Chapter 603 - Kays and Ari

“What did you say?” The human boy stops and turns back to me.

“Look, I'm not the type to beat around the bush. Apparently, you're a problem student or something, I haven't read that far. I don't know if the professor sent me because he doesn't want to bother with you, or if he's really busy. I could probably tell him you threatened me or something and left the lesson, and I, as an assistant professor, didn't have the guts to stop you. So you can just leave if you want. Oh, and this isn't reverse psychology. You can do whatever you want. Also, I just mentioned the noble ladies' pets because it seemed like a good opportunity.”

He takes a few quick steps and opens his mouth, but I speak before he can. “Let me guess. Do you even know who I am? Or who do you think you are? Maybe, do you know who my dad is?!”

Even without saying anything, he closes his mouth and looks at his guard, who patiently waits nearby but does not interfere.

“Kays, just sit back down. I want to see if he is all talk or if he has some skill,” the thylarin girl calls out to him and impatiently taps on the table with an impish expression on her face.

Ever since the start, she has barely moved and continues to watch as a cat watches a mouse move across the room, considering whether to eat it or leave it alone, both options equally likely.

“Shut up, Ari. I will do whatever I want,” the boy, apparently called Kays, shouts at her before turning back to me.

As I watch him, I think: Would someone like him survive the Hell difficulty tutorial? I mean, he probably has some talent, but does he have the personality and those instincts everyone in Hell seems to have, the ones where you bite, scratch, and get used to death and blood. I try to estimate his level and search for weak spots as I have gotten used to doing.

Something in my eyes probably disturbs the guard, who steps closer. When I look at him, he continues to stare at me as if prepared to fight.

Unintentionally, I feel the urge to fight him. Just a little bit, to prove to myself that this floor is dangerous as well, and not just some safe-haven school. It makes me nervous and overly paranoid.

Before anything can happen, Kays just moves past me and sits behind the table right in front of me. His guard watches me a bit longer, then slowly moves back to his usual position behind the boy.

“So, what now?” I ask.

“What the hell? Shouldn't you be doing the teaching?” Kays asks in disbelief.

“I’m new.”

“Are you kidding?” he asks.

Somewhere from the back row, Ari laughs briefly before standing up and moving to the table closer to me. “Assistant Professor, today we were supposed to study Interference and Disruption.”

“Oh, I see. So, basics.”

Kays groans again. “What the hell do you mean by 'basics'? It's one of the advanced techniques.”

“Huh? Really?”

Kays groans, something I notice he likes to do, and Ari laughs again. She seems to be having a lot of fun.

“Okay, okay, before we start: Why do some thylarin have six arms but most have four?” I ask her.

She doesn't show any surprise; the same amused smile dances on her face. “It is rumored to be a genetic inheritance from a powerful ancestor.”

Hmm, the same answer I got before. It seems my curiosity won't be sated that easily.

“Well, anyway, just create some mana orbs, and I will show you some disruption. Then you can try to mimic it,” I tell them.

“Mana orbs?” Kays asks.

“Yeah, like this.” A bit of my mana seeps out, and I shape it into a perfect orb. Almost absentmindedly, I make it one of my training ones, version 3.0, very distantly inspired by Liss’, which made me pass out every time I looked at it.

Seeing the wide eyes of the two students, I realize my mistake and quickly dissolve the orb into something akin to mana smoke. Then I spin the smoke to create another orb.

“C-crazy,” the boy whispers, and for the first time, even the girl is quiet.

“Look, as I said, I'm new. Ignore the previous orb and try making something like this,” I repeat.

“That's not what I meant…”

“Sure, sure. Orb, now.”

Finally, the two of them each create an orb, similarly sized and pale blue, even though Ari's seems a bit more stable.

Satisfied, I send a disrupting wave at it, and they both disappear, particles and all.

“Good. Now try to defend against my disruption.”

“We did,” Kays says.

“What?” I ask.

“It’s expected of us to defend our creations against disruption during this kind of exercise and lesson, so we did try to defend against you.”

I almost say it out loud, but I stop myself at the last second to avoid depressing the poor kids. What I really wanted to say was, Why the hell was it so easy then?

“I see,” I say. “So you were in this class because you were slightly lagging behind the rest of the class and ...”

“No,” Ari interrupts in the same mischievous manner. “Kays and I are both at the top of the class, and according to other students, we're even rumored to be candidates. The rules of the Academy state that we were to be given separate extra lessons by the professor.”

She is smiling again, her orange eyes shining with amusement, while Kays looks as if he has never seen a dumber person than me.

Once again, I stop myself from saying something rude and think, Dennis, Aaron, Min-Jae, Izzy, and Lily will traumatize the fuck out of the students at this Academy if they’re not careful.

“Okay, let's try something else. I'll make an orb, and you two will try to disrupt it so I can see what you can do.”

Saying that, I form a single orb and send it a bit closer to them, then wait.

And wait.

And wait.

“Huh? You can start,” I remind them.

Once again, Ari laughs, and Kays seems even more annoyed. He speaks again: “Aren't you too dumb to be a professor? Are you one of those meatheads who become professors only thanks to combat ability and don't know how to teach? We've been trying the entire time; your orbs are just difficult to disrupt.”

Hearing that, I examine my orb closely, just in case they're making fun of me. But it is as stable as before, and its structure isn't influenced at all. Only when I actually look for it do I notice their efforts to affect it. Waves are sent from them toward my orb. Ari even syncs hers with Kays’s, trying to make them stronger using some fancy cascading technique.

So, is it their fault and lack of skill, or did I go a bit overboard with my anti-disruption measures to the point they can barely touch it? Is there even such a thing as overkill when it comes to that? Maybe it’s also the difference between kids raised in safety and us, who had to use everything we could just to survive.

Or maybe they’re just holding back and faking it.

Watching them, I lower my orb, and when nothing changes, I do it again. And again. And then once more.

Only then do I notice fuzzy edges on it and a slight disruption of the surface.

At this point, both of them look to be in pain, their foreheads scrunched from all the effort.

“F-finally,” Kays breathes out.

Both of them look at me as if expecting a reaction. Still surprised by my findings, I just mumble absentmindedly, “Good job.”

“So, what level are you, Assistant Professor Gwyn?” Ari asks, leaning back in her chair.

“Isn't it rude to ask?” I ask her.

“Some people like to show off and even lie about their level.”

I snort. “As if level is that important. A bit over 300.”

“That isn't that bad. How old are you, around fifty?”

“What the hell, you brat? I'm not even 24.”

For the first time, she shows genuine surprise. “Assistant Professor, are you from a powerful family, perhaps?”

“Do I look like I've got a silver spoon up my ass?”

“So you used to be in the army, a mercenary, a guard, an enforcer, a cleaner, or an exterminator. Maybe something else?”

“Something like that. Aren't you nosy? And I'm an Assistant Professor, so show some respect.”

Kays, next to her, snorts. “Assistant Professor my ass. I bet I know more about the academy and how it works than you.”

“Talk shit to me when your disruption becomes better than the noble ladies' pets.”

“What does that even mean!? And you're in a prestigious academy. Even if you're new or a fake Assistant Professor, show some dignity!”

“I don't give a fuck.”

“What the hell!”

“If any of you tells on me or I hear rumors, I'll make you fail your grade or something.”

“Melo, do you see this?” he says in desperation, turning to his bodyguard, who remains quiet and bows slightly.

“Assistant Professor Gwyn is rude, Sir Kays, but you are the one who started it and are equally rude,” his bodyguard says in a quiet, calm voice.

“At least be on my side for once!”

“I'm on your side, Sir Kays. I would even put my life on the line for you if it came to it, but I don't think lying to you would be good in this situation.”

Ari ignores both of them and asks me, “What is your highest skill level?”

“Not telling.”

“Are you a candidate?”

“Not telling.”

“What traits do you have?”

“Not telling.”

“What was the highest-level monster you fought against?”

“Weakened Champion. I got my ass kicked.” I decide not to mention Lissandra with her powers restricted.

“Bullshit!” Kays calls out before Ari can react.

I ignore such an outburst, “Anyway, I could probably be an ass and give you homework, but I won’t do it. I won’t even report you to Professor Elian.”

I take a step away from the table and reach my hand toward Kays. “Your hand.”

Something in my tone makes him listen. He reaches out and places his hand in mine.

I don't even use my eyes; my senses are enough as I examine his mana flow and send my mana through his hand. Then I create a short disrupting pulse. He twitches from surprise and almost pulls his hand back, but I hold it. I expand my domain around his hand, rely a bit on the Mana Wavelength Tyrant passive, and use [Eclipse] to resonate with his mana and take control. I repeat the process, sending the same disruptive mana through his hand and, after examining his mana flow again, move his own mana to create a similar wave.

“Good, I got it. Don't use your eyes; use your senses and watch,” I tell him as I create another mana orb, making sure to weaken it.

Then I force his mana to move again, sending a disruptive wave that makes the orb’s surface flicker.

“Caught it?” I ask.

With his eyes wide open, he nods very slowly.

“Good. Try it on your own, okay? And continue until I tell you to stop.”

He nods quietly and attempts it, the experience of me moving his mana likely making it easier for him. It's something I have tried with the twins a few times. It is useful in certain situations but useless in others.

Kays continues to try to mimic the way I moved his mana, and I examine the parts he gets right and adjust my influence accordingly. When he improves in other areas, I weaken my influence there as well.

[Mana Manipulation - lvl 66 > Mana Manipulation - lvl 67]

[Eclipse - lvl 37 > Eclipse - lvl 38]

It takes around ten minutes, but he succeeds and, on his own, sends a disruptive wave that barely makes the orb shake. It's much better than his previous attempts.

“See? It's easy. You just move your mana this way, then that way. No triple loop layered lattice recalibrated buffer delay flow density manipulation bullshit.”

I move to Ari and say, “Hand.”

The thylarin teenager smiles widely and places all six of her hands on mine.

“Damn, you’ve got all those fingers to count with, and you still suck at basic numbers. I said a hand.”

“I was surprised by your different eye colors, Assistant Professor. Is that a trait?”

“Yeah, it allows me to see through people's bullshit.” I shake and pull five of her hands away, then repeat the same process I did with Kays.

In the end, she is a bit quicker than he, but I think that's because she observed what we did. Both of them seem to have a similar level of talent. Well, at least from what they have shown.

Satisfied with the lesson, I stand up. “That should be all. Don't forget to leave a good rating.”

Before I leave, Ari calls through the door, “Assistant Professor Gwyn, you might want to be careful about showing these things to others. What you have demonstrated requires [Mana Manipulation] around level 60 or higher, and combined with your young age, it could attract a lot of attention. A LOT of attention,” she emphasizes.

One more time, I look at her, and amused flames dance in her orange eyes before I close the door.

***

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