After completing his training, Christopher was feeling some nostalgia towards his old training mates. He decided to make a visit to the Eastern training grounds since it had been some time since he had seen a glimpse of his old training group. He wanted to assure himself that they were still out there training.

He got there quickly and was still kind of surprised to see that nothing appeared to have changed. It was very strange to see all those familiar faces again of the people that he had started to consider friends.

It was in moments like these that the strange reality of [Bookmark] hit him the hardest. It was almost difficult to believe that they would not know him if Christopher were to join them here. Hito was now the one sparring with Arlo. Bara was trading blows with Wetal. Hozil was being instructed by Sin after he was pushed on his back. Sin walked through the group, offering the occasional correction. Christopher watched on for a little while, looking from a distance.

He wondered how he would fare against some of the others in a spar now. He might win since he had completed a larger portion of the training than they had. Or maybe he would now lose due to his focus on another weapon, which might have made him rusty with his daggers. Christopher did not think that was the case yet. Still, he would need to be careful, it might be best to do some occasional training with the daggers as well.

Christopher soon set out for the Mage District after observing for around ten minutes. He had another solo lesson from one of the newly registered teachers.

*

The search for a talented teacher had unfortunately been fruitless so far. For the lessons he had taken it quickly became clear why these teachers had not gathered any students so far. Some were boring, others were downright temperamental.

The worst of the teachers outright taught him things that conflicted with what he had been taught before. When Christopher questioned this, the teacher got unreasonably angry, yelling at him to leave the class.

For some, he also just disagreed with their teachings. Christopher asked one teacher about using Soul Arts for fighting the Blight, and was outright mocked. The teacher suggesting such techniques being a waste of his Soul Force and that he was better served to power up some devices if he wanted to help.

Most mages had a less extreme position, but still balked at such techniques as well. They were not against using their gifts against the blight, but they considered themselves a precious resource that were able to infuse constructs for others. They reasoned that it was irresponsible to risk themselves in such a way on the front line.

One student outright suggested that it was heresy against Avalla to squander their talents in such a way. Christopher could somewhat see the sense in their way of thinking, but that philosophy went out of the window as soon as the Blight breached the walls and were coming straight for you.

Christopher did very much agree with the teachings of Sulus, who kept hammering him and the others about the importance of the fundamentals.

Christopher kept stalwart in his search. He needed a teacher that he could keep using over the loops. Someone that could give him a more personalized program. In other words, a teacher that had almost no other students.

He did not think that he was that demanding. All he wanted was someone that could answer his questions and properly guide him with his Soul Arts. If he could find someone like that at the bottom of the list, then that would be invaluable across the turns.

Hope still remained that he would find someone that could teach him what he needed. And it was not as if these lessons were a waste of time, there was still something to learn from every encounter. Christopher was kind of amused at him meeting so many new people like this. He had never considered himself much of an extrovert but he was now actively seeking out new encounters every week. It was really the excitement of learning the magic that made him push this much.

So it was that Christopher made his way to his newest lesson, which was at the edge of the Academy. He looked up at the strange building, questioning whether he was at the right place. The building looked like a metal molehill just jutting out of the landscape. A large non-native tree stood tall at its side. It bore small yellow flowers on its branches, but somehow looked fragile. It was quite the contrast to the indomitable Sternel trees. Christopher could find no entrance to the strange building, but it matched the description of the location of the lesson.

The lessons could be given anywhere in the Mage District, which often made the classes difficult to find. The strange metal molehill was relatively secluded, even though it was located next to a currently unused training yard, filled with metal partitions. No other students had registered for this class since the last time that he had checked, which should make him the only student here today.

This teacher was registered under the name Atyat, and Christopher knew little else. She had marked the nature of her lesson plan as miscellaneous. He had selected this class as just another shot in the dark. It seemed that this teacher had only recently registered herself as a teacher.

Christopher walked the perimeter and could still not see an opening, but after his first rotation an opening revealed itself. A piece of metal in the shape of a doorway swung out seamlessly from the building with a slight thunk. Out stepped a stocky woman with a muscular frame that looked around fifty years old. She had cropped black hair with streaks of grey. She was a good two heads shorter than Christopher.

“You are my student?” asked the woman with a loud and oddly high-pitched voice.

“I assume so, my name is Christopher.”

“Christopher, welcome. Please come in, I have some Curren wraps on the stove.” She beckoned him with her hand, inviting him in. He did not know what Curren wraps were. ‘clearly some kind of food.’

He walked inside the strangely shaped construction, only to discover that the inside was just as eccentric as the outside of the building. The circular space was divided into six large rooms with metal partitions. There were seven rooms if he were to count the center of the building. By standing in the middle, you could see into all of the spaces just by turning. It almost felt like he was committing a breach of privacy since the bedroom, and the bathroom were all openly viewable, it made him slightly uncomfortable.

A large part of the ceiling was made out of glass, which bombarded the space with natural light. There was a comfortable recliner in the very center room. The entire house was somewhat of a mess, with a lot of dirty dishes scattered all over the house. The entire space was also littered with books and parchments. Atyat quickly made her way to the kitchen, flipping some bread like dish with a filling on a makeshift pan.

“It should be ready, let me fix you a plate. Please sit.”

“Thank you very much.”

Christopher did not want to be rude by refusing the food. They were soon seated in the center room on two lounging chairs with two circular Curren wraps. He felt as if he was having an awkward family visit. Christopher took a careful bite from the Curren wraps, which he discovered was filled with a rich tasting meat. It was really quite delicious. He and the teacher tore into the food in silence. The bread gave it a nice crunch and the meat had a very unique flavor. It was not like anything else he had eaten before.

“This is really good.”

“Yes, I eat this often” she only responded.

They just sat there for a while, not speaking. It was clear that Christopher was the only one feeling awkward, Atyat was just sitting in comfort, taking large bites.

Atyat finally finished her food.

“So, about the lesson?” Christopher asked hesitantly.

“Right, what do you want to learn?”

“Uhm, I have some trouble with my Soul Light, and I also want to improve my fundamentals first.”

“Let’s start with your Soul Light, show me.” She was still sitting comfortably on her recliner, completely relaxed.

Glad to get started, Christopher took out the Soul Light training sphere, imbuing it with his current progress. The room was dark enough to show the effect clearly, but it was really quite dim.

“Not bad at all, what are you not happy with?”

“Uhm, it is not especially bright if you ask me.”

“Well, you are not going to get it that much brighter on that metal.”

‘Wait, what!’ “Uhm, what do you mean, is there something wrong with this metal?”

“It’s a great training tool, but you won’t be able to produce something much brighter than this. Throw it to me, let me try.”

Christopher was honestly still kind of confused. He wracked his brain, trying to remember if he had ever used any other metal after acquiring these specific Soul Light training tools. Surely he had?

Christopher complied with the teacher by carefully throwing the sphere in her direction. Atyat caught it easily. After his own Soul Light had bled quickly from the metal, she infused her own Soul Light, producing only a slightly brighter glow.

“This Gurite alloy is very pure.” She suddenly threw him a square cube from her pocket and it hit his chest after he fumbled it trying to catch it. “Try your Soul Light on this.”

It had taken Christopher a lot of practice to get this apparent Gurite alloy as bright as he had gotten it now. It was with some nervous excitement that he started to imbue this new metal with his Soul Light.

The effect was pretty much immediate, the sun was still streaming through the glass on top of the house, but a strong steady light started shining from the metal, banishing all the remaining shadows from Atyat’s abode.

“Honestly you are pretty stupid aren’t you, only figuring this out now.” She did not say it maliciously, just as if it was a matter of fact.

Christopher could not say that much to defend himself. He was honestly just very happy with this new discovery. He had been worried about his slow Soul Light progress, and maybe he could start with the next Soul Art now.

“Is this Soul Light advanced enough to move one to the next Soul Art?”

Atyat waved her hand nonchalantly. “Yes, your mental pathways associated with the effect should now be fully formed, you can safely move on to the next Art.”

“My goal is to learn how to use my Soul Arts for fighting, which Soul Art do you think that I should work on learning next?”

“Hmm, why don’t you show me all that you can do first, although it would probably be safer to do this demonstration outside.” To which he nodded.

Christopher followed her to the practice ground, so conveniently located in her backyard. This was certainly a perfect environment for lessons, and they currently had the whole field to themselves.

Over the next few minutes, they went over his repertoire with some care. He showed Atyat his Soul Heat and Frost, which he imbued from the maximum distance that he could now do with some stability. Atyat also examined his Soul Force reserve by touching the back of his neck. After asking him a few more questions and giving it some more thought, she had apparently found her answer.

“Based on your current Soul Arts, I would recommend you keep it simple and work on Soul Current next. Most don’t really use it in this way, but Soul Current is perfect for combat when trained to mastery. I believe that this has additional potential for synergy with your Soul Heat and with your Soul Frost as well.”

Christopher thought it over for a while, which Atyat seemed glad to let him do. Being able to create water seemed useful by itself, but he was not quite clear on how he could use it for fighting at mastery.

Christopher considered how he could combine it with his other Soul Arts. He could maybe first gather and spray out the water with Soul Current before turning it into steam with Soul Heat to create a smokescreen. Maybe he could spray the Soul Current over the ground and then make the ground slippery with Soul Frost, making the area impossible to navigate while keeping your footing. Making the ground muddy might also be helpful in halting the Blight's advance. He had to admit that there was a lot of potential.

“Alright, that is about what I am looking for, I can already think of some interesting synergies.”

“Good, how about we give it a go. I will also demonstrate why it is useful in battle at mastery.”

Awesome! Christopher would love to see a demonstration.