Soul of the Warrior

Chapter 71: Charismatic Instruction

"Those in power have a responsibility to those they have power over," the teacher, Master Salrah, said. "People with personal power get it through their own work and effort, but those with political power get it from the ones who put them there.

"If one wants to remain in power, politically, it is necessary to take care of the needs of the populace. The royal family wasn't created from scratch as the royal family. They lead their people in a benevolent manner, and they helped to bring prosperity to the kingdom.

"Many rulers of nations would dispute this notion. They claim they have 'Divine Right' and are appointed by the various gods, or fate itself, to power. One of the reasons our royal family, and the nobility, are so beloved is because they recognize the truth. They lead by example, and they let the people strive for better lives.

"As scions of the affluent families attached to the nobility and future Mages of the kingdom, you don't have as many responsibilities, but you do have some. Those duties, and how to go about selecting the best methods to accomplish them, are the things we are going to learn this year."

It sounds like propaganda towards their way of running the kingdom, Reivyn thought. That's not to say I don't approve of the system of governance. I do, especially after witnessing Count Ilpir's actions and learning more about them. But it looks like this class is more a primer for how to work for the political system than it is a neutral instruction on politics.

"Do they teach the different political structures of the different Kingdoms, or is it just guidance on how to be successful in ours?" Reivyn whispered to Tom.

"They teach those lessons in the second and third-year classes," Tom whispered back. "But they always present it in a way where we need to consider things from our own perspective. Thus, this is the 'basics' of political theory."

Hmm, I want to learn more about the other kingdoms and the higher Tier Regions, but it seems like I'd have to wait until at least next year to get those lessons. Tom said it was possible to test out of classes early, so maybe I should seek some tutoring on the subject from Melissa. I can get some more from my parents as well. I don't plan on sticking around this Region my whole life, so it doesn't make sense for me to get fully steeped in the workings of this kingdom.

Reivyn made up his mind to attempt to test out of the class. He was confident his parents would have certain insights that could give him an advantage. Though, he would need to find out exactly how the tests worked. He still needed to pay attention in class, despite his decision, so he focused his attention on the teacher in front of the class.

The classroom was identical to the other ones he had been to so far. Master Salrah, though, was not similar to the other instructors. She didn't appear to be specialized in teaching magic at all, and she didn't wear the traditional robes of the Caster Classes. She was attired in a red dress that accentuated her looks, and she was a looker. She appeared to be much younger, in her early 20s than the other magical instructors.

She was one of the prettier women Reivyn had seen on campus. I imagine, considering her specialty is politics, that she has a high Charisma and Skills focused on getting along with others and persuasion. I wonder if there are Tier 3 or 4 Affinities associated with the Charisma Stat and Skills? There must be if Sovereign is one of them.

Reivyn watched and listened. Master Salrah's voice was soothing, and her every gesture drew him and the other students in to pay attention to the lesson. Reivyn's vision slowly blurred everything else out, and his Battlefield Awareness Skill let him know that the situation was the same for all of the other students. There was zero chatter among the students, as everyone listened to the teacher.

Reivyn's Mental Fortitude Skill kicked in, and his vision returned to normal. He sat up in surprise and looked all around. None of the other students waivered in their attention fully focused on the teacher, and Reivyn noticed Master Salrah look up at him with a flash of surprise in her eyes. She simply gave a small smile, drawing the other students further into their focused state, and continued her lesson.

This woman is dangerous, Reivyn thought, sweat beading his forehead. It's good to pay attention in class, but I prefer to have a clear mind.

"I think this is my favorite class," Trick said once Master Salrah ended the lesson and left the room. All of the students watched her go, and the spell over them didn't end until she was completely out of sight.

"I had heard that her classes were unusually captivating, but that was something else," Tom said.

"Oh, you guys knew about it ahead of time?" Reivyn asked as they filed out of the room.

"Sure," Vane answered. "Our friends told us that she has a way to make you fully focus on her and nothing else. Most of the Elite Students knew about it."

"Aren't you worried about getting brainwashed or something?" Reivyn was confused. They willingly let themselves get spellbound like that? The three friends looked at each other and laughed.

"That would never happen," Tom replied. "Don't think that there's anything that happens on campus that the Headmaster doesn't know about. Something like that was attempted in the distant past, and that teacher didn't have a good ending."

"The Headmaster is supposedly a super scary guy," Vane said. "I hear he's a Tier 4, and even the royal family has to show him respect."

Reivyn thought about the man he had met during Admissions. He wasn't scary at all. He was very amiable. Maybe Vane just means his power has the possibility of being scary. I doubt he could pose any kind of threat to my parents unless he was close to Tier 5, though. And I highly doubt that's the case.

"Our friends told us to just enjoy the ride," Tom said. "She uses her abilities in the classroom setting to better impart the knowledge to us."

"It also has the added benefit of exercising any willpower Skills one might have," Vane said. "Most students won't try to resist her charm until they feel they have a good grasp on the subject matter, though."

"I think I'll just enjoy the view," Trick said, a distant look in his eyes.

"That's all you ever care about," Reivyn said, playfully shoving Trick's shoulder. The four boys laughed as they exited the building.

They had a little bit of time until their next class, so Reivyn decided to go ahead and head to Master Salrah's office and broach the topic of testing out. He waved to his friends and headed over to the Administrative building.

Reivyn asked one of the third-year students acting as an assistant of some sort, and he quickly found his way to the beautiful teacher's office on the first floor. He knocked on the open door and waited for a response from the teacher.

"Come in," her voice carried to Reivyn.

He entered the office and walked up to the desk she was seated behind. There were bookshelves with various books filling the shelves, and they looked like they had all been read more than once. The office and desk were neat and tidy, and Master Salrah nodded her head and indicated for Reivyn to take a seat.

"What can I help you with, Novice Reivyn?" She asked. Reivyn wasn't surprised that someone with her specialty knew exactly who he was after the first lesson.

"Hello, Master Salrah, I wanted to inquire about testing out of the first-year basic class," Reivyn said without preamble.

"Oh, ambitious, are we?" Salrah quirked an eyebrow. Reivyn found himself zeroing his attention down on her facial expressions. He shook his head and mustered his willpower to stay focused on the conversation. "It's good to be ambitious, but ambition has to be tempered by one's foundations. This class is very important for laying the foundations for your later classes on the topic. Are you sure you want to skip it?"

"That's a very good point," Reivyn said. "One must make sure they're not cutting corners." Reivyn's Mental Fortitude kicked in once again, and he cleared his thoughts as he narrowed his eyes at the woman. "But I feel like I should take the opportunity to..."

"And if you skip my class, then we wouldn't be able to spend any quality time together," Salrah sighed as she leaned back in her chair, a look of self-pity on her face. Reivyn's breath caught and he opened his mouth to say he didn't want that, but his Iron Will activated and shook him out of the fugue. He coughed into his hand as he gathered his thoughts.

"Wait," Reivyn said. "Aren't you still the teacher of the second-year class?"

Master Salrah crossed one arm under her breasts and rested her other elbow on her wrist as she tapped her chin. She contemplated Reivyn for a moment before she laughed. Her laugh was just as mesmerizing as her voice.

"Forgive me for the little test," she said. All of the mental compulsions his willpower Skills were fighting off fell away. "I just have to make sure someone is truly set on testing out of the class, first. I didn't mean anything malicious by it. You can take the test to skip the course at any time during the first three weeks. After that, you're stuck with it. Just let me know when you want to do so, and I'll arrange the test for you."

"Thank you," Reivyn said with a smile and a nod.

"Is there anything else I can help you with?" Master Salrah asked.

"No, ma'am," Reivyn shook his head. "That was all. Thank you."

"You're welcome," Master Salrah said with a small smile. "Then I'll see you in class until you've made a decision."

Reivyn stood up from the seat, cold sweat running down his back, and quickly left the room. He could hear the light tinkling of her laugh follow him out into the hallway.

Very dangerous, Reivyn thought as he made his way to join his friends again for the next class.

"Umm, are you Reivyn?" A timid voice asked as Reivyn ate lunch with his friends. He looked up and behind him to see a young girl standing next to the table, hands clasped and head down. Reivyn looked at the girl. She was pretty, like most of the female students, but she wasn't a beauty like Melissa or her sister and friends.

Come to think of it, I haven't seen any girls I wouldn't consider pretty since arriving at the Academy. Does that make her average? Reivyn chuckled to himself.

"Yup, that's me," Reivyn said, setting his fork down on the plate. His other friends continued to eat, but they watched the goings-on out of the corner of their eyes. "What can I do for you?"

"Umm, if, ugh, you want," the girl stammered, "do you think, umm, maybe, can I, umm." She took a deep breath and then rushed the last words out as fast as possible. "Can I get some tutoring on weaves from you?" She seemed to deflate a little after getting her question out.

"Sure," Reivyn said. The girl perked up and peeked at Reivyn. "But first, what's your name?"

"Umm, my name?" She fidgeted as she spoke. "My name is Carri."

"Well, Carri, it's nice to meet you. I would be happy to help you with some of your weaves. What time were you thinking?"

"Umm, maybe tonight? At around 7, after dinner?" Carri asked.

"Sounds good," Reivyn nodded. "In fact, tell any of your friends, too. I'm willing to help anyone that asks." Reivyn smiled.

"Oh, ok," Carri said, her shoulders slumping just a little. "I, I, I'll be there. Bye." She turned and fled to another table consisting of similar-aged girls.

"I don't think any of them are in the Elite Class," Reivyn said as he watched her join her friends again. All of the girls leaned in and began whispering with Carri. "Seems like the rumor mill spread the news fast." Reivyn chuckled to himself as he resumed eating.

"What was that shameful display?" Trick said, staring at Reivyn.

"Huh?" Reivyn asked, confused.

"Bro, she obviously wanted personal instruction from you, and you told her to invite all of her friends," Trick shook his head as he took a bite.

"I know that," Reivyn said. "I'm not interested, though, and it's better to make my stance clear from the very beginning."

"Well, you're no fun," Trick said. "I guess we can strike another spot off on the girls' List," he added after a moment.

Reivyn looked around the room and noticed that a lot of tables with girls sitting at them were sending looks their way. Looks like I've sent an open invitation, Reivyn thought wryly.

"It looks like we'll need more room than the personal practice rooms can hold," Trick said.

"What do you mean, we?" Reivyn asked, amused.

"All of us, obviously," Tom said, swinging his fork around the table. "You did say you would help us out as well."

"And there's no way you could handle all of those girls on your own," Trick said. "You need reinforcements."

"Hah, of course, that's what you're worried about," Vane snickered. "We actually plan on practicing our weaves."

"Hey, I'm going to practice my weaves, too," Trick said, a look of mock-hurt on his face. "I just plan on broadening my connections and working on my Charisma Skills while I'm at it."

"Sure, sure," Tom said. "We all know what you're really interested in. Speaking of practice area, we might need to seek permission to use the practice yard. We'll have to get supervision from a third-year student or teacher, though."

"Hmm, maybe I can ask Melissa," Reivyn said. "We can kill two birds with one stone that way. You guys can meet her, and she can help us supervise." The three other boys looked at each other and nodded.

"Sounds like a plan," Tom said. "We'll have to set up some sort of notice to let others know."

"Leave that to me," Trick said as he got up from the table with his tray of food. "I'll spread the word along the way." Trick returned his tray, and then Reivyn watched as he went from table to table with girls sitting at them to strike up conversations.

"Well, at least he's not shy," Reivyn chuckled as he finished his meal.

"Yeah, he might act like a horn dog all the time, but he's actually fairly popular with the girls," Vane said. "And he does have some actual scruples. I think he just likes the chase."

"You guys talking about Trick," a new voice said as someone placed their tray on the table and sat down.

"Oh, hey Seamus," Tom said. Reivyn and Vane nodded their heads to the newcomer. Seamus was one of the senior friends that Tom and company had introduced Reivyn to over the weekend. He was a second-year student, and the source of a lot of the information the three friends had on the Academy.

"I heard that he already has an arranged marriage from his family," Seamus said. "I think he's just trying to get it out of his system. You know how he is. He's a loyal fellow, so he won't have the chance to flirt or chase girls for long, and he wouldn't even if he did have the chance once he's officially engaged."

"Now that you mention it," Vane said, a thoughtful look on his face, "he didn't always act like a skirt chaser. That makes a lot of sense, actually."

"Who's the girl he's arranged to marry? Anyone we know?" Tom asked.

"I don't know. I've only heard some small talk from my elders about it, but none of the specifics. He'll tell us when it's a done deal," Seamus replied as he ate. "So, Reivyn, I hear that you're going to be hosting a tutoring lesson tonight?"

"What? That just happened," Reivyn said. "And yeah, a girl named Carri came up and asked if I could help her. I told her to tell her friends I would help anyone who wanted it, and it seems to have spread already."

"News travels quick," Seamus laughed. "How are you going to help so many people all at once?"

"I'm going to have to use the practice yard. I have a third-year friend who might be willing to supervise, and barring that, I can always ask a teacher."

"So Melissa really is one of your friends?" Seamus asked.

"Yup," Tom had told all of his second-year friends that Reivyn was supposedly friends with Melissa and her circle when they had met over the weekend. Some of them had been skeptical of the truth. They'll find out tonight whether I was telling the truth or not. If Melissa agrees, that is.

"Alright, well have fun," Seamus said with a smile. "You might have to beat them off with a stick at this rate."

"So how many people are going to be there?" Melissa asked as she walked next to Reivyn towards the practice yard. Larissa, Erin, and Haylen followed in tow, but Alisia was nowhere to be seen.

"I don't know, actually," Reivyn said. "Only the one person asked, but I told her to tell all of her friends, and it seemed like a lot of people were interested," Reivyn said.

"They're going to be disappointed when they see you arrive with us," Larissa said. The three girls giggled to each other as they whispered to one another. Melissa rolled her eyes.

"It's better for them this way," she said under her breath.

"What was that?" Reivyn asked. He had heard what she said, but he didn't understand what she meant by it.

"Oh, nothing," Melissa replied with a wave of her hand. "It's just better to focus on studies right now. That's all."

"Ok," Reivyn said.

The group of five rounded the corner and the practice yard came into view. Reivyn saw his roommates standing with another 20 or so teenagers. Not all of them were girls, but there were only five other boys besides his roommates. Trick was in the midst of talking to a couple of girls when Reivyn came into view.

The group of students perked up and interrupted Trick as they spotted Reivyn and the others. Reivyn saw Carri standing in the front, and he could see a look of disappointment flash across her face as she saw Melissa and the others with Reivyn.

"Tom! I haven't seen you for a while," Melissa said as she stepped forward. "How have you and your parents been? Vane, Trick." She nodded to Reivyn's three roommates.

"Wait, you guys already know each other?" Reivyn asked. Reivyn's roommates shared a look before bursting out laughing.

"Of course, they didn't tell you?" Melissa asked, cocking her head.

"Nope," Reivyn shook his head. "They made it sound like they wanted to use me to meet you and your sister." Larissa and the other two girls also greeted Tom and the other two boys.

"We've known each other for ages," Larissa explained.

"All of our families are close to each other," Erin said. "We practically grew up together."

"I see," Reivyn said.

"Yeah, but it is true that the Bluefayre's lead the group," Tom said with a smile. "Well, that's not entirely true," he amended. "We're all attached to Alisia's family in some way or another. It's just that the Bluefayre's also have a connection to Eldiar, which puts them more or less equal to Alisia's family in some ways."

"Enough about that," Melissa said. "Reivyn has students to tutor." Melissa climbed up the short platform for the supervisors, followed by her sister and friends, and she addressed the other students briefly. "Don't mind us. We're just here to follow the rules of the Academy."

Reivyn stepped forward to the group of students. He idly noticed that several of the girls gave Trick more looks than they had before. I wonder if it's because they've learned that he has some sort of connection with Melissa, or if it's because Melissa is so pretty and he's paying attention to them instead of her? Reivyn shook the thoughts out of his head.

"Alright," Reivyn addressed the other students. "You all know who I am. You wouldn't be here if you didn't, obviously. I'll get to know all of you as we work together to learn and practice the weaves, but for now, show me what you got just like you did for your teachers."

Reivyn sat in Meditation in his room, going over the weaves he had been assisting the others with.

Teaching others really is a good way to further my understanding of the weaves, he thought as he created and banished the Tier 1 weaves over and over again. Not only did I have to think of ways to help them improve themselves, but I also got to see a bunch of different ways that everyone forms their own weaves.

I'll be able to master the Tier 1 weaves in no time like this. Too bad there isn't anyone else working on Tier 2 weaves in the group. Maybe I can ask Larissa if there's some sort of similar study group among the second years. It's still early - the first week - but so far I've only seen individuals or small pairs of people working together. Nothing like a large group of 20-plus people.

Reivyn quit forming the weaves over and over again and switched to braiding the weaves together into a rope. He decided to work on the act itself rather than any specific weaves, so he formed a simple two-thread weave of pure Mana like Master Feld had done, to begin with.

He formed the first weave and very quickly combined it with another one. He maintained the mana in his budding rope and set it to the side as he formed two more weaves to make another rope. The exercise became slightly harder as he had to keep his concentration on maintaining the first rope as he built the second one.

He finally managed to build the second rope, and he pulled the first one over to combine the two even further. The final product was considerably thicker than any other weave he had ever worked with, despite how simple it was, and it contained exponentially more mana than a simple Tier 1 weave would normally hold.

Hmm, this is becoming a pretty thick cable, Reivyn thought as he examined his work. I can see where compression would come into play. If I go any further in thickening the rope, not only would it take even more concentration and precision, but it would become much harder to use it. It could grow to such a size as to not be able to fit inside of a Spell, and it could also get too thick to easily weave together with another braid.

The other limiting factor is the time involved. At my current mastery and Skill Levels, it would be impossible to effectively use such a method for real Spell Casting. Reivyn glanced at his Mana and saw that it was ticking down at 8 Mana per second. It's also considerably more expensive. A typical Tier 1 basic weave costs 1 Mana per second to maintain, but this simple rope takes 8. I can definitely see how this would be useful for empowering Spells, though.

Reivyn dismissed his hold over the Mana and started again from scratch. The only thing to it is repetition. Master Feld is going to be teaching us how to do this and compress the Mana. I just gotta keep at it, like usual.

Reivyn spent about an hour practicing the rope, and he saw marginal increases in his speed and efficiency. All that was needed was time.