The bloody gate

Immediately after the training, Orion and Eric left the private training room and headed towards the library. Both had good memories given what they had lived so far so they had no trouble remembering the path unlike Aliana.

.........

After entering, they began to dig into the general section of mana handling techniques. After searching for several minutes, the two found several potentially good books; specifically four books.

They each took two books and proceeded to read them to look for the most useful ones. After an overview of fifteen minutes for each book, each chose a book they thought was the better between the two they had read and then exchanged books to decide which one was best.

This time they read them more carefully and took half an hour each, and they both agreed on the book named 'Strange Mana handling techniques'. The name suggests its content is different to the common books. After reading it again, this was confirmed. Orion rushed to the librarian to confirm the borrowing of the book and then the two left for the dormitory room.

The boys teamed up to empty the center of the room and then sat on the floor. Orion took the book and began turning its pages until he found the page that had previously caught his attention. It was talking about a technique called 'wireless connection of mana', which seems to be very useful.

'Eric, what do you think of this technique?'

'It looks really great, but learning it seems harder than expected.'

Orion double-checked the explanation of the technique so that he could better understand its content. His attempt failed, as if the content of the book was intended for an expert in the field and not for beginners.

'You're right. The explanation is insufficient.'

Orion rubbed his head as he read these words.

'How am I supposed to do it with this horrific explanation?'

'Doesn't it look similar to the mana absorption technique the teacher taught us? Instead of pulling the mana, pump the mana and use a string or rope as an intermediary.'

'You are truly a genius!! I have not noticed this before. But will it work that simple?'

'Let's try the method, we have nothing to lose.'

Eric completed his sentence and shook his hands as if he had no other suggestion.

Eric got up to the closet and pulled out two shoe-like threads, one that was neither thick nor thin.

He gave one of the two threads to Orion and they put the book aside, in a manner it would not be damaged and started trying. Pump the mana from the right hand towards the left hand in the form of a ring to rotate the mana using the thread as the medium.

After countless attempts and four hours of trials and failures, both were able to do so, although the process was not easy and smooth. Orion felt as if this technique was not testing his skills, but rather his patience with the repeated mana explosions slapping his face.

'Fewhh, finally...'

Eric sighed after he successfully did it.

'That damn skill, I succeeded!!'

After that, Orion succeeded with signs of discomfort on his face. During his many attempts to execute it, Mana got out of control and exploded in his face many times. The explosion did not hurt him much but it is really annoying, like being slapped with every spelling mistake, you make. You will endure at first but patience does not last.

'We succeeded in this way but the problem is transporting mana through the air, there is no medium to transport mana in it. Let's try, and if we don't, let's ask the teacher.'

The boys spent another two hours trying but neither could move the mana beyond two centimeters from the tip of their finger. The fatigue has taken over them even their mana was exhausted. They were deeply mistaken for trying to learn something without consulting the teacher, wasting time and benefiting little or at least that is what they thought. They learned the first step of the embodiment that the teacher spoke of earlier, which is to show mana.

Orion was humiliated by this technique that kept exploding in his face every now and then, but he was slapped again by not being able to learn it and decided to give up this technique.

'We won't succeed like this. We must not forget about the mana absorption training mentioned by the teacher. We'll use it to rejuvenate our mana.'

'You are right. Let us not neglect our training to try to learn this technique. We'll ask the teacher and see next.'

The boys finished this training and completed until night the mana breathing exercise they learned today, while they forgot to clean the room after what had happened before.

------------------------

Meanwhile, the headmaster had returned to his office after seeing Dante, Maximus was sitting there waiting for him.

'Your talent hunting habit and curiosity seem to have overwhelmed you.'

'How could that not happen after you came by surprise and brought a group to train them?'

It was not the headmaster’s fault being curious or Maximus' mistake that came by surprise; it was the fault of both of them. Like how they are sometimes in perfect harmony and sometimes in a full chaos.

'Hmmm, you're right about that, buddy. My attendance was surprising and bringing a group to train was even more surprising, especially since I had never taken students before.'

'You understand me as usual. But let me ask you something.'

Albus rested on his elbows and tilted his body forward like a child who asked his mother to buy him a gift as he waited eagerly to hear her answer. While acting like a child eager to hear the answer, Maximus behaves like a cruel mother who never accepts a request of her son.

'I think you are going to ask why my appearance has changed and my answer is no, I will not tell you now.'

'Why, man? You are killing me like this. I cannot wait. When will you tell me as you last promised?'

'I promised you I would tell you soon... I think it'll be after I finish training these kids.'

'Hey man. Why are you doing this to me? I might really die of curiosity if you do this. Didn't you mention that the training will be over in a month?'

'Yes, there are about twenty-eight days left until it finishes... If I'm not mistaken?'

'Wonderful!!'

Headmaster Albus rose from his seat enthusiastically and then continued:

'The semi-annual academy competitions will end when your students' training ends. What do you think of a competition between us? Your seven students against the top seven students in the rankings after the competitions end. I want to see if your methods of education are as distinct as your choice of students.'

'Good idea..... I think the little ones will like it as it will give them a dose of enthusiasm.'

Maximus always called them young, even though the youngest Eric was fifteen years old and the eldest Dante was twenty-five, because Maximus had approached sixty years old and were the age of his children if he had married.

'Don't worry. We will make it a special competition. It will be in the presence of me and some professors above the sixth circle/star and its equivalent.'

'Thank you for your understanding. I don't want the public to know of their existence, it will affect my plans.'

Maximus, who hides everything from him as if he were a small child who should not know about adult matters, annoyed Albus.

'Here you do it again. You talk in front of me in riddles and you know how it teases me, I want to trim your beard so you can tell me but you are a friend and an ex-student of mine.'

'Sorry, I forgot it you hate it so I will try not to repeat it.'

Maximus winked at the manager as soon as he finished his sentence, it was a false promise and the manager realized this and breathed deeply several times in the hope that it would ease his discomfort. Maximus the heavenly magician got up after spending time with an old friend and decided to leave to complete his waiting works.

'Thank you for the refreshing talk, Headmaster. I am going to leave now. See you later.'

'Bye, comrade.'

Maximus left the office of the headmaster and his dear friend Albus. Albus then stretched out on his chair, stared at the ceiling and began to think.

"How far can they reach in a month? I wouldn't even be surprised by the results."

The position of headmaster is a very boring position, as you are always busy filling out papers, copying documents, etc., there is no excitement or renewal, and this is what kills Albus the dusk magician the most, and here he found an irreplaceable opportunity to watch an entertaining show for the first time in months.

----------------------

Both Dante and Tai Min returned to the room with the sunset. The room was a bit messy, Tai Min asked him:

'Hey dude. Do you know what happened here?'

'And how should I know? I just got in too. Let's look for Orion to explain what happened.'

Each sat on his bed waiting for the other two boys to return. Some time passed and there was a brief dialogue between the two boys.

'Tai Min how was your day?'

'It's nothing special, I visited the library and borrowed a book to improve my feet movements and make them more consistent with my favorite weapon, the spear. I used a speed training room and continued till two hours from now. Then I relaxed and practiced absorbing the mana out of the air away from the students' eyes as the teacher asked us.'

'And what were the results?'

'I reached the fifth stage of speed. The room had eight levels. How about you?'

'Great results. I spent most of my day in the library, nothing special happened until I left and met the headmaster and there was a little conversation between us and then I came here.'

'Wow!! You met the Headmaster? I wish I were you. What do you think of him?'

'A monster in every sense of the word, he's a good person, but if you're on his bad side, you won't survive for three seconds.'

'How does his strength compare to the teacher?'

'A little weaker than him. But he is still one of the world's strongest; otherwise he would not have been ranked sixth in the overall ranking and first in the wizards' ranking.'

'Is the teacher strong? I do not feel much power from him, he does not seem strong but a vague feeling of fear surrounds him. I still don't understand this.'

'The teacher is so strong that you don't feel his power. It's like you're in a mana tank, you can't distinguish between its presence and absence.'

After Dante finished his sentence, Tai Min rubbed his head. He thought his skills were good but not as he expected, he was a little disappointed by that.

.........

It was not long before Orion and Eric entered the room and were unaware of the others' presence. They seemed to be in a hurry to eliminate the traces of their 'crime' until they were surprised to find Tai Min in the room.

'T-tai Min, when did you get to the room? Please don't tell Dante.'

He appeared from behind the two and gave them two blows to the head, which dropped them to the ground.

'What did you do in the room that made it like this? Along these lines, you'll blow up the building by the end of the month, and it won't go peacefully if you lie or try to deceive.'

'Please stop, we'll tell you everything.'

The two were terrified of Dante, who seemed eager to beat them so hard that they would confess if they had not, so they quickly explained what had happened earlier.

'Start explaining.'

'The thing is that we were practicing a technique to manipulate mana and it's in this book. We tried to learn and implement it, but it was not easy, so the mana got out of control and exploded, causing this. We were about to clean the room before you came.'

Two minutes later, the situation calmed down and Dante still stared at them.

'Didn't the teacher ask us not to learn anything on our own? Do you want punishment?'

'No, no, please don't tell him. I don't want to be severely punished.'

Eric shouted, begging Dante not to do it.

'Tell me about this technique first.'

They each brought a rope and started holding the mana in their hands, after hours of training they could do it in less than a minute.

'That's where we've come. We wanted to ask the teacher how to connect through the air tomorrow.'

'I'll tell him in your place; don't repeat these follies without permission. They can be dangerous skills that hinder you or even take your lives.'

'Understood. We won't repeat it and we'll clean the room.'

After an hour of cleaning, the room returned as if it were new. The third day of training ended and the rest that each of them took ended. Everyone was eagerly awaiting tomorrow's training...