Chapter 105: Training Exercises
"I cast an E Rank spell today!"
Percy hummed in surprise before he congratulated James for it. Casting an E Rank spell might not look like a big deal to most people, but for someone like James who was still only a first-year, being able to cast an E Rank spell meant that you were already on your way to becoming a Second Realm Mage! At this rate, it would only take a few months to a year before James could cast D Rank spells and enter the second realm. He would definitely be able to reach the third realm before he gets to his final year.
"Once he cast the spell, he immediately started begging to come tell you about it all day, Mr. Percy. We couldn’t say no."
Harold spoke up with a grin, and Percy chuckled lightly as he saw James’s cheeks redden in embarrassment! James turned to Harold with a frown, and Harold just shrugged at the younger boy! Percy was glad that James was finally starting to get out of his shell. When James first came here, he was very introverted, but from the looks of things, James was now comfortable enough around Harold and Raya to act more outgoing.
Percy turned to Harold:
"How about you? Is your magic training coming along well?"
Harold grinned and nodded! Harold had been practicing the spell books that Percy gave them for the past few days, and Harold knew that he would be able to finish them before the week ends. Percy felt satisfied when he heard this from Harold, but when Percy turned to the final student, he raised a brow when he saw her fidgeting slightly.
"Raya? How is your training coming along?"
Raya’s cheeks reddened, and she poked her fingers together while talking in a low voice.
"I-I’m working on it, Mr. Percy. I just have some issues..."
Percy put his hands in his pockets and raised a brow.
"What sort of issues?"
Raya rubbed her arm while talking shyly.
"Uhm... the spells in the book you gave me are a little difficult to perform. Especially the D-rank spells. They’re just really taxing. I’m not very talented, so I run out of mana sometimes while practicing. Sorry..."
Raya looked away from Percy, almost like she knew she had disappointed him and she didn’t want to see the look on his face, but Percy just hummed as he realised what was wrong.
"No, your talent doesn’t have anything to do with that. I wouldn’t give you something I didn’t think you were capable of doing. This is my fault; I suppose I should’ve taken your introverted nature into account when giving you those books. Alright, before you can master the spells, you need physical conditioning. Most mages think that their mana capacity and talent are the only things that matter when casting a spell, but there is one more thing that matters almost as much as the other two. Your Stamina. The amount of energy you have directly affects how quickly your core produces mana and how many spells you can cast before you drain yourself...
"I’m going to recommend a workout plan for you. You won’t start with anything serious. Just one hour in the morning and one in the evening. When you grow a little stronger, we’ll increase it."
Raya had already started to grow paler the longer she heard Percy speak, and when Percy said that she would have to work out for an hour in the morning and at night, she nearly fainted on the spot! Raya was the textbook definition of a homebody! She could count on one hand the number of times she had ever ’worked out’ before, and she only did those because they were necessary for school!
If Raya tried to work out for an hour, she might just die!
Raya was about to say something to Percy about the ridiculous assignment, but Raya was surprised when Harold suddenly stepped up and spoke!
"Mr Percy, I think I also need some physical conditioning. Is it okay if I join Raya?"
Raya turned to look at Harold with wide eyes, and when Harold noticed her stare, he smiled at her reassuringly. Raya’s cheeks immediately burned as she looked away, and Percy hummed before he shrugged.
"There’s no such thing as too much stamina, so if you want to join, then that’s fine. Raya, are you okay with the workout?"
Raya poked her fingers together while nodding slowly.
"Y-Yes, Mr. Percy."
"Hey, what about me!? I want to work out too!"
James suddenly spoke up from the side when he realized that Harold and Raya were planning to leave him out, and Harold immediately grabbed James in an arm lock and ruffled his hair with a laugh!
"Of course you can join us, you little rascal!"
Both Harold and James laughed together, but Percy was able to notice the small frown on Raya’s face as she glared at James! It was obvious that Raya was not happy that she wouldn’t get to spend time alone with Harold! Percy just shook his head with a small huff, and he wrote down some things on a piece of paper for the three students before handing them out.
"That’s an exercise plan and a meal plan. Follow it for the next month, and come back for a new one. I’m sure you’ll see a lot of growth in your stamina before then."
The three students looked through the exercise, and although it was different for all three of them, they were all surprised to see that it was very reasonable! There were no 10K runs or impossible lifts! It was just simple aerobics, short runs, and basic home workouts. Harold was a little skeptical about whether this would work or not, but at the end, he decided to trust his teacher! Percy had only given him good advice all this time, so Harold was sure Percy wouldn’t lead them astray now!
The three students thanked Percy for his help, and Percy smiled at them before he watched them leave. Once they were gone, Percy returned to working on his journal, but he was suddenly interrupted again by another familiar voice.
"Mr. Percival..."
Percy let out a calm sigh as he closed his journal again before he looked up at the blonde professor.
"Hello, Rosaline. What can I do for you?"
Rosa walked towards the librarian’s desk with a small smile on her face. Over the past few hours, Rosa had been trying her best to understand why things had changed so drastically during the meeting in the headmaster’s office! Rosa knew that for a moment during that meeting, they were literally moments away from seeing Hildegard expelled from school and sent back home, but for some reason, once Percy appeared and spoke to the headmaster, all of the problems solved themselves quickly.
Rosa thought about this for multiple days, and at the end, the only reason she could think of for something like this was that Percy was secretly a hidden tycoon who was going undercover as a simple librarian! It just didn’t make sense any other way! The only people who had the power to prevent Hildegard’s expulsion were the highest stakeholders of the academy, and the headmaster himself. But the headmaster couldn’t prevent the expulsion since he was in a tough spot and he had to please both the stakeholders and the students. That meant that it had to be one of the higher-ranking stakeholders!
Of course, there was one other possibility that crossed Rosaline’s mind the previous night. There was also a chance that this unassuming, simple librarian was actually the great Hero Verati hiding in plain sight! But something like that was so outlandish that Rosaline dismissed it immediately! It just didn’t make sense for the great Hero to hide like this, and even if he were the hero, there is no way he would look this young. The hero should be close to fifty right now, but this librarian didn’t look a day over twenty-five! Rosaline refused to believe that this was the hero.
Another reason why Rosaline didn’t want to believe this was the hero was because she didn’t think the hero would come back without letting her know. Rosaline had been wearing the hero’s necklace for more than a decade, and she knew that he would eventually come back for it. So she had looked forward to it for a long time. If the Hero actually came back, then she believed wholeheartedly that she would be the first person to know!
So instead, Rosaline held onto the belief that Percy was some major stakeholder instead and she had come here today to appreciate Percy for helping Hildegard remain in school. Once Rosaline was close enough, she smiled at Percy and spoke kindly.
"Hello, Mr. Percival. How are you doing?"
Percy smiled back and nodded.
"I’m doing very well, Rosaline. Did you come to borrow a book from me today?"
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A/N: Please Vote with GT!