Preparations

Under Edmund's strong insistence, the group went towards the training hall to help him practice.

Cyril and Myra took turns being his sparring partner.

Rose was a spectator, giving whatever nuggets of wisdom she could.

Before long Edmund was completely out of breath, lying on the floor in defeat. He looked quite battered.

"Damn it. Couldn't you hold back a little?" Edmund muttered with effort.

"If you want to get better fast, then holding back would not do you any good," Myra instructed with crossed arms.

Truthfully, Cyril was holding back already; if he wasn't, Edmund wouldn't have the capability to speak. But he won't tell this. "Very kind."

"I am done for today. Thanks, guys." Edmund raised his body with difficulty and went to find the healer.

"I'll be going then." Rose also had other plans tonight, the library, as usual.

Myra too was busy with something.

Soon Cyril was left alone.

"You are never alone," Rhamn said, and Morpho twitched her antennae in agreement.

That's true.

With these comforting thoughts, he went towards the field, somewhere with fewer eyes on him, preferably.

He was going to practice Selene's technique for the very first time.

As expected, he was quite compatible with it.

After trying it out a few times, he discovered that mana within him flowed smooth and uninterrupted; his body was also perfectly capable of handling it.

Cyril made a few attacks with mana flowing to his hands, and the impact was quite a bit stronger.

A small explosive sound could be heard whenever his hands shot out.

But he frowned at such a result.

Not gentle enough... When Selene fought him, she used the technique without such fanfare.

The force should be much more concentrated than this.

"You can't become an expert in one day."

He spent some time getting used to the feeling of mana moving in his body.

When he eventually took a rest, Morpho flew close with another request.

"She wants to try it."

"Sure, let's do it. But if I see that it has a bad effect on your body, we'll stop immediately," Cyril warned in a strict voice.

"You'll begin with the first part of the scroll, then. Remember, it would be no big deal if you fail." His voice softened as he preemptively comforted her.

Morpho raised her wings in confidence as if to say, 'Just watch'.

The result of this experiment was surprisingly successful.

Morpho's body was much tougher than a regular butterfly's. Perhaps tougher than some humans even.

With mana focused in her wings, she was able to cut grass to pieces without any effort.

Such a result, of course, delighted everyone present.

Now Morpho and Cyril both focused on practicing this technique, while Rhamn stood watch on the side with a proud smile.

They went at it until late in the evening, only taking a quick break for food.

Sometimes a student would wander in and notice someone making weird movements along with the butterfly.

But upon noticing that it was Cyril, they were quickly scared off.

When he was done, Cyril, full of sweat and with disrupted breathing, slowly walked back to his dorm.

Morpho was lying on his shoulder, trying her best to not move.

They were all incredibly tired, but their eyes were bright.

Once he got home, Cyril took a quick shower and dropped on the bed, immediately falling asleep.

...

The following day during the spell-making lesson, they learned how mages hide the magic circle from prying eyes.

Since knowing a magic circle allows you to use the spell effectively, concealing it to prevent your enemy from learning it during battle was a good idea.

The professor talked about how most ordinary mages simply cover the circle completely with a 'shell' made of light.

The wealthier families, however, decorate the concealing cover with various images. Often with something from their history.

The Felling family also had a signature symbol—a sword entwined with a flower—but Cyril never bothered to learn it.

Naturally he learned the simple cover at the spell-making class now.

"It would be nice if we had our own symbol; what do you think?" Rhamn said with a longing expression.

It's not too complicated to create your own, but this way we'll be announcing to the Empire that we want to create a new family. Creating a personal symbol for your magic was a sign of ambition.

"It should be a beautiful flower, or maybe a tree?" Rhamn went on a tangent while Cyril seriously listened to their professor.

The next lesson they've explored the feasibility of concocting potions in a densely populated urban area during Potion Making.

Their bear-like professor told a story about how he made a healing potion using the remains of a rat that regularly chewed on a mana tool.

He looked like he was enjoying the lesson, which couldn't be said about the students.

Everyone was given their own experiment set of unsightly materials and told to prepare a somewhat effective potion before the end of the lesson.

As expected, Cyril didn't have a problem with this task and finished first among his classmates, followed by Rose in close second.

 Rhamn had a good sense of creature biology and didn't have any trouble making something useful. "It's too simple!"

Cyril was more impressed with Rose, who did all this by herself. She looked experienced with the process.

Myra, however, suffered a lot during this, having restarted the experiment many times.

She just didn't have much talent in potion making.

In the end, Cyril and Rose had to mentor her during the whole process. Their professor turned a blind eye to such help. He was busy with sneakily guiding others himself.

Thankfully they succeeded before the lesson was over.

With the loud sound of the bell, the students of class I heaved a collective sigh of relief and started to disperse after their professor allowed it.

"Why is this so complicated?" With fake tears, Myra lay down on the desk in despair.

"There, there, we're here to help," Rose said, comforting her the way one would a child. She gently stroked her hair."

"How come you were so disgusted back when we fought demons, but you can cut the bodies here with such a straight face?" Myra said, pushing away the arm stroking her hair.

"Because it's different. We do these things for the sake of science. Besides, it's just some rats," Rose said as if it was something obvious.

"She definitely did something similar before." Probably.

While they were in the middle of their friendly back-and-forth, someone approached the group.

"Hey, Cyril, I've heard you have a fight today." It was Cedric with his friendly voice.

"I think everyone has heard Cyril has a duel today" Rose said with ridicule.

"Right. They really went everywhere announcing it, ha ha," Cedric said with laughter while scratching his cheek.

"What do you want?" Cyril said while getting up from his seat.

"It's about Bran. He is somewhat of a famous person among the second years, known for his brutality in duels. Many students had to make a prolonged stay at the healer after him," Cedric said in a cautionary voice.

"And the academy does nothing to him?" Rose quickly asked,.

One would think such an obviously violent person will be prevented from harming his fellow students.

Cedric shook his head with a wry expression "As long as it can be healed with a spell, they do not care."

"So what do you want me to do about it? Give up?" Cyril said with his brow raised.

"I don't think you will ever give up a fight" Cedric said with conviction.

Cyril nodded in agreement. "Did he really mean that as a compliment?"

"I am here to tell you about what you will face in that duel. I did some research, and—" Cedric said with a smile, then pointed theatrically toward the classroom entrance.

But there was no one there.

"Cough, cough," Cedric loudly coughed under everyone's confused eyes.

Soon a frail-looking student came in. He shyly and slowly walked to them with his head lowered.

"Ta da~ This guy fought him before already and can give us some advice!" Cedric said with passion.

The student lowered his head even further.

"This loser will help us? I don't know about that..." Rhamn was merciless. "Probably didn't even last a second in that fight."

Perhaps feeling the skepticism coming from somewhere, Cedric quickly opened his mouth to defend the student.

"This is Aldy, a second-year student of class I. He is a great fighter specializing in spells mostly." He paused to let the student take the stage.

But when Aldy still hadn't said a word, Cedric, with an apologetic expression, nudged him with an elbow.

"Don't be scared; think about avenging your pet; have more confidence." He tried to whisper, but Cyril heard it.

"Y-Yeah! My name is Aldy," he said softly. "I challenged Bran to a duel after he bullied my dog, Spencer." 

"I tried attacking him with all sorts of spells, but his magic barrier was just too strong. It must be special somehow. Please allow me to he-help!" Emlyn bowed at 90 degrees while stammering.

"Is he really in class I?"

At first, Cyril wanted to decline out of pride, but after considering what he had in mind, he agreed.

So the group, plus Cedric and Aldy, talked about what Cyril can expect from Bran during a fight.

"Bran uses the common physical strengthening spell to wield a giant mace as if it were a dagger." Aldy mustered 100% of his courage to tell them everything he knows.

"I know you are confident in your strength, but consider trying to evade most of his attack. A single hit is enough to break plenty of bones." Cedric added.

"It shouldn't be a problem." Rhamn also participated in the meeting.

"Does it enhance his defenses as well?" Cyril asked what he was most curious about.

"An advance version of the spell would be able to, but only the third years are capable enough to cast it, so you are fine."

"Then our plan is the same, right?" Yes. "I can't wait!"

In such a fashion, they've spent some time brainstorming ideas.

Most of the talking was done by Cedric and Rose; the others simply voiced a few ideas here and there to show participation.

"Alright, I'll stop here. There is still something I must do before five." Cyril ended the meeting with a calm voice.

"That's fine by me; good luck, Cyril. See you at five!" Cedric fist bumped in the air with a smile and left.

"Please win! I beg you," Aldy bowed again and escaped.

Soon Cyril said goodbye to his friends as well and left for a place with fewer eyes.

There was still some time before the duel; Cyril wanted to train some more.

Morpho was bored throughout most of the day, but now she gained more energy. She was eager to train.

"You should've listened too; you are a part of our fighting force, you know?" Rhamn chastised the poor butterfly.

Morpho only weakly twitched her antennae in fake remorse.

We can feel your emotions, you know, Cyril thought with some amusement.

He began training with Selene's technique, losing the sense of time in the process.