Farway continued.
"In truth... skills themselves are not particularly difficult to understand. At least, not in principle."
He slowly walked across the front of the classroom.
"What proves difficult is understanding your own skill. Every skill possesses its own characteristics, its own rules, and its own method of growth. Some of you will understand those things within weeks. Others..." He smiled faintly. "...may require years before they truly comprehend what their skill is capable of."
He raised a single finger.
A tiny blue flame appeared above it.
Dante's pupils shrank.
'...What the hell is that?'
The flame was no larger than a marble. Yet...
The instant it appeared—Dante felt every instinct in his body scream at him to run.
It wasn't heat. It wasn't killing intent and it wasn't even pressure.
It was simply... fear.
An overwhelming, instinctive fear. As though every cell in his body was warning him that whatever floated above the instructor's finger could erase him from existence.
One second. Dante genuinely considered fleeing. Two seconds later his muscles remained tense, ready to move at any moment.
Then—Second Mind activated. The chaotic emotions flooding his mind were forcibly suppressed, allowing him to observe the flame rationally instead.
Farway noticed the minute fluctuation in Dante's mana. A mental skill...?
The old instructor smiled inwardly but pretended not to notice. Several more seconds passed.
Gradually... The fear began to lessen. The flame itself never changed. Its size remained identical. Its color remained identical.
Its temperature appeared identical. Yet the dreadful feeling surrounding it steadily weakened until it became merely uncomfortable rather than overwhelming.
Farway extinguished the flame.
"Can anyone tell me..." he asked calmly, "...what exactly you experienced?"
Silence. Many students still hadn't recovered.
One young man, drenched in sweat despite only a few seconds having passed, finally raised his hand.
"Instructor..." He swallowed. "I felt fear."
Farway nodded. "And?"
"It... changed. The flame looked exactly the same, yet somehow... it felt weaker."
"Excellent.
Farway clasped his hands behind his back.
"And why do you think that happened?"
The hall fell silent again.
No one answered. Not even Dante understood.
'System?'
The reply came almost immediately.
[Master... I am currently incapable of appraising power beyond the Legendary Tier.]
[The instructor's demonstration clearly exceeds the lower stages of Mythical-tier applications.] Dante clicked his tongue internally.
'Of course. Even the instructors here are ridiculous monsters.'
Farway eventually spoke. "The answer is simple. Mana application."
He lifted his finger again. The blue flame returned. "When this flame first appeared, I deliberately flooded it with mana."
"The result..." He looked around the classroom.
"...was the overwhelming fear all of you experienced."
He paused before continuing. "Moments later, I reduced the amount of mana sustaining the skill."
"The skill itself never changed. The structure remained identical. The spell remained identical."
"The only thing that changed...was how much mana I continued feeding it."
He looked around. "Now then, you learned about World Essence."
"What relationship do you think exists between that lesson... and this now?"
Several students immediately began thinking.
One eventually raised his hand.
"Instructor... After refining your body with World Essence...are you able to control your mana more precisely?"
Farway smiled. "About seventy percent correct."
He nodded approvingly.
"Tell me. Right now... can you already choose whether your skill uses fifty percent of your mana or only twenty percent?"
Nearly half the class nodded. "Good. Then what changes after refining your body?"
Again...Silence.
Dante sighed internally. 'System. You're my brain. I refuse to think today.'
The System immediately replied.
[Calculation complete.]
[Most likely: mana quality.]
[World Essence refines both the body and the mana flowing through it.]
[If the quality of mana increases, less quantity is required to achieve the same destructive power.]
[Hypothetical example:]
[Individual A uses fifty percent of ordinary mana.]
[Individual B uses thirty percent of refined mana.]
[Both skills produce identical power.]
Dante nodded slightly.
That explanation made sense.
He raised his hand. Farway gestured for him to continue.
"Instructor...Is it because refining the body also refines the quality of mana flowing through it? If the mana itself becomes purer...then less mana is required to produce the same level of power?"
Farway's smile widened. "Perfect." He nodded. "Exactly."
Many students instinctively turned toward Dante. Dante ignored every one of them.
Farway continued. "Mana is not infinite. Your body stores only a limited amount. Every skill consumes it. Every battle consumes it. And replenishing mana requires time."
He looked around the classroom.
"So ask yourselves...If two people possess identical mana reserves...yet one requires half the mana to produce the same attack...who survives the longer battle?"
The answer was obvious. "The one using less mana," several students answered simultaneously. "Correct."
Farway raised the blue flame once more.
The suffocating fear immediately returned.
Dante resisted the urge to curse the instructor. 'This old man just enjoys terrifying first-years.'
Farway chuckled. "In this state...I am supplying the skill with what you may think of as refined mana. It consumes roughly thirty-five to forty percent of my available output."
The fear vanished again. The flame looked exactly the same.
"This...uses approximately fifty percent."
"The appearance has not changed. But its actual destructive capability has dropped significantly."
He spread his hands.
"Unfortunately...Every skill I possess has already reached the Mythical Tier."
"I no longer have a suitable lower-tier skill with which to give you a perfect demonstration. So this crude example will have to suffice."
He let the flame disappear. "The lesson is simple. World Essence does not merely make you stronger. It makes every drop of mana you possess more valuable."
"It improves efficiency. It allows you to achieve greater results while spending fewer resources. In battles between equals..."
He smiled. "...that difference decides who lives."
Dante leaned back in his chair.
'Makes sense.' No intelligent skill user would ever underestimate greater efficiency.
Power mattered. But power that consumed less mana...was priceless.
Farway smiled after noticing the students' unusually serious expressions.
Satisfied, he glanced toward the clock hanging above the lecture hall. "It seems our two hours are over." Almost immediately, chairs scraped across the floor as the students stood.
Dante rose together with the rest before glancing at the bracelet wrapped around his wrist. The next class was already displayed.
For the first three weeks, none of the first years were permitted to choose their own classes. Every lecture was mandatory.
The academy referred to it as a Trial Curriculum.
Its purpose was simple. Expose every student to every faculty before allowing them to specialize.
Dante had already noticed the logic behind it.
Despite this being a lecture exclusive to Mythical-tier students, today's topic had centered around Legendary-tier skills.
The academy clearly wasn't interested in teaching students only what they currently needed. It intended to build foundations first.
As the crowd flowed out of the lecture hall, Dante walked alone amongst thousands of students. A gentle voice suddenly called out from his left.
"Excuse me."
Dante turned. A beautiful half-elf smiled warmly at him.
Long golden-blonde hair reached her waist, gently swaying with every step. She wore a fitted green corset over a white blouse, brown leather trousers, and elegant boots that suited her refined appearance.
There was an almost soothing gentleness about her. "Nice to meet you." She brushed a strand of hair behind one pointed ear. "My name is Sapphire."
Dante nodded politely. "Mm."
Internally, however...He couldn't help but wonder '...Is Vexion seriously the only thick woman in this world?' He sighed inwardly. 'Divine curves. Perfect proportions. Not fat. Not skinny. Everything exactly where it should be.'
After a moment of reflection, he reached an important conclusion. 'Perhaps comparing every woman to Vexion isn't fair. Indeed, Dante... Vexion is simply the outlier.'
Satisfied with his own reasoning, he continued walking. Sapphire blinked. "...And your name?"
"Dante."
"..."
She waited. He kept walking. Clearing her throat, she hurried after him. "It's nice meeting you, Dante. I simply wanted to introduce myself. We're both Mythical-tier students, after all. It would be nice if we became acquainted."
Dante glanced at her once before looking ahead again.
"...Assuming you pass." Sapphire laughed. "You assume I'll fail?" He shrugged. "You don't seem particularly strong." She smiled. "Looks can be deceiving."
"They usually aren't." Without the slightest warning—Dante's left hand shot out from his pocket. There wasn't a shred of killing intent.
No shift in mana. No warning whatsoever. To an outside observer...It genuinely looked as though he was merely stretching.
Then—His fist accelerated. Sapphire's pupils shrank, 'fast!'
Almost instinctively, layers of condensed ice erupted before her. The translucent wall appeared in an instant while wind mana reinforced its structure.
CRACK!!
The fist smashed through it as though it were thin glass. Fragments of ice exploded in every direction.
Before Sapphire could even reposition—THUD!!
His fist struck her squarely across the face. Her body shot backward several meters before powerful winds finally caught her, slowing her momentum until she landed safely.
She immediately touched her nose, blood. Around them, students froze.
"...A fight?"
"Already?"
"What idiot starts fighting on the first day?"
Several nearby second years also stopped walking, curiosity filling their expressions. Yet...
The one who started it never stopped moving. Dante continued walking exactly as though nothing had happened. His fist casually slipped back into his pocket.
Not once did he turn around. 'I genuinely don't understand people. If you approach me claiming to be strong...Obviously I'm going to find out how strong you are.'
The System interrupted.
[Master... was this wise?]
Dante answered mentally. "Perfectly. I wanted to test two things at once."
Almost immediately—Beep.
His bracelet vibrated and a holographic notification appeared before him.
Confirmed: Minor act of unwarranted violence inside a Restricted Zone.
Penalty: -2,000 Academy Points
Current AP: 8,000
Dante nodded. 'Only two thousand...Not terrible. Now I know how seriously the academy treats spontaneous violence.'
He thought for another moment. 'If we fought seriously... the punishment would probably increase depending on the damage caused.'
His lips curled upward. 'Useful experiment.'
A few moments later he turned a corner... and vanished.
...
Sapphire remained standing where she'd landed. She gently wiped the blood from beneath her nose. Her thoughts were a complete mess.
'What... was that?'
She hadn't been unable to react. She had reacted. She had erected a defensive spell almost instantly.
She had even reinforced it. It simply didn't matter. His physical strength alone had shattered everything.
She let out a quiet sigh. "I only wanted to test him...To think he'd answer by testing me instead." She glanced toward the corner where Dante had disappeared.
"Is he always this unreasonable...?" The gathered crowd gradually lost interest after realizing neither side intended to continue fighting.
Students dispersed. The second years likewise continued on their way. Sapphire exhaled once before surrounding herself with gentle currents of wind. Her figure lifted into the air before rapidly disappearing toward the residential district.
"I'll get cleaned up first...Then report back."
She rubbed her aching cheek. "That man..." A small, helpless smile appeared. "He's far stranger than the reports made him sound."