Great Teacher Grimoire 14 (High School DxD, OC-SI, Celestial Grimoire) (Patreon)

My interest and passion for teaching hadn’t died, but the relationship I had with it gradually felt like it was going to be different than what I’d originally envisioned. For so long, I’d built it up as something to be put on a pedestal. That there was little better than the transformative power of an educator—or at least a professor—that could reach out and change someone’s life for the better.

I still believed in that concept, genuinely. The notion that you, or I, could have such a drastic difference on someone else to irrevocably alter the course of their existence and make the world a better place at the same time. What I wasn’t sure I liked, though, was everything around that singular experience.

Or maybe it was just some dissatisfaction with the larger Japanese school system. The exact reason for this ill-feeling was lost on me, as I taught my classes, did my work, and prepared to go home. Teaching had been the thing I’d focused on in two lives in order to give me a rock to cling to in the tempestuous storm of existence.

Finding out that it might not have been the sanctuary I’d believed it to be was daunting. Or even the notion that, on some level, the pursuit was misguided might be deleterious to my general well-being. So I’d do my best not to think about the matter too much, as I headed home from work.

Issei had my number and had at one point sent me an excited text confirming that he was free later tonight to begin his tutelage. Mittelt was also free when she wasn’t training to try and incorporate her new sword into her fighting style. Which meant that I had two prospective students to try and guide through all of this.

I’d admit, I was a little nervous about the session ahead. Trying to share and break up the Pyromancy flame was, in theoretical terms, quite easy. Pyromancy was fire, and what did fire like to do? Spread, as much as it could, without any real consideration or care. It might have been urged on by me burning little bits and pieces of my soul, but the principles remained the same.

There were some other things to keep in mind, though, with the preternatural instinct for teaching that now rested in my mind. Or at least, the instinct for how to pass on some of the magical systems in my grasp. When you shared a flame, there was the fact that you created an eternal bond from teacher to student.

It wasn’t as if the notion was exactly new to the philosophical side of teaching, though. A teacher for a day, a father for life, or so sayings went across much of Asia. There were similar things elsewhere, and the Greeks had a strong connection between tutors and tutees. Personally, I didn’t think the actual student-fucking was as common as some people would have you believe, but maybe I was wrong.

Given that the Greek pantheon was alive and still very much strong, maybe I’d have a chance to ask them one day. If anyone would know, it’d be the people who’d been there. I was drifting, though, letting my thoughts get away from me.

My prospective, brunette, perverted student knew where to meet up with me, not that far from the school. I doubted he knew why I’d texted him to meet me there. He looked awkward and unsure of himself, a far cry from the powerful Devil that Rias Gremory believed he could become to have gone through the trouble of reincarnating him in the first place.

When he saw me, his face lit up, a bit of relief as I came out of the gloom. “Sensei! Oh man, I was worried I had the wrong spot.”

“You’re at exactly the right place,” I assured him with a smile.

To which the boy’s confusion was evident as he glanced around at the surroundings that we found ourselves in. Specifically, the fact that it was on the corner of a street with nothing but a convenience store and a few non-residential buildings. Compared to the home or apartment that he’d been expecting, nothing seemed to pop out to the boy.

“It’s going to be a bit confusing to explain, so I’m just going to ask that you follow me as closely as possible. And do not, under any circumstances, diverge from the path that I take.”

“... Okay?” It was clear that he didn’t quite understand what I was getting at, but the trust that he was displaying toward me really warmed my heart. “I don’t get it, but I’ll do my best.”

“That’s all I can ask for. Now let’s get going.”

The walk to the demiplane wasn’t that long at all, but it was a little disorienting for the first time anyone traversed it. More conceptual than something that had its own fundamental grounding in conventional logic. No matter how delightful it was to use, I always tried to keep that fact in mind. 

Then, before it could get to a point where he might have stumbled, we found ourselves spilling out into the sequestered demiplane. I’ll admit that I walked out with a bit more grace than his own unsteady steps, but he was still in one piece. If a bit wide-eyed and confused as to what had just happened.

“Whuh? Wait, we were just in the street, but now we’re in the middle of a forest…? But where…?”

“It’s magic, Hyoudou-san,” I explained, reaching out to pat the obviously befuddled boy on his shoulder. “Don’t think too hard on the metaphysics; you’ll only hurt yourself.”

“Right,” he nodded, taking that suggestion to heart easily enough.

For the short term, Issei would be given provisional permission to enter the demiplane during our little classes. I trusted Mittelt with the connection, Asia didn’t have a singular bad bone in her body, and Kalawarner was at least nominally working for me now. Issei, for all that he was a pretty normal teenage boy, had what was unequivocally a master as well.

Rias was a girl who was perfectly fine, polite in my classes, and had never really given me a reason to doubt her. But people could be more than the face they showed to the world. If she was less scrupulous than her external reputation would suggest, being caught flat-footed was the last thing I wanted. Still, I’d enjoy that look of singular wonder in his face as he glanced around as he properly took in the sights around him.

“Where are we, though?”

“It’s a pocket dimension, carved out of the Dimensional Gap,” I explained, sweeping my hand around the humble environment with no small amount of smugness. “Private, which is ideal for the kind of magical practice we’ll be having.”

He smiled, the face of someone genuinely excited now. “That’s amazing, sensei!”

“Now, as for our lesson, I’ll also be enkindling my girlfriend as well,” I explained as Mittelt came forth from the home, along with Asia and Kalawarna.

Issei noticed them immediately, his eyes practically bugging out of his skull. “W-What? Sensei…” He swallowed thickly, glancing back at me with wonder. “I-I didn’t know Sensei had such exquisite taste. Tall and buxom…”

My eyebrows furrowed in confusion as I tried to figure out what he was talking about. “What?” However, it didn’t take very long to figure out that he was the one confused.

“I see the point where you’re mistaken. The tall woman is Kalawarner, a Fallen in my employ,” I explained. “Mittelt, my girlfriend, is the small blonde.”

Mittelt, to her credit, could be polite when she wanted to be, giving him a small curtsy. “Hello.”

While the idea of going for the buxom, large-breasted woman seemed to fit in line with Issei’s expectations, the notion of a gothic lolita seemed to have caused something to short-circuit in his brain. He turned to look at her, then at me again, with eyes that seemed even more amazed. “Sensei’s taste is immaculate…” He murmured, quietly enough that he likely thought no one would hear.

Frankly, it was good to see that at least some of the youth had an eye for the good stuff. As long as he kept it together and didn’t act too weird about the matter, I wasn’t going to chastise him much on it. To his credit, he straightened, giving a polite bow and greeting. “H-Hello! It’ll be an honor to learn alongside you!”

“Let’s cut back on the formality, Hyoudou-san,” I said. “My American sensibilities get enough of it as is from school.”

“Right,” he nodded, looking a little uncomfortable with the prospect, before his excitement rose once again. “So where do we start? Throwing fireballs? Ooh, what about some kind of flame jets to let me fly faster?”

Note to self: steal that last idea.

“First, we actually need to share the relevant magical system. The two of you, come close and put your hands out.”

As they approached me, I took out my own Pyromancy flame. Even now, my brain was telling me that logically, my hand should have been burning. But this was more of a metaphysical focus than a conventional, matter-based object. Which manifested in my two hands as twin flames that were… let’s call it open, and ready to be linked to their actual wielders.

Mittelt didn’t seem that worried, though Issei balked at the notion of putting his hand into an open flame. “Wait! Lemme use my Sacred Gear to hold it!”

“It’s not actually hot, Issei.” Though I also had a similar reaction, so I couldn’t blame him for it.

“J-Just humor me?”

Rolling my eyes, I let him summon it to his hand in a flash of light. Frankly, I was curious about it either, seeing as this was my first time witnessing one outside of Asia’s Twilight Healing. If Raynare murdered him over it, at the very least it had to be impressive.

And it was… if you squinted.

It looked like one of those toys you’d see people buy from Walmart for the American-produced Power Ranger shows. Literally, a gleaming, red gauntlet that looked more like something you’d see from a sentai show than a biblical relic created by God. I couldn’t help but stare at it, squinting at the way light gleamed off of its surface.

“Pretty cool, right?” Issei beamed, looking like a child who’d brought their toy to show off to the class.

“Raynare killed you over a Twice Critical?” Mittelt blinked, a look of profound offense coming over her features. “ALL OF THIS, over that?”

The boy had his confidence diminished, at least a little. “Don’t make it sound so bad!”

Glancing between them, I raised a singular eyebrow. “What’s wrong with a Twice Critical?”

Kalawarner was the one who answered, sounding the most officious in that moment. “Well, it’s not an uncommon Sacred Gear. Like Asia’s Twilight Healing, there are usually a few floating around at a time from Heaven’s System. It’s merely not that potent, only serving to double the user’s power for a period of time.”

“Y-Yeah,” Issei admitted. “But the Prez said that you could strain those limits and bend them with time.”

“This is true,” Kalawarner nodded. “But it’s fairly rare, let alone actually achieving Balance Breaker with a Sacred Gear. Pushing past your limits is usually something you’d expect to see from a Longinus.”

Something about that word tickled my brain. “Longinus… I feel like I’ve heard that word before.”

Asia was practically vibrating to talk and couldn’t restrain herself any further. “Oh! It’s the name of the spear that pierced the side of Christ, while he was on the cross.”

I slowly nodded. “That does sound familiar.”

“In this case, it’s a classification for a kind of Sacred Gear. Arguably, the strongest ones that can be put out by Heaven’s System. With those in their hand, a human can reasonably threaten an ultimate-class being.”

Today I was learning all sorts of lore. Originally, I’d believed that there’d been no protections at all for humanity, outside of the weird forbearance of a lot of the supernatural factions. Apparently that wasn’t the case at all. The big G was looking out for us, at least to the point where he’d made such potent weapons passed around to that degree.

“We’re getting a bit off-track here,” Mittelt declared, looking at the two globes of fire in my hands greedily. “Make with the new magic.”

“I’m learning lore!”

“This isn’t Warcraft, you nerd; it’s just ancient history that barely matters.”

“Yet you’re the one who also knows what Warcraft is…” I sighed, shaking my head at her antics. “Hold out your hands while I give this to you two.”

Mittelt was more antsy and excited than Issei, though the boy seemed nervous about the evident fire about to be dropped into his hands. That didn’t stop him from stepping forward, putting his gauntlet-clad hand forth while Mittelt did the same for her own small digits. With some concentration, I set each flame into their palm, trying to focus on making a connection with the two of them.

Enkindling them, as I’d said, was a bit of a process. For Mittelt, she felt strange to my senses, a mixture of light and dark that was almost intermingling in an odd discordance. Pressing the fire against her soft fingers, she didn’t burn, but she did gasp as it connected to her.

“Oh. So that’s how it feels…” She murmured, blinking softly. “It’s warm. I mean, obviously, it’s fire, but it feels like home, weirdly enough?”

“I’ll take your word for it.” I shrugged, concentrating on Issei’s part.

His side of the equation didn’t have any real light to speak of. It was a roiling soul of darkness, not evil, just to make that clear. But whatever eternal bond the two of us were making right now, I could catch a glimpse of whatever had been done to him. Whatever made up the core self of a Devil.

It still managed to connect with the transformed teenager, which was a relief. Settling into the palm of his hand, the fire rested there, and I pulled my hand back. The two of us looked at it, teacher and student alike, with no small amount of wonder and joy. Inside my chest, my Sacred Gear throbbed, something changing once more in that moment.

Things seemed like they were going swimmingly, which was why the instance couldn’t last forever. Before our eyes, I saw the flame in his palm shudder and not quite wink out of existence, so much as the flames were absorbed into his gauntlet. Greedily slurping up, almost, was the best way that I could describe it.

I blinked. He blinked. And then the two of us proceeded to freak out.

“What the heck was that?!”

“Sensei, sensei, what happened?!”

“I don’t know, just…” I swallowed thickly, reaching out to take his hand in my own, turning it over to inspect the warm, almost burning-hot metal. “Just let me inspect it, alright?”

“Is this normal for Twice Criticals?”

Kalawarner was the first to react and speak. “No,” she bluntly stated, shaking her head as her eyebrows furrowed together in confusion. “That’s… not normal at all. Maybe if you’ve got a mutated subspecies, but even then…”

For the most part, the Sacred Gear did look similar to how it did before. But there were some quick changes, almost so rapid that I’d missed them, as if the fire had altered the appearance just slightly. Where his fingers had been bare before, now there was a series of claws that had extended over them. It was something that happened so quickly; my mind was telling me that they must have always been there…

Which wasn’t the case. At all. It had me worrying if I’d done something wrong or screwed up somehow before I turned to Mittelt. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” the blonde shrugged, lifting her hand, with her own personal Pyromancy flame resting there. “Whatever you did, I feel fine.” 

“We’ll have to defer and ask the Devils if they know more.” Admitting when you didn’t know something was a strength, not a weakness. And in this instance, I very much did not know for sure what the hell was going on.

As a teacher, it was my responsibility to own up to that much when it came to the well-being of my students.

“It doesn’t hurt,” Issei assured me. “But it does feel a little weird.”

“The Pyromancy flame is mostly just a focus for the pyromancies that I’ll be teaching you, so theoretically, it should be fine to cast from your Sacred Gear if it really did absorb it.” That was my supposition, anyway, and the little heightened intuition I received from being an Elf felt like it was pushing me toward that idea.

“Then what are we waiting for?” Issei asked, his excitement not really diminished for that long. “Let’s get started.”

“As you wish,” I smiled. “Gather around, and let’s figure out where we can go from here.”

Though as I said that, I was exposed to a more uncomfortable truth as the lesson began in earnest.

Despite how much I was excited to teach magic, I was also coming to learn something no less frustrating from the matter. That was the fact that, despite how easy it was to share, it didn’t mean my knowledge of Pyromancy translated into a proficiency in teaching it. Or rather, teaching this specific topic in general.

Thankfully, I did have a few spells to impart and pass on, and warnings as well. But Issei’s Sacred Gear eating his flame had thrown me for a loop. Or the weird new shape it’d transformed into after the fact. Neither Kalawarner nor Mittelt seemed to recognize it on sight, though, so I doubted it was that unusual.

Sometimes Sacred Gears would just do new things, according to the Fallen. They’d mutate in ways that were more fitting for their wielders. What that meant for Issei, I didn’t have the faintest clue.

What I did know was that trying to impart what using the basic spells was like for me to Issei and Mittelt was easier said than done. The Fallen at least had a basic understanding of spellcraft and a general willingness to push her magical knowledge forward. For an otherwise normal Japanese high school student, this was tougher to contend with.

“No, no,” I corrected, as I saw Issei try and fail to mold the flame in his gauntlet to new heights. “You’re going to want to concentrate and think of… I guess, the concept of heat? Molding it in your head.”

“S-Sorry, sensei,” he apologized. “I’m just not sure if I quite get it.”

“Hmm.” Rubbing at my chin, I took the moment to try and figure out where my instructions were going wrong. “Ah.”

“What?” He asked, looking at my blatant expression of realization. “What is it?”

I was someone with a special capacity for delving into single-minded dedication and focus. It was true of most people, unless you had a literal learning disability, who could get in the zone, so to speak. That didn’t mean it was easy. Were that the case, more people would find it easier to do.

There was a trick to it, and it was that you needed the right stimulation. Without an emotional stimulus, especially, this type of magic was doomed to failure. All I had to do was make Issei hit the right notes, and everything should come after.

Theoretically.

“We’re going to try visualization of what works for you, rather than what works for Mittelt and me.” Because we were relatively normal people, for whatever that meant in the world of the supernatural. “Instead of visualizing heat, pressure, and the shape of a flame, I want you to think about something that naturally goes into your hand.”

I had a pretty good idea of what this kid was going to be thinking about. Closing his eyes, I saw his formerly lackluster focus begin to fade, as his expression turned into one of pure determination. “What I’d like to hold in my hands…”

Subvocalizing again, I don’t think anyone else heard what he was practically chanting, as his mouth moved open and closed repeatedly. To my misfortune, though, I did and had to pretend like I wasn’t hearing anything at all. No matter how spiritually harmful it felt to my soul.

“Boobs… boobs… boobs…”

To Issei’s credit, the change in tactics did genuinely seem to work. Rather than a nebulous flame, what was forming in his gauntlet hand was an actual ball of flame. Almost conspicuously round, even, as his hand flexed and I saw the orb tense in a way that was suspiciously reminiscent of flesh.

… Did this idiot just turn my fireball spell into a boob?

Inner peace, Frederick. Just remember that he’s young and didn’t know entirely what he was doing. It was okay to be wildly immature. He could still grow out of it, I told myself, praying for the first time in a long time that’d be the case.

No matter how he was reaching the actual conclusion, when his eyes opened, they were full of delight. “I did it! I actually managed it, sensei!”

My right eye twitched as the smile on my face was wan and weak. “G-Good job. Now it’s just a matter of letting it go.”

“Letting it go?” He asked, almost stricken at the prospect.

“Well, yeah. You’ve got to throw it at your target.”

He looked at his hand as if this were some large, calamitous decision that he was making in that moment. A sacrifice that was worth noting. Some small, sentimental part of me felt like it ought to die on the spot. However, I did my best to maintain some semblance of bearing as he tossed it and created a suitable explosion of fire.

Not a very large boom, mind you, but one that was pretty basic. Something I learned that Issei’s manifestations of Pyromancy seemed inclined toward, as time passed in the demiplane. Especially when paired with his Twice Critical, which seemed to render the fire that he could create all the more potent. I was briefly worried he might burn down the forest, only for it to gutter out before long.

Did leave a bunch of smoke, though.

Mittelt, on the other hand, had an entirely different expression of how she managed the situation.

“I’m certainly interested in learning for myself,” Kalawarner admitted, giving me a gauging look. “As long as I’m permitted to join the next lesson.”

“Of course!” I wanted more of a sample size to see if what happened to Issei was a one-time thing or not.

“Good. Then I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Asia said her farewells too, sharing some words with Issei that had the boy trying his best to act like a normal human being. I could see him struggling with his perversion, and you know what? I’d give him credit for making the attempt, as they broke apart and Issei left the demiplane alongside Mittelt and me.

“That was… pretty exciting,” he admitted, giving me a nervous smile. “This is the first time I’ve really gone wild with my new powers.”

“Really?”

“Mhm. Prez is trying to get me settled in, but I won’t lie and say it isn’t a little boring.”

“I don’t know enough about Devils to say whether or not that’s a smart move or not,” I admitted. “So I’ll defer to your King on this front. Still up for another session?”

“I sure am! As soon as I share with the Prez what happened with my Sacred Gear. I think she’ll really want to figure that out…”

That got a shrug out of me. “Naturally. If possible, please keep me abreast of anything you learn. I’m genuinely curious as well.”

“Will do!”

There wasn’t much we talked about after that, as the boy made his goodbyes and ran off to at least try to catch some sleep; Mittelt and I walked side by side back to my apartment. Every so often, I’d catch her playing with the flames out of the corner of my eye. There was a genuine delight in her gaze as she watched the flames lick around her fingers, dancing in thin rivulets of molten, glowing light.

Where Issei had more explosive firepower at his disposal, especially when paired with his Sacred Gear, Mittelt leaned toward a finer sort of control over Pyromancy. Something I was curious about was how she’d end up using it in a fight. Especially once she had that fancy, elven blade in her other hand.

“Satisfied?”

“Very,” she admitted, shooting me a warm smile. “I’ve never quite heard of this kind of magic before and didn’t think much of it, but having something that’s so connected to me…”

She gave a happy huff. “I think there’s a lot of potential to push the boundaries with it.”

“I’m almost positive it can do more than merely burn things,” I assured her. “Though the peaks of it might require some creative applications.”

I’d only been deep enough on a passive, wiki-diving level on late-night, bored binges to recollect bits and pieces of what the school of magic was capable of. Burning people alive was obviously one of the ways it could be applied, but weirdly enough, it could be used as poison and acid as well. Along with a few specific ways to buff yourself.

While I had no real grounding for it, I suspected the person in question would have more influence on the resulting spells they created. Rather than innate constraints, I wasn’t sure what the limitations were. But I was happy to see what other people would do it.

With an impish smirk on her lips, a familiar glint of lust appeared in her eyes. “And for something like that, I think you deserve a little reward.”

“Hmm?” I, innocent babe that I was, looked down in curiosity to see her hand patting my thigh. “Oh. Oh!”

“You’re so lucky you’re hot and sweet,” she said, laughing softly. “Because you’re kind of an idiot at times.”

That much, I couldn’t actually deny. Still…

If there was a benefit from all of this chicanery that evening, it was that my Sacred Gear apparently believed that I’d earned new rewards. “Do you mind if anything waits till after I look through what my Sacred Gear gave me? No rituals tonight, I swear!”

“You’re ignoring your cute, beautiful girlfriend to study magic?” Mittelt asked, pressing to my side with a somewhat incredulous look. A mixture of surprise and begrudging respect, I think.

Or not. I couldn’t read women that well yet. “Yes.”

A sigh escaped her. “I’d never thought this before, but I think I understand my mother’s complaints about my dad more…”

“Sorry.”

“There’s no point in apologizing,” she shrugged, as we headed up the steps to my apartment. “I knew exactly what kind of dork I was interested in. Besides, this just means you get to make it up to me later.”

“I can think of a few ways to do that,” I assured her, reaching out to put my hand on her head. Something she both loved and hated, as evidenced by the glare sent my way. She didn’t try that hard to dislodge it, though. “Thanks for being so understanding.”

“Being with a Mage means you’ve got to have a tolerance for them getting obsessed with new, magical knowledge,” the blonde said. “According to my mother, anyway.”

“She sounds like a wise woman.”

“For the most part.”

I did plan to make it up to her in the future. Just, obviously, not right at this moment, as we got settled in for the night.

Once I had changed into a set of comfortable sweatpants, I opened up my Sacred Gear and eagerly looked inside to see what was there. If it was something I could share, I suspected any complaints Mittelt had about the matter would end up vanishing on the spot. As much as she’d gripe about it, she was just as power-hungry as I was after her short captivity.

Even more so, perhaps, seeing as she’d barely been able to put up a fight against Raynare. So in the grand scheme of things, she likely wasn’t all that upset.

As I’d learned fairly early on in this new supernatural layer of the world, power and success washed away a great many sins. Here’s hoping I found something to soothe the lithe beast at my side.

Chapter One: Benevolence

Entry 133: Magical Resilience Thaumic Formula

It is known that the grand total of knowledge in a given culture can be wiped away summarily, with relative ease. The burnings of grand libraries across all of human history attest to that much. Events that became singular instances of what was known, falling into myth, legend, and unscrutinized fact.

Knowledge, and knowing, in a conceptual way, has power independent of the actual contents of that knowledge. Something I’ve labored to adapt to a conceptual, permanent defense that ought to work at all times on the user in question. The more relevant magical power the user possesses, and magical lore, the more they can resist any kind of magical energy.

If there is a downside, it is that you must begin a quest for magical knowledge to truly make the most of this boon. Otherwise, it will only ever serve as a middling reminder of what aspirations you could have picked.

This seemed like kind of a modest reward on the surface. The true value would likely be that it would only grow more useful as time went on. As I grew stronger, but also more knowledgeable. It’d be incredible the first time I could completely and utterly face-tank a blast of magical power without even flinching, or expending anything of my own reserves.

Now I just needed to garner the information. Which meant more books, more exposure to different magical systems, theories, spells, everything. My future was looking increasingly busy, without any sign of rest as I practiced and honed my existing craft. Even at this moment, I was lazily focusing on maintaining and layering my Mana Skin, trying to make it stronger, denser, and more efficient.

Chapter Two: Destruction

Entry 194: Teachings of a Wandering Wastrel

To dedicate yourself to the path of a martial artist isn’t for everyone. I’m under no illusions that it isn’t a road filled to the brim with grueling trials and tribulations. And then, that’s before innate effort can make the entire enterprise worthless when you’re beaten by a kid that’s a natural prodigy.

It stings.

That doesn’t mean it’s wasted in truth, not when I leave my legacy to whoever can incorporate the chi impressions here and now. All of the experience, the hardships, and the lessons I learned. Everything that I poured into it, I pass onto you. This great and terrible burden is yours to carry now. To pass our neigong into the future, to you, my student.

I leave the legacy in your hands. At the end of my life, I find myself willing to believe in the Dao more than ever. That there is something grander in this life. I wish to walk hand in hand with the Black and White Impermanences and sup on Granny Meng’s soup to let these temporal worries fade away.

Goodbye.

This was probably one of the sadder entries that I could get wrapped up in, if I were being honest. Not that I wasn’t going to be incredibly thankful for what was listed here, because it was a lot like the Ashina Arts that I’d picked up days ago. Unlike them, though, this handled hand-to-hand combat.

Seeing as I haven’t even so much as thrown a punch in this new life of mine, I appreciated that. I appreciated it even more when I realized the fact that it also came with some very, very basic handling of chi. Chi, Qi, Ki, and Senjutsu—they were basically all quite similar and generally just different names for the same force.

Being able to actually use it and use it well added something else that I could pass onto people. And unlike Pyromancy, there were only benefits to chi, from the little things I’d read on the subject. So I was keen to see how far I could take it, just based on the little here.

Hell, it looked like I’d be able to teach it far better than I’d ever be able to teach Pyromancy for a while. Ten years of experience in whatever martial art that was being described here was enough for me. Some style by the name of the… Wandering Fist?

The flowery language in some of this eastern stuff always got on my nerves, but I wasn’t going to complain too much if it panned out. All in all, a very productive day for everything but my romantic life.

Though I did intend on changing that soon.

Author’s Notes

Actual magic lessons! It’s taken fourteen chapters, but we’ve actually reached the point in the story where he’s actually… teaching. Gasp! My god! It felt like sometimes we’d never actually reach this point.

I should go back and edit all of the past versions of Kalawarna to Kalawarner. Since apparently that’s more accurate. As for the martial art he’s gonna learn, it’ll be Jeet Kune Do.

Earned Perks

Gain one official personal pupil. (Minor)

Share one magic system. (Minor)

Magic Resilience - The Owl House V1 - The idea that someone can get inside your mind and mess it up is kind of terrifying, to say the least. Even Belos, with all his power and experience, was vulnerable to a spell that had the purpose of transporting people inside his mind. Now you won't suffer from this type of problem, maybe, depending on your magic knowledge and power. The more raw magic power and knowledge you have, the stronger this new passive magic resistance of yours will be. If you don't have magic power, your willpower will be used instead.

Duncan’s Training - Final Fantasy VI - The art of physical violence comes in as many forms in this world as it does in any other. Using your bare fists may be seen as a little old-fashioned in a world with swords and Magitek, but at least this way you’ll be a lot harder to disarm. Whether you trained under the great master Duncan himself or a different martial arts master, there’s no denying you learned the art well. Pick a martial art from our world. You have ten years of experience in practicing a slightly more fantastical version of that martial art, including a small measure of chi control to enhance yourself.