Mia let out a sigh and approached the group. "I am happy with everyone's level." She said, her gaze washing over the above-average students. "While some of you might have witnessed the power of prodigies, I urge you not to lose faith. I am here to bring you to a level where your very name will make men tremble." She said.
The nobles merely stared at her, their pride shattered.
"If you wish to pursue the art of casting, then you are welcome to remain. However, I will not stop you if you choose to quit. I will look forward to seeing who will remain in the next class!" Mia shouted, a grin adorning her face.
Only the silence waited as her response, she let out a sigh. Of course, they would lose heart if they saw what the royals are capable of.
"You are dismissed for today." She said, before her ears twitched and she snapped her gaze toward Aqua. "Except you. Stay here."
Sheira and Azure looked at Aqua, who just waved them off. "It's fine. I promised to stay after this, you can go." Aqua said, ignoring Azure's adorable pouting.
"You'd better make it up to me later," Azure said, walking off with the group.
Her eyes closed, and she smiled. "I will get you something for sure, now to speak with Mia." She muttered, approaching the small teacher who stared at her with a sparkle in her eyes.
"While everyone merely focused on showing off their destructive power." She said, her eyes trailing after the distant young princess. "You instead showed me a miracle of creation. You created the best anti-magic ore… out of magic."
Aqua's face twisted into a crooked smile. "The best, no," Aqua said, approaching the stone. Her fingers glided over its smooth surface.
"This stone might be good against magic, I will give it that. However…" She said, her hand gripping a corner of the pillar. Her fist tightened, and a chunk of the stone crumbled in her hand. "Its physical resistance is pathetic."
Mia looked at the scene without daring utter a word. She brought her hand in front of her mouth and let out a cough. She stepped forward and looked at the missing chunk. "Of course, I believe you, and I know its weakness, but if we alloy it, we could gain a much more powerful material when it comes to physical resistance."
"I am not saying that it's useless in any stretch of imagination. After all, raw mythril is very easy to alloy and increase its durability. However, having a material that can do both would be ideal." Aqua said calmly, she turned to Mia and looked down at the teacher.
Mia nodded and pinched her chin.
Two uncommon ores were often used to create powerful alloys that resisted both physical and magical attacks. One was Mythril, which could nullify mana as no other ore could, and the second was adamantite.
Unlike Mythril, the Adamantite would shatter if a decent spell struck it as it could not hold any mana whatsoever.
"Something that combines properties of both Mythril's magical resistance and Adamantite's Physical affinity without having to alloy them," Mia muttered.
"Correct," Aqua said, her hand disappearing into the lightless void of her storage.
Mia closed her eyes and exhaled sharply. "Should I expect some mythical ore that would make everything we know seem stupid?"
"Not at all." She answered and soon after pulled a radiant stone. "This here is what I call Manasteel. It is the ultimate material in any non-combat-oriented Mystic engineering creation." She spoke softly, gripping the ore.
Her gaze met with Mia's, and she nodded. "Take it."
Mia reached up nervously, grabbing the ore with both of her hands. "Thank you, but while this is impressive and makes me wish to probe you about it, your miracle of creation dulled my excitement."
"Ah…" Aqua said with a sigh. "I gave you that ore because it is very easy to create with mana. Perhaps even easier than what I had done with mythril."
The outrageous statement made Mia reel back and nervously chuckle. "You really are monstrous, huh. No wonder royals would hide their power when they are capable of this. It seems the rumors of them being blessed were indeed true," Mia said, crossing her arms.
I will ignore that comment. Aqua shook her head.
"I showed you manasteel because it will be a goal for you to create it. It is the best material for most mystic engineering projects, and it is much stronger than alloyed mythril."
"So you believe I would learn how to replicate your miracle of creation?"
"Yes, you have a lot of expertise. All you need to learn is how to use Aether properly and shape it. You need a lot of mana for even the weakest of creation magics," Aqua spoke, her face stern.
"The amount that any primitive spell method wouldn't be able to even approach." She stated.
Mia's legs shook, and her face wore the uncertainty like a medal. "I am not scared! Learning this 'Aether' would bring forth unimaginable benefits to the entire kingdom." She said, turning away from Aqua. "But, are you sure you should give me the royal secrets so easily?"
"I told you before, these are not royal techniques. They originate from the world soul, nobody can claim them."
Mia nodded, pretending to understand her. "If you are sure, let's do it. I am not the one to deny such masterful techniques." She spoke in a prideful tone.
Aqua giggled. "Great, I already taught you the basics, so that you could use aether circles. However, when conjuring anything from basics to creation, you will need a lot more control," She said.
The small teacher nodded. "I understand." She said, closing her eyes and conjuring the rope of aether that Aqua had instilled in her.
"You can sense it, but I have never taught you what to do with it," Aqua spoke softly. "You will need to split it."
"Split it…" Mia whispered, focusing on the task at hand.
"Yes, but as I told you before. Do not tear too much, otherwise you risk explosion."
After multiple failed attempts, Mia managed to grasp the rope, splitting it and releasing a great amount of mana.
"Good, now," She stopped mid-sentence. "You like wind magic, correct?"
She nodded in response.
"I want you to try and create a wind stream toward this stone. You will need to practice that until it's effortless for you." Aqua said calmly.
Someone as skilled as her should grasp this very quickly, even if she isn't a prodigy like Sheira.
Mia turned toward the pillar of mythril and straightened her hand forward.
The mana flowed, yet it failed to shape itself. Mia refused to stop. She attempted over and over until finally a gust of wind escaped her palm.
"I think I got it now!" She shouted.
"Keep at it!" Aqua said, crossing her arms and approaching behind Mia's back. "All you need to do is practice, and when you can do this effortlessly, I can teach you more."
Mia's lips stretched into a smile, and she turned to Aqua. "Thank you so much! In two days, you got me out of a multi-century stalemate!"
"I am glad to be of help. Knowledge is meant to be spread after all." Aqua said.
"That I can agree with. I hate it when anyone hoards it," Mia grinned. "I have some duties to attend to, but would you like to grab lunch with me?"
"I am sorry, but I need to meet with Azure," Aqua said, shaking her head slowly.
"Ah, I see," Mia spoke with a hint of sadness in her voice.
"Well, no matter. I will keep practicing and will look forward to teaching it to others."
"Do not do that carelessly. Aether is dangerous. You may teach it when you are accustomed to it." Aqua stated.
"Oh," Mia bit her lip. "I won't then, I will work hard on mastering it! I am not sure who is professor here~," Mia teased.
"Great," Aqua said, smiling. She walked some distance away from Mia and looked into the distance.
Her nose perked up, detecting something familiar and equally unpleasant.
"I will head back now, Aqua. Good luck with your endeavors." Mia said before waving Aqua off.
That stench, it's familiar.
In her trance, she failed to wave Mia goodbye, instead following the smell of rot.
The beast of 10 eyes. How is it here?! No, I must be wrong.
She dashed forward, quickly disappearing into the forest. The stench grew heavier, filling her superior senses.
If she had been correct and the beast of 10 eyes was indeed present in this world, the gods would be the least of her issues. Don't tell me… The rot Sun God mentioned is the beast!
Her fists clenched. She had to investigate this even if it meant she had to abandon the peace she had obtained.
Why am I lying to myself? The peace never lasts.