"There are two big things I wanted you to pay attention to with this exercise. One, even if you increased your potential strength, currently you are at your "weakest" because ultimately knowledge is power; pay attention to your friends' techniques. You will have to do your best to hear them out and support each other if you want to continue on your path in this career."
"I see!" Louis closely pays attention to the teacher's words.
"Your greatest strength was your versatility; back then you made use of all the tools you could get your hands on and learned as many spells as you could. Even if you couldn't stand a fight head-on, you would always have a trick up your sleeve! Now, you should be able to use a bit more brute strength, but over time, recovering or getting new tricks will be your priority!
"…" Based on the current spar, I am unsure if I will be able to gather much information from Laura; it looks like Jeanne went easy on me after she transformed into a werewolf as well.
"And second, today you basically just died twice; if you fumble out on the field, it will cost your life. Understand, this is the kind of work that can get you dead. I repeat, this is serious business. You barely remember anything, and all I can see from you is that you're still so set on continuing to be a sorcerer. Is your sacrifice worth it? Are you sure you want this?"
These words appear to be the most serious he has ever seen Fuyuko speak since transmigrating, but even so… Even if he understands, he knows little, and he is at a disadvantage.
[@!&*$¨$#*!@ #%]
[If there is one thing I've been getting good at remembering, it is this feeling… this feeling of wanting to be stronger and become a sorcerer… Even if I originally didn't have this, it would be a great disrespect to give it up after all…]
[Maybe if it wasn't for this, I would still be just dead…]
[@(&$#@#&$#@]
Looking straight into Fuyuko's eyes, he gives the only answer he feels is right: "I want to become a sorcerer no matter what! If there are problems or obstacles, I will figure something out. If there are risks, then I will push through!"
Fuyuko falters and massages her forehead with her hands. "Still so stubborn… I guess if you survive the throne, there is no way out of it, huh…?"
"Anyhow, by the way you are speaking right now, you sound like some green fellow ready to do something stupid and get himself killed early. Obey your captain well; we are almost done figuring it out if it's still going to be Jeanne."
"Yes, Teacher! Yes, Teacher…?" He feels like he heard something odd in the middle there… But, looking at his teammates, he figures that must be why they still haven't gone out of the Dream Kingdom yet.
"So, uh… Who is winning?"
"Jeanne for now."
"Can I watch too?"
"No, I would have to put you in the dream too. If they see you there, they will try to show off, and they won't perform at their best."
"Eh, really? Why?"
"You may not remember, but you were quite popular around here. Have you already spoken with Doctor Evans about your work?"
"I wanted to speak with him about that after class."
"Oh, I see! Let me tell you a bit about that, then. Long story short, you've been working at the infirmary and labs for a few years now and supporting people in missions. You are lucky they thought you were this cool, reliable guy; another boy would be bullied for repeating the first half of the year nonstop!" Fuyuko explains while patting his back.
"I… uh… I see?" Louis feels a bit weird about that; he hasn't ever been the popular kind of guy.
[Humpf!]
[?]
"From what I am seeing, I don't think you have used your soul thread ever since, right?"
"Yeah… I am not sure what that really is all about yet."
"Overall, you may find it more challenging to become a sorcerer from now on."
"Can you tell me more…?"
"Well, sorcery as it is known is mostly a subject about manipulating mana and communicating with gods and spirits; even then there are subdivisions. The core of it all is the soul thread!"
"I see?"
"The soul thread is an organ most people have; you can use it to pull and form mana into spells. It is often compared to painting!"
"Painting?"
"Think of it like this: the world is a canvas, mana is the ink, and the thread is your brush. Can you visualize it?"
"Yes…" Louis closes his eyes, and right now in his head he is picturing Laura with a silly painter outfit, painting a cat.
"Consider that the spells themselves are what is drawn on the canvas; there are a few things that are different in this analogy. One is that your canvas comes with stuff in it already, so you have to paint your spells over an already done painting, and also you don't really get to pick the 'color' of your ink; depending on where you are, the mana might be more suited for one sort of spell or the other. Are you following?"
"For now it's ok, so what is the problem?
"I am getting to the point right now; your problem is your brush, basically. Currently, you are using a chisel instead of a brush, which means you can't paint like other people would.
"Wait, so I can't cast spells anymore?"
"Well, you might, with great difficulty? There are things you can do to still be called a sorcerer the way you are; however, you will always have limits to that, which you didn't have before."
"I see…"
"Currently, you are closer to what is called a scholar of the art, a soul martial artist. You can learn their techniques to fight and go on missions and use external tools pre-charged with mana you can produce with the help of others; you won't be dragging people down in missions, and you will be able to register as a proper sorcerer!"
"So there is a way after all!"
"Though, over time, it is also an option to transfer to a soul arts school or go that way for college!"
"I feel like I want to finish my studies here before college, though."
Fuyuko shrugs her head. "I am not sure why you are being so insistent on this, though..."
"Hey, you don't need to put it like that. Are you trying to kick me out of the school or something?"
Fuyuko puts up her hands in surrender and says, "No! You are free to do whatever you wish; it's just that usually when someone is 20 years old, like you, they are most of the time already in the middle of college already. Maybe it would be better if you just skipped ahead and started doing that."
"… I am 20…?" [So I got 16 years younger? I thought it would be a bit less.]
Fuyuko responds with a frown. "Come on, why are you even surprised about that? First time I've ever seen someone get scrambled this bad by the throne and still be able to function…"
With the corner of his eyes, Louis sees Laura stumbling and falling to the ground; in a split second, he jumps in and extends his arms to catch her.
"Safe!"
"Kyaah!"
"Oh my!"
Louis, while holding her by the shoulders, asks, "Are you ok? Can you stand?"
Laura's face reddens as she gets startled but seems fine from the ordeal. "Ah-I am fine…! Unhand me!"
Louis gently lets go as soon as Laura's standing is stable. "Ok, great!" Louis says with a thumbs up.
"What's great about this… damn…" Laura grumbles with a frown but then looks back to Louis. "Thanks anyway…"
"No problem!" and he responds back with a smile on his face.
"Humph!"
"Good fight, Laura!" Fuyuko gives her praises.
"I guess my best wasn't enough; I will try harder after the exams and become captain without fail!" It seems Laura isn't too bothered about losing her fight.
"Who knows, maybe next time I'll win." Louis interjects.
"Rejected! I need to beat you up at least five times, then we will be even!"
"Haha, guess I can still mess up for a little bit and stay on the positive then."
"Hmph!"
[Laura seems a bit more reasonable than before; maybe it's because Fuyuko talked with her before?]
"ZZZ"
Notices Jeanne is still sleeping and moves closer to her to get her in case she falls. "Uh, when is Jeanne waking up?"
"Dunno, maybe she just fell asleep for real this time?"
"No way! This lazy dog… You can't just doze off after winning!" Laura grumbles with a frown.
"Are you sure? She seems a bit distressed…"
"Heh, good eye, Louis. Actually, she did too well, so I am beating her up in the dream kingdom to keep her humble!"
"…at least there is something good about losing, I guess…" Laura comments with a pale face.