The Novel's Professor

Rio blinked, bewildered. What was this woman doing here? Of course he knew who she was. Not only did he hear her introduction earlier—she was also an important character in the novel, occasionally appearing at some scenes.

Soon, he realized what's Maria's intention is, he frowned, asking:

"What are you doing here?"

Maria smiled, ignoring the frown. Her hand took out a card from her coat pocket. It was a shining diamond card with a snowflake logo plastered on top. She handed it out, saying:

"Here. I want to be first before everyone else. Make sure to consider our guild Forgotten Winter before joining a guild, alright?"

Rio nodded wordlessly, reaching out to her hand as he took the card. He put the card in his chest pocket. He wasn't any interested in joining any guilds at the moment, but it wouldn't be too bad to establish a connection with another major character. He stared at the icy haired woman, asking:

"Is that all?"

Maria smiled, her soft mellow green eyes staring at Rio mischievously. She jokingly added:

"Well, yes. Unless you want somethi..."

In that moment, Rio suddenly turned his back. He walked through the corridor in silence, leaving Maria speechless. Rio walked further to the corridor, changing directions as he turned to the right.

"Hahahahaha..." Maria chuckled loudly, shaking her head. She took one glance at Rio's back before leaving. "What an interesting person."

—

[Why did you leave so quickly?] Faust asked, his voice resounding inside Rio's head.

"Well, let's just say..." Rio muttered, his head shaking. "..She and I wouldn't get along verywell."

The true reason was she was too outgoing and unreserved for him. He didn't like hyper energetic and unpredictable people like her very much. He preferred peace and tranquility. Additionally, he wasn't in the mood for the childish glee of Maria. Not that he disliked her — he just wasn't used to people like her.

...Not only that, but there's also that fact about her in the novel. Maria Skye only liked interesting things that piqued her fascination and hated boring things that she found uninteresting. And from his personality and hobbies, he could safely say he was part of the so-called category of — uninteresting people.

Faust raised his brows, confused. He shrugged, forgetting about it. He dived out of Rio's body, hovering around Rio as he asked. [So where are you going next?]

"Well, for now...I don't have classes until next week," Rio answered, his body walking towards to a certain place. "But I still have to attend some activities at my club."

[Club? What is that?] Faust asked, raising his brows in interest.

"It's basically a group activity, and I'm the one managing it." Rio replied, his body stopping on one of the doors. Inside, he could hear the faint sounds of metal clashing at each other. "Speaking of which, I haven't introduced you to my students yet."

[Oh? How are they?] Faust asked.

"Extremely talented," Rio commented, his hand holding over the doorknob. He twisted the knob, opening the door as a loud click resounded. In that moment, everyone's eyes inside the room stared at the door.

Arcuied and Eugene temporarily stopped clashing with each other as they turned to look at Rio. Their eyes widened slightly, nodding. Both of them greeted together.

"Good morning, professor."

Rio wordlessly nodded, watching the two. It's good they were fine and okay. After he got out of the hospital, one of the most notable news he saw was that of Eugene's health state being fine and sound. Naturally, if Eugene was fine, he assumed Arcuied was likely so.

After the two kids greeted him, they continued on their battle, the metallic sounds of their blades clashing together resounding in the room.

[Hm, not bad. Not as talented as I was back in the day, but still...] Faust smiled, his body flying in to the battle to watch it in close. [They have the talent and basics; just lacking the foundation.]

Rio hummed, his eyes darting around the room. Ah, there she was. Amber was on the side of the room — standing tall as she consecutively fired arrows to several targets with intense concentration. He had thought she was absent for a moment, wonderfully; she wasn't.

..Though, he had to add, it was rare to see her train so intensely. It's almost as if she's desperate to get stronger.

As for the last one...Rio stared at the left corner of the room, looking at Xiao Long who was mixing and combining things within the thin glass container room. It was good. Everyone was present for the moment — he planned to finally, at the very least, act like their professor and teach them a thing or two.

[Hey, Rio, c'me here for a second...] Faust shouted, gesturing his hand as he watched the battle intently.

"What is it?" Rio muttered, approaching the battleground of the two kids. Both of them were inside a wide underlined circle — acting as a stage for their battle. The flashes of wind and water continued to hurl and mix as both clashed continuously.

[I want you to fight them and measure their skills,] Faust said. [Think you can handle it? Don't go all out and straight up make them unconscious. Just dodge and block, and restrain about...80% of your power.]

"20%?" Rio frowned, his head tilting as he stared at his master in confusion. "Isn't that a bit too much for them currently?"

[Hm, hm..] Faust suddenly smiled. [You'd be in for a surprise, just go and try.]

"Alright," Rio nodded, complying with the man's suggestion. He stood over the battle, watching as both repeatedly hurl attacks at one another. He clapped loudly, distracting the two as they momentarily stopped. "Stop yourself for a moment,"

Arcuied and Eugene both stopped, their hands lowering as they loosened their grasp over their weapons. They panted, feeling exhausted as sweat poured down all over their body.

"Is there a problem, professor?" Acruied asked, dropping himself to the ground as he stared at Rio. Near him, Eugene silently stared as both waited for a reply.

"There's no problem, but your training is far too inefficient," Rio said, putting both of his hands behind his back.

"... Inefficient, how?" Arcuied asked, his face frowning.

"Well, let's start that there's absolutely nothing happening between you two — both of you just continue to fight and fight," Rio explained. "It would take you about twenty or so more fights before you improve... First, if you want to improve... put yourself a goal and think around that goal. Think of something you want to strengthen and focus on that. Consecutive small steps form a large paved road to mastery."

Both Arcuied and Eugene went silent, processing the words.

"So, how do you propose we should train then, professor?" Eugene asked, his mouth finally opening. The idea was sound, the only problem was the application, he didn't even know what to improve of in the first place.

"Should we just practice our individual skills?" Arcuied asked, confused.

"Relax. I'm just getting to it." Rio said, walking towards the circle arena. He slowly released the restraints of his power, unleashing about 20% to his body. Additionally, he used the intimidation skill he previously synchronized. He continued. "To improve and progress, you must at first find your flaws and failures."

In that moment, both Arcuied and Eugene felt a heavy force push their body down. Both of them staggered, barely being able to stand from Rio's power combined with intimidation skill.

"Therefore," Rio said, his expression emotionless. On his back, he removed the white coat he always wore, showcasing his well-defined body covered by a black t-shirt. He asummed a stance, continuing. "Both of you, come and fight me."