Chapter 17: The Bluefire Academy I

Chapter 17: The Bluefire Academy I

Based on his reputation in this loop, he could be considered famous. But fame was inspiring to some and intimidating to others.

And the accompanying griffin rider - an Elite retainer of House Firesword who hadn’t tagged along on the expedition in Jerestir - hadn’t met Orodan and gotten to know him firsthand. To the man, Orodan was a distant and awe-inspiring figure who was rumored to be a Favored. Consequently his escort was rather subdued and elected to spend the ride in silence as his and Orodan’s griffins soared through the skies towards Karilsgard.

Which suited Orodan just fine as he spent the time meditating on Eternal Soul Reactor.

In a few minutes, he saw glimpses of it.

There was another massive mountain that stood between Volarbury County and the Capital. This meant that wherever Orodan went within the county in his loops, he never quite got to see the spires of Karilsgard in the distance as the mountain would be in the way.

But now that their flight had gotten past the tall mountain for the first time?

He saw it.

And it was the biggest city Orodan had ever seen. Easily ten times the size of Vorskard in the northern continent.

Massive spires and towers the size of smaller mountains, glowing lights and so so many people. The city was surrounded by walls which were almost as tall as some of the smaller towers, and many of the towers and buildings had walkways connecting them to other tall buildings and at some points even to the walls themselves.

It was incredible.

And in the center of the city he could see it looming over everything, almost as tall as Mount Castarian. It was the Spire of Karilsgard, the tallest building in the Republic of Aden and one of the tallest in the world.

He saw various other famous landmarks and buildings.

The utterly massive Cathedral of the Prime Five. Surrounded by five massive statues of the Gods the size of castles. The splendorous Palace of the Council of Karilsgard, where the rulers of the Republic convened. And the commercial section, which glowed with such bright lights even in daylight and had such crowds of people flitting through that Orodan thought it alone held more people than the entirety of Volarbury County . Frankly, he thought the city itself likely outnumbered the surrounding few counties in terms of total population.

A few million people in Volarbury County? That was nothing before the likely tens of millions Karilsgard held.

Orodan now understood why House Firesword would want to hold some influence here. This place was a population center and base of power of titanic proportions.

As the griffins flew past the walls Orodan noticed tall towers with mages on them who were performing the task of monitoring air traffic in and out of the city. There were also various anti-air defenses and lethal looking siege weaponry atop these towers, with a tower being present every half mile of the walls. Archers, peltasts and mages were present in force upon every tower.

Any assault upon Karilsgard would face heavy resistance. The city’s defenses were prepared diligently and honed over a long period of time. Orodan felt that even an Avatar attempting to assail it would find a formidable amount of firepower sent their way, and who knew what other esoteric defense systems the Capital had in place?

Finally, as the griffins passed the Palace of the Council, Orodan was able to see the ethereal blue flame atop a tower behind the Palace.

This was the main tower of the Bluefire Academy. It was situated behind the Palace of the Council and located right in the center of Karilsgard.

The academy itself was at least half the size of Trumbetton, with a ludicrous amount of buildings and people frolicking about between them. Near the tower, was a truly spacious open area with multiple pillars of blue fire surrounding it. This was the landing zone for all aerial traffic and it looked large enough to accommodate even Cyvrosdyr if the mountain-sized World Guardian ever decided to land here.

They were directed to land, and before they did his escorting rider spoke. “Sir, it’s been an honor to escort you this far. It would be improper for someone like me to land, so I must turn back. The academy’s staff will look after you from here,” the retainer spoke, and then then gave Orodan a formal salute and turned his griffin in the opposite direction and flew off.

The pomp and social customs felt strange to Orodan, but who was he to argue?

His griffin touched down onto the ground, and now that they were within the bounds of the academy proper Orodan noticed the academy itself had an air traffic control tower which was subtly helping guide griffins to the ground.

But there was another flying creature on the landing zone as well... a pegasus! Two of them to be precise.

Pegasi! Orodan had never seen them before! He had heard stories of them being more common in the Eastern Kingdoms and down south in the peaks of the Dokuhan mountains where the dwarves had their mountain holds. But actually seeing the lustrous white winged horses was quite something compared to simply hearing stories about them and the famed pegasus knights of the Eastern Kingdoms.

The owner of the two pegasi - a dark skinned girl - looked at Orodan’s enraptured gaze and approached him with a smile.

“Is this your first time seeing a Pegasus?” she asked with a friendly tone and Orodan nodded. “They are rather shy creatures and take time to warm up to any potential riders, but I dare say they have far more personality and intelligence than the griffins in these lands do!”

“Personality? How so?” Orodan asked as he dismounted his griffin and it then promptly flew off back towards Trumbetton. “I’ve only ever ridden griffins a handful of times so far, so I don’t have much to compare with.”

“Not to say the griffins you ride in the Empire and Republic aren’t cute creatures, but a pegasus is akin to a dragon and gains intelligence once it reaches the Adept-level. Compared to griffins which gain intelligence at Master-level like any other creature, the difference is quite stark,” she explained. “Olsinius here for example, can talk to you... if he cares to.”

“And I do not care to at this time,” the pegasus remarked with a grunt that the System translated to the universal tongue. It caught Orodan entirely off guard as he was unused to a talking mount.

“You can talk?” he asked.

“You... have you never met an intelligent being that wasn’t human before?” the pegasus asked with a grunt of indignation. “Of course I can speak!”

“I’ve met a dragon that could talk, and a worm too, although it wasn’t too friendly... and centipedes,” Orodan began listing off. “I’m aware that intelligent creatures exist... I just wasn’t aware that pegasi were a species of advanced intelligence akin to dragons.”

“Well consider this a lesson then, I’m not one of those mindless griffins you people ride around like slaves,” the pegasus, Olsinius replied with neighs and whinnies. “Us pegasi gain intelligence around the Adept-level. My younger brother here will soon become capable of speaking in a few months as well... although he’ll be akin to a child for some time initially.”

It was quite interesting Orodan thought. While he knew monsters - which non-mortal species such as pegasi were technically classified as - gained intelligence at differing points depending on their species; Orodan learned today that this intelligence went through a process of growth similar to how human children would learn to talk.

“What arrangement do you have with your riders then? Do they ask for permission? Do you have designated work hours?” Orodan bluntly asked.

“How do you function at a job? Does your employer ask for your permission before putting you to work?” the mouthy pegasus fired back with a grunt.

“Well... sometimes, yes? At my old job, I was often expected to follow orders without being given a choice in the matter,” Orodan replied, thinking of his militia days in Volarbury County. “My sergeant wouldn’t exactly ask for my permission before giving me the order to deal with something.”

“While it’s not quite like what you military and guardsman types are used to, it’s more like a civilian job that you would be at liberty to leave,” the winged steed explained. “She’s managed to sweet talk my younger brother into becoming her companion... so I begrudgingly accompany them and ensure his training is proceeding well.”

“Pegasi engage in training? That’s quite familial of you to aid your younger brother.”

“Do you humans not engage in training? Is it shocking to consider that other intelligent beings would also hone their abilities?” Olsinius remarked with a tone of annoyance. “While I would have accompanied this heavy-hooved sibling of mine regardless... the elder of my clan bade me go as well, if only to ensure this girl remains safe during her education at this academy.”

“Speaking of! I don’t think we’ve been introduced! I apologize on behalf of Olsinius, he’s grumpy but he cares about his brother and I,” the girl interjected. “Mahari Ilya Vedharna at your service! I hail from the Kingdom of Ravastaran in the East, and I’m here to study alongside my older brother.”

“Orodan Wainwright,” he replied while extending his hand, which the girl shook with vigor. “I’m here to get an education, House Firesword is sponsoring me.”

“Wainwright... Wainwright...” Mahari muttered to herself. “Sounds familiar, I feel like I heard a bunch of the older students saying something about that name. But I don’t keep up with the rumors and gossip much, so I’m sorry I can’t be of more help!”

“That’s more than fine by me,” Orodan replied. “I prefer to keep my head down and focus on my work as well. Say... why are you waiting at the landing zone anyways?”

“Ah, I’m waiting for my older brother to return with his pegasus Ostronor. He went to grab some harder to find ingredients to mix into the feed. He says it’ll make them stronger,” Mahari explained. “I don’t want to keep you if you’ve got somewhere to be though! He’ll take a while to get back, especially if he’s getting into arguments over the quality as he always does...”

With that Orodan nodded and bade her and the grumpy Olsinius farewell as he began walking towards the academy proper.

He was told he’d have a personal academy guide, but since he landed Orodan hadn’t seen anyone waiting for him specifically. There were groups of students and staff scattered about on the large and straight path to the academy tower, but nobody appeared to be keeping an eye out for him.

He kept walking until a small and unassuming voice interrupted him.

“M-mister Wainwright?” a female voice spoke.

Orodan looked to his right to see a woman he would almost mistake for a child based on her stature. Short, wearing glasses that covered nearly her entire face and a comically oversized book in her hands.

“Yes?”

“I apologize sir... I wasn’t aware of what you looked like and this is my first time being an academy guide. I-I’m Lucille Carrotfoot, I’ll be helping you get situated today,” she introduced herself and spoke in a shy and nervous voice that had Orodan feeling somewhat bad for her.

Her words were quiet, but not quiet enough however. His conversation with Mahari was in an area of the landing zone where nobody was within earshot. But now that they were on the path to the tower there were plenty of groups walking to and from or simply hanging out waiting for people. And at the mention of the name Wainwright many pairs of eyes suddenly flocked to him.

“Wainwright? I heard he’s the one who-”

“This is the guy who-”

“-grandfather says he discovered the energy well-”

“-monstrously strong!”

Were among the brief snippets of gossip and chatter Orodan suddenly began hearing about himself. Fame could be useful for some, but given Orodan’s experience with it in his loop in the northern continent he preferred being away from the center of attention.

Which he was doing a poor job at this loop given how everyone was now looking at him, some faces in the crowd having calculating gazes, some awed, some stand-offish as though he threatened their own sense of self-importance by existing. And poor Lucille looked mortified at all the attention she was getting for walking around with him.

“Perhaps we can walk a little faster and make way for wherever I need to register?” Orodan asked, as much as for his own sake as for Lucille’s.

She gladly complied and they walked as fast as her little legs would allow. Orodan hoped to avoid too many people coming up to talk to him as it sounded profoundly exhausting and he would rather get to training and learning.

Thirty seconds later however, the inevitable happened.

“Excuse me, are you Orodan Wainwright?” asked a young man, who looked the same physical age as Orodan. Red hair, green eyes and a confidently assertive demeanor. “I must say it’s an honor to meet someone like you. I’m Elucian Arslan, of noble House Arslan. You may have heard of my uncle, the High-Burgher who leads the Republic’s council? I believe he responded to Jerestir when the fight between you and that fearsome monster caused tremors felt all the way in Tooksten County.”

Elucian and his group of followers confidently approached Orodan, like hawks swooping for their prey. The Arslan’s tagalongs seemed almost mindless in their following of him, and Orodan would admit he felt a magnetic pull of charisma from the young man, likely a social skill. One Orodan easily ignored.

“Yes, that would be me. And I’ve seen your uncle and that big hammer he carries. Can I help you?” Orodan asked. “I’m in a bit of a rush to get the administrative parts of my arrival settled.”

“Ah, but that’s simply no problem at all. How about I show you around to where you need to go?” Elucian asked confidently and likely flared his social skill as he saw even Lucille begin to seriously consider the idea.

“That won’t be necessary, I have a guide already and I’m more than happy with her,” Orodan replied and he saw the inklings of frustration on the Arslan’s face, something which he immediately schooled thereafter. “We really should be going, no?”

Lucille looked almost dazed as Orodan spoke to her, finally snapping out of whatever impact Elucian’s social skill had. “I-if you insist m-mister Wainwright...” she meekly replied.

“I do.”

“Before you go Orodan, hope you don’t mind the informality by the way,” the man remarked in a self-confident manner that implied he had every right to call Orodan by his first name. “You really should stop by the Helmward Hall on the academy grounds sometime. It’s the most popular spot on campus to grab a drink and a bite to eat. I think you’ll come to find that making friends is an important part of the experience here at the Bluefire Academy, and it’s important to make the right sort.”

Orodan didn’t push the almost cocky man on what ‘the right sort’ was, but he did nod and quickly made his exit.

With some distance made between them, Orodan spoke. “Who even is Elucian Arslan? He gave me a slimy feeling.”

“H-he’s not slimy!” Lucille defended suddenly. “He’s one of the best leaders seen in generations! He’ll definitely become High-Burgher one day himself.”

“Oh? He wants to become High-Burgher like his uncle?” Orodan asked. “A lofty goal, but social skills alone won’t make him powerful enough to lead a nation and step in when the Republic’s enemies need to be reminded of its strength. How strong is he?”

“Alright, you hit pretty decently for an Elite. It’s been a while since someone of this level managed to injure me, so you’re quite talented,” Orodan praised as he began walking towards Claridin, whose face was now ashen. “I’m not going to kill you, but this next hit will hurt. And it might overtax that amulet you’re using to shield yourself.”

Death Rage came on, and Orodan’s knuckles popped with such strength that light shockwaves erupted from his hands as he clenched his fist. He delivered the blow at half-power, as Death Rage was just too strong of a multiplier at its high level now.

Claridin’s mace which launched a full power attack - thereby breaking the rules of their competition - desperately tried to meet Orodan’s fist in a bid to stop it and slow down its power.

It was pointless.

The mace was obliterated, Claridin's breastplate shattered and the amulet glowed a dangerous color of bright red and the magical shield protecting the Rockwood barely held for a moment before it strained and shattered with a massive explosion. Orodan stopped his fist at the last instant before it would have torn right through the man.

The force of the shield’s explosion sent Claridin flying away like a ragdoll all the same.

He took an entire ten seconds before he decided to get back up.

“Your turn again,” Orodan said as he deactivated Death Rage.

Claridin forfeited.

Casually trouncing Claridin Rockwood while making it look easy was apparently a bigger deal than he thought it would be.

For starters, nobody had told him that Claridin was the third strongest student at Bluefire, and that he could fight a Master evenly and even defeat a weaker one on a good day. The two students stronger than Claridin also couldn’t have made it look as easy and casual as Orodan had.

In Orodan’s opinion the praise and acclaim were somewhat embarrassing to even consider. He had trounced an Elite-level warrior, one who could beat a Master, true... but still a mere Elite! For Orodan to be praised for beating up a student was... shameful.

His battle power was such where he fought Grandmasters and was hoping to eventually fight Avatars. This was just disgraceful and he didn’t know why he had expected any better from Claridin in the first place.

Orodan quietly resolved to avoid fighting students from then on. It just felt low.

Burgher Ignatius had contacted him via communication amulet to praise him for embarrassing House Rockwood and showing the strength of Firesword of course, but Orodan did not want to be reminded of the situation any longer.

Lucille looked both in awe and fearful of him at the same time, and her mannerisms became a lot quieter. Which was about the best he could expect.

He was lead to his lodgings and from then on Orodan informed her that he would be able to make his own way around.

As for his lodgings...

...excessive would be how Orodan would describe it.

It was a personal manor on the edge of the campus, far larger than the guest manor the Burgher had housed him within in Trumbetton. It had a staff of maids and butlers, and Orodan made it clear to them that he would likely not be within the manor much if at all, which they graciously accepted with relief and disappointment in equal measure.

Orodan didn’t have anything in the way of belongings that he had to bring along, and so there was nothing to drop off at his personal manor. In other words, he left without even bothering to enter the manor proper.

Rather, the day was still young and classes had yet to start.

Technically, his official start date for classes was tomorrow. But the classes ran on the same schedule every work day, so Orodan decided he would simply begin attending classes today. And the first one on the list, was ‘Warrior Skills 100’. Which began in less than ten minutes according to the schedule.

Of course, when one could Sprint at speeds fast enough to tear terrain apart... that deadline wasn’t an issue.

He kept his speed reasonable, not wanting to cause undue property damage, but students around him were still somewhat surprised even if he made sure to avoid running into anyone. Which at his speed might be fatal for them depending on their strength.

Of course, it wasn’t exactly unprecedented. Orodan saw at least a few other martial students rushing to classes and moving about in the same way. They were a rarity and likely talented fourth years, but still present all the same. Physical Fitness and Sprinting was just a convenient combo.

He arrived at the Agathor’s Sanctum building with time to spare. It was where most lower year martial lessons were held. The 100 and 200 level courses for warriors were typically held here. It was a decently large building with a rather massive reinforced training yard behind it with a wide variety of equipment, most of which Orodan had never seen before.

Inside, were lecture halls where the actual speaking and theory work would occur. But unlike a typical classroom he had heard of, even the indoor lecture halls had an arena style arrangement, with the seats up high surrounding a large stage where the instructor would speak from. He could imagine bringing equipment in and arranging duels and demonstrations on this stage would be a simple matter.

Most students had settled in by the time Orodan had arrived as there were a few minutes to spare. He thus took a seat at the very back, and it seemed nobody noticed him, or his appearance wasn’t too well known as of yet, for he wasn’t bothered.

Then, it began.

“Good morning, today we’ll be picking up where we left off yesterday. More demonstrations of the various movement skills in the hopes that you lot can pick some of it up,” the man spoke, with magic amplifying his voice to reach the entire hall. He was tall, and had a fierce looking demeanor. A spear was strapped across his back.

“Now let’s review, what are movement skills? Can anyone tell me?” the man asked, and a student near the front raised their hand to whom he gave the floor. “Mister Vastoros.”

“Skills meant to traverse distances or change positions. Even something like Teleportation would be considered a movement skill,” the student answered.

“Correct. Movement is not only done in straight lines, but can also consist of traveling through space. As long as your position changes... that is the important part,” the man explained. “Some even subscribe to the somewhat radical view that time magic is also a form of movement skill, as you change position in time itself. Personally, I’m a warrior and prefer to keep things simple and consider movement within three-dimensions, which is what we’ll go with for the purposes of this class.”

The man then gestured and nearly a dozen more instructors came out and onto the stage. He explained that they would be demonstrating various movement skills.

“Given how difficult it can be to obtain a skill for the average warrior, I have my fellow instructors up here with me. Somebody possessing multiple skills, while not too rare, is still quite difficult to manage. Can anyone explain why?” he asked, and the same student raised their hand. “Mister Vastoros once again.”

“Because obtaining new skills is a very difficult process and the reality of Calledro's Average.”

“Correct. And that’s why most of you are in this class. Calledro’s Average is a hundred hours, which is to say, the amount of hours the average person needs to obtain a new skill with constant and guided training in the environment of an academy is roughly a hundred. And that’s simply for a common skill. A lot of active combat skills are at the Uncommon rarity, so to that end acquiring them can take even more work. And Exquisite... unless you’re a truly hard worker or have great talent... forget about it. Even I only have one Exquisite rarity skill, and I’m a Master.”

“But...” Orodan interrupted from the back. “Would the stress of life and death battle not improve the growth rate of skills?”

“Ah, decided to sit in on the class have you? I don’t recognize you mister...?”

“Orodan Wainwright.”

The class fell silent and devolved into hushed whispers. Orodan almost wished he hadn’t said his name as the effects of fame were starting to become a little annoying.

“Mister Wainwright! Your reputation precedes you. I was told you would be starting from tomorrow, but it speaks to your diligence that you’ve decided to come in today,” the man spoke and even his demeanor changed. “To answer your question, yes, life and death battles would in fact lead to tremendous gains despite their risks. Some of the greatest heroes oft have stories of surviving hellish battles and coming out with skill gains that changed their lives. Of course, this requires surviving the battle in the first place, and we can’t all tussle with a deadly monster deep underground like you can.”

Orodan brushed off the attempts at flattery. “I gained the Perfect Parry and Evasiveness skills after maybe... a few hours of continuous battle in which my life was on the line?” Orodan remarked after a quick calculation of how much actual time he spent fighting the archer in Scarmorrow. “Definitely didn’t take me a hundred hours.”

Mutters filled the room. Some of indignation and outrage, some of quiet awe and envy, some of disbelief. The instructor himself simply had an approving look on his face and a calculating glint in his eye.

“Yes, and it’s called Calledro’s Average for a reason Mister Wainwright. I don’t think the famous scholar had a monstrous talent like yourself in mind when he postulated his theory,” the man said with a smirk. “How about we have the class come down to the stage now? I feel some hands-on practice and attempts at acquiring some skills by watching our instructors is called for.”

The class was then ushered down from the seats and onto the stage, which was large enough to accommodate the entire class of a thousand students. It was a decent crowd and Orodan assumed he would be near the back given his initial seating, but the crowd of students parted as the instructor approached him directly.

“Mister Wainwright, I’m Astiphus Marlston, the instructor for a majority of the lower year courses at the academy. It’s not often we get someone of your stature taking a mere first year course,” the man introduced himself and spoke. “I’ve spoken to the venerable Arvayne Firesword and he’s told me about your desire to acquire a formal education here and how there may be certain gaps in your knowledge and skillset, to that end, we’ll do our best to support you here and help you acquire the skills you seek. That being said, I don’t see you remaining in this class for long given your talent.”

Orodan thanked the man and soon enough the support took a form Orodan wasn’t expecting.

The rest of the class was on the massive stage, however Orodan and three other instructors, including Astiphus, were to the side and had taken a space of their own. Having three instructors move to tutor him personally was... extravagant, but Orodan appreciated the potential for guidance and acquiring a new skill.

Naturally, some of the other students weren’t overly happy about it. Whether they felt slighted and less important in their own statuses or because they were ardent defenders of equality and fairness, Orodan did not know. But at least some of them were giving him jealous looks, even if they didn’t dare say anything about it.

Astiphus gave a few more introductory words to the class about movement skills, and that they’d be working on the Sprinting skill first today, followed by demonstrations of the Charge skill afterwards. The final skill worked on would be the Lunge skill, which was of uncommon rarity simply so that the students could see what the difference between the two initial common skills and an uncommon skill like Lunge was. Obtaining an uncommon skill was difficult, and the students weren't expected to actually acquire it unless they were lucky or talented.

Orodan came to learn that the building, alongside every other classroom in the academy... was enchanted with powerful time dilation effects. It turned an hour long class in real time, into what was effectively a six hour block of training. It was Orodan’s first time in a time dilation chamber altogether.

Bluefire truly spared no expense if they could afford to have time dilation on all of their classrooms. He had never heard of such a thing anywhere else, likely due to the tremendous costs involved. No wonder Bluefire graduates were head and shoulders above the other academies in the Republic. Their students all had access to six times the amount of training hours.

“Mister Wainwright, as we’re focusing on movement skills today we’ll be helping you by showing three movement skills at first. Sprinting, Charge and Lunge. Have you encountered any of these before?” Astiphus asked after he was done lecturing the rest of the class and now moved to assist Orodan personally as the other instructors took over his spot in walking among the class and giving pointers and demonstrations.

“I already have Sprinting, it’s at 31 currently. And I’ve fought and forced a man using Lunge to retreat before, it was a dangerous skill and I can see how it’d be useful. Haven’t heard of or encountered the Charge skill however,” Orodan explained.

“Your Sprinting level is quite high! Most people, even at the Master-level don’t train the fundamental techniques of that skill, instead using raw Physical Fitness to get around. But of course, you must be quite fast at getting around with that and your Physical Fitness working in concert,” Astiphus praised. “As for Charge, it’s essentially an inferior version of Lunge, without much of the same distance traversal ability. Which is understandable given that Charge is of common rarity and Lunge is uncommon.”

“I’d like to see both if possible,” Orodan said.

So the training began. As the rest of the students were getting demonstrations on Sprinting and some of the more advanced ones were being shown Charge, Orodan was watching demonstrations of both Charge and Lunge.

“For the Charge skill, one must immerse themselves in the very mindset of crossing the distance and crushing enemy ranks. It’s a slightly limited skill in that it only works when moving towards an enemy or target you intend on destroying, but it can be a powerful multiplier for someone who is already strong,” Astiphus explained as he watched over Orodan attempting the skill.

Over the course of almost two hours Orodan experimented with getting the Charge skill down correctly and engaging himself in the proper mindset for it. It was a common rarity skill, but without the pressure and adrenaline of a life and death fight, it wasn’t easy to acquire. He actually had to put genuine thought and focus into the form of what he was attempting and direct his physical energy towards it.

But try as he might, he felt dissatisfied, as though he was missing something critical.

Charge involved almost empowering yourself in preparation for the inevitable collision with the enemy, the bracing for impact, the energy buildup within, and the execution of the attack. It was a movement skill in name only as the ability to traverse some distance with it was merely a byproduct of the increased empowerment in the body meant to be used upon arrival.

Lunge on the other hand focused more on a burst of distance traversal, meant to reach the target as swiftly as possible in the shortest amount of time. To that end, all the physical power of a warrior’s body should be dedicated to the movement itself. The attack upon arrival was merely a consequence empowered by the movement. This was a true movement skill, as the attack itself wasn’t as empowered by the skill as he thought it was.

But... Orodan felt discontent at the thought of acquiring something that did one or the other. Furthermore, he felt as though he had more energy in him than just the physical power of his body. What if he were to fuel mana into the attempt as well? He could even try adding soul energy to the mix, although that was best done in the private training chambers the academy had.

Five hours of the six passed, and Orodan kept experimenting. And halfway into the fifth hour, he had results.

Mana and physical power synergized together. His body was empowered for a furious attack, but it simultaneously was empowered for a bursting movement of titanic proportions.

Orodan’s eyes widened as he tore through the air like a shot from a magic siege cannon. He was going almost too fast to stop his own momentum.

He crossed the entire length of the large lecture hall and continued through the walls. Going through one classroom after another. Thankfully he aimed upwards and didn’t hit anyone. The energy buildup within him was begging for release, and he obliged by releasing the empowered strike as well, which tore completely through the ceiling... and caused the clouds above to part.

[New Skill (Exquisite) → Flash Strike 1]

He landed on the roof of the Agathor’s Sanctum building and looked down at the path he tore through multiple classrooms all the way to the ceiling.

It was a decent distance, but Orodan thought he saw a happy smile on Astiphus’s face.

And he hoped the tuition House Firesword paid covered the damages.

Because he had just disrupted the time dilation on multiple classrooms.