All his students were already seated by the time he returned, talking among themselves, and exchanging their experience, which probably did as much help as his teaching in improvement.
"I have explained all the fundamentals of utility, right?" Gale asked the moment he walked into the class. "Is it another evaluation class today?"
By looking at all the designs stacked on the table, he found that was to be the case. He went through them one by one, instructing the adepts on what was wrong with their designs, what they did well, and how they could improve them.
Although he acted like an insatiable ass in front of them, he was glad to find all of them were improving at a steady rate. Well, there was one who seemed not happy with steady improvement, as she always had her eyes on a meteoric rise.
"Jenni," Gale called. "You tried a Tier-IV design once again."
"I haven't attempted it foolishly this time," she perked up to tell him immediately. "I hope."
Unlike the last time, the one she gave for evaluation was her best design to date. She had incorporated all his teachings into her raw knack for design and finally came up with a design that did not lack either efficiency or utility.
"This is an original design, it seems," Gale commended her. "And it looks pretty sellable."
"So long as people are looking for enchanted clothes," Jenni said.
"Well, you never know," Gale said. While the market for enchanted armour and hunting attire was always on the rise, the market for enchanted normal or stylish clothes had never particularly managed to catch people's attention.
Jenni's design was not particularly good for making any armour or weapon; however, they would make fine enchanted dresses with various support for defence, strength, and recovery boosts.
"Actually, I would want to wear enchanted clothing so long as they have small functions like soaking up my sweat, other stylistic choices, and are easy to put on," he thought out loud. "And most importantly, they must be comfortable on the body."
"The only reason something like this hasn't hit the market yet is because of the last point," Aki cut in. "Whatever runesmiths ever come up with were never comfortable to wear."
"The problem lies with materials, not design," the oldest of them stated. "For runes of this calibre to keep their integrity, common cotton wouldn't do."
"Leather is the only way to go," Aki sighed, "and most of them aren't particularly comfortable on the body. Rankers may wear such leather during a dungeon dive, but not during a party."
By the time he finished, Jenni was glaring at her friend. "You think I don't know all this?" she snorted. "Yes, I know all the disadvantages you guys stated."
"Then why did you create such a design, knowing its faults?"
"Ghost spider silk," Jenni uttered, as though that explained it all.
Aki frowned. "You want to create enchanted suits with ghost spider silk?" he asked. "One of the highly sought-after materials for mage cloaks?"
He made a face that questioned if she was out of her mind.
"What's wrong with it?" Jenni didn't budge from her intention. "At least I would like an enchanted dress made out of ghost spider silk."
"Who wouldn't," Aki snorted. "But the question is, how many of us can afford it?"
"Not now, girl," he stood up to leave. "Unless you want to use the token right now."
Jenni seemed like she wanted to do just that, but she relented and kept the token for a later date. "Will you ever discuss this without me using the token?" Chapter Enjoy:
"Obviously, I'm not that petty," Gale said. "Just not right now. I already have something on my plate. I'll tell you after I'm done with them."
He flew back to the lake, and finally closed his eyes to appear into the soul domain.
*****
"This guy," June said. "He always leaves me in one dilemma or another."
"Well, if you like I can take him off your hands," Agnes said out of nowhere.
A silence descended between them, though far different from before. It was more awkward than cold, as both women turned to each other, meeting the other's gaze. Neither wanted to lose out until Agnes chuckled.
"I'm kidding," she said.
It didn't sound like a joke to June. She gritted her teeth and hoped she wasn't glaring at the woman, because that would make her look insecure.
"Never joke about this," she said, as another silence flowed.
Dawn looked like she couldn't wait to get out of there, but she had no chance.
"Seriously though, I wouldn't want to entangle him in my life," Agnes said with a sigh. "More than I already did... Nothing good will come out of it for any of us."
June said nothing, only shooting her a measured gaze. She found the dark-haired woman was telling the truth. She didn't have to use her empathic power to tell that. Something in her life, some complication, perhaps stopped Agnes from pursuing a relationship.
"Hey, I think I can use a part of my essence now," Agnes said. "Not fully, but I can use Wings of Darkness to fly us down..."
"Huh, I think I can use my awareness too," June said. "Essence too. What changed?"
Dawn seemed like she could enlighten them with something, but with Gale gone she had turned completely mute, only answering with nods and shakes of her head.
"I think the intent matters," June said after thinking a little. "Like if I do not do anything against Gale, I think we can move around freely, utilising our essence as we like."
"Also, I believe it's because our spirits relented that we are not in any existential threat here," Agnes added.
Dawn nodded with both of them, finding agreement.
"I wonder what would happen if I tried to destroy something here," Agnes said, though she tried nothing.
She would likely feel the same suppression once again.
"So you guys found the dead god and all that in the inheritance ground," June began about a topic that was bugging her mind since she heard about it. "As far as I know, Gale did most of the heavy lifting of the work, right?"