then we're going to do some light sparring at half speed," Max announced.

"I'm not sparring against you again, not today," said Gantry.

"Fair enough," Max replied. "That's fine. I'll stay out of it in general. But after your sparring, we're going to do test cutting with your real weapons, or test bashing as the case may be. Then we'll stretch and be done for the day. Any questions? No? Okay, let's get to it."