Chapter 400

400 The cold teacher teaches

The form wasn’t much different than his. However, the more Maria pointed out the bad form problems, the more Vincent and Kazumi could understand how every person needs to customize their meditation form depending on their body and personality for the best results.

Depending on the position, such as the sitting posture and the hand’s posture, it appeared that it would affect how much a body feels relaxed and, with it, the progress to absorbing the mana. This became clear after Maria said while sighing multiple times and shaking her head, “You look like the impatient type.” *Sigh* “Your body needs to become more relaxed.” *Sigh* “Were you ever taught the basics?...”

The next part was breathing to clear the mind. Maria heavily sighed and shook her head while explaining, “Impataint types have an impatient breathing.” *Sigh* “Do slow breathing repetitions and adjust yourself until your mind becomes clear.”

Maria was acting like a supportive teacher while a quarter of her breathing were sighs, and the classmate with a bad form had a slight smile after feeling progress. However, nothing lasts forever.

“It takes longer for your types to adjust, so do not blame me for your less than adequate progress.” *Sigh* Maira shook her head again and continued, “At least you will learn what you weren’t taught, unfortunately.”

These mocking words made many of the classmates who found this explanation helpful feel sour and angry. They weren’t able to clear their mind with someone like Maira infuriating them.

[Maria sure knows which buttons to press. Sometimes I wonder if her tongue is stronger than her spells.]

“...” Vincent didn’t respond. He glanced at Lilith from time to time, yet a faint smile was on her face as if she didn’t have a prideful aristocratic ego. Vincent didn’t know how those born as a noble would feel, but Lilith appeared to find it slightly amusing.

The lesson with Maria teaching soon ended. She grabbed a couple of cushions, sat in a corner, and spent the entire lesson meditating. Most of the classmates frowned, yet the angrier they felt, the less relaxed they became for meditating.

.....

The situation was weird because the teacher did whatever she felt like doing while the students couldn’t become bothered lest they wanted to make progress.

Time passed quite slowly for many with their eyes closed and a frown on their faces. The magic lesson ended, and the classmates left infuriated one after the other.

Many of them went to write a letter to their family, yet it was only good to feel relieved since Maria was appointed by the headmaster personally. Furthermore, she was his only pupil.

Soon, Vincent and Lilith remained while Nick and Clair teleported back to the island residents. The two of them went over to Maria and asked if she was available to start her first lesson.

“Yes. Let’s go.” Maria agreed. She stretched he back after spending almost the entire lesson meditating in the same position and kicked the cushion to the corner instead of picking them up. No one would be able to tell she was a teacher from not too far away.

Vincent, Lilith, and Maria held their own cards and teleported individually. Furthermore, Vincent’s team was officially named team ten because Maria said, “Go Year One Team Ten Residence.”

The light faded, and their eyes opened. A frown appeared on their faces immediately.

Previously, the ground was covered with trimmed wild grass. But now, there were dozens of patches without grass. They were replaced with empty patches of dirt.

Lupa, Plow, Iris, and Vivid were leveling the ground in those places as if a wild beast appeared and a large-scale battle took place.

“What happened here?” Vincent questioned.

Lupa lowered her tail and ears while Plow proudly ran to Vincent.

*Pho* “Bad wolf fight with other wolf, but Plow was a good girl. Plow did not hurt ground.” Plow slyly tattletale on what Lupa did. Plow wagged her tails and continued cheekily, “Plow help place ground good with Iris Iris.” *Pho*

*Sigh* Vincent shook his head and looked at Maria. “Don’t worry. We will fix the damage.” He told her.

“This is why students are given this place.” Maria suddenly smirked and continued, “I remember one time how teacher Darwin almost had a stroke when an island and the mansion caught on fire. This easy-to-fix problem is nothing.”

[Ohh, so that happened. Good thing we don’t have fire mages... I think it’s better not to use the flammable Mutated Ash in here.]

-Yeah. I will store it the moment it becomes available to be stored like usual.-

Lupa approached with her tail down. She apologized for having a little fun today while sparing with Vivid.

“Teacher Maria said it’s not a problem. Spar away from the mansion next time and as a punishment. You need to continue without the help of Iris, Plow, and Vivid.” Vincent decided. He wanted to teach Lupa a little about responsibility while because she doesn’t have mana, she would have something to do in the meantime.

Lupa nodded with a sad expression. Fortunately, Nick requested Vivid to also be responsible and help Vincent’s wife. Previously, Nick was worrying Maria would complain about the ground.

Vincent leaned his head and whispered in Lupa’s ear, “I hope you don’t get dirtier than you are I will have to punish you by cleaning you.”

Lupa raised her ears and wagged her tail. “I will have to fix my problem.” Lupa smiled brightly and swiftly left with a burst of energy.

[You really like to spoil your wives.]

-A happy wife is a happy man.-

[...]

On the other hand, Plow frowned. She saw Vincent looking at her and heard him whisper, “Snitches get stitches, little fox. But I forgive you since you helped Lupa.”

Later, Ester guided them to the side of the mansion, where she had prepared multiple cushions and pillows to sit on. Additionally, Ester prepared gemstones scattered on the ground. They lit the area as the sun would start setting in a couple more hours.

When asked, Ester said how she removed them from a chandelier in their clothing room carefully without damaging it.

Vincent didn’t know if Ester and Iris were acquainted properly with Maria when she visited yesterday. “This is my wife, Ester. She is a... S-sigil Mage, I am most worried about her meditation form.” He said while hiding that Ester had advanced to the Sigil Apprentice Class.

Vincent went beside Iris and continued, “This is my wife, Iris. She doesn’t have a class, but she has mana. I want her to practice with us in hopes of helping her awaken a class.”

“Good.” Was Maria’s only response. She looked at Ester and asked to see her meditation form.

Ester nodded, sat on a cushion, and began her usual meditation. As the seconds passed and one minute was reached, Maria understood how Ester was doing the impossible.

The one minute that passed was enough to make Maira understand how Ester didn’t even have a Mana Tempered Body, yet she was naturally doing what those above stage two could do.

“Tell me, Vincent. Why did you lie to me! Why does this mage assimilate the mana around her better than us with a Mana Body?” Maria became angry because she felt this was a joke to test her capability.

[Only one minute passed, but Maria already discovered how Ester might be doing this because of her skill.]

“Headmaster Darwin already knows, so I thought he also informed you to keep this a secret.” Vincent went beside Ester and placed his hand on her shoulder. “Ester isn’t a Sigil Mage. I am sorry I lied.”

“Teacher Darwin smiled at me when I asked if it was okay to tutor the Lionheart family for the next six months. He didn’t tell me anything other than it is going to be an interesting year.” Maira revealed how she had no information regarding their classes. It appeared Darwin kept his word to keep what he saw a secret.

[I guess we need to tell her since we need her help.]

“Ester is Sigil Mage immune to the mana she generates. She awakened into a Sigil Apprentice recently after we had a difficult battle against a Great Grizzly Bear.” Vincent explained while not mentioning the Alpha version of the bear included in the fight.

*Gulp* Maria stared at Ester. Her mind became chaotic with thoughts, but now she could understand the reason why Darwin was so interested in the Lionheart family all of a sudden.

Maria heard Vincent has a strange class that boosted his overall strength and aura. Now, Ester was the fourth person of the Sigil Mage line to become immune to mana generated by her.

‘The gray goblin looks special because she has mana and she might be able to awaken a class in a couple of years. But what about Lilith? She is the first healer we weren’t allowed to reveal her status.’ Maria pondered and concluded that Lilith was also a special person.

“Lilith. Are you really a Healer? Do you know the reason why teacher Darwin wanted me to hide your status?” Maria looked at Lilith and asked.

“Y-yes. I am.” Lilith answered. She looked at Vincent and asked, “Can I show her?”

*Whistle* “Lupa, time for healing!” Vincent shouted.

Lupa swiftly came running like a dog rushing for a treat. She was feeling sore after a great spar with Vivid and a recovery boost would hit the spot.

The regen Lilith casts every day was helping Lupa both recover quicker, and the fur of her tail regrow as well. It was becoming a daily occurrence to use Divine Blessing and Minor Regen on Lupa and increase proficiency. She was both helping and training at the same time.