Thompson Varrow asked the obvious question:
"Have you ever trained with a sword before?"
Nick replied:
"I used a spell of mine to enlarge knives and kind of used them like swords, Do you think that counts as experience?"
Varrow shook his head and said:
"You have no experience training with a sword. Swordplay is more than just swinging a blade around so what you're referring to simply does not count."
Nick shrugged his shoulders, not surprised at all by Varrow's assessment, after all, frying an egg doesn't mean that you are a trained chef.
Varrow looked at Nick sternly and said:
"You seem to have some potential for combat so I'll tell you what, if you agree to come to all of my classes, I will allow you to use that time to practise swordplay."
Nick raised his eyebrow, asking:
"Is that really okay? You would have me focus on something completely different than what the other students are going to be doing."
Varrow nodded in affirmation:
"This academy exists to nurture Magicians, not indoctrinate them and so if you have an interest in a particular field, I will help guide you down that path as long as you are willing to do the work."
"I have a two hour class everyday for the second years so all you have to do is attend all of them. If you are not willing to do that, then just get lost."
Nick thought about it:
(Two hours per day is a reasonable amount of time for me to practise using a sword without it getting in the way of my main priorities, in addition, this guy is supposed to be a combat expert and I do see a need for the training.)
Nick bowed by bending his waist slightly and spoke earnestly:
"I gratefully accept your offer."
Varrow looked at Nick weirdly, then asked:
"What are you doing?"
Nick awkwardly scratched his head and replied:
"This is a traditional bow of gratitude."
Varrow couldn't help bet let a chuckle escape from his mouth.
"Traditional for whom, you're a weird one, huh? That's not me criticizing you because most decent Magicians are weird but I'd rather that you didn't employ such formalities with me. As long as you continue to refer to me as sir Varrow, just talk to me normally."
Nick nodded his head and said:
"Okay, sir Varrow, if that's all, I'll come back tomorrow for the lesson."
Varrow replied:
"Be prepared to work hard during my classes."
After saying this, Varrow snapped his fingers and he transformed into a gust of wind that flew away into the distance, becoming imperceptible to Nick.
(What a cool exit.)
Nick left the field and went to the spell creation club which he hadn't visited in months.
.........
When Nick opened the door, Norman Francis was having a discussion with Derek Drake and Lana Parsely, Nick's club mates. All three of them turned around to pay attention to whoever just walked in and as soon as Norman saw Nick, he said:
"It's been a long time Nick, glad to see you during this new school year. I hope that you have improved your skills while you were not coming to the club."
Nick greeted:
"It's good to see you professor Norman, same to you Derek and Lana."
Derek spoke with a genial smile:
"It's good to see you as well, Nick."
Lana didn't speak and just nodded her head in greeting.
Nick continued:
"I actually didn't expect to see you guys here, I heard somewhere that third years were very busy people."
When Nick said this, both Derek's and Lana's expression became awkward which made Nick slightly confused. Norman spoke flatly to clear up the confusion:
"Your two club mates are not third years yet and will remain within the second year for this school year."
Nick raised both his eyebrows in surprise:
"Huh, such a thing is possible? Why haven't you two become third years?"
Norman remained quiet at the question and Derek decided to clear the air:
"At the end of the second year, you can choose to advance to the third year, if your performance was satisfactory, or drop out of the academy or remain a second year. While Lana and I did have satisfactory performances, we each decided that we were not ready for the third year."
With a questioning look, Nick asked:
"Why?"
Lana shrugged her shoulders and answered:
"Third years are sometimes required to leave the academy to do mandatory missions and if you're abilities are lacking, there is a real chance of dying, Derek and I would rather work on our fundamentals more before going to the third year."
Nick thought:
(I see. So the different years within the academy are not just some superficial separation based on age. They represent each person's supposed standard of skills. I guess these two don't have faith in themselves.)
With no change in his expression, Nick said:
"Well, it's good to know that there are such options."
Derek replied:
"...Yeah."
The atmosphere became slightly awkward so Norman spoke to Nick in order to dispel it:
"Since you are in your second year, I would like for you to do some tasks for me such as looking over notes that I give you and sometimes doing research, at least for now."
Nick nodded his head in affirmation:
"I will do my best professor. Oh, I came here also to ask for some special scroll papers, could I have a certain number of them?"
Norman squinted his eyes, saying:
"Scroll papers? Are you still interested in writing scrolls even after becoming a rank 2 Magician?"
Derek and Lana looked at Nick after hearing Norman speak and assessed him. Derek and Lana were also rank 2 Magicians and so without Nick actively exuding magic power, it was hard for them to decern his change in rank but Norman was a Regular Magician and to him Nick's current rank was as clear as day just from the feint magic power that he was sensing on Nick's body.
Nick replied:
"It's an interesting field and so I would like to continue researching it."
Norman was a little bothered by Nick's interest in scroll writing since it was technically a field that wasn't very useful to himself and so he would not benefit much from Nick's work but he continued to act like a proper instructor:
"How much scroll writing papers do you need?"
Nick replied immediately:
"Fifty thousand."
Norman's eyes opened wide as he looked at Nick suspiciously.
"Why do you need so much?"
Nick rubbed his nose and replied with a shifty smirk:
"I do a lot of research professor and I've already used up the ones that I had. I'm currently working on something that requires me to do many tests so is it possible for me to get the papers?"
Norman looked at Nick's half shameless expression for a few seconds and then sighed.
"That's one hundred packets of papers and I do have that many in stock and since the academy provides them for free and the rest of us don't use them, you can have the amount that you're requesting with the condition that after a period of time, you have to give me a report on what the papers were used for. I would be considered reckless if I did not ask you for this much."
Nick nodded and said:
"That's reasonable, when can I get them?"
Norman replied:
"I'll have them delivered to your dorm room by the end of the week."
Nick's face went back to being expressionless and he thanked Norman for his help.
"Don't mention it. I have some notes that I want you to look through to make sure that the Valteese written is appropriate. I want you to check it and return them to me by the end of next week."
Norman handed Nick a stack of documents which Nick subsequently placed into his backpack. Nick said his goodbyes and left the spell creation club and made his way back to his dorm room.
Nick sat at his desk with a pleased disposition, saying:
"I found a source for the scroll writing papers I need to manufacture the scrolls and I'm even getting them for free. My biggest hurdle is still getting Copy to work."
Nick looked at the notes for his spell that he had on the desk and uttered a long heavy sigh, knowing that he had to keep working despite the slow progress.
(Don't give up, Nick.)
Nick began working on the spell and did not stop until midnight at which point he decided to do two hours of meditation before going to bed, however, during his meditation, Nick lost consciousness from mental exhaustion and did not wake up until his phone alarm rang at around 6 am.
Nick picked his head up from his desk and got out of his chair.
(Ahhhh, my back.)
Nick felt a numbing pain in his back from sleeping at his desk for so long. He did his usual reps of pushups and got ready to go to his combat class. Nick arrived at the field where the class would be held at around 8 am and made use of the one hour period before class would start at 9 am so he chose a random spot in the grass and sat with his legs crossed, reading from his laptop's screen.
By the time it became 8:50 am, the other students began arriving at the field and when they saw Nick, the students whispered among themselves but no one approached him. At 9 am, the students felt a strong gust of wind blow over them and before they knew it, Thompson Varrow was standing in front of the group of students holding onto what looked like two wooden swords. He spoke sternly:
"Alright, yesterday I saw what you were capable of and on average I have to say that I am disappointed with your standards and so I will start by teaching you tactics related to magical combat and the analyses involved in using said tactics. Prepare yourselves and I will begin my demonstration in ten minutes."
Varrow looked to find Nick in the crowd but soon spotted him on his laptop, lost in whatever he was paying attention to. A vein visibly bulged on Varrow's forehead, with him thinking:
(So my presence is not worthy enough for you to start paying attention, huh?)
Varrow squinted his eyes and threw one of the wooden swords into the air and swirled his right index finger. The sword flew through the air while spinning rapidly; most of the students were confused about what Varrow was doing until they realized that the target of his maneuver was Nick Capitol.
Some smiled at Nick's misfortune and others shook their heads at Varrow's 'heavy handedness'. While the wooden sword was making its way towards Nick, Nick himself felt something amiss with the flow of magic energy in the surroundings.
(Something's drastically changed and it's making me uncomfortable.)
(Blink.)
As the wooden sword quickly struck into the ground one inch from Nick's position, Nick appeared two meters away in an instant and unconsciously looked at the crowd in front of him with malice, releasing a strange aura.
The aura pervaded the surroundings and sent a shiver down the spine of the students present. Nick spoke slowly with a half menacing tone:
"Who threw this at me?"
No student answered Nick's question, unsure of what spell Nick was using against them that caused this strange fear inducing aura. Thompson Varrow quickly walked beyond the group of students to face Nick and replied:
"I did. You should pay more attention to your surroundings while you are in my class. Now, conceal that nasty aura and pick up that wooden sword."
When Nick realized that Varrow, his instructor, was the one that threw the sword, his mind relaxed and the aura that he was releasing was unknowingly dissipated.
(What aura is he talking about?)
Nick ran to his previous resting spot and placed his laptop into his backpack, placed his backpack onto the ground and picked up the wooden sword whose tip had been lodged into the ground.
Nick waved the sword around, thinking:
(Its made out of wood but it has a decent weight to it. What is Varrow planning?)
Varrow walked up to Nick and said:
"I'll choose to ignore whatever that sickening aura was just now so just focus on that sword. I want you to spend the next two hours waving it like this."
Varrow took a stance with both hands holding the sword's handle while his right leg was positioned in front of his left leg; he raised the sword vertically above his head and then swung down, his arm muscles almost rippling. Varrow came out of his stance and said:
"You said that you wanted to train with the sword, you will start by doing what I just did, no exceptions."
Nick nodded and tried to emulate Varrow's previous stance, placing his right leg in front of his left leg and holding his wooden sword's handle with both hands, he raised it above his head. Nick swung the sword down three seconds later and brought his arms to a resting position.
(Varrow really wants me to do this for two hours?)
Nick looked at Varrow with a questioning gaze and Varrow responded:
"You seem to already have fairly developed arms but you need to condition them to hold and swing a sword for a long time for you to use one in combat so keep practising."
Varrow left Nick alone after saying those words and began speaking with the other students. The other students whispered amongst themselves about the interaction between Varrow and Nick:
"What is Nick Capitol up to?"
"It looks like sir Varrow has given him some special instructions to swing that sword. It seems that Nick is interested in sword play."
"My would a Space Magician be interested in using a sword? Hmph, if he wants to waste his talent, he should just give it to me."
"Are you an idiot, bro, everyone has their own preferences. Just focus on your own talent."
...
The chatter went on until Varrow told them all to shut up and listen to him; he did a mini-lecture on battle tactics between opposing magicians and the other students spent the rest of the class paired up, putting into practise what Varrow lectured to them. Nick spent the next two hours swinging his sword in exactly the same fashion that Varrow had done without stopping.
By the time class had ended, Nick's arms were sore despite being developed from his years of doing pushups. Nick smiled bitterly, saying to himself:
"No matter how much you improve, there is always more room for improvement."
The other students left the field and Varrow walked up to Nick who was resting on the ground beside his backpack and asked:
"Are you going to come again tomorrow?"
Nick looked at the wooden sword that he had laid on the ground in front of himself then looked back at Varrow, replying with determination in his eyes:
"Yes sir, I will!"
Varrow nodded, saying:
"Then you can keep that wooden sword, if you want to become adept at using a weapon, then it has to become part of you and so you should carry that wherever you go, try swinging it around constantly. Alright, you can go now."
Varrow snapped his fingers and once again left the field as a gust of wind. Nick picked up his backpack and the wooden sword and walked to his dorm and returned to his room. Nick took a shower, ate a few snacks and sat at his desk to look through the notes that Norman had given him, fixing whatever errors that he came across.
Valteese was a more complex language than English so grammatical errors were very difficult to decern and even errors in the form of the misshaped Valteesian symbols were a concern. After spending a few hours on that, Nick spent the rest of the day working on Copy and at Midnight, he meditated until he fell asleep from exhaustion.
...........
The next morning...
Nick had been in combat class for one hour already with his shirt off, swinging his wooden sword. The other students took glances at him while Varrow did another mini lecture on how to properly move against an advancing enemy; they whispered amongst themselves:
"Is that Nick Capitol crazy, he even took his shirt off?"
"Hmph, he's just showing off. What does it matter that he has some muscles, if we fought, one ice spear is all I would need to take him down?"
Someone shook their head, saying in rebuttal:
"I doubt that, but I am really curious. What is the point of that kind of physical training when casting most spells hardly require much movement?"
Someone else said mockingly:
"Maybe the muscle head is just trying to make us look bad. Only an idiot would put that much effort into something with relatively so little reward."
Another person agreed:
"...Yeah. He must be an idiot. He hasn't spoken to anyone except Marcia since the first class, maybe he is too stupid and doesn't know how to have a conversation?"
Marcia stood among the crowd and listened to the negative remarks of the others and wondered:
(Is he stupid?)
Suddenly, a fierce wind blew towards one of the gossiping students and pushed him one meter into the air and then dissipated, resulting in the student falling harshly to the ground.
Thompson Varrow spoke with a thick tone of disgust:
"If you have time to gossip about another student, than you have time to reflect on your own worthless skills!"
Everyone became silent, not daring to provoke the Regular Magician. Varrow looked at Nick in the distance and thought.
(I hope that you have thick skin, Nick. All this chattering won't go away anytime soon.)
Varrow returned his gaze to the students in front of him and continued to lecture them.