Heaven's Greatest Professor

Warden tilted his neck. "I just copied your movements, that's all," he said.

"But--"

"I don't know if it's anything special that anyone can't learn just by studying the moves," Warden cut him off. "How did you learn it, Dirk?"

"T-the elders of my house instructed me," he said.

"Did they show you the stances, correct you when you made mistakes?"

"Yes."

"Well, there you go," Warden said. "I just didn't need anyone to correct my mistakes."

"But it took me months just to get the katas and--"

Warden shook his head. "Once you become adept at some form of swordsmanship, you can do it with other sword arts too. But first, you must train in the sword art you know. As I mentioned earlier, you have developed flaws from the elder that taught you, you need to rectify that."

"What do you mean by that?" Dirk asked hesitantly.

"Hmm," Warden hummed. "You know Arsela of your class; she practises some form of sword art too. It lacks in damage but rectifies that with its swift pace. If you were to learn the technique, what do you think would happen?"

"It wouldn't suit me greatly," Dirk said immediately.

"But if you were to learn it from Arsela, do you think the same style would work for you?" Warden asked. "Even the same sword arts become somewhat different when performed by different people; it is the nature of things. The elder you learned your sword art from cultivated his stances to something he was very intimate with.

They were something that worked for him the best; they might not work for you the same. Think deeply on that."

"I will," Dirk nodded heavily. "Thank you, Sir."

Warden nodded and dismissed him. He turned to the two women. "Is it rare to learn sword arts like this?"

"Extremely," Elder Vess answered with her signature smile, that told she knew something you didn't. "Only Masters of the weapon can do such a feat, and even among them, it was fairly rare."

"Well, I just copied his movements," Warden shrugged. "There's still something more with how he moves energy inside the channels. I cannot do that just by watching once or twice."

"It's better you don't do it even if you can until you reach a higher rank," June advised him. "Most martial families didn't look well on those who use their techniques without being a member."

"Well, lesson taken," Warden said.

Gene finally came back, bringing in three of the students who hadn't completed their laps yet.

"How many laps did you guys complete?" Warden asked, curious.

"Twenty-seven," the girl croaked.

"Twenty-nine," the prime offender said.

"Twenty-four," added the last one of them.

"You really lack in physical stamina," Warden said, feeling rather disappointed with themselves. They lacked in both manners and other abilities. "Do you all think the numbers in your status page are everything?"

They remained silent. The prime offender whom Warden didn't even know the name of managed to grit his teeth.

"What are your names again?" he asked, but before they could even begin speaking, he cut it off. "You know what, let's reset it. I'll only learn your names when you prove something in my eyes."

"You!" the prime offender managed to croak out, wheezing heavily.

Warden clicked his tongue and left them to the Elders.

"You three," Elder Vess addressed them. "You should be aware the way you carry yourselves in the academy reflects on your family just as much as it did on the academy. It reflects on your report cards as well, as these types of acts were heavily ill-advised if you want to graduate from here."

The three looked down in unison.

"Keep all that in mind; you're all dismissed." She let out a sigh as the students left. "Well, that ends my role here. Come now, Gene, I have to prepare for your stay as well."

The elder and Gene left, leaving the two of them there. Gene stopped after a couple of steps and congratulated him brightly.

"He's a good kid," Warden said. "He kind of reminds me of someone, but I can't remember who."

June stared at him for one long moment and watched them leave.

"So," he said, feeling a little heavy with the two of them there. "Hopefully, I didn't make you regret your decision."

"No," June shook her head. "You proved that you can act like a man when needed."

"What does that supposed to mean?" Warden asked.

"Most of my interactions with you had been you acting like a man-child."

"Maybe that's because you're so old," Warden said with a grin.

"I'm not old," June said through gritted teeth. "In fact, I'm barely old enough to be an adult."

Warden picked an eyebrow, asking for an explanation, but she didn't offer any. It's likely some elf thing.

"By the way, I forgot to ask what kind of remuneration I'll get from this job," Warden asked. "Do I get a quarter like you, or do I have to look for an apartment?"

"You'll get a quarter," she said, much to his relief. "But it won't be like my quarters."

"As long as it has a washroom, kitchen, a bedroom, and a living room," Warden hoped.

June smiled, which didn't say anything.

"What?"

"You'll probably have to crash in with another instructor," June said, causing him to groan.

"Maybe I need to look for an apartment," Warden sighed.

"Everything you see is within the parameters of the academy," June reminded. "They own the apartments too, if you can pay for a higher price, you may look for them. Although you can try for a promotion to get a better apartment."

"That's what I'm hoping for," Warden said. "But if the roommate turns out to be some jerk, I might just live outside."

"Other than the apartment," June continued, "each combat instructor gets two hundred gold crowns and one thousand academy credits a month. You also get 200 extra credits for meriting students. Of course, you can get bonus credits by working extra hard, like running more dungeons, taking students on excursions and sorts."

"I have no clue if they would be worth the trouble I have to go through with this job."

"The remuneration is fairly acceptable," June said.

"Really?" Warden raised an eyebrow. "How much does a good student get a month?"

"I don't know the specifics, but for freshmen, two hundred is probably the limit they can get a month."

"What about someone like Liam and Kiara?"

"Five hundred."

Both of them went silent. June smiled awkwardly on her way to leave. She turned midway to say:

"Welcome to the Third Arcane Academy, I suppose."

___________________

The next chapter is the end of the first arc. The next arc will be twice as longer, or perhaps more...