Chapter 21: Scholarships P3
~21.3~
*****
"So, idiot instructor aside..." Kye asked why Luma was there. She had gotten some good news and wanted to share it right away. Her eyes widened more as Luma laid everything out. They had been waiting for a response from the Slayer Academy. Kye's plan to integrate all races, starting with teaching them to fight, was accepted. "That's wonderful!"
"And get this. The leaders of many demihuman nations are sponsoring not only their own students for the start of this but also any other student they send for the next ten years, as well as contributing to a joint scholarship to cover every student of every race, even the human students!"
A loud dinging sound suddenly sounded, indicating time for the next class to begin. "That's wonderful news. Let's talk more after school. Will you stick around? The rest of my classes could use your help. You wanted to butt in yesterday, anyway."
"Yeah, I'll hang around."
Kye nodded and formed a ball of white mana in her hand. She tossed it to the side, and it expanded into a large ring. Inside the ring was the classroom where her class typically met up, and students began filing through.
"Aneue!" Yami cheered as she came through the portal.
"That's-"
""Instructor Akari to you!""
Yami giggled. "You're never gonna get me to call you that, you know."
Kye shrugged and began class. She planned to do the same thing with that class as with her previous class. After a quick explanation, they began. Kye made sure Luma knew to dial it back to match the levels of the first years.
"Okay, I'm gonna go with 295,723 and lightning," Aina said after doing the exercise.
Kye nodded and logged her result. "Good work, Aina. The correct amount is 292,439, and lightning is correct." They worked through the entire roster in just under fifteen minutes. "Alright, everyone scored above 95%. Good work. We'll start adding a seventh digit tomorrow. How is everyone's training going? Learning to properly sense mana and process the information is the main point of this semester, but I hope you lot haven't neglected improving your output!"
Yami puffed out her chest proudly. "Of course! What do you take us for? We're students of both the Alcanus Royal Academy and the one and only Goddess of Light!"
Kye smiled dryly. "Well, okay then. Go ahead and give me a demonstration."
Yami nodded and released as much mana as she could. Given that it had been almost two months since the start of the year, she was showing considerable growth. "How's this?"
Kye smiled again, warmly that time. "Very good! You've broken a billion. That's quite a substantial bump in only two months. I'll update your record. You've grown from 747M to 1023M. Keep it up, Yami."
"What about you, Aneue?" Yami asked excitedly. "You're a student, too, but you don't attend afternoon classes anymore. How is your own growth?"
"Oh, uh..." Kye shrugged and channeled mana. "Let's see if you can measure me. Go ahead."
Her mana was so intense that some students had to step back. Only the royals and archnobles could stay somewhat close, and only Yami could stand right in front of her. "51B."
"Correct. I am channeling 51B exactly. But I am not allowed to update my own score, so I just let it go." Kye grinned and released ten times as much, putting even Yami square on her knees. "How about now, little sister?"
Her eyes widened. "What? It's so strong. How?"
Allison appeared next to Kye and just sighed. Kye gave her an apologetic smile. "Whoops, sorry. I'm just giving them a demonstration." Kye stopped channeling, and Allison shrugged before teleporting away. "Alright, little sister, how much was that output?"
Struggling back to her feet, Yami met her sister's eyes and answered, "Half a trillion. More precisely, that was ten times, so 510B."
The rest of the class gasped and began murmuring about how someone so young could do so much.
Kye grinned at them. "Don't worry! It's my job to teach you my ways. I have been given significant freedom in how I teach, considering my methods are the best in the empire. HOWEVER, nothing I've done so far is not taught by other instructors."
"Was that mana compression?" asked Sophia Strauss, Isabel's younger sister.
"No. You all know what my output was at the beginning of the year. This is still much lower. But that is a good topic to discuss." Kye created another portal that led to the Farlands. "In we go!"
On the other side, Yami asked, "What are you planning?"
"Just a demonstration, of course. But it's more practical to do it here, so we don't bother Allison."
Yami raised an eyebrow.
Once the entire class was through the portal, Kye began. "What I just displayed was still a far cry of my maximum output, and thanks to mana compression, I am able to compress even higher unassisted by the system, but there are ways to go far beyond that. I'll use divine mana this time to show you so that I don't cause your bodies any harm with the heavy output." Kye unleashed her aether at full power, and the class gasped.
"Fifteen trillion?" Yami said, her mouth agape.
"Yes." Kye reached over and pushed her jaw up. "You'll catch bugs, little sister."
"Hey!"
Kye gave her a pat on the head and continued. "Does anyone remember the name of the spell I used against the demon beast I killed a few years ago that attacked Arslade?"
Sophia's identical twin, Elizabeth Strauss, answered, "Aether Drive!"
"Correct! <<Aether Drive>>." Kye closed her eyes and focused for a moment and unleashed an immense burst of aether. She held her arms out in front of her, basking in her own power. She opened her eyes and everyone could see the power and seriousness in her silver eyes glowing with white around edges of her pupils and irises. "Would anyone like to try measuring me now?"
Ten seconds of silence later, Yami reluctantly answered, "I'm sorry, Aneue. I can't read you. It's too much."
Kye glanced at Luma, who was standing nearby, completely unfazed. She answered, "Should I say? I figured you'd give other students a try first."
Kye glanced over to Liliana, who was also no longer taking afternoon classes. "Yes, Princess Kye. I shall assist you." She stepped up to Yami and stood side-by-side with her. "Princess Yami, please follow my directions."
Yami nodded. "Okay, Lily."
*****
Revision: 2024-7-31