Teaching the Students (2/2)
The next day, when classes start, Haalfrin makes it clear that Black Souls and White Souls will be separated into different classes while Yohan (being the only Grey Soul) will be directly apprenticed under Fisco, due to that Arkin being the only other person in the Valor Hall with a Grey Soul.
For the most part, the Black Souls have a much more vigorous training than everyone else. After all, the "basics" for them would involve them being used to doing hard things.
So, all the Black Soul students are sent off into the woods with little to no supplies, and they're given brutal training. They're worked nearly to death, and they're given next to no sleep. They're periodically woken up at the most unexpected times, and they're pushed further and further. He also employs such tactics as punishing the entire group when one person fails in order to create a sense of camaraderie between them.
Any of these students are allowed to drop out of the harsh training whenever they want, too. After all, pushing yourself to the limits and passing life's trials is a completely voluntary action.
Of course, the moment any of them skip training, they're kindly escorted out of the Valor Hall and brought back home to a life of comfort and ease.
As for everyone else…, their training gradually gets more and more harsh as time goes on.
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As for the White Soul students, Haalfrin arranges for them all to be interviewed by some trained psychologists from Lareen. Those people have far more expertise in training White Soul people than he does, so there's less that he can change.
However, one thing he DOES change, is he has each of the White Soul students be apprenticed to an Arkin each. White Souled people, more than anyone, need to have an individual mentor to help guide them.
Lareen, naturally, has always known that individual mentorship was always a better option for teaching. However, they've never had enough mages to spare for such an expensive way of teaching.
The White Soul students then spent most of their time becoming acquainted with their mentors… It's then up to the mentors when to officially start teaching, and how to teach them. Haalfrin really doesn't interfere.
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After about a year, Haalfrin starts to officially teach the Black Soul students how to awaken. The first year was just to toughen them up.
With their minds and Wills strengthened, Haalfrin spends a lot of effort making sure that they get a lot of practical experience.
Black souled people define themselves by what they DO. They tend to already have a good idea of who they think they are; they have innate, palpable ambitions. The only problem is that their ambitions require them to stretch themselves. In fact, their desires are often so hard to achieve that there's a reason why most people with Black Souls never become anything special.
So, with their Wills strengthened, Haalfrin really doesn't need to give these students any time to figure out what they want to do; they all already know.
For the students who have an interest in training their martial arts, he sends them off to the drill sergeants.
For the students who want to see the world, he sends them out of the Valor Hall with a few Arkin secretly following them.
In one particular case, there is a girl who wants to become a great author. However, the girl has a lot of trouble getting writer's block, then skipping out on writing for months at a time.
Her mentor ends up locking her in her room, taking away all forms of entertainment, and only letting her out to take walks, eat, and go to the bathroom. Sure, it's a "little" extreme, but it was under her consent… At least, that's what they tell Haalfrin.
"You'll never become something simply by wanting it. Pick up your pen and start writing," the Arkin would tell her.
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Many of the students (more especially, their parents) begin complaining about Haalfrin's abusive way of teaching.
However, in Haalfrin's eyes, hardship is necessary for people to grow. Whenever people come to find trouble with him over this, he always says something like, "What? I'm not forcing them to stay against their will, am I? They can leave whenever they want."
There is a lot of trouble coming from Lareen's newspapers over his strange teaching method. People think that he's barbaric, and that he's abusing children.
Still, after several years pass, every single student who stuck around are all mages now. Even more, about half of them have become 2nd Gate mages.
…The results speak for itself. Haalfrin's method is certainly a lot more expensive on manpower, and it's harsher. However, it sees results. Hard times either make or break a person, after all.
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After seeing his first batch of students graduate, Haalfrin can't help but feel something in his soul move. Why?
Maybe it's because, for the first time in thousands of years, he's felt a sense of pride in what he's doing?
There's just something about seeing the younger generation grow up that makes Haalfrin feel satisfied.
And so, Haalfrin's life enters a new cycle of teaching batch after batch of students. As the years drift on, he hears more and more accounts of the graduates from his school all taking up prominent positions in society.
Just as Haalfrin starts to understand why he's feeling so happy nowadays, he starts to feel his soul stir more and more over the years.
Batch after batch of students come and go from his castle, and each of them fill his soul with just a little bit more of this feeling.
Haalfrin, of course, realizes what's happening. He's briefly touching his last Name - his 7th Name. He's getting ready to advance for the last time.
How exciting!
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After about 200 years of constant teaching, Haalfrin's position in Lareen society is second only to the god-king himself.
Eventually, there comes a day when Haalfrin is reading a book that someone wrote. The book was very popular, and it featured a magic academy in the clouds. The school wasn't explicitly HIS school, but Haalfrin could tell where the inspiration came from.
Haalfrin then starts to see more and more signs of his presence impacting Lareen culture. People start to dress a little more like Brancotte. People start to respect his soldiers for what they are instead of hating them. The names of his Arkin soldiers even start to show up on birth certificates for new children, since parents are starting to name their children after these people.
In every sense of the word, Haalfrin is starting to get the sense, once again, that he's found a place to belong.
'I don't have to be fighting a war in order to be useful. Sure, I'll pick up my sword when I need to, but training the younger generation and keeping a culture strong is a war that's equally important.'
As Haalfrin thinks this, he feels his 7th Name open up all the way, and he falls into a trance…
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Haalfrin wakes up in his soul realm again… and he almost looks up at his soul Gate in the sky. However, he knows that once he does that, he'll read his 7th Name, and he'll become a god.
Why isn't he reading it right away? What's the point in waiting?
There's a very simple reason, and it all comes back to something he learned from Freyya a very long time ago.
Just as the Dra Name describes your body, and the Reh Name describes your spirit, your Ar Name (7th Name) describes your Divinity.
Thus, if Haalfrin were to open up his godhood while he's still alive, then he wouldn't be a Death god at all. He'd be… something else. Is there any way to hang onto this Comprehension and just wake up his Ar Name at a later date?
Luckily, Haalfrin has been thinking about this problem ever since he's started to feel his Ar Name open up, about 200 years ago.
So, Haalfrin reaches into his pocket and pulls out a memory stone.
Ever so carefully, Haalfrin pours in all the memory that led up to getting his Comprehension. It's like he's removing the whole experience from his soul.
As more and more of the Comprehension goes into the enchanted stone, Haalfrin feels his 7th Gate disappearing steadily.
Finally, once his 7th Gate has disappeared from his Soul Realm's sky, he's finally safe to look up.
With nothing else to do here, Haalfrin recites his Name, and he leaves his Soul Realm behind.
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Haalfrin wakes up in his room again, and he reaches into his pocket warily. His beating heart only calms down when he feels the memory stone's warm surface.
Losing this thing would be… pretty bad. It DOES contains the Comprehension of a person achieving godhood.
Yeah. It's best to keep this thing close. Can't let anyone touch this thing.
Just to be safe, Haalfrin stuffs the thing in a space bag and ties it shut with magic. He then puts the space bag in the most expensive and secure safe he could buy from Lareen merchants. Then, he puts that safe in a large, concrete box that he has Miss Laura Time Lock.
Haalfrin then puts the box in his Soul Realm and hopes for the best.