Private Lessons: Mastering Compression
Whether it was my not-quite-a-threat that worked or some change of heart, Gloria gave her approval. Kara insisted she was fine, that there wasn't much left for her to learn anyway, but I dragged her along anyway. To reiterate, she's the type who gets lonely when left alone. She doesn't have many people she could call friends besides us, and she looks down on the other students as barbarians. She couldn't care less about their opinions. So even if she grumbled, I was determined to bring her.
"Are you really okay with this? Because of me..."
Kara, who had followed us into the private training grounds, scratched her head and glanced around sheepishly. She genuinely looked sorry.
"Not at all. If anything, Your Highness is livening up the mood."
Gloria, however, acted like it was no big deal. For whatever reason, her face was full of eager anticipation. The way she looked at Luna and me made it clear she was expecting something—though I had no idea what.
Man, these private training grounds are huge.
I glanced around the private training area we'd entered behind the secret couple. The public ones were pretty spacious already, but these were no slouch either.
To use a private training ground, you needed to meet certain conditions—one of the main ones being whether you used mana. Mana could break equipment or hurt people, so these spaces prevented that in advance.
And you have to get permission ahead of time.
There were plenty of users, so you had to get approval from the staff. Weekends especially filled up fast. Since no one else could enter while it was in use, people sometimes used them for shady purposes. Gloria and Chronos exploited that to sneak in together. Today, with the excuse of teaching Luna and me, they could enter openly.
"Alright. As promised, we'll be teaching the two of you. Before we start, any questions or concerns?"
"Um... my basics are really lacking. Like, really lacking. Is that okay?"
Luna tentatively raised her hand and voiced her worry. That was her biggest hang-up. She was already messed up from the start. Struggling with fundamentals, adding this on top was overwhelming.
"No need to worry too much. What we're teaching falls under the basics anyway."
"It does?"
"Yes. It'd be good for Princess Kara to learn it too."
"...Me too?"
Kara, who had been quietly setting up a sandbag, made a reluctant face. She'd clearly planned to train separately without their instruction.
"Even so, having me learn it too feels a bit..."
"Think of it as cultural exchange with Tatar."
"Hmm..."
It was a valid point, and Kara pondered it. If you nitpicked, Chronos was right. Unlike Hector, who earned his Destruction King title amid tribal unification with its prejudices, there were no such biases here. But if something came, something had to go in return. Seeming to realize that, Kara asked cautiously.
"What do I have to offer you two in return? Nothing comes to mind."
"That..."
Chronos glanced at Gloria in response. She was the one who'd decided to bring Kara. Understanding the look, Gloria replied in her usual sweet, coaxing tone.
"We'll tell you after the training ends. For now, just focus on the session."
Unlike the stiff Chronos, Gloria's smooth demeanor—with her noble grace—made for a striking contrast. Kara nodded at her words. For now, quietly learning was best.
"Normally, we each teach differently. But the core principle is the same: mana."
"Mana?"
"Yes. You've all channeled mana into your bodies or weapons to boost durability many times, right?"
We students, myself included, nodded at Gloria's explanation. It happened constantly. Mana was the power that let frail humans fight beasts or monsters on equal footing. The one requirement to use it: intelligence—the ability to think and express it.
"Mana holds infinite potential on its own. Slicing boulders with a sword, cutting steel, smashing them outright—the list goes on. Magic is useless without mana."
"..."
"What we're teaching is how to refine mana more precisely. Just as training shapes the body, the same applies to mana."
That was what the growth period taught: polishing raw mana into something beautiful. It didn't matter if you were a warrior or mage—mana ignored the distinction.
"Princess Kara might have already grasped it intuitively. Haven't you felt the same amount of mana hitting harder than before?"
"Yeah. It grew gradually, so it didn't hit hard at first, but eventually I noticed."
"And you can hold more of Gulrak's lightning now?"
"Yes."
"That's the principle."
"Ah."
Kara nodded in realization. With her battle-honed skills, she'd pick it up fast. Of course, she probably had no clue how she'd gotten it—thinking it just happened naturally. Gloria, sensing this, extended her index finger and continued.
"But you don't know how, right? We'll teach you that, and with consistent practice, you'll get it."
"Got it. Understood."
"Good. First..."
Gloria trailed off and looked at Chronos. She just stared without speaking, but those two could communicate with glances alone. Chronos nodded and spoke in his deep voice.
"I'll go first. What I'm teaching is 'Compression'. Exactly as it sounds: the ability to compress mana."
"What effects does compressing mana give?"
"It greatly boosts durability and capacity. And more."
That was the ability from the Granada Empire path. It raised overall damage output. Think of it like armor quality: leather vs. plate. In a body slam, who'd deal more damage? Obviously plate.
"Compression vastly improves mana quality. It also slows consumption. Where you'd need 10 units before, now 1 unit matches that power."
"Perfect for heavy blunt weapon users."
Luna immediately grasped which weapons it'd suit just from the explanation. As she said, Compression shone for strength-based characters. Strength boosted overall damage; agility raised evasion and crit chance. But without learning vital spots, crits were unreliable. Strength builds needed less technique.
Strength builds eat gukbap, agility builds drop king's blood. That's how they were tiered. Mages needed mics for number-crunching, faith builds mixed the two.
"Exactly. Compression works by..."
Hummm—
Chronos showed us his fist—child-head-sized—and infused it with mana. Blue mana rippled around it, then slowly compressed back inside. Visually, nothing much changed. But that thought didn't last.
"Right on."
"...Aim properly."
Gloria suddenly hefted an axe—where'd that come from?—and swung down.
Clang!
The sound was deafening, like metal on metal. Yet Chronos's fist was unscathed. The training iron axe, though? Chipped blade. Unsalvageable.
"This hardens the body. In a way, Compression is basic of basics."
"Hmm..."
Luna looked ambiguous at Chronos's explanation—like it seemed too easy. Gloria noticed and smiled, pointing it out wordlessly.
"That face says it looks super easy. Want to try?"
At Gloria's suggestion, Luna—and even Kara—started practicing. Kara would find it familiar. It was cramming mana into a solid shield. Sounded like body hardening, but different. Hardening layered leather armor; Compression upgraded it to plate. Higher mastery would naturally raise hardening's grade too.
"...Harder than I thought. This isn't body hardening, right?"
"Totally different. Not layering—pack it tight like squeezing."
"Like this?"
As Kara struggled, Luna thrust out her fist. Looked utterly normal. Chronos stared silently, then glanced at Gloria. She nodded and fiddled with Luna's hand.
"...Huh? It really worked?"
"For real?"
"Yeah. Definitely compressed. Does it usually come this easy?"
They were stunned. Luna had mastered it after one demo. Kara was a genius via Hector's blood, but Luna was another level.
Does her instant learning from Soul World carry over?
Shaky basics, but talent that covered it. Especially mana-related: overwhelming growth. No wonder she was the protagonist. Her gains would explode exponentially over time.
"...It worked?"
"Yes. Compress mana like this, and it'll flow inside, naturally improving quality."
"Got it. Thank you."
Luna beamed, thrilled at the novelty. Fair enough. Anyway, my turn.
I compressed mana into my hand like Chronos showed.
Not layering—pack it tight.
Basic of basics, so I'd planned to pick it up in the forest when possible. But survival ate my time; I forgot. Instead, I got Red Mana. It made hunting easy anyway—no need. My "thoughts" were just cave murals and hunt plans.
Like this, right?
If Luna learned by sight, I copied up close. Wild Instinct let me sense mana shifts. That's how I preempted Hector's attacks.
But my body's so tough already, hard to feel the difference.
I scanned around. Gloria taught Luna one-on-one; Chronos, Kara. Not neglecting me—they saw I was focused, so took a break. Perfect time to test.
Steel King's high rank would show compression well.
Gonna hurt a bit.
Pain was old hat. I steeled myself. Then punched my compressed fist into my left arm's center—steel-hard.
Oh, right. Where'd I punch? Obvious.
Crack!
To verify properly, no other way. Even barehanded, no mana, I shattered wood, stone, steel. Recall my Elvin duel: snapped his sword with teeth.
Flop flop—
The effect was huge! My left arm snapped clean in half, dangling like laundry. Just one compressed punch fractured my steel bones. Major success.
"Sh-Sivar! What the hell?!"
"What hap—what, your, your arm?!"
"Wh-what the...!"
Unfortunately(?), busted. Luna happened to glance over. Others only heard the sound, clueless. But seeing my dangling arm? Universal horror.
"Sivar suddenly punched himself and it snapped!"
"His own arm? With compressed fist?"
"Even so, that bad..."
"Hmm..."
Whatever their panic, I aligned the break. Fractures like this(?) just needed setting. Saves mana on regeneration.
Crunch! Crack!
Regen kicked in; arm set perfectly. Everyone gawked as it healed instantly. Luna and Kara knew my regen, yet still shocked. Maybe fractures were different. Whatever—Compression learned, confirmed.
I stretched my arm and declared proudly.
"Learned!"
One word, and faces went indescribable. But Gloria's reaction topped it.
"Um... Student Sivar?"
"Yeah?"
"Were you doing that because we weren't paying attention?"
What? As I raised a brow in confusion...
Compression
With Red Mana
Compression
"Shit?"