61st of Season of Air, 57th year of the 32nd imperial era

"That's an interesting defensive skill for your realm. Most can't separate their protections from their body until the fourth realm. How far can you push it?"

Newt projected Granite Crust away from himself, and the dark cloud started dissolving at around a foot away.

"Wonderful." Lady Alabaster suppressed a clap. "We will have to test its exact defensive capability later and compare it with the best ones I can teach you. Can you split it into multiple layers?"

"No." Newt dropped Granite Crust, his head swimming from the effort of projecting a three-dimensional shield so far from his body. "If I summon another one, the first one dissolves."

"Mhm." Lady Alabaster rubbed her chin. "That's not what I asked, though. Can you split it into four layers, each with a quarter of the power and mana consumption of the full technique?"

"Um, I don't know? Why would I do that?"

"Layered defenses with slightly different layers can absorb more force than a single, monolithic shield. You have a fire affinity, you could mix in an explosive retaliation to strike your opponent whenever a layer of your defenses shatters. The possibilities are endless if you know a bunch of minor tricks and how to mix them up properly."

Newt scratched his head.

"Didn't you just say I should rely on existing techniques, Master?"

"Yes, you should start with those, and customize to suit you. I just said that." Lady Alabaster clapped her hands twice. "Now, enough talking, more demonstrating."

Newt started somersaulting and jumping around using Salamandra's Flight while his master continued with tips. "Other than your team, the next most important thing for you are the resources. The most valuable resource is mana, and you need to optimize its usage. I can bump up your allowance a bit, but I won't until you earn it somehow. Enough with the hopping, next."

Newt landed, then considered the rest of his unimpressive arsenal. He couldn't demonstrate Salamandra's Regeneration and its ability to cauterize wounds and purge foreign substances, and Salamandra's Touch and Salamandra's Breath were shameful compared to the other fire mage, but they were techniques he knew.

"The best use of manarium is to ignite energy-gathering runic seals. You get four or five times the mana from the crystal, but you pay for the benefit with the time wasted on meditation to actively absorb the energy. That's enough firebolts, I'll find you something better. What else do you know? Any continuous jets of flame? Those are popular."

Newt demonstrated Salamandra's Breath, thinking about what his master had just said. I could read books in those formations while getting a four-fold return of the manarium.

"Hello, Newstar, are you listening to me?" Lady Alabaster waved her hand in front of his eyes. "Do I need to start testing the hardness of your defensive skill ahead of schedule?"

"Sorry, Master, you said something that got me thinking. Is there a book in the Chamber of Tomes with combat and magic tips written by elders and other students? I feel guilty wasting your time like this." Newt gave his master an honest, I-don't-wanna-be-a-bother smile, and the woman smiled back, relaxing somewhat.

"You're sweet. What do you think I'm here for? But if you wish to find additional inspiration and ideas outside your lessons, head to the library. If you can't find what you're looking for, ask Chaplain Thunderwing for help. There's bound to be some books like that. Just be careful and make sure to use all tips as food for thought, and not as instructions on how to do something. Everyone is different, their realms are different, and what's perfect for some might be ruinous for you."

Lady Alabaster's warm, caring voice changed, growing cooler. "Enough with the jets of flame. Can you do anything else?"

Newt moved to the next technique, and Confuse Senses pleasantly impressed his mentor.

"I don't remember seeing anything quite like that. Disabling the eyes and ears of an opponent at my realm isn't even an inconvenience, but at your realm, it could be a lifesaver. Especially the noiseless variant, because that explosion might attract more trouble than you benefit from deafening your opponent. Also, the burst of sound impacts you and your team as much as it does your enemy."

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She spun around and gave a nod to someone to Newt's right.

"And here is your first sparring partner. They have seen all your skills, and now it's time for them to pummel you."

Newt looked towards the newcomers, who stepped into their sound-absorbing bubble. The master was chubby and tall, taller than Dandelion. His expression was cheerful, with a light smile framed by an ocean-blue beard. His disciple, less so. The heroic-looking young man was a finger's width shorter than his master, and he held his chin high, gazing down at Newt with a light smirk.

"Lady Alabaster," the cheery mageknight said.

"Lord Bluestar. This is my newest disciple, Newstar."

"Oh, an auspicious name. Greetings, young man."

Newt offered a polite bow, and Bluestar motioned at his heroic disciple. "This is Flamesand, my third realm ward, I think exchanging pointers with Newstar would prove beneficial for the both of them."

"Junior brother," Flamesand inclined his head, and Newt didn't know how to address him.

Members of knightly orders were all considered brothers and sisters when addressing each other informally, but by calling Newt junior, Flamesand was clearly trying to establish dominance, despite them being of equal status. Which begged the question - What would happen if Newt took a submissive approach? What about a dominant one?

"Newstar, greet your brother," Lady Alabaster said when the silence stretched too long, giving Newt the answer.

"Brother Flamesand," Newt returned the subtle nod, but didn't know what to do next.

Fortunately, the masters withdrew at the same time, opening up the space for them. Flamesand was twenty paces away and drew a curved long-sword.

"Flamesand has been working on his sword technique," Lord Bluestar said, and his disciple shot forward with a burst of flames beneath his legs, his speed superior to Newt's when he used Salamandra's Flight.

The black-haired young man slashed, and Newt just stared at him.

He's full of openings. Newt had reaped great benefits from his weapons training with Dandelion. For starters, he could see Flamesand was a novice, inferior even to him, not to mention to the girls from the Everfrost Order, let alone Dandelion.

Newt pivoted, the fiery sword slashed half a foot away. Magmin Scales covered his skin, Granite Crust forming a layer above it as he swiped the butt end of his spear at Flamesand's legs. The heroic young man lost his footing, and he did exactly what Newt would have done, he sent a burst of flames before him, pushing himself up on his legs, pushing his skull straight in the way of the cleaving glaive's blade.

Right before the reinforced, blunt rock connected with the considerably less durable skull, Newt realized Flamesand was too slow and too inexperienced to dodge. There was no stopping his arms, nor the blade about to brain his arrogant fellow student.

Newt's eyes went wide. He ordered his arms to stop, knowing they would not until his practice glaive had sunk deep into his sparring partner's skull. Then, his arms froze, the glaive had fused with an impossibly hard wall of stone, and another part of the wall smashed into the back of Flamesand's head, sending him back to the ground, out cold.

"I apologize for my disciple's heavy hand," Lady Alabaster said, her lips trembling as she tried and failed to fully suppress a laugh. "He treated the duel like a real battle and nearly killed your ward."

She pointed at the prone Flamesand, his unconscious face buried in the dirt. "I blunted the blow and spread the force, but it was still way too much for a mere spar."

As she spoke, a mother of all lumps grew from Flamesand's scalp, looking like a black anthill.

Opposite to Lady Alabaster's endless amusement, the formerly cheery Lord Bluestar looked ready to explode into screams and curses.

Lady Alabaster placed her hands on her hips and glared at Newt, but her glare seemed to say, 'Way to go, kid!'

"Newstar, what you did was unfair, bullying inexperienced fellow students to such an extent. I expect you won't take advantage of others that way anymore." Her tone was sharp, her arms moved and ended up folded, her eyes said, 'Keep it up.'

Lord Bluestar was furious. He waved a hand, and a gust of air levitated his unconscious ward, and they left Newt's practice area.

Lady Alabaster covered her mouth with her hand. "I can't believe he embarrassed himself like that. Your next opponent won't be as conceited. They will go in for the kill, using superior techniques. Don't be afraid, nothing will happen to you."

"Alabaster," a woman entered the zone, and Lady Alabaster removed the hand from her mouth. "Such a shameful display from that Bluestar's kid. He's been training him for two years, and a newcomer beats him senseless. Hello, young man."

"Greetings, Lady Mageknight," Newt reproduced the exact same half-bow he gave Lord Bluestar.

"You're half-decent with that weapon of yours."

"I had an excellent teacher, resolved to impart as much knowledge as he could in the short time I trained under him."

The lady mageknight who failed to give her name nodded and motioned a young woman to approach. "Crystal, how about you exchange a couple pointers with Alabaster's newest ward. We block the blows against our wards, should they turn lethal. What do you say, Alabaster?"

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