Shizuka Hiratsuka was having the time of her life. After frantically darting around in the air for a while, she truly experienced the immense benefits of [Geppo・Moonwalk].
Combining [Geppo・Moonwalk] with the [Rankyaku・Tempest Kick] Ren Isana had developed earlier, anti-air combat was entirely possible. From now on, martial artists would have far more long-range options.
With these thoughts in mind, Shizuka suddenly glanced over at Ren. She would have been fine if she hadn't looked, but the moment she did, she froze. Ren was currently floating directly in mid-air.
Seeing Ren hovering like that left Shizuka a bit dumbfounded. She slowly landed on the ground, staring up at the floating boy. *Is this a flight spell?*
*It seems pretty impressive, but how long can it last?* Shizuka couldn't help but wonder. Judging by Ren's relaxed demeanor, it looked like he could keep it up for a very long time.
At that moment, Ren snapped out of his daze and quickly flew down. Seeing this, Shizuka hurriedly walked up to him and asked, "Is the flight duration continuous? How high can you fly? How fast?"
She fired off a barrage of questions. The higher the limits of the parameters she just mentioned, the more terrifying the value of this magic would be. A Spatial Ring? That would be a piece of cake!
"It's continuous. Theoretically speaking, as long as you have enough Magic Power, you can fly as high and as fast as you want!" Ren spread his hands, revealing the calculations he had made in his head.
After all, this spell required a continuous output of Magic Power. That meant one could fly as high as they desired—provided they weren't afraid of falling to their death. Ren certainly hadn't factored in any safety measures.
Shizuka was dumbfounded by Ren's answer. She could hardly believe her ears. *There are no limits?!*
"Are you joking?" Shizuka suspected he was pulling her leg. If this was true, its strategic significance would be astronomical!
"Do I look like I'm joking?" Ren looked at her, speechless. *What, no one believes the truth anymore?*
"Hiss... I'm not doubting you, I just find it unbelievable. After all, this means people can do things that only Tier 7 experts can do!" If it was truly as Ren said, flight would no longer be exclusive to Tier 7!
The strategic value was simply too massive. Currently, if someone wanted to fly, they had to reach Tier 7. Below Tier 7, everyone was stuck on the ground like Groudon!
"So, can this be exchanged for a Spatial Ring?" Ren didn't care about the rest. Since she said the strategic value was huge, could it get him the ring? If it could, then it was indeed huge!
"It can!" Shizuka's tone was absolute. If a spell like this couldn't be exchanged for a Spatial Ring, then probably no one would ever share their original creations again!
"That's good. However, this spell is very difficult. If people can't learn it, you can't blame me!" Ren gave a preemptive warning. The spell was quite complex, and he wasn't going to take the blame if others were too incompetent to grasp it.
"Don't worry. No matter how difficult it is, those Tier 5 and Tier 6 Mages will risk their lives to learn it. After all... this might be the only chance they get to fly in their entire lives!" Speaking of this, the corners of Shizuka's mouth curled up slightly.
You couldn't fly until Tier 7, but there was a massive chasm between Tier 6 and Tier 7. As of now, Tier 7 powerhouses were exceedingly rare across the entire world.
However, there were quite a few Tier 6 experts, simply because everyone got stuck there. Breaking through to Tier 7 was incredibly difficult; those who succeeded were all exceptional geniuses. Even Shizuka had been stuck at her current bottleneck for several years.
This spell Ren created would allow those long-stuck Mages to take to the skies. Would they learn it? They would absolutely learn it!
"Come on, let's go find the Director. Yukino, you girls head back to the classroom first." After saying that, Shizuka grabbed Ren and dragged him toward the Director's office.
Asuna and the others exchanged glances. Without saying a word, they turned and headed back to the classroom.
What happened next didn't have much to do with them anyway; they just needed to wait for the news. Still, the three girls were quite curious.
What kind of benefits would Ren receive? Could he really get a Spatial Ring? That was what everyone wanted to know.
Ren followed Shizuka to the Director's office. She knocked on the door and only pushed it open after hearing a voice from inside.
The Director was a bit surprised to see Shizuka bring Ren in. This was also Ren's first time meeting the mysterious Director.
Normally, most of the school's affairs were managed by the Vice Director, a balding middle-aged man. This Director, on the other hand, rarely made an appearance.
Even with his predecessor's memories, this was his first time seeing the man.
"Director Ken, Ren here has created a flight spell, along with a few martial arts techniques. I think we can apply for some rewards on his behalf," Shizuka stated directly.
Director Ken was an elderly man with graying hair, yet he exuded an elegant, scholarly aura, coupled with a faint, underlying sense of authority.
However, despite his white hair, there were hardly any wrinkles on his face. Did he have some secret to maintaining his youth? Or rather, had he regained his youth after his strength reached a certain level?
This made Ren curious about the Director's true strength. If he wasn't mistaken, this Director was the strongest human Ren had encountered so far!
Just from the first glance, he gave off a profound feeling. He looked like someone with a massive background. That was Ren's initial impression.
While Ren was observing the Director, the Director was also observing Ren. Hearing Shizuka's words, he was inwardly shocked.
"Tell me the details!" Director Ken withdrew his gaze from Ren and spoke to Shizuka with a gentle expression.
"It's like this..." Shizuka began explaining the principles behind the new moves. After hearing about the martial arts techniques, Director Ken nodded thoughtfully.
"This is indeed feasible. Truly excellent. But if it were just this, it shouldn't warrant you bringing Ren here personally, right?" Director Ken looked at Shizuka warmly.
Hearing Director Ken's words, Shizuka scratched her head and chuckled. "That's right, Ken-sensei. After all, you know I'm not good at magic!"
Shizuka didn't feel embarrassed in the slightest; instead, she sounded completely justified. Hearing this form of address, Ren was a bit surprised. *Ken-sensei? Was this Director Shizuka's former teacher?*
Ren looked at the two thoughtfully. Given Director Ken's age, he should be among the first generation to grow up after the spiritual energy revival, right? And to have been Shizuka's teacher...
"You! You're still the same. You shouldn't neglect your magic. In recent years, dual cultivation of martial arts and magic has been highly encouraged." Director Ken found Shizuka's attitude rather amusing.
He turned his gaze to Ren and said gently, "Ren, why don't you explain? If possible, demonstrate it directly."
Hearing Director Ken's request, Ren nodded and immediately took action, demonstrating the flight spell he had created.
Looking at the Magic Circle, Director Ken's expression turned serious. His eyes locked onto the patterns within the array as he fell deep into thought, his brain frantically calculating its profound mysteries.
At that exact moment, Ren's [Jianjigu] automatically activated. Ren calmly glanced at Director Ken, then silently floated into the air.
*This talent... belongs to Director Ken, right? And it's actually a magic-related talent? It overlaps a bit with mine... and it's inferior.*
This was [Magic Echo]. It could record someone else's magic and then release it, but the consumption was massive. If the original spell's Magic Power cost was 1, replicating and casting it would cost 2.
Ren silently tossed the talent to the back of his mind and looked at Director Ken. By now, the Director had completely recorded the spell and proceeded to cast it himself.
Feeling himself easily lift off the ground, Director Ken's eyes lit up. "Truly excellent. This spell is incredibly valuable!!"
"This kid wants a Spatial Ring. Do you think this is enough to exchange for one?" Hearing Director Ken's praise, Shizuka hurriedly brought up Ren's request.
Hearing Shizuka's words, Director Ken looked at her with amusement before turning to Ren. "I will do my best to fight for it. With this spell combined with the martial arts techniques you created earlier, it shouldn't be a big problem."
He then added, "And I mean the largest type of Spatial Ring. If it were a small one, this would be more than enough. But if you're going to get one, you should get the best, or not bother at all."
That made perfect sense. Ren completely agreed and was pleasantly surprised. He truly hadn't expected such a great haul. Thinking of this, Ren quickly expressed his gratitude, "Thank you, Director!"
Director Ken looked at Ren and continued, "No need to thank me. This is what you deserve. I have already recorded the spell; leave the rest of the procedures to me."
He took full responsibility for the follow-up work. Ren only needed to wait to receive his reward; he didn't have to worry about anything else.
After chatting with Director Ken for a while, Ren left with Shizuka. As they walked down to the teaching building, Shizuka said to Ren, "You can head back now. There should be news in a few days. Ken-sensei is very reliable."
Shizuka looked confident as she said this. After all, she knew Director Ken's character very well. Since he had said so, it was basically set in stone. Ren would definitely receive a top-tier Spatial Ring.
"I have a question. Hiratsuka-sensei, you called the Director 'sensei'. Was he your teacher in the past?" Ren voiced the doubt in his heart.
Shizuka nodded and explained, "He was my teacher during my university days. Don't let his incredibly refined appearance fool you; his strength is terrifyingly high!"
Hearing this, Ren's interest was immediately piqued. "What Tier is the Director at? Tier 7? Or maybe Tier 8?"
He was genuinely curious. After all, this was the strongest person he had ever come into contact with, so he really wanted to know what level the Director had reached.
"Think bigger. The Director is already at Tier 9!" Shizuka's mouth curled into a slight smirk as she revealed his true strength.
Hearing this, Ren was astonished, but also a bit confused. *Tier 9? He doesn't look like it at all.* Moreover, Ren hadn't felt any sense of threat from him.
*Is he really Tier 9? And why would a Tier 9 powerhouse come here to be a high school principal?* No matter how he looked at it, something felt off, causing Ren's doubts to multiply.
"Seems strange, doesn't it?" Shizuka suddenly asked, seemingly seeing through Ren's confusion.
Ren nodded. He was indeed very puzzled and couldn't quite figure out what was going on. With such immense strength, why wasn't he guarding those dangerous Dimensional Rifts instead of playing principal here?
"Director Ken has very severe injuries left over from dealing with a Dimensional Rift. At the time, he had just broken through not long ago, and then... although he successfully conquered that Dimensional Rift, he was left with permanent trauma," Shizuka slowly explained Director Ken's situation.
She was still his student back then. When he emerged from the Dimensional Rift, he was critically injured and on the verge of death. Although he was miraculously saved, his newly attained Tier 9 strength could never be recovered.
Hearing this, Ren asked curiously, "What caused it? Logically speaking, at their level, it should be very difficult to sustain such permanent damage, right?"
Just because he conquered a Dimensional Rift, he ended up like this? His strength could never be restored? It seemed strange no matter how he thought about it.
"Director Ken's talent allows him to copy other people's magic and cast it himself. Relying on his talent, Sensei was incredibly fierce. But precisely because he loved copying so much, he ended up copying Dragon magic inside that Dimensional Rift." There was nothing to hide, so Shizuka simply laid it out.
*Copied Dragon magic?* Hearing this explanation, Ren was stunned for a moment, but he quickly understood. "Because they are a different race, forcibly using it caused a backlash? Isn't that mandatory knowledge for Mages? How could he make such a mistake?"
Ren was baffled. Wasn't this a fundamental rule every Mage had to learn? How did it end up like this? This was truly absurd.
"And do you know how that rule came to be?" Shizuka looked at Ren calmly. It was because Director Ken had tested it out himself!
Behind every rule was a bloody lesson. The weight of that phrase was only increasing. It was precisely because Director Ken attempted to use Dragon magic that he suffered the backlash!
Hearing Shizuka say this, Ren finally understood. So that was the reason. Ren realized that the warning against learning magic from different races was personally tested and proven by Director Ken.
This made him a literal textbook figure, didn't it? It was because of Director Ken's painful lesson that such a rule existed in the textbooks Ren and the others studied.
"It looks like you understand now. Because of Ken-sensei's experience, an extra precaution was added to magical theory. I know your learning talent is incredibly strong, but if you ever encounter beings of different races using magic in the future, you'd better not learn it!" Shizuka gave Ren a stern warning.
Ren nodded thoughtfully upon hearing this, but what he was actually thinking was anyone's guess. After all, Director Ken's situation likely wouldn't apply to Ren at all.
After all, Ren's [Jianjigu] allowed him to learn anything he saw, and anything he learned could be fully assimilated for his own use. Regardless of what race the magic belonged to, as long as Ren could learn it, it meant he could definitely use it.
This was absolutely beyond doubt. Therefore, what happened to Director Ken could never happen to Ren in his entire lifetime. This was Ren's absolute confidence.
Seeing that Ren had taken her words to heart, Shizuka immediately said, "Alright, you head back first. I should go get some rest too. From here on out, you just need to wait for the news."
With that, Shizuka turned and left. Ren watched her go before heading toward his own classroom. Today had certainly been an eye-opening experience. To think Director Ken's situation was actually like this?
No wonder Director Ken held so much authority. No matter what, he was a former Tier 9 powerhouse. Even though his strength was gone now, the government still valued him highly.
Perhaps this was also the reason he came here to be a principal. According to Shizuka, Director Ken used to be her teacher.