Soul of the Warrior

Lance was accompanied by five other members from the Knight Academy and three Casters from the Magic Academy. The six students of the Knight Academy had arrogant looks on their faces as they spread out in front of Reivyn and his friends, but the three Magic Academy students shared a nervous look before one of them stepped forward and whispered something to Lance.

Lance tilted his head to listen to the words before his gaze landed on Reivyn. He was familiar with Tom, Vane, and Trick, and he didn't seem to be worried too much about their presence.

"What are you worried about?" Lance said after sizing Reivyn up. "I bet..."

Reivyn's Danger Sense went off, and Reivyn tensed his body and watched as Lance Charged toward him mid-sentence for a surprise attack. Reivyn's Perception and Clarity Stats were vastly superior to anyone else around, and so, despite the speed of Lance's Charge Skill, he was able to calmly watch and respond to the sneak attack.

Lance didn't pull out a weapon, but he instead balled his fist and tried to use his momentum to smash a punch into Reivyn's face. I can't really fault his tactics, Reivyn calmly thought. Take out the opponent's strongest member fast and hard, just like the time the Second Squad and I fought the ogre boss battle in the Dungeon the first time.

Lance's fist came flying toward Reivyn's face, but he wasn't fast enough to take Reivyn by surprise. Reivyn simply tilted his head to the side, and Lance's fist moved past his head ineffectually. Lance had timed his charge to punch Reivyn in the face and not crash their bodies together, so he was left overextended with a look of surprise on his face, standing in front of Reivyn.

Reivyn leveled a look at Lance and smirked. He walked forward nonchalantly and just centering his body while moving forward he knocked Lance down on his butt. Lance's body provided zero resistance to his movement, and it looked like he was just taking a stroll without a care in the world. He made his way toward the center of the group.

The other five students from the Knight Academy were caught completely off guard at the turn of events, and the Magic Academy students had a look of panic on their faces as Reivyn advanced.

The first Knight student to recover pulled his sword out and thrust it at Reivyn. Reivyn casually parried the thrust aside with his Tessen, and then reached out with his other hand and grabbed the teenager's wrist. He pulled the boy further off balance and casually tossed him to the ground as well.

"What are you doing?!" Lance called from the ground. "Blast him!"

The panic on the face of the Caster student who had walked forward to whisper to Lance turned into terror, and he backed away, holding his hands up in front of himself.

"No, no, no," He said. "I warned you, Lance. You're on your own." He turned to Reivyn, still backing up. "We don't want anything to do with this, Reivyn. We'll just walk away." Reivyn nodded his head at the Casters, and they turned around and jogged further away. They weren't escaping completely, though, as they were still with Lance and the other Knight students for challenging the Dungeons. They had just removed themselves from this private feud.

"Cowards!" Lance shouted at the retreating Casters.

"Fools!" The first Caster called back over his shoulder.

The other four Knight students finally regained their composure, and they all drew their weapons and launched attacks at Reivyn. They had witnessed what would happen if they overextended themselves, so they maintained a more cautious approach despite surrounding Reivyn from four sides. Reivyn calmly sidestepped the attacks and parried thrusts from the swords.

No variation in their weaponry whatsoever, Reivyn snorted. It seems like the sword is the main weapon of focus for these aristocrats. They would be better off if they used spears, but that's for the commoners. Reivyn held a look of contempt on his face as he easily dealt with the offense. His Spatial Awareness Skill along with Danger Sense meant that he didn't even have to keep his eyes on the two students who were behind him.

Reivyn suddenly heard a loud thunk from behind, and he stole a quick glance. Teilon had taken the opportunity of Lance falling to the floor and attempting to get up to rush up to him and land a powerful punch right in his face, knocking him back down into the dirt. He laughed as rained more blows down on his nemesis.

"Hahaha, you never thought you'd see the day, did you?" Teilon taunted him.

Kimberly dashed forward and kicked the other downed student in the chest, sending him sprawling on his back. She didn't jump on him like Teilon had Lance, but she instead continued to kick him around. He tried to swipe at Kimberly once from his position on the ground with his sword, but Kimberly held her own sword ready and parried the attack. He abandoned any attempt to counterattack or get up after that, and he curled into a ball to mitigate the damage.

Reivyn never even used any of his Mana Skills or Spells, and he stood his ground without the other four able to move him more than a few inches at a time for him to dodge their attacks. They were starting to grow desperate and pick up the speed of their attacks as they used more strength, risking unbalancing themselves in order to land a hit on Reivyn.

Reivyn Sensed it before he saw it, but several magical Bolt Spells flew over and crashed into three of the students, sending them sprawling on the ground to join the other two Knight students. They had been so focused on Reivyn marching into the center of their little formation, that they had gained tunnel vision and forgotten about Tom, Vane, and Trick.

Reivyn grinned at the last student as he finally activated his Elemental Weapon Skill. His Tessen was engulfed in flames as he casually waved it toward the last man standing. Fear finally crept into his opponent's eyes as the flames engulfed him for a moment. He screamed out in pain, and he dropped his sword to turn and escape the inferno. His hair was singed, and his clothes smoked, as Reivyn controlled the heat of the flames to cause pain but no serious damage.

They weren't fighting to the death, even with the weapons involved. Everyone present had more than enough Health to sustain a few strikes from the weapons as long as they weren't fatal, and Reivyn had noticed that they had carefully controlled their aim in order to avoid any such blows. It would be rude to not reciprocate, Reivyn chuckled.

Lance finally got a hold of Teilon, it hadn't been that long since Teilon had pounced on him, and he attempted to grapple with the younger teenager. Teilon wasn't having any of that, though, and he simply smashed his head into Lance's face to stun him. He extricated himself from the other boy's grip as he was momentarily dazed from the headbutt, and he stood up. He landed a few more kicks into his ribs for good measure before walking over to join Reivyn and the others.

The arrogant aristocrat Knight students lay groaning on the ground from the summary pummeling they had received. Reivyn watched as they rolled about, completely unable to continue the small skirmish. He looked up and noticed that a small crowd had gathered to witness the combat. About 20 other people who were here escorting young Adventurers or others hoping to get into the Academies had formed a semi-circle to watch the fun.

"C'mon, let's go," Reivyn said to his group. They walked out, heads held high, completely unscathed.

"You'll pay for this!" Lance screamed at them as he once again got into a crouching position to stand up. Reivyn didn't even look as he conjured an Earth Bolt and tossed it back to smash into Lance's face, once more sending him into the dirt.

Reivyn's group calmly walked away from the entrance of the Dungeon. It was located inside of a cavern, a little way down from the ground level outside. Reivyn nodded to the three Magic Academy students who were standing near the exit to the outside. They gulped and nodded back, sweat dripping down their foreheads.

"Hahaha, that felt great!" Teilon called as they walked into the sunlight.

"He's definitely going to seek revenge," Reivyn said, giving Teilon a pointed look.

"Eh, let him," Teilon said. "What can he do? I'll be protected by the campus rules while at the Academy, and when I'm not at the Academy, I'll be with you." Teilon shrugged.

"I bet he'll try and rope you into a group combat at the Academy," Reivyn said. "You guys really need to make more friends. If you're not careful, he'll swindle you into a fight where your own team members are actually part of his group, and then you'll get your butt handed to you."

"That's a good point," Kimberly spoke up. "We've started to try and make friends with some of the other students, but for the most part, we have to go down several classes."

"The Knight Academy students are a bit more snobbish than the Magic Academy," Tom interjected. "At the Magic Academy, it's much easier to display one's competence and superiority, so they care less for one's background. There are not only more students at the Knight Academy, but there are also more aristocrats as well. On top of that, it's not as clear to demonstrate one's superiority over others unless there's a huge difference in Skills or Stats."

"Though, we've already talked to some of our friends over there," Vane said. "Most of our friends are years two and three, but we have a few in the Novice class, as well. We'll give you their names when we get back to The Capital, and you guys can form your own group. That should at least help with any shenanigans they get up to try and trick you into an unfair group battle."

"Thanks," Teilon said, clapping Vane on the shoulder. "We appreciate that."

"It's no problem," Vane replied.

"Most of the friends we have in the Knight Academy aren't nearly as close-knit as we and Melissa's family are," Trick said. "Our families have different interests because of the nature of our Classes and Skills we focus on, but we do have cordial relationships."

"It doesn't matter," Teilon said. "As long as they're friendly and willing to stick with us."

"That they should be," Tom said. "They don't run in the same circles as Lance, and they don't really care for them and their families all that much. We'll also tell our older friends to keep an eye out and step in if Lance recruits any of his older friends to try and deal with you, too."

Teilon and Kimberly nodded their heads as they walked out into the wilderness. The Boss Dungeon they had just completed was half a day away from The Capital in the opposite direction of the Cobbled Ruins. It was no accident that the ruins were equally distanced from each other, surrounding The Capital. The Dungeons existed before The Capital was founded, and it was deliberately chosen to be located as close to all of the known Dungeons as possible.

Well, as close to the Dungeons as possible while also being close to the Tier 2 Region border, Reivyn thought. Apparently, Tier 1 Dungeons have a propensity to pop up near the borders of higher Tier Regions. Tier 2 and above Regions have a more even distribution of Dungeons, and the Revenant Dungeon is once again an anomaly.

"What do you think Jaret said to Lance?" Trick asked as they mounted their horses. There wasn't a small outpost filled with people like there was at the Cobbled Ruins Dungeon, but there was still a place for people to tie up their mounts that was supervised by someone employed by the government. Even at the lowest rank Dungeon, The Crown took the running and access to the Dungeons seriously.

"Jaret? Was that the Magic Academy student that whispered to Lance?" Reivyn surmised.

"Yeah," Vane said. "He probably said something like, 'What are you doing? That guy over there is a prodigy. He's year one and scored higher than everyone else in year two on the final exam.'"

"More like, 'What are you doing? That guy's a monster,'" Trick snorted.

"He probably didn't get to say a whole lot," Tom said. "Lance only took a second to decide to engage. He probably only got out something like, 'That guy's a monster, we don't want to get involved.'"

"He probably said, 'That monster over there is tougher than any of the Boss Dungeon monsters,'" Teilon spoke up.

"Why is everyone saying I'm a monster?!" Reivyn exclaimed. The other five friends all shared a look before laughing.

"Because you are?" Teilon said, chuckling.

"Fine, fine," Reivyn said in exasperation. "I noticed you didn't hesitate to take advantage of his precarious position to thwack him in the face, though."

"Guilty," Teilon said proudly. "And I'd do it again. In fact, I hope I get to do it again. He needs a few more smacks in the face."

"Doesn't say anything and immediately Charges to attack," Tom shook his head. "He's been a dominant force for too long, and he doesn't place anybody else in his eyes. You might have to actually fight him for real and thrash him a bit to teach him a lesson, Reivyn. And he won't be convinced if you use magic."

"Eh, that's not a problem," Reivyn replied. "I already got a gauge of his abilities and Stats from his Charge Punch maneuver. I don't need magic to deal with him."

"I like how you're just like, 'Eh, one of the top Elite Students of the Knight Academy is basically a child in front of me,'" Trick said with a snicker. "I bet he brings along a Tier 3 escort the next time we run into him in the wilderness."

"And it's probably not a coincidence that we ran into him here," Tom added. "He probably had someone spying on Teilon and Kimberly that told him we came here. I wouldn't put it past him to pull the same stunt again."

"I can handle up to a mid-Tier 3," Reivyn said confidently. "I'll be in trouble if he employs anyone that's close to or beyond Tier 4, though. Does his family have anyone like that?"

"His grandfather is Tier 4, and his father and some of the more important guards are high Tier 3, but it's unlikely he'd be able to bring any of them along," Vane said. "He might ask for a high Tier 3 guard from Joven. He's got his head so far up Joven's butt, that he can smell his breath. I wouldn't expect something like that to happen until after he brings his own personal bodyguard along, though, so you have time."

"If we run into him again in a similar situation, and he's brought a Tier 3 bodyguard along to deal with me, then we'll know for sure that he's deliberately targetting us like you guessed," Reivyn said. "If that happens, I'll bring my own 'friend' along with us after that, and he'll surely be in for a surprise then," Reivyn smirked to himself.

"A 'friend?'" Tom asked, an eyebrow quirked and a look of confusion on his face. "Do you have a friend in The Capital that can fight off a high Tier 3 or Tier 4?"

"Don't worry about it," Teilon said, shaking his head. "Just trust us. They don't have anyone that can cause us trouble out in the wild."

"Has it got something to do with his 'insane father?'" Trick asked. Teilon just smiled and shook his head.

"Ok, well, we'll take your word for it," Tom said.

The six friends continued their journey back to The Capital, engaging in the occasional banter. They were still buoyed by their success in the Dungeon and the fight with Lance and his crew immediately after, so it was a pleasant and energetic trip back to the city.

"There are two, final techniques to study during this semester," Master Feld said. Reivyn was seated in class in the second-year Elite weaving course. The first week had been consolidating everything they had learned from the first semester further, and now they were getting into the rest of the curriculum.

"I'm sure many of you have noted the essence of the weaves and how they resemble knots and ropes," Master Feld said. "So, has anyone deduced what the last two techniques are?" Several hands shot up, the same hands that usually shot up to answer the questions. Master Feld once more called upon Samantha.

"Knots," Samantha answered.

"That's one," Master Feld nodded. "What's the other one?" He tilted his head as he perused the class. All of the hands went down after Samantha had said knots, but nobody raised their hands again. "Anyone?" Master Feld continued to look around for a moment.

Reivyn raised his hand. His mother had already told him the answer after he had also correctly guessed knots were the next step, but he wasn't one to try and steal the limelight. He only raised his hand because nobody else had done so. They all come from prominent families that have Caster Classes in them, did none of their family instruct them on it? Maybe they told them to wait and learn for themselves in the Academy. Reivyn mentally shrugged.

"Reivyn," Master Feld called on him.

"Patterns," Reivyn stated simply.

"Yes, exactly," Master Feld said. "Knots and Patterns round out the techniques for building Spells. The truly high-Level Spells can have whole tapestries woven inside of them."

Huh, I guess that that explains why mom has been so enthusiastic about Kailey and Riley's artistic endeavors, Reivyn thought. They're already able to create some intricate works with just the simplest things. They've been able to make pictures of all of our faces with intricate detail simply from different shades in grass stalks.

"The next portion of our study will be on the knots, and the second half of the semester will be on patterns," Master Feld continued. "Does anyone know what the knots do?" Several hands went up, but they weren't raised nearly as enthusiastically as before. Master Feld indicated for a student to give their answer.

"They compress the strings and ropes even further?" The student asked more than answered.

"Yes, partially," Master Feld said. "You can fit more of a particular weave inside of a Spell Shell by creating knots out of the string, but that's not all they do. There are many different types of knots, and each one has a different effect. They can amplify the characteristics of a weave based on its shape and position, and they can mute other characteristics just the same.

"Let's say you want to create a Fire Blast Spell, and you want it to have a super strong burst effect, but you want to concentrate the blast within a certain range. You can use one set of knots to increase the force of the blast, and another set of knots can mute the dispersion. You could also increase or decrease the temperature of the flames to match the situation.

"Knots can increase the spin of the internal rotations in an Air Bolt, or you can use knots to create multiple layers of different rotations. Knots can vastly increase the versatility and power of your Spells."

Samantha raised her hand after Master Feld introduced the concept to the class, and he called on her to ask whatever question she had.

"If knots are so versatile and powerful, then what's the purpose of the patterns?"

"Excellent question," Master Feld replied. "Just like how the number of weaves a Spell can contain is restricted, the number of knots a weave can contain is also restricted. Less complicated knots put less strain on a weave like lower Affinities put less strain on the shell, and higher Tier Affinities can more easily handle the strain of more complicated knots.

"Knots don't affect the strain a weave has on the shell, but it does affect the strain on the weave directly. Patterns, likewise don't put any strain on the shells. They also put a strain on the weaves, but in a different way than knots. A higher Tier Affinity, like with knots, can contain a more complicated pattern.

"Knots amplify and mute characteristics of the weaves, and patterns affect the intent of the Spell. The higher your Magic Stat, the more intent you can infuse into your Spell. It works a lot like Knots, but it affects the Spell as a whole.

"As an example, we'll go back to the Fire Blast Spell. Using knots, you can only get so far with the amplification of the burst and muting of the dispersion, but then you can add a pattern to it to go beyond the limits of the weaves and knots. Not only can you further amplify it, but you can instill different effects that the weaves themselves would have a hard time creating. You could create a pattern for the Fire Blast Spell that would cause the blast to linger, or move about, or expand and contract multiple times."

Reivyn raised his hand as a thought struck him. I remember my mom combined her laser ball spells with her Celestial Tornado Spell. Was that an effect caused by patterns? Master Feld indicated for Reivyn to ask his question.

"Can patterns in individual Spells be used to combine multiple Spells together?" He asked.

"Yes! Very good," Master Feld answered enthusiastically. "If you create multiple Spells with either the same pattern or with complementary patterns, they can combine, and the synergy of the combination will create a drastically more powerful effect. This is an advanced technique, though, and most students don't start doing so until after they've graduated. We'll teach you how to do so, but you'll have too much to do to work on your foundations while you're here. That being said, the higher Tier Academies will have courses on the more advanced techniques."

Another reason to fight for the quota, Reivyn mused. I know my mom could help me out a lot with it, especially with her Weaver designation and practice; however, she did tell me that her own education was cut short, so she can probably only help with specific Affinities. Maybe I can learn more and actually teach her a few things to help her out. Reivyn chuckled to himself at the thought.

"The System will automatically add knots to your Class Spells based on your intent once you reach mid-way through your Tier 3 Class," Master Feld said. "The same thing will happen with Patterns once you reach mid-way through Tier 4. That doesn't prevent you from doing it free-hand, though. You just won't get assistance from the System in this aspect until you've reached a certain level of mastery in your magical abilities.

"Midway through Tier 3 and 4 is just an average, too. If you're particularly gifted, the System will provide the appropriate assistance when it deems you Skilled enough.

"Ok," Master Feld concluded. "If there are no more questions, I'll begin instructing you on the different types of knots. We'll spend a couple of weeks learning this material, and then I'll teach you what the different positioning of the knots can do."