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"Oh…"
A sound slipped out of Oliver's mouth as he glanced back at the students following him.
During his vacation, something seemed to have stirred up their emotions. The previously unmotivated students were trailing behind Oliver, running to keep up with him.
Although a few students fell behind due to exhaustion, their lack of motivation was no longer the issue.
Oliver continued running while observing the students in tow.
Until the alarm clock in his pocket broke the silence.
Beep. Beep. Beep……. Beep. Beep. Beep……. Beep. Beep. Beep.
As the alarm clock rang, Oliver gradually slowed down his pace, eventually coming to a stop. The students following him also halted in their tracks, some collapsing from exhaustion.
‘Most of them still lack physical fitness, as expected,' Oliver thought to himself as he observed a red-faced female student gasping for breath and a male student sprawled out, panting heavily.
Just as Oliver and Terrence had assessed, the students had poor physical strength. However, Oliver felt quite satisfied with the current situation.
Previously, they would have given up as soon as they were out of breath. Despite their poor fitness levels, they were now willing to push themselves.
Compared to their previous lack of motivation, this was a significant improvement.
"Um, excuse me…"
A student raised their hand as Oliver called for a break to let them catch their breath.
"Yes, go ahead."
"What kind of training will we move on to next? We still have some time remaining…"
Oliver glanced at the clock. The student was right—they had about 20 minutes left.
"Thank you for bringing it up. Let's take a 3-minute break and then move on to strength training. Thanks to your active participation, we'll be able to conduct a proper evaluation."
Oliver spoke with enthusiasm.
Until now, they hadn't been able to carry out thorough assessments or training because the students weren't following instructions properly.
However, to Oliver's surprise, the students appeared disappointed.
"Can't we proceed to mana training?"
"Mana training?"
"Yes… like checking the sequential flow of mana or practicing techniques to manipulate it…"
The student's voice trailed off, indicating they had something specific in mind. They seemed confident in their suggestion.
Oliver had a rough idea of what they were referring to.
"In my opinion…"
.
.
.
The class ended a few minutes early, and Oliver stood upright outside the training room on the upper floor, waiting for Kevin.
After a while, the door to the training room opened, and several students emerged.
It felt like just yesterday was their first class, but now it seemed like a whole semester had passed. They appeared more composed and less fatigued than Oliver remembered. Their energy had increased.
It was quite impressive. Not long ago, they were exhausted from sweat and injuries, but now they had transformed to the point of being unrecognizable.
The students who exited the training room looked surprised to see Oliver, who had returned to work after a long absence. Oliver greeted them politely.
Some students responded casually, but many of them reciprocated the greeting respectfully.
Yareli from the Skadi faction, Felix from the Gaia faction… and surprisingly, even Derick from the Agni faction was among them.
‘Compared to before, his negative emotions have decreased… His self-esteem seems to have recovered a lot.'
After bidding them farewell, Oliver entered the training room.
Inside, as always, he found Kevin using magic to tidy up the space.
"I'll take care of the cleaning from now on."
"I can do it faster."
Kevin swiftly finished organizing everything, proving his point. With magic, he efficiently completed tasks that would typically require several people.
"I know, but it's my responsibility…"
Ignoring Oliver's remark, Kevin put away the cleaning tools, donned a jacket hanging on the side, and walked into the hallway.
Naturally, Oliver followed suit.
"…Derick has started attending classes again."
"Yes, I noticed."
"I didn't think you could persuade him… How did you do it?"
"I asked him and made a bet."
"A bet?"
"Yes, it seemed that Student Derick was curious about many things related to me, so I proposed a duel. I told him that if he won, I would explain everything to him. But if he lost, he had to attend class and take the final exam."
"You have a talent for this. It's not easy to convince someone to accept such a bet."
"For some reason, I felt that he was angry with me, so I proposed it at that moment. Surprisingly, it's easier to persuade angry people."
"Hmm…"
Kevin responded as if he understood completely.
Just a brief conversation with Oliver was enough for anyone to grasp the story.
"How is Student Derick doing now?"
"He seemed a bit down, but overall, he has shown improvement. Well, his skills haven't changed much, but his attitude has definitely improved."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, he used to have a bad habit of trying to finish off opponents with high-powered spells, probably due to his pride in his faction. But now he only uses the necessary magic at the appropriate time… Did you advise him?"
Oliver nodded.
After their third duel, Derick seemed to have let go of something and humbly asked Oliver for advice. Oliver provided him with the right guidance.
Derick was undoubtedly skilled, but he had a tendency to rely on powerful techniques during critical moments. While not necessarily a bad thing, it could limit his options and allow his opponents to counterattack. Oliver pointed this out to him.
Indeed, Oliver managed to gain the upper hand by capitalizing on Derick's approach, but Derick, by saving his magic for crucial moments, allowed room for a counterattack.
It would have been more effective if he had infused his blade with magic and swung it instead.
When Oliver highlighted this fact, Derick seemed to have a realization and nodded in agreement.
"So that's why."
"Huh?"
"I had the students participate in duels, and Derick performed exceptionally well. Even after competing eight times in a row, he easily defeated his opponents without showing signs of fatigue. It must be because he let go of his bad habit."
Kevin's eyes sparkled with satisfaction. This was the kind of combat strategy Kevin had aimed for.
"You did a good job convincing him. It's not easy to persuade someone who's stubbornly strong."
"I merely provided advice at your request, so it wasn't a deliberate effort to persuade him. It just happened that he was in the right mindset to accept it."
"I see."
"Yes, it seems a lot has happened while I was on vacation."
"A lot happens beneath the seemingly calm surface of the Magic Tower."
"I couldn't agree more. That's why I'd like to ask for some advice."
"Advice?"
"Yes."
Oliver said and proceeded to explain what had transpired in his class earlier.
Most of the students showed great enthusiasm during the training, but he mentioned how they expressed a desire to practice mana flow training, similar to what Felix had received.
"What did you tell them?"
"For now, I acted as if I didn't know and instructed them to focus on physical training first."
"And how did they react?"
"They weren't pleased."
"Of course, they wouldn't be. You're asking them to follow a tedious and demanding path instead of an easy one."
"But isn't that what makes it valuable? For now, I plan to prioritize physical training for those who lack basic strength and only address the areas where mana flow is absolutely not working. Is that acceptable?"
"Didn't the Master give you permission?"
"Yes, he did. But he cautioned me not to abuse it. Also, since there are quite a few students, I thought it might create more rumors if I offered individual assistance. Is that alright?"
"I didn't realize you were the type to be so obedient," Kevin sarcastically remarked. It wasn't entirely inaccurate.
Due to the circumstances or his own nature, Oliver, who had intended to live quietly in the Magic Tower, sometimes found himself caught up in attention-grabbing situations.
Like his initial duel with Derick or the Mountain Pace incident.
Of course, it wasn't solely Oliver's fault. Kevin and Merlin were also responsible for exposing Oliver to such situations.
Unaware of this, Oliver offered an apology first.
"I'm sorry. I'm trying, but I keep making mistakes."
"What do you desire?"
"Huh?"
"Do you wish to apply your teaching methods to the students under your care?"
Upon hearing the question, Oliver fell into a momentary contemplation, preparing to respond just as they reached the faculty office.
As Kevin opened the office door, they spotted Merlin sitting in the professor's chair, casually reading a report.
"You've arrived?"
***
Merlin greeted them as though he were returning to his own domain.
Kevin and Oliver instinctively responded, as if he had never been away.
"Hello, Master."
"Welcome back, Elder."
"Yeah, I'm back. Took a tad longer than I thought, what with a few side trips. But you're acting a bit cold, ain't ya? Your Master's back after a good long spell."
"We are glad to have you back."
Oliver spoke in his usual stoic manner, and Kevin followed suit.
"I'm also pleased. However, I feel less welcoming when you invade my lab without permission and read reports."
Kevin's words were genuine. He had an authentic relationship with his Master.
"I've got a couple things to sort out."
"……'
"First up, cut it out. A Master has every right to butt in and shake up the peace of their disciple's personal life. That's a fair call."
Kevin's discomfort escalated.
"Second, this report's not yours. It's your junior's."
Merlin pointed at Oliver.
Upon closer inspection, the report appeared familiar. It was a report about Eve that he was going to give it to the Moirai faction.
"How did you come across it?"
"I found it in a drawer."
"Ah… I meant, how were you able to retrieve it even though I had locked the drawer?"
Merlin pulled out a large bunch of keys from his pocket. There were so many keys that they jingled whenever he moved.
"Didn't I chinwag about it before? I can turn up anywhere, anytime, and I've secretly rigged up a few contraptions around the tower for getting about… In the same breath, I've got all the keys to unlock any lock in the tower. Opening a drawer's a piece of cake."
"Wasn't that just a joke?"
"…This's a bit of a jest too."
Although it didn't seem like a joke, Oliver didn't argue.
"Still, I owe you both an apology for barging in and taking over your space, and for giving the report a look. I'm not planning to square this away, but I am sorry."
Merlin's magical barrier made it impossible to read his emotions, but his apology appeared genuine.
He was sorry but had no intention of changing his behavior.
Kevin seemed to understand this.
"Is this how someone who is apologizing should behave?"
"You wouldn't swallow it even if I said I wouldn't pull a stunt like this again, right?"
"That's true."
"See? I had to pop around like this because of the rumour."
"A rumor?"
"Yeah, about a solver bloke named Dave who's been flashing some intriguing skills while knocking over a well-known druid in Landa… For instance, he managed to wrangle the World Tree and even made a chinwag with and calmed down Eve."
Kevin looked at Oliver in surprise, hearing about Eve for the first time.
Oliver inquired, "Elder, have you been back for a while?"
"Oddly enough, I just came back today. Like I've told you a stack of times, I've got plenty of snoops whispering tales to me."
"Ah…"
"And I'm a bit curious about what happened next."
Merlin shook the report that Oliver had written with interest.
"What'd you say to the ticked off Eve?"
"I didn't say much. I simply asked her to be patient for a while."
Oliver responded as if it were a trivial matter.
(To be Continued)
OR
$5/month6 chap ahead + 5 chap/week$15/month12 chap ahead + 5 chap/week$30/month19 chap ahead + 5 chap/week$45/monthAll advance chap + 6 chap/week
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