Chapter 116: A Choice of Six
Chapter 116: A Choice of Six
"That is what we’re going to learn today."
The classroom remained quiet for a moment.
Garrick’s gaze moved across the rows of students before he suddenly seemed to remember something.
"Before we continue, there’s something I should have asked when I entered."
He placed the chalk on the tray beneath the blackboard.
"How many of you are warriors?"
Several students exchanged glances.
Garrick continued without waiting.
"Raise your hands."
A few hands rose immediately.
Lucian’s was among the first.
More followed until roughly a third of the class had raised their hands. Garrick counted them in silence before nodding.
"Twenty-five."
His eyes shifted toward the students who had remained seated.
"Then let me make something clear."
He turned toward the entire class.
"There are only two primary cultivation paths in this world. Mage and warrior."
His gaze settled briefly on the twenty-five students who had raised their hands.
"Warriors possess Battle Hearts. That is what allows them to transform the mana they absorb into Battle Energy."
His eyes moved across the remaining students.
"Mages do not possess Battle Hearts."
The room grew quieter.
"Therefore, you cannot cultivate Battle Energy. You cannot learn to produce it through training, and you cannot imitate a warrior by simply circulating mana through your body in the same manner."
He paused, allowing the words to settle.
"Battle Energy is produced by the Battle Heart. Without a Battle Heart, there is no Battle Energy."
Andras nodded slightly.
That was exactly how the system worked.
Garrick continued.
"So, if you’re a mage, attending my lessons is technically a waste of your time."
Several students looked surprised by his bluntness, but Garrick didn’t seem concerned.
"You won’t be able to use what I teach here to strengthen your own cultivation."
He folded his arms.
"However, if you have your own reason for attending, you’re free to stay."
His gaze swept across the classroom.
"Perhaps you want to understand warriors. Perhaps you want to learn how they fight. Perhaps you’re simply curious about another cultivation path."
He paused briefly.
"Those are your reasons. I won’t tell you to leave."
A faint smile appeared on the face of one student.
Garrick glanced toward the classroom door.
"Besides, most of you are probably here because this is my first lesson."
A few students exchanged slightly embarrassed looks.
He wasn’t wrong.
The academy had only just begun, and most students had not yet decided which classes deserved their time. With six subjects available, attending the first lesson of every class was the easiest way to determine which ones were actually worth continuing.
"That’s fine," Garrick said.
He turned back toward the blackboard.
"You can decide whether this class is worth your time after you’ve seen what I actually teach."
He picked up the chalk again.
"Now, for the warriors among you, pay attention."
His eyes settled on Lucian.
"You already have your answer, even if you don’t know it yet."
Lucian looked slightly confused.
Garrick pointed toward the drawing of the human body.
"You said an opponent could learn to predict where a warrior concentrates Battle Energy if the warrior’s movements reveal the shift."
Lucian nodded.
"Come up here."
Lucian rose from his seat and walked toward the front of the classroom. There was a trace of uncertainty in his expression, but it disappeared almost immediately.
Garrick gestured toward the practice block.
"I’m going to strike this block twice. Before the first strike, I’ll tell you where I’m concentrating my energy. Your only job is to watch my body and tell me whether you can see the attack coming."
Lucian nodded.
Garrick raised his fist.
"Knuckles."
His hand tightened.
The faint silver-gray Battle Energy surrounding his fist became denser, gathering around his knuckles with unmistakable clarity.
Crack!
A narrow fracture appeared across the practice block.
"Obviously," Garrick said. "You saw the tension building before I struck."
He reset his stance.
"Same target. Similar amount of Battle Energy."
This time, he said nothing.
His fist rested naturally at his side. There was no obvious tightening of his fingers, no shift in his shoulders, and no visible change in his breathing.
Then Garrick moved.
Crack!
The practice block split.
Several students leaned forward in surprise.
Lucian stared at the damaged block before looking back at Garrick.
"How...?"
Garrick looked at him.
"That is the answer to your question."
He walked back toward the blackboard.
"It was never about speed. Speed is what you reach for when you haven’t solved the actual problem."
He tapped the drawing of the human body with the chalk.
"The real answer is stillness. If your body announces the shift through a tightened shoulder, a change in your breathing, or an unnecessary movement, your opponent doesn’t need to predict anything."
He turned toward the class.
"You’ve already told them."
The students listened closely.
"True efficiency means the transfer happens internally. Nothing on the outside changes until the moment it needs to."
Lucian’s expression became thoughtful.
"So the goal isn’t moving Battle Energy faster than the eye can track?"
"No."
Garrick’s answer came immediately.
"The goal is making sure there is nothing to track in the first place."
He motioned for Lucian to return to his seat.
"For the rest of today’s lesson, we’ll work on the first step. Moving Battle Energy between two points without allowing that movement to affect your breathing, posture, or balance."
Garrick looked toward the warriors.
"That alone will take most of you weeks to accomplish consistently."
The lesson quickly became far more demanding than the students had expected.
Garrick moved between the warriors, correcting their postures and pointing out the smallest irregularities. A slight movement of the shoulder was enough to make him stop someone and order them to start again. A change in breathing received the same treatment.
"Again."
A young man attempted the exercise for the fourth time.
"Your breathing changed."
He tried again.
"Your wrist moved."
Again.
"You’re forcing the energy."
The student clenched his teeth and started over.
There was no anger in Garrick’s voice, but there was absolutely no sympathy either.
When he reached Lucian, the original protagonist of Rise of the Sword Hero struggled more than Andras had expected.
"Your shoulder moves before the energy does," Garrick said, watching him carefully. "You’ve understood the principle, but your body hasn’t caught up to your understanding."
Lucian exhaled slowly before attempting it again.
The result was better.
Barely.
Garrick still shook his head.
"Again."
Lucian didn’t complain.
He simply closed his eyes for a moment, steadied his breathing, and tried once more.
Andras watched the exchange with quiet interest.
He recognized the problem immediately.
Understanding an answer and being able to execute it were two entirely different things.
Valeria had taught him the same lesson during their first combat assessment. He had recognized an opening but hesitated when it appeared, and that brief hesitation had been enough for her to punish him.
Knowledge alone wasn’t enough.
The body had to learn.
By the time Garrick finally called an end to the lesson, the warriors looked considerably more exhausted than anyone would have expected from an exercise that involved barely any physical movement. Sweat gathered along several foreheads, and one girl near the front had both hands pressed against her temples as though she had spent the entire hour fighting an invisible enemy.
"That is enough for today," Garrick said, setting the chalk down.
He looked across the room.
"Same time tomorrow."
He didn’t wait for questions.
The students gathered their belongings and began filing out of the classroom, their quiet conversations returning as soon as they stepped into the corridor.
Andras walked out beside Seraphina.
The afternoon sunlight poured through the tall academy windows, casting long shadows across the stone floor.
"He’s thorough," Seraphina said. "I wasn’t expecting to learn much from that class, considering neither of us can use Battle Energy."
"Neither was I," Andras replied.
He glanced toward the classroom behind them.
"But I learned something anyway."
Seraphina looked at him with mild curiosity, but before she could ask what he meant, another voice came from behind them.
"He’s not wrong to look pleased with himself. Professor Vane’s classes have quite the reputation."
Aurelia caught up with them and fell into step beside Andras.
She had been seated several rows behind them throughout the lesson, close enough to hear everything but far enough that Andras hadn’t paid particular attention to her.
"Did either of you see Garran during Monster Studies?" Aurelia asked. "When the Cinderfang Drake torched that piece of meat, I thought he was going to jump over the railing."
Seraphina smiled.
"I saw him."
"He was certainly brave enough to volunteer for everything."
Aurelia shook her head with an amused expression.
"Though I’ll admit Professor Vane forgetting to introduce himself was probably the best part of today’s lesson."
"You were paying that much attention?" Andras asked.
"I pay attention to everything."
She said it simply, without sounding boastful.
After a moment, Aurelia’s expression became thoughtful.
"Actually, can I ask you both something?"
"Of course," Seraphina replied.
"We have six subjects this term, and I intend to attend all of them every week."
Aurelia gave a faint, self-aware smile.
"Apparently, that makes me unusual. I’ve already heard several students saying they’ll choose three subjects that suit their cultivation paths and barely attend the others unless they’re required to."
She looked between Andras and Seraphina.
"So, which subjects are the two of you planning to attend?"
Seraphina answered first.
"I’m going to attend Spell Casting."
Aurelia nodded.
"That makes sense."
"It’s the most important subject for me," Seraphina continued. "My talent is directly related to magic, so understanding spell construction and improving my control should be one of my priorities."
She paused briefly before continuing.
"After that, I’ll attend Combat Training, Monster Studies, and Mage Specialization."
Aurelia considered her choices.
"That’s four."
"Yes."
Seraphina glanced toward Andras.
"I don’t think I need Weapon Mastery or Warrior Specialization."
Andras nodded.
"That’s a good choice. You don’t use weapons as your primary method of fighting, and you’re not a warrior, so there’s little reason for you to spend your time on those two subjects."
Aurelia looked at Andras.
"And what about you?"
Andras answered without hesitation.
"I’m going to attend all six."
Aurelia’s eyebrows rose slightly.
"All of them?"
"Like you, Princess Aurelia."
She smiled faintly.
"I suppose we’re in the minority, then."
Seraphina, however, looked at Andras with a more thoughtful expression.
"I understand why you want to attend the other classes."
Her eyes narrowed slightly.
"Spell Casting because you’re a mage. Combat Training because it’s useful for anyone who intends to fight. Monster Studies because of the practical knowledge."
She paused.
"Mage Specialization is obvious as well."
Her gaze settled on him.
"But why do you want to attend Warrior Specialization?"