Chapter 194: Unexpected Arrivals

"Harper, your mana flow is too rigid. You need to feel as if you are shaping water with your thoughts. Imagine yourself as a container, and the mana as water inside that container and let it flow naturally."

"Aman, your control is decent for now. Since you are a mage, your focus should be more on controlling the mana outside your body rather than inside. Switch your focus accordingly and adjust your technique."

"Gerry, why does your mana keep scattering? Your thoughts are all over the place. Remove those unnecessary distractions from your mind. Focus entirely on the mana, nothing else. Try to enter the Focus State. One penalty point for letting your mind wander during class."

Elva continued to observe the students spread across the training ground, her eyes calm yet focused, occasionally stepping in to offer pointers or suggestions on where they could improve.

She was not interfering too much, since the path to becoming strong was something that each person needed to walk on their own, using their effort and hard work.

Aside from teaching, advising, and correcting their techniques, there was very little else she could offer.

Well, perhaps there was one more thing she could offer—her silent wishes and unwavering hope for her students’ growth.

The training ground was spacious, about half the size of a football stadium. Out of the 49 students in the class, 49...no... only 42 were currently seated in a lotus position, practicing their breathing techniques according to their respective class types and the nature of their core.

Some students were focused on refining their mana manipulation, while others concentrated on internalizing their breathing rhythms.

And in the past few months, ever since the demon invasion incident shook the academy to its core, the collective determination among the students had skyrocketed, pushing them beyond their usual limits.

Their growth since then had been nothing short of extraordinary.

That incident made them realize how weak they truly were. It was a painful lesson, but it allowed them to push beyond the limits they once thought unbreakable, in their desperate pursuit to become stronger.

Elva thought to herself, her expression softening as she looked at the training students with a satisfied, almost proud smile.

But her gaze then shifted, drawn towards a smaller group—seven students whose training routine differed from the other forty-one.

They were Ray, Melissia, Grace, Amelia, Ethan, Irvin, and Lyra. Among all the students present, these seven stood out the most when it came to mana control.

Their mana manipulation was almost on par with their seniors, which was no small feat. Especially Melissia, whose trait granted her such precise command over mana that even Ray, with all his talents, appeared lacking in that specific area.

While the six of them had paired up and were currently using an advanced training tool designed to refine external mana control, Melissia sat a little apart from the group, staring down at her phone with an annoyed expression etched across her face.

As if whatever she was looking at on the screen was not going the way she had expected.

Who in the world is making her this frustrated?

Elva was curious to know, but she respected Melissia’s privacy and chose not to pry too deeply.

After all, her mana manipulation was so refined and precise that there was no equipment left in the training hall advanced enough to challenge her.

The only way to raise her already near-perfect control to the level of true perfection was to fight in actual combat—something that was currently... not possible.

Letting Melissia be for now, Elva shifted her attention to the six others—Ray and Irvin, Grace and Lyra, Ethan and Amelia.

Those three pairs sat facing each other in focused silence, yet their hands were placed on a strange stick-like device, somewhat resembling a gear stick in a car.

They were playing... chess.

Of course, it wasn’t an ordinary game. In this version of "mana chess", the objective was simple yet brutal: stop your opponent from moving their chess piece by overwhelming or disrupting their mana flow. If a player failed to move their piece for one full minute, it would count as a loss.

It was a battle of both mental and mana control, a game where one had to simultaneously strategize moves while also defending their own flow of mana from being disrupted or blocked entirely.

All six of them wore visibly frustrated expressions, clearly struggling to keep up with the taxing requirements of the game.

Though, among them, Ray seemed to be in a better state than the others—and oddly enough, his opponent looked the most frustrated of all.

He’s growing faster than expected... frighteningly fast...

Elva’s gaze lingered on him for a while. After the incident, it was as if something had awakened inside him. It felt like he was possessed by a ghost or something—he trained tirelessly, sometimes doing bizarre things while muttering about completing "quests" or excitedly shouting that he was close to unlocking something.

It was odd. But if one could ignore his eccentric behavior, there was no denying that he was one of the brightest talent in the entire history of the Academy.

Speaking of talents...

Her thoughts began to shift. Her gaze dimmed slightly, clouded with a tinge of sadness that softened the sharpness in her eyes.

Ash Burn... and Elysia Moonglow...

Yes, those two names still lingered in her mind.

Elysia’s condition had still not shown any signs of improvement... while there is no news about Ash...

Unaware of recent developments, Elva remained under the impression that Elysia was still in the same state as when she last visited.

She only went to check on her once a week, and it hadn’t been long since her last visit. She had already asked Saint Alice to notify her if there were any changes in Elysia’s condition.

Since she hadn’t received any news, she assumed everything remained the same.

I even tried looking into the background of both of them, just to see if they knew each other from before... but I couldn’t find anything. It wasn’t a childhood connection. It felt more like Ash was drawn to her after joining the Academy...

The whole situation had taken Elva by surprise—especially Ash’s final decision about finding cure for Elysia. Yet no matter how much it had shocked her, she had no right to question his choice.

It was his life. His path. And in the end, he made the choice he believed in. As simple as that.

Just as she was lost in thought, her senses picked up someone approaching. Judging from the mana signature, she immediately recognized who it was.

Principal...? Oh, he’s not alone... who are the other two...?

Elva couldn’t identify the mana signatures of the two who accompanied the principal, though she could tell one of them was a student because of the uniform she wore. The Academy’s uniform was crafted with a unique enchantment that gave it a distinct mana pattern, one easily recognizable by trained senses.

But, although she was able to tell one was student, she was not able to sense anything else other than faint amount of mana from the other person.

Before she could think further, the doors to the training ground quietly slid open.

And what she saw at that moment nearly made her lose control and shout on instinct—

"WH—"

What...?

Although she managed to hold her voice back before it became too loud, the broken tone was still sharp and sudden enough to startle the others around her. All of them turned their heads, first looking at her, and then at the door.

What they saw left many of them frozen in place.

Right next to the principal, there were two students standing on each of his sides. One was a boy, the other a girl.

Of course, they were Ash and Elysia.

They were both dressed in the same academy uniform, but the students’ reaction was really as if they had seen something they weren’t supposed to witness.

Elva moved towards them with hurried steps, but just as she reached in front of them, another shadow rushed past her and wrapped her arms tightly around Elysia.

It was Grace.

Ray, Irvin, Lyra, Amelia, and few others also came forward, gathering near her in silence, while the rest of the students stood quietly behind Elva, unsure of what to say or do.

No one focused on Ash... no, more importantly, they outright ignored his presence entirely. And there was a reason for that.

At the moment, Ash was using Absolute Concealment, which completely suppressed not just his mana, but also veiled his natural aura that normally drew attention wherever he went.

He didn’t want to draw too much attention. Of course, it wasn’t like he planned to keep hiding his strength anymore—especially after everything that happened—but he knew that letting his charm stat, which was already absurdly high at over 400, run free... would only lead to one thing.

Unnecessary....flies.

And that was something he wanted to avoid at all costs.

To appear as a normal person, Ash was also wearing an artifact—one that was surprisingly given to him by the Whisperer.

Its function was simple but remarkably effective. It formed a thin yet sturdy layer of mana over the outer skin of the user. This artifact didn’t enhance any of his attacks or significantly boost his defenses.

Instead, it served an incredibly useful purpose: it allowed his body to passively emit a faint trace of mana, even while his Absolute Concealment was still fully active.

Without this subtle emission, the complete absence of any mana or presence around him would have drawn far more attention than he desired. People would undoubtedly start to feel an eerie blankness in his vicinity and begin questioning things they weren’t supposed to notice, raising uncomfortable suspicions.

Thus, this tiny artifact brilliantly solved that problem by creating just enough of an illusion of normalcy.

Of course, if someone were to look closely, it would be relatively easy to determine the deceit, but Ash was perfectly fine with that.

Naturally, it was quite amusing to witness the expressions on the faces of the Saints and the Whisperer.

When he appeared in front of them, with Absolute Concealment fully active and a completely healed Elysia standing calmly beside him, the look they gave him was utterly priceless.

Perhaps this intense reaction stemmed from the fact that they had been engrossed in discussing something of great importance at that very moment, and Ash had, quite unassumingly, barged in without even realizing it.

"You’re actually here... gods, you’re really here."

Grace’s voice trembled slightly as it escaped her lips, filled with disbelief, relief, and something deeper... a mix of emotions she couldn’t put into words.