Glare, Sound-Wave, Spark, and Magic Bullet
Signs.
The primary enemy of knights was the demonic race with vast mana.
Or colossal monsters possessing physical abilities beyond even knights.
Even knights revered by humans could not confront the Calamity with just one weapon in hand.
It had been proven by countless histories, and the countless fallen knights during the subjugation of demons and monsters proved it once more.
That's why one knight developed signs.
A knight who admired mages developed signs, and soon the concept of signs was introduced and adopted by all knights.
Using signs greatly increases the number of options in combat.
It can overcome a crisis situation.
It can also completely neutralize an opponent who momentarily exposes a gap.
'Useful.'
All students shared the same thought.
Although it had the disadvantage of being difficult to use, the weakness could be overcome through repeated practice.
Remediela waited until the students had sorted out their thoughts on signs in their minds and engraved them deeply.
Then she slowly opened her mouth again.
"There are dozens of types of signs, but in general, only four are commonly used."
For hundreds of years, countless knights and mages had established circuits, removed unnecessary parts, and refined them.
They researched ways to conserve mana and make it easier and simpler to use.
In the end, they settled on four signs that could not be simplified any further.
"Glare, Sound-wave, Spark, Magic Bullet."
All were signs that Rigel had used effectively on the battlefield.
And they were signs that knights who had reached a certain level absolutely needed to master.
"Glare was the one I showed you at first, right? It instantly emits blinding light to obscure the view."
And Remediela snapped her fingers.
A simple circuit of mere lines was formed, and soon a deep humming vibration filled the lecture hall.
The vibration grew steadily more intense, enough that students in front covered their ears.
Remediela gave a soft smile and withdrew her hand.
"Sound-wave. It can disturb the opponent's concentration, but of course it also affects the user. It is normally used to disrupt concentration."
And then.
Once more, Remediela gestured, and a burning sphere appeared in mid-air.
"This one too, right? It won't deal meaningful damage to monsters or demons, but it is used a lot to make someone miss something or drop it, or to startle the target."
Swish, she closed her fist and the spark vanished.
Finally, she spread her index and middle fingers, bending the others.
A pure mana sphere rose at the tip of the index finger.
"Magic Bullet. I don't expect it to have lethal power capable of wounding a person."
She pointed it at the open palm of her other hand and fired.
It collided with a shield and vanished, but the sound of the Magic Bullet shattering into pieces gave a physical force that could not be ignored.
"In the case of using it against monsters, it is a sign that makes them momentarily falter or lose balance. Instead, because mana consumption is high compared to the other three signs, it is not used much compared to the other three."
The number of sign activations for a normal knight was two or three.
Even knights with sufficient mana rarely exceeded six times.
Originally, in duels where a split-second decides life and death, there could be at most one or two opportunities to use signs.
Soon, Remediela began to explain signs to the students in more detail.
***
Students intuitively felt the usefulness.
They were already using signs in countless situations running through their heads.
Because the effect of signs was simple yet intuitive.
But because it was simple and intuitive, the range of applications was boundless.
What remained was only to hone it.
To be able to use it in the right situation at any time, you had to hone it countless times and turn it into your own skill.
"Today's class will end here.
You'll hate me for this, but there's homework today."
Students who had been absorbed in Remediela's lecture as if their souls had been sucked in suddenly found their souls returning when homework was mentioned.
And they all sighed together.
Some professors had already assigned homework.
Moreover, this was the center of the kingdom and the most prestigious academy.
The difficulty and volume of homework far surpassed that of any other place they had experienced.
Of course, when students said the amount of homework they would have to bear was increasing, sighs inevitably burst out.
The content of the homework Remediela had given was simple.
They were to hone and manifest one sign by the next class period.
There was no need to manifest it in a split-second; even if the power was extremely weak, it was fine.
As long as it was honed slowly, that was enough.
This class was only the first on signs.
Students had realized the usefulness in the first class, and they had also sensed that the difficulty was no easy task.
So even while sighing, they all agreed that homework was necessary and had to be done.
When class ended, students began to pack their bags.
With today's last class finished, students prepared to go out for their own duties.
In the midst of this, Rigel spoke to Serpin while looking at her.
"Serpin, did you understand?
Are the magic circles of signs also visible well?"
"...
It should be doable to construct them."
The circuits of signs were fundamentally different in ideology from ordinary magic, so the circuits themselves were different.
Unlike magic with dozens of stacked circuits, they consisted of only a few lines.
Recognizing the circuit itself was an easy task even for normal students.
However, the reason knights struggled was in the manipulation of mana.
The more mana they had, the more familiar they became with the mana inside their bodies.
In other words, knights could be said to have built a wall between themselves and the mana inside their bodies compared to mages.
Of course, the techniques for handling mana were also not proficient.
This homework was simply to practice using one sign, but in reality it was a task that required starting with the manipulation of mana.
...... Well, later on I would study the theories and techniques hidden in those few circuits.
Leaving that aside.
I was a bit troubled.
'Since mana manipulation isn't a problem, there shouldn't be a problem with handling signs either...'
Of course I could manifest signs just by snapping my fingers.
I had used them thousands, tens of thousands of times.
But it wouldn't be strange to show that I was using signs skillfully from the start.
Instead, I had to show the behavior of practicing.
Then even if I used it skillfully, no one would think it strange.
To give my actions freedom, I needed to fill in an alibi quickly.
So on the way to the usual training ground today, I decided to receive some help.
"Then, could you teach me?
Mana manipulation isn't a problem, but I've never handled magic."
To Serpin.
I resolved to show that I had tried hard, as if receiving help from the daughter of the Amancser Tower's headmaster.
And.
"Of course.
I was planning to practice a bit today anyway."
The plan seemed to have succeeded.
***
The exclusive training ground usable only by Class A.
No one else could enter at all, and the space was so large that five people would make it feel empty.
If it were for sparring, this size would be appropriate.
But I had heard that even in other classes, sparring had never happened.
The conclusion was that four people were wasting space in this huge place today as well.
"...
This is tough."
"You're almost done, it's a shame!"
Dalrek, Serpin, me, Altrou.
The four from Class A excluding Fraxion had been practicing signs here for several hours.
Dalrek over there seemed to have manifested a sign not long after arriving.
No, he might already have known how to do it.
Altrou, aside from that, was groaning while holding his hand.
Serpin finished manifesting within thirty minutes and was watching my practice.
Well, it was practice disguised as creating an alibi, but anyway.
On purpose I made mistakes in forming the circuit or twisted the control of mana going into the circuit.
Of course, the sign wouldn't work well, and in the process my acting skills seemed to be getting better day by day.
'Is this enough? My arms are starting to hurt.'
It seemed like I had failed enough about four or five hours.
The time was also approaching evening...
Click. Intentionally failing without it being noticeable was hard.
Mana control was also trickier than it looked on the body, so this was secretly grueling.
My whole body felt heavy and heavy, drained of fatigue.
I glanced at the clock sideways and spread my hand again.
I slightly wrinkled my expression, mixed trembling with spreading my palm.
And I recirculated the mana in my body.
Because I had failed for hours, my arm still throbbed a bit, but it was still fine.
The mana flowing through my body moved with my hand.
Mana scattered as if projected into empty space, and the circuit was carved.
This circuit, unlike the one I had performed, was stable.
And the speed was appropriate.
A simple circuit was completed, and another mana flowed along it.
Soon, a Glare appeared in my hand and shone bright light around.
Serpin smiled at the sight.
"You succeeded."
"Haah, it's hard...
Even though failure was fake and success was fake, why was fatigue real?"
I exhaled a sigh that carried genuine emotion.
***
Tik tok. Tik tok.
The second hand of the clock ticked loudly in the quiet training room.
Serpin and Altrou said they had left first because they were late on time, and Dalrek had been invisible since some point.
Time was around 7:30.
It would be nine o'clock by the time I went home, prepared dinner, and ate, but I was still in the training room.
"...
Twenty-nine."
Whoosh. Whoosh.
I exhaled with steady breathing.
"Thirty."
After the final thirtieth push-up, I stood up.
In the name of creating an alibi, I hadn't trained this body to get familiar with it today.
So I took a little more time for the break and filled in the remaining routine.
Wiping the sweat on my forehead with the back of my hand, I looked at the clock going far too fast.
"I should go back.
I'm getting a bit hungry, and I can't stay up late."
Placing my hand on the floor, I stood up and started packing my things.
Seeing if I had left anything, I scanned the surroundings, and just as I was about to open the door of the training room and leave.
First, the door opened from outside.
I thought it might be another Class A student or Dalrek, but the person in front of me was completely different.
"You're the knight department student, Rigel Ostin, right?"
The voice of a boy and young man in between echoed through the training room.
He had platinum blonde hair and blue eyes as he stared directly at me.
I had seen this student before.
Yeah, at the entrance ceremony...
That guy who praised Rogelos?
The cloak he wore had a red emblem pattern on it.
And the uniform had a special badge different from others.
"That's right, what's wrong?
Only the knight department can enter here."
"I heard you tried to harm a magic department student.
It can't be once, and I can't look the other way anymore."
I thought it was easy to brush off.
Cannot look the other way.
The words sounded like he was elevating himself, so I responded with a high-pressure attitude.
"They made a slip of the tongue that defiled the honor of the knight department.
So I was just warning you."
"I didn't come to argue.
I came to tell you that you're going to be disciplined right now."
At that, I bit my teeth slightly.