That evening, Thea arrived at the small woods on time. Sure enough, the eager Damian had been waiting for her for a long time.
"Today I formally begin teaching you..." Thea paused after speaking. Having been bustling about for several days, she hadn't really thought about what to teach Damian. Never having been a teacher, she hadn't even thought through how to teach.
"Is there anything specific you want to learn?" Ask first, start from what he's most interested in, Thea mused.
"When you fought Grandfather that day, you shifted left and right in a cloud of black mist. I really want to learn that move," Damian said hurriedly, seemingly having thought about this question.
The brat has a good eye. Is he planning to walk the path of dual magic and martial arts cultivation?
Thea pondered secretly. However, this spell indeed suited him. It didn't require high mana, but the requirements for agility and reaction speed were much higher. At least until Thea figured out Enchantress's teleportation principles, she could only rely on her own high reflexes to make up for the lack of mana manipulation skills.
"Of course. I'll handle the mana side. As for the martial arts part, you...?" Thea implied: You have a heap of martial arts masters at home; I don't need to teach this, right?
Damian had dealt with her a few times and understood the woman's general mindset: she was afraid of trouble. Since there were plenty of people who could teach him martial arts, there was indeed no need to bother Thea.
He nodded immediately, approving this teaching plan.
Thea was happy; this saved a lot of trouble. "I told you before that your attributes are Darkness and Earth, mostly Dark with very little Earth. You wouldn't be so narrow-minded as to think Light is justice and Dark is evil, right?"
Damian shook his head seriously. "No." Not one of the three generations of his family had anything to do with Light. It would be strange if he awakened a Light attribute.
"The Dark attribute is strong in concealment and infiltration. In terms of offense, it's inferior to the four major elements of Earth, Fire, Water, and Wind. But in modern society, before your mana accumulation reaches a certain level, technological weapons are superior to elemental magic."
Damian nodded, seeming to understand and yet not quite. Thea continued.
"You are truly lucky. Your attribute is very suitable for today's social environment. Concealed and unpredictable—that is your future combat style."
Hearing this, Damian was even happier. He never planned to be a knight, hacking hard with a longsword against others. Being able to secretly finish off an opponent suited his personality and family tradition.
Thea guided him in releasing his own mana. Damian's Dark attribute was slightly different from Thea's; Damian's possessed more aggression, while Thea's leaned more towards variability.
It wasn't about which was superior; as long as they were used well, both could deal devastating damage to enemies.
After a week of continuous teaching, Damian's base mana was worse than Thea's had been back then. After all, he was still young. Mana inside the body would surge explosively after puberty. This was why many children of magical families opened their bloodlines at a very young age; they didn't have Thea's opportunities to find amulets or demon swords to artificially boost their reserves.
Their method was to open the bloodline when the child was small and wait for the mana explosion during puberty. Although it carried certain risks, compared to the mana growth in adulthood, a little risk was acceptable.
Damian could now stumble through casting a Darkness spell. Of course, in terms of range and smoke density, it was far from Thea's, but the brat was so happy he was over the moon.
"Take this!" Thea threw him a pitch-black longsword.
It was the Sword of Azrael seized in Gotham that day. She had used it for a while, but since the blade wasn't inscribed with a magic circle, it could only be considered a semi-finished product.
Considering this was Thea's first disciple, which held great significance, Thea worked with Diana over the weekend to inscribe the magic circle of the original Black Mist Dagger into this longsword.
Diana would later participate in making Batman's Hellbat Armor; her sub-profession, in gaming terms, would be max-level Enchanting and Blacksmithing! In this era, materials were scarce, and divine artifacts couldn't be made, but copycatting a pattern to modify a longsword was no problem.
"This is...?" Little Damian took the sword. He found it a bit long for him to use now, but it would be just right when he grew up. He wasn't stupid; he asked anyway, disbelief in his eyes.
"A gift for you. The sword is very sharp, so don't cut yourself when swinging it. The blade is inscribed with a Darkness spell array. It needs your own mana to guide it. Can be cast once a day." Thea spoke carelessly, as if she weren't giving away a magic weapon, but a wooden sword bought for fifty bucks on the street.
Damian's nose twitched a bit. He turned his small face away and whispered, "Thanks..."
Thea pretended not to hear. And so, two people who weren't good at expressing their feelings began their exclusive training sessions.
...
Every three days, a theory class; every five days, a combat class. However, in less than half a month, Thea couldn't take it anymore. She dragged Damian to find Batman, who was currently pinning a criminal to the ground and beating him in Gotham.
Seeing them walk out from the shadows, Batman was a bit puzzled. He grabbed the criminal's neck and slammed it hard against the ground—a severe concussion patient was freshly minted.
"Is something wrong?" Batman, who showed no fear even facing Darkseid, felt butterflies in his stomach right now. Especially seeing Thea's unfriendly face and Damian's look of shame, a scene of a teacher bringing a naughty child to see the parent surged in his mind.
"This child of yours..." Thea started with the tone of a young teacher exasperated by a mischievous student.
"His foundation is too poor! Mage is a profession that requires extensive general knowledge. It's not like your blue-suit, red-cape friend, where a bit of brute strength is enough. Did you guys teach him any general knowledge?"
Thea fired like a machine gun at Batman. She originally thought teaching would be relaxing, but after a week of theory classes, she discovered a huge problem. Damian's foundational knowledge was a mess. Yet, he was stubborn, pretending to understand when he didn't. When it came to practical application, Thea immediately knew she had wasted several nights. Hence, tonight's trip to Gotham.
Batman wiped a non-existent bead of sweat from his forehead. As a super academic genius, he really didn't know what his son had learned. He thought Ra's al Ghul had taught him, while Ra's thought the biological father should teach him. Two giants of immense knowledge had raised an illiterate right under their noses. Batman's old face couldn't quite handle the embarrassment.
"I will try hard to learn!..." Damian said, but even he felt his confidence lacking. He stole glances at Thea and Batman, then lowered his head.
"This book! Just make sure he recognizes all the words inside. Bruce, my requirement isn't high, right?" Thea handed a thin booklet to Batman.