2 days passed.
Jinmu taught Emi everything he could about formula 2 and formula 3 magic spells.
He removed the concept of magic circles and instead, described each magic spell the little girl asked of him.
The formula counter of a magic spell depended on the number of magic circles a magic spell required to be cast. It also allowed magical cultivators to control the flow and quantity of their mana so that nothing was leaked or wasted in the process.
Since they were students of the Heavenly Magic Academy who trod on the path of nameless spell casting, such concepts no longer applied in their magic system. However, it came at a cost of increased mana consumption.
A spell's ranking was based on its complexity, potency, and application.
Complexity referred to the structural difficulty of the magic spell. For example, a fireball wasn't as complex compared to summoning a fire elemental beast.
One was just a ball of flame while the other required the concept of consciousness for it to understand orders and act on itself, and mana coagulation to maintain its form for a long period.
The potency referred to how strong, both in scale and raw power, a magic spell was.
Although there were many types of fireball spells, the potency differed. Dartex's Cataclysmic Firefall was a large-scale and extremely powerful spell despite its main structure based on fireballs.
If left unattended, an entire city would be destroyed, left with nothing but a trail of ashes and rubble.
Lastly, the application referred to how a magical cultivator could use the said magic spell.
The formula 5 magic spell, flame hand lasso was weak in potency compared to the other magic spells in this category. However, it required someone to master the partial magical metamorphosis.
This was a state available only to the wizards and above where they used the magic elements to temporarily enhance their bodies.
"Brother Jinmu, I'm tired.", Emi slumped in the training yard. Her cat ears were down and her tail coiled around her back.
They were now practicing the magic spells they have learned but Emi wasn't motivated. Hearing them in theory was cool and fun.
Putting them in action wasn't.
Jinmu approached her. She looked above and met his cold glare.
Her hair, ears, and tail stood on end.
"I-I will continue!", Emi quickly behaved. Jinmu wasn't the type to punish her but that glare was a nightmare.
A loud bang echoed from a distance away. Emi and Jinmu looked at the source of this sudden interruption.
"What sort of mockery is this, Lucan? You call yourself a student of this academy? Stand up and fight me again!", Olivia demanded.
"I can't. I need to rest for a while.", Lucan panted.
His mana reserves were depleted. Coupled with Olivia's lightning strike to his stomach, he was unable to fight in his current state.
"Weak.", Olivia snorted and left. Ironically, she was panting as well though her fa?ade made her look like everything was alright.
Lucan grinned, not much of a surprise to the two observers.
They saw Lucan and Olivia as two quarreling lovers where the former was unable to meet his partner's demands. What's worse was that the lacking man seemed to enjoy his partner's punishments.
Emi and Jinmu shook their heads. What a dangerous couple. One was sadistic and the other was masochistic.
"Say, brother Jinmu. Don't you think that big sister Olivia has gone softer on brother Lucan?"
Jinmu nodded, "You are right, Emi. She doesn't kick him anymore unlike what happened in the past two days."
Lucan's plan was obvious to Jinmu. However, he did not say anything that would jeopardize the poor ex-crown prince's motives.
After all, the Special Task: Cold North was too depressing for Olivia to take in. Comforting her was not an option. Nobody knew the extent of her relationship with her father.
The least they could do was to distract her thoughts to something else. Her sadistic and elitist behavior was a fit for Lucan's incompetency.
In that way, annoyance would fill her mind centering around Lucan all day.
Also, going back to Norva Assili at this time of the year could lead to an early demise of High King Garron's rule. Since the Siegfried household was planning to take over, Olivia's presence was highly important to their efforts.
Her life as a bargaining chip for High King Garron to step down the throne was the perfect situation for them. Not pursuing the Siegfried household's demands would end up badly for Olivia and her father.
Not only was the throne lost but Olivia's life too.
Therefore, her remaining here to empower herself was a better option. At least in the future, she would be ready to face her enemies just like what the academy master had said.
High King Garron wouldn't worry about her safety either. Even though he doesn't know where Olivia currently was, as long as she was not in the hands of the Siegfried family, everything was still fine.
"Alright, ignore him. Continue with your practice.", Jinmu strictly reminded Emi.
The little girl did not dare to slack off.
"Wooden Periphery!"
Vines and twigs grew 2 meters around her in a circular fashion. Jinmu stepped back and assumed an attacking stance.
"I will attack you now. Let me see how skillful and reactive you are this time."
The surrounding water elements moved and formed into a bullet.
Water Bullet!
Emi anticipated Jinmu's strike, controlling the vines to move in front of her and create a defensive wall.
The bullet was deflected proving her defense to be successful. She heaved a sigh of relief.
This gave Jinmu a chance to hit her with another water bullet from a different direction.
Emi was drenched. Luckily, their uniforms were durable and resistant to magic attacks. Otherwise, Emi would have suffered from his strike.
"You did better but you ultimately let your guard down just because you defended once.", Jinmu remarked.
Emi let out a whimper but her cold senior brother didn't take the bait this time. He only responded with a colder glare.
With that, another 2 days passed.
The continuous practice of formula 2 and 3 magic spells indirectly strengthened their bodies.
Casting them was taxing to handle in the first few days but they managed to cope later on. This was because the exercised magic root developed itself the more it was used; similar to how muscles and physical exercise worked together.
It also directly improved their magical cultivation realms.
Emi became a trainee mage at the median ring with Lucan on the same power level.
Olivia advanced to the quarter ring, while Jinmu remained as an apprentice due to his heavily damaged magic root.
His interaction with Emi sprouted suspicions in the little girl's mind.
'It feels like senior brother Jinmu is using the surrounding mana as his source of power instead of his magic root. Is there something wrong with senior brother Jinmu's magic root?'
Her gut feeling was on point. Unfortunately, no one verified her thoughts.
Emi tried her best to approach Jinmu about it but she was too afraid and too shy to do so.
Now that their practice session was over, it was time to conduct their weekly hunt.
Jinmu told them his plan in advance and allotted two days to complete the weekly hunt task. A count of 2,500 kills wasn't easily achievable, particularly when their targets were elite demon beasts.
The four students gathered in the main hall.
Jinmu told them his plan and teleported to the Alderian Terrestrial Sanctuary's territory. The location was the Dark Forest, otherwise also known as the territorial border between the Sanctuary and the Grurad Mystic Manor.
It was a heavily forrested area that almost blocked out the Morning Star. The humid air worsened Lucan's experience.
"Damn, why are we here instead of somewhere dry and fresh?", he complained.
"Aren't you a sissy? Can't handle a little wetness on your clothes?", Olivia mocked but Lucan ignored her.
He was just saying things out of muscle memory.
"Say, Jinmu. Don't you think academy master has this all planned out?", Lucan wondered.
The Weekly Hunt special task came at a convenient time to test out their magic spells against the demon beasts.
Jinmu's conclusion was similar, albeit a little faster than the latter's dull mind.
However, this revelation wasn't as shocking to him. Academy master was academy master. How could an exemplary being not foresee such things a few steps ahead?
Little did he know that this invincible person slept soundly back at the academy. His body was still in the process of recovery.
A month or so was required before he would wake up from his deep sleep.
Back on the students, Jinmu replied with a nod and focused on the special task at hand.
"Alright, spread out but do not go too far. The map indicates a lot of elite demon beasts in this area. If one is in trouble, do not hesitate to contact the others.", he heavily implied to Lucan and Olivia.
The ego of these two was the highest and teamwork wasn't a part of their vocabulary.
"Also, don't interact with the system if there are people nearby. Understood?"
They nodded in understanding and bade each other goodbye.
…
Further into the forest were a group of dark heldens and some greenhorns sharpening their weapons under the warmth of the Morning Star.
The dark heldens had long silky hair which covered their entire faces. Their arms and legs were thin and looked frail.
The greenhorns portrayed the exact description of their race. If it wasn't for their pig-like faces, the Sanctuary would have dealt with them more seriously.
Littered around them were corpses of demon beasts, big and small. The trees were painted with red and dark blood.
On another side were large sacks of meat and the bones that could be utilized on tools and weaponry.
It was a gruesome scene that would horrify many.
"Kek, what a bountiful harvest we have today. 3 commander-level demon beasts, and a ton more of the smaller ones."
"We will have food and lots of more food in the upcoming winter once we finish that man's task.", said a brute orc towering at 3 meters.
His muscles bulged crazily and his frightening red eyes dismayed his acquaintances from gazing at him.
The people cheered in unison.
They were assigned by someone from the Alderian Terrestrial Sanctuary to capture a merchant caravan that will pass through this area today.
The demon beasts, and anything that stood in their way were additional prizes.
The leaves rustled on a nearby tree, alerting this group of butchers. A dark helden latched onto a tree like a lizard and maneuvered herself easily.
She crouched, extending her long legs and rested her hands.
"What's there, Kerina? You have prey for us to kill?", the brute greenhorn was excited.
"Boss Harruga! Humans, 3 of them, and one demi-human!", Kerina replied with a ghastly voice.
"Alone?", Harruga wanted to confirm.
"Yes, alone!"
Foll𝑜w current novels on fre(e)w𝒆bnovel