While everyone else was trying to cram all the theory that Professor Sara had taught them in their first year of training into one hour, Alaric and Ryan stared at each other, one holding a target with both hands and the other trying to create a Spiritual Projection.
They had skipped all the previous steps because Alaric had no idea how to teach them that. He knew that many of the theoretical topics were useless in combat, so he thought it best to teach them the correct way to create a Spirit Projection.
For Ryan, this was the best thing. Theory was always boring, on Earth and here, so now that he was a reincarnated person who had lived in this world before and understood the theory very well, he should take advantage of it to avoid wasting time.
Ryan focused on the center of the target, determined to use his hand as a weapon to shoot.
This time, he needed to review his knowledge of Spiritual Projection. Although everything seemed to make it easier for him to use right now, after all, Projection is a specialization of Spirituality.
Generally, although the power of the spirit can be projected into the surroundings and allows you to have better vision and various other things, it cannot be projected in a direct attack against someone, nor can it be projected into a shield or anything similar; for that, you need to specialize your Spirituality.
So even though it was easier, spirituality in this body was not specialized, and he had to go through that entire branch of learning. The beginning of that branch was already unfolding before him.
First step: warm up your spirituality. Or rather, gather it into a favorite concentration.
'50 or 100% is recommended for those who don't have precise control over their power. Still, even though it's more difficult in this body, I should be able to control what little spirituality I have with precision,' he thought, stirring within himself a level of concentration unlike anything else.
Slowly, in his raised right hand, a certain concentration of spirituality began to heat up very quickly.
'It's easier than I thought,' he thought. 'Maybe because Ryan is a native? Even though his talent is useless, he must have something good to compensate for it,' he thought.
He seemed to feel that his spirituality flowed more perfectly than when he was in his original body in his first life.
Still, he wasn't in the mood to think about it. He continued.
Step Two: Imagine the type of projection you want. (If you have a weapon, this is unnecessary, as spirituality will take its default form).
In this case, Ryan went for something simple. He imagined a laser beam coming out of his finger. Imagination is crucial in many cases for important attacks, although it is not essential. In fact, if you don't imagine it, the attack may still happen, but it will be disordered.
Imagining it helps a lot to concentrate the power in a single point and thus make it more powerful, although that makes it more difficult to control for obvious reasons.
Step three: Project it out of yourself.
This is where Alaric's explanation faltered badly. He simply said: "Take it out, push it, or something like that."
Projection is a mental firing process in which you essentially act as a gun or firearm. It is often difficult for beginners to understand, but Ryan was quite knowledgeable on the subject, having been a powerful Spiritual Projector in the past.
His mind soon clicked as if he were about to shoot something, and the Spirituality in his hand swirled rapidly, concentrating on what he imagined, and shot out of his hand.
'On the first try?' Ryan thought, smiling. But the smile soon faded.
Although he had succeeded on his first try, the projected power barely had any force. Before dispersing, it didn't even travel 2 meters, the current distance between Ryan and Alaric.
'Why?' he thought, puzzled, but he quickly realized what was happening. First, there was little spirituality.
Although the concentration of spirituality was enough to heat it, when it leaves your body, it is not in that same concentration, as it degrades upon exit, like all attacks.
Second, little specialization.
Alaric also noticed this, although he was amazed.
"You are very good, Ninth Prince." He sincerely complimented him as he approached. "You only failed because of a lack of specialization. I think you did well," he said.
Ryan nodded. "Young Lord Alaric, I recognize your talent as one of our greatest geniuses, and I know I cannot compare to you, so what do you think I should do to improve my specialization quickly?" he asked.
He was always curious to know what these great geniuses thought. But asking his brother was out of the question, and Cecily wasn't around, so Alaric was the best and only option available.
This question made Alaric smile sheepishly, but he spoke in his usual calm and serene voice.
"Repeat the process. Professor Owen is very good at explaining it. He always says that the fastest way to become an expert is to repeat the main process in basic forms repeatedly," he said.
"Owen?"
He was his eighth brother. As one of the youngest professors, he was also one of the most talented teachers, so it would be a good idea to go see him sometime.
Ryan doesn't dislike him; on the contrary, they get along well because they are the youngest and also because Owen is very carefree, something he shared with the previous Ryan (although for different reasons, one was actually too shy and the other was genuinely carefree about most things).
Now, repeating the process in basic forms sounded interesting to learn and improve, because once you learn the basics, the rest is much easier.
"Do you want to try some more? Or shall we move on to the next point?" Alaric asked, unaware that Ryan was trying to understand better what he had meant.
Even so, Ryan knew he didn't have time to think about it right now. Professor Sara brought them here to see if they had anything inscribed that they weren't compatible with. She needed to see if he was compatible with Spiritual Protection in this life.
"Let's move on to the next topic. I'd like to hear the theory of Spiritual Protection," he said this time, to force Alaric to talk as much as he could.