The Old Scholar

After dealing with most of the students, it was time for the final one. The entire class was standing in the middle of the training yard near one of the buildings on campus, it was affectionately called "The Square" by the students of the academy since it was the largest training yard on campus that could house multiple combat classes at once. And today the objective for Leilani was to get Karl used to dual casting, although hindered by his small mana pool it was still possible for people to dual cast, Leilani herself found this out when her disciple named Tractus the "First Scholar of Vlekhardt" had a mana pool the size of a grape and still was able to multicast magic, although weaker magic than most, Tractus was able to do it despite the mana pool size and Leilani was determined to make sure Karl could at least dual cast as he had a much larger mana pool as it was fist-sized. 

"Alrighty then. Here is how today is going to go. Karl, you are going to be defending yourself from your underclassmen. They will be using the arsenal they have at their disposal and you will have to find ways to counter it, no mind magic stuff as that is a class for your final year. Anyways, I will be watching from the sidelines as you duke it out and do not worry, the training yard barrier has been activated so if you get a fatal blow you will not die and be instead teleported right beside where I will be watching, it will hurt remember that. Anyways, I taught you how to conjure a shield of magic so I expect you to use it in conjunction with your body-strengthening magic. Good luck!" 

Karl was left speechless and with an expression of worry as he saw in front of him the rest of his summer classmates. From the first years, Michele and Himari with the vampire just using his claws while the elven girl brought out a rapier, to the four nobles who were all using magic based on the glyphs and magic circles surrounding their hands and the visible aura of magical energy surrounding them. Then there were the trio of beastkin who were all wielding weapons from a mallet for Smirtina, a pair of daggers for Liath and a mace for Victor who was hovering in the air. 

"Ready....Begin! First Years do your thing!" Leilani shouted from the side, conjuring a cup of hot chocolate to drink as the fight began 

At the words of their Professor, Himari and Michele lunged forward. The vampire reached Karl first, swinging twice with his vampiric claws, Karl dodged both swings and replied with a backhanded smack on the back of Michele's head, causing the purebred vampire to stumble to the side. He then swung his greatsword around as his senses fired off and allowed him to block a claw strike from Michele as he materialized behind him, countering with a right hook that struck the purebred vampire in the jaw and sent him stumbling back. Karl then shifted his body from side to side as he dodged a pair of roots thrusting out of the ground, swinging his greatsword in a horizontal arc that slashed both of them in one fell swoop. But then his eyes widened as the elf girl was now on top of him and landed a jump kick that struck his chest and sent him tumbling backwards across the training field.

"Alright, Second Years. Join the fray!" 

{!} 

Karl's eyes widened in surprise at the orders of his Professor, he hadn't even beaten the first two who were already giving him a hard time 

"Wait wha-" Karl voiced 

But as he voiced, several roots sprung from the ground and impaled him while Michele also appeared out of nowhere and thrust his claws into his heart. A few moments later, Karl turned into a cloud of smoke before materializing next to Leilani who looked down at him. 

"Wait what? Really?" Leilani repeated in a disappointed tone 

"Uhh..." Karl looked away and at the ground, shaking his head, the pain in his body rapidly sputtering out 

"You are a fifth year are you not? I believe the combat classes by this point give you an edge in fighting multiple opponents" Leilani continued 

"Yes Ma'am" 

"Then get your act together Mr Edelweiser. Show them the power of a fifth-year" Leilani finished, patting the young man on the back 

"Yes Ma'am" Karl said as he nodded and stood back up, reentering The Square with a determined look. 

Stepping back to where he was, the others gave him some space and waited on Leilani's orders to begin again. Karl's eyes narrowed and shifted between the six opponents he faced, all of them had formed a circle around him.

"Ready...Begin!" Leilani shouted again 

At those words, Karl immediately saw the four nobles quickly chant and unleash streams of fire and earth from their hands. He then dropped his body-strengthening magic and diverted all of it into a round buckler shield made of magic that manifested after a few quick words on his right arm just in time to block the fiery torrent that would have hurt like hell. He grunted as he felt the magic shield begin to wain from the relentless stream, he then shifted his gaze to his back and his eyes widened as he saw the claws of Michele come down on him and then once again turned him into a cloud of smoke 

"Well. Seems that you are forgetting something...do you know what it is?" Leilani asked as she looked down at Karl who materialized next to her again 

"Dual Casting?" Karl asked as he looked up at her 

"Dual Casting! Where the hell was it Mr Edelweiser?" 

"Uhhh" 

"Ok...take a deep breath and calm yourself. Imagine your mana pool like before" Leilani instructed, with Karl closing his eyes and following her instructions 

"Now, like before, direct some of that mana being used for your body-strengthening magic into a separate stream" 

Karl imagined his fist-sized mana pool, feeling the warm energy radiating from it and seeing the many lines of white mana spreading across his body to power his body-strengthening magic. He grunted in exertion as he focused and tried to gather some leftover mana into a singular stream. He had been practicing this technique that Leilani had taught him ever since the start of the summer class and he has slowly been getting into it but never succeeding in achieving the desired result of an entirely separate stream. 

"Focus it. Do it as if your life depends on it because it does. Tell yourself "If I cannot do this, then I die" over and over again, you can do this Karl, you have been taught to do this" Leilani said as she noticed him struggling 

Karl grunted more as he repeated the words of his professor in his head, his breathing became more ragged as he focused more and more, trying harder and harder to gather up excess mana, the warm feeling turned into a raging inferno as he was finally forming the separate stream, his chest burned and beads of sweat began to form and trickle down his temple while his breathing became ragged. Leilani watched on however, knowing that any intervention at this point could kill him, well if it was any other intervention than herself of course.

"Fight it! Rise above it! You are the master of your mana, make it bend to your will and not the other way around!" Leilani encouraged him as she placed her hand on his shoulder and sent pulses of healing magic to combat his internal inferno. 

After a few more minutes of intense internal struggle, Karl let out a sigh as he finally saw the single stream of mana he had been struggling to separate fully become its own thing. It shone a bright blue in contrast to the white streams of mana that poured into the rest of his body, and when Karl opened his eyes he felt something different. He took a deep breath and still felt his body-strengthening magic circulating him, and then he muttered a few words before the same round buckler shield made of mana appeared on his right arm although it was much smaller than before due to the mana poured into it being smaller, but there was a smile plastered across his face as he finally was able to dual cast. 

"Mmm, good. Now test it out" Leilani told him as she flicked her hand and threw him over into the training yard 

Karl dusted off his clothes and once again looked around him and saw that all nine of his classmates were in the circle, his expression turned from slightly confident to nervous as he was now facing multiple threats and he knew that despite the combat classes he was going to have to do everything in order to survive the first few minutes at least. 

"Right. Everyone, do not hold back. Give your senior a proper thrashing and test his abilities" Leilani commanded, seeing Karl's nervous expression turn into disbelief and despair 

"Yes Ma'am!" The nine other students replied 

"Ready...Begin!" 

For the third time after her words, the students lunged at the lone human in the center of the circle. Karl immediately raised his small shield and tightened his grip upon his greatsword, he stepped back as Michele once again charged at him, allowing the vampire's claws to barely miss him as they scratched the metal chest plate before countering with a slash of his greatsword that missed but forced Michele to get some space. 

Karl had no time to rest however as he dodged several roots sprouting out if the ground, quickly cutting them down before they reached him before moving forward, allowing Himari who was in the air and hoping to strike him with another jumping kick to pass harmlessly over him. But then, the familiar flaming torrent from the four nobles appeared and Karl barely managed to block the incoming streams with his buckler shield, but due to the shield being smaller due to the small amount of mana poured into it, the shield broke easily and exploded, sending him flying a few meters and crashing onto the ground. 

Quickly getting back up, Karl grunted as Smirtina joined into the fray and swung down her halberd that he had blocked with great effort. His eyes then glanced to the side which caused him to shove away the centaur and duck as he dodged the daggers of Liath that almost stabbed him in the back, he then twisted his body as he reoriented himself and unleashed a counter slash that Liath failed to block and sent him flying away due to the force before turning into a puff of smoke and then materializing next to Leilani. His eyes then shifted upward and he saw Victor hovering in the air, he then dashed at the four nobles as the dragonkin unleashed his fire breath that followed behind him 

'Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!' Karl thought as he ran, hoping to not be covered in a torrent of fire 

Luckily managing to outrun the fire breath of Victor, Karl then managed to block Michele as the vampire came back and swung several times with his claws that clanged against his greatsword. 

{!}

But as he was continuing to block the vampire, Himari had managed to get behind him when he was busy and landed a low kick to his leg that caused him to stumble back and lose his composure, allowing Michele to land several slashes that sent him back even further. Instead of pushing forward however, the vampire and elf held back as they glanced behind Karl and saw the four nobles charging up their attacks. And as they leapt back, Karl's eyes widened and he swiftly shifted and conjured the shield once again under his breath, blocking the stream of fire and earth once again but his stance buckling as the streams this time around was much more powerful than before. But when the streams suddenly stopped, Karl was blindsided and struck from the side by the flat side of Smirtina's halberd that sent him flying into the air and while he was mid-air, Victor slammed him in the chest with his mace and sent him crashing back onto the ground. 

"Ughh...got one out of nine....damn" Karl groaned as he got back up, resting on his greatsword, seeing the group surround him 

"Well, it was a valiant effort and you did more than enough to test your dual casting" Leilani said as she stepped onto the field 

"Thank you Ma'am" Karl said as he nodded his head and was still catching his breath 

"Mhmm. Right. Everyone gets plus points for their performance and...seeing that it is Tuesday today, you get Wednesday and Thursday off to study for your final exam this Friday. It will be multiple choice, identification and essay. I expect all of you to pass given the days of studying, class dismissed" She added with a small smile 

"Thank you Ma'am" The students shouted with a bow before they left The Square in different groups, all except Karl who walked up to Leilani 

"Thank you again Professor" The young man stated again as he bowed his head 

"Mmm, no need for that Mr. Edelweiser. I am just doing my job" Leilani told him as she patted him on the head 

"Ummm. What exam will I have Professor?" Karl asked 

"Well, since you failed Advanced Magic Implementation, you will still be required to do the written tests like the rest but you will also have a practical portion that will be administered afterward, you couldn't dual cast before so I am confident now you can pass, just study and keep practicing for the next two days and I believe by Friday you will be ready for the test at least" Leilani answered him 

"I see, thank you again Professor" Karl repeated as he bowed his head 

"Mmm, now run along. I shall see you on Friday" Leilani finished as she patted him on the head again and then walked away

"Yes Ma'am, Thank you Ma'am" The young man repeated 

'She truly is a good teacher' He thought as he watched her round a corner and disappear from view before heading over to the side bench and pulling out a large textbook 

........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

After the two day break, Leilani stood in the front of the class as she handed out exams tailored to each of them. The First Years were given two exams with them being about Advanced Magical Studies and Applications and Introductory to Advanced Magical Beastiary respectively. While the Second Years were given an exam about Integral Economics and Running of a State, and State Diplomacy, and Leilani was expecting the four to get high marks due to them applying their knowledge to the game she had given them. For the Third Year beastkins they had an exam about Advanced Introduction to Magical Flora and Fauna, their grade also depended on the current state of the carnivorous plant of Leilani had given them to take care of, a plant that all three had trouble feeding and caring for but were surprised that the plants were still alive. Then came Karl who had to take the written portion of the test and then a practical follow up which he was nervous for. 

She watched as the students diligently went about answering the papers in front of them, she had given the class a full two hours to answer the one hundred item exam and while they were answering, she was going to fill out some paperwork. Although most teachers would continue to watch in order to stop any attempts of cheating, Leilani had summoned a monster made of flesh that hung from the ceiling that was camouflaged and was assigned to do the observing for her as the feed of its multiple eyestalks would go into Leilani's brain. 

As the tests dragged on, Leilani would gaze up from time to time and see the concentrated faces of the students, sometimes she would smirk inside as she saw their eyes widen from reading questions or they would put down their pen and just gaze out the window as they pondered their answer, a small flicker of her own past in taking those types of tests filled her heart with a small flicker of nostalgia that was quickly put out as she returned to filling out the paperwork in front of her. 

"Alright. Two hours is up, hand in your papers to the front and I will grade them immediately" She told them as the exam time had finished 

The students did as they were told and as she gathered them she immediately manifested the answer key. Leilani's tests were all the same when it came to multiple choice. She put all the answers in the same letter and loved seeing four consecutive A's before they shifted to another letter. She remembered her professors doing the same to her and she understood for a long time why they enjoyed doing this. After quickly checking the papers, she was pleased to see that all of the students had gotten above the fifty percent passing mark, with them ranging from seventy to ninety. With the highest being Karl with ninety-four. 

"Alright then. Here are your grades, I am pleased with the results. If you do not have a practical portion to do then you are free to go home and enjoy the remaining two weeks before class. Goodbye" She said with a smile 

"Thank you Ma'am!" Michele, Himari and the four nobles shouted as they bowed before leaving the room

"Now, you four. Let's wrap things up shall we?" She said to them as she warped them into a greenhouse on campus

 "Hmm, all of the plants are alive. Nice work you three, you get to pass" She said as she looked at them, seeing their smiles of relief 

"You are all dismissed, see you after the break" She added 

"Thank you Ma'am!" The beastkin trio stated with a bow before they made their way out of the greenhouse 

"Finally, your practical portion will be simple. Just perform some dual casting"

"Yes Ma'am" 

With a nod, Leilani warped them into The Square again and walked over to the side while Karl took to the center of the training yard 

"Now, just use fireball with a magic shield" 

"Got it Ma'am" 

At her words, Karl manifested a bright ball of fire that he chucked at one of the dummies in the yard while manifesting a shield in his right arm. Leilanin had him repeat this several times and after the last one had finished she was satisfied. 

"Good. You can properly dual cast now. You passed Mr. Edelweiss, enjoy your break" She stated with a smile 

"Thank you Ma'am!" Karl said with a bow before he ran out of The Square. 

Later that day. Leilani walked around Imperia after she had saw the students off at Teleportation Town. She took in the time to enjoy the academy she had made and her mind filled with numerous memories of years gone by, she was satisfied with everything she had been doing until now and it felt good teaching students again after taking only a few classes over the years she would teach personally. 

"Haa..to think so much time has passed....Scholar of Santomin" She muttered as she continued her walk, the small thought of revealing herself to the world properly crossing her mind. 

Although it would not sprout until much much later. The seeds of accepting who she was and the title that came with it that had been planted so long ago and had been tended to by so many, were finally starting to take root. And she would soon find herself once again wielding the title she had for so long kept hidden, a title that brought about so much enlightenment to those who were willing to learn, and a harbinger of destruction to those who dared to wrong her all those millennia ago. 

A/N: Here we go! Chapter 16 WOOO. There will be an interlude after this then the next arc! I had fun writing this and I hope you had fun reading it! If you have any thoughts or comments, leave em below! And as always, Stay Safe and Enjoy Your Day!