"It's about time I start giving pointers to the other two." ~Shallies Mythernal

"A one-on-one?"

Shallies nodded at Tayin's question. Levitating above her hand was a small box, which she presented to her three students. She was using some fancy mana-control to shuffle the contents within.

"Inside are just small pieces of paper. One has a circle on it, while two have squares. Whoever draws the circle will be my sparring partner, and the squares will pair with each other. Pick one, but you'll all open them at the same time."

Immediately, the three were tense.

"I'm not going to bite," Shallies said. "I'm your teacher, not your bully."

Easily convinced, each of her students took a piece of paper each. With her signal, they opened them as one. Tayin's eyes widened, while Grace and Ren looked at each other.

"Looks like you're with me, Tayin."

Shallies directed the other two to start their sparring in the other training room. Since Valor'el could access the piloting system of the Cloud Castle through his System Console, he could serve as their proctor, even while navigating the skies.

"Wait, wait, wait," Tayin started, struggling to keep her voice steady as she was left alone by her partymates. She wasn't shaking, nor sweating, but there was a knowing look in her eyes. "This isn't just a normal sparring session, is it?"

"I'm going to bully you and torture you until you give up on being an adventurer," Shallies said with a straight face.

The halfling didn't buy it. "Now you're just pulling my leg."

"Well, jokes are half-meant." Shallies shrug.

"Wait, what?"

"Instead of sparring, I'll be teaching you how to use twin-casting, like I told you before," Shallies said, ignoring the halfling's question. "Usually, Spellcaster Class holders would just rely on a piece of equipment with a Twin-Casting enchantment in it, or taking a Passive Skill. But knowing the incantations will help with your foundations, and should be able to help you out in the meantime."

"Oh, thank Ysvil," Tayin said, taking deep sigh. "I thought it was going to be something ridiculous."

"Like what?"

"Heck, I don't know." The halfling shrugged. "One of those training sessions we did back then. Like, trying to land a hit on you, but this time, I'm alone."

Shallies considered it. "Maybe once you've moved both Classes into Advanced tier."

"Wait! Will we actually be able to hit you, then?"

"Nope." Shallies lightly shook her head while smiling jokingly. "But you could get lucky."

"Did… Did Valor'el get a hit in? Did any of your students?"

"Of course," Shallies admitted.

"But you weren't taking them seriously, right?"

"In what sense?"

"You're not using all your abilities as a Godkiller."

"Obviously." Shallies summoned two chairs from the side of the wall using mana-control and sat on one of them. "They're not meant to be used against people. They're not even meant for killing monsters. Their only use is for killing gods. Now, whether that means I'm not taking my students' sparring sessions seriously or not, depends on your perspective. But, then again, we're not doing that today."

Satisfied, Tayin sat down on the second chair. For now, this lesson was for hers alone.

"As I've said before, twin-casting can be acquired either through an equipment enchantment, by taking the Twin-Casting Skill specifically, or by utilizing an incantation. They have their own pros and cons.

"Enchantments depend on the quality and rarity of the material used in them. Depending on how you see it, getting a powerful one could be pretty luck-reliant. However, it frees up a Skill Point until you really need to upgrade your gear. If you choose to take the Twin-Casting Skill instead, while you do spend a Skill Point, you can eventually increase its Skill Proficiency through constant practice. Depending on how hard you work on it, it could be stronger than a Rare quality equipment, or even a Legendary one."

"I'm guessing the incantation is the middle-ground?" Tayin asked.

"Mmm… Not really. It's more of like a backup. See, it doesn't cost any materials and it doesn't cost any Skill Points either. What it does cost is a lot of mana. The quality of the enchantment and the Skill Proficiency both reduce that mana cost."

"Oh, because as an incantation, it doesn't have a Skill Proficiency involved," the halfling concluded.

"Correct. But…" Shallies lead on, gesturing for Tayin to continue.

It took her a moment.

"Because I have Mana Multiplier on Expert Proficiency, I can shoulder that extra mana cost?"

"Correct again, good job."

[Congrats, Tayin! You've earned some Good Job Experience Points. And yep, I'm monitoring you guys from the tavern. It's pretty quiet here, as long as Phey'lan's ignoring me.]

Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.

"Technically, because the Spells you cast don't cost that much mana in the first place, twin-casting essentially won't cost you that much either. It's just double the amount, when using an invocation."

"That sounds pretty absurd…" Tayin said. "Why have I not heard of more people using this strategy?"

Shallies shrugged. "Very few mentors choose Mana Multiplier for their students, I suppose? Or they just choose to have their mentees inherit the Twin-Casting Skill straightaway."

"Oh…"

"In any case, I want you to choose two projectile Spells that you like. Then I can tell you the incantations for each one how to twin-cast them."

Tayin blinked. "Wait, there are different incantations for each Spell?"

Shallies wiggled her eyebrows once.

The halfling raised one instead. "Was that a yes?"

"Yeppers."

Grace was surprised at how friendly Chippy was. With just a little nudge, the phoenix chick understood and perched on Valor'el's shoulder without protest.

After this, she realized he hadn't been scared or afraid, or even mildly cautious of anyone. The moment he and Apple met, they were instantly best buddies.

"Are all phoenixes this friendly?"

"It's a common trait among the rarest of creatures," Valor'el replied. "Back in the day, more likely than not, a phoenix could be captured simply by offering it food in an obvious cage. The concept of traps doesn't exist for them.

"Though, there were a few, exceptionally few who were cognizant enough not just to be wary of even the most complex of traps, but also capable of integrating with the System. They became the legendary phoenix-ferim."

"Became?" Grace repeated, catching on the past tense.

"There hasn't been one in centuries. An integrating phoenix-ferim, a dragonoid, even a krakenite, or a unicorn-ferim is so incredibly rare that it would instantly alert Lady Shallies whenever one manifests."

"Does that mean she favors them?" Ren asked. He was checking his gear, preparing his practice sword and shield. "If Chippy becomes a phoenix-ferim, will she instantly make him her student?"

Grace entertained the question while preparing her own gear, setting her Mana-Edge +3 into its unharmful setting. Valor'el didn't give her the time to ponder.

"Not really, no," he said. "Those legendarily rare manifestations are usually a reincarnated god, their avatar, or even their messenger. They most likely wouldn't become her student, but she'd keep a keen eye on them, for sure."

From his Class Inventory, Valor'el retrieved two bright blue potions. He gave Grace and Ren one each.

"This is a Hardskin Potion."

"Does it make our skin hard?" Grace asked. She didn't want to drink it, if it did.

"No, nothing that weird." Valor'el retrieved another of the potions and drank its contents. Then he squished part of his skin to show that it remained its normal composition. "It'll prevent minor wounds and scratches for thirty minutes, however. I thought it would be a good extra precaution in case your sparring gets heated."

Knowing that, Grace and Ren took their potions.

"Good," said the seraph. "Whenever you're ready, you may begin."

Grace took her stance, putting both hands on her Mana-Edge +3 and bringing it close to her face. With a set of quick incantations, she activated her Haste and Manaweave: Mana-Affinity.

In response, Ren raised his shield and cast Mana Infusion on it. The two understood not to add any improving Skills on their weapons. It would defeat the purpose of their training in the first place.

Grace knew the Shield Knight's style. If he had already gotten his target's attention, he would more often than not stay rooted and defend, utilizing his incredible defenses to analyze his enemy. So when he dashed with Shield Charge, it caught her by surprise.

Of course, he doesn't need to analyze me!

The half-orc controlled her panic, shifting her Mana-Edge +3 in front of her midsection while putting her right foot backward as an anchor. Haste allowed her to catch up. She pointed with the tip of her Mana-Edge the moment he got close.

Ren shoved it away with his shield while raising his own sword to counter.

Grace couldn't stop her hands from reeling on time. The Shield Knight got his timing right, down to the last millisecond. But it was only right when assuming she would fight against the pushback.

Instead, the half-orc rode the momentum of her arms, flipping to the side. As she dodged Ren's strike, she sent a rotating kick aimed at his face. The Shield Knight ducked away.

Just like that, their first engagement came at a draw.

Grace took a deep breath, analyzing what just happened. She couldn't stay on the defensive. Doing so would just always put her on the back foot. She expected Ren to keep pushing his advantage, but instead, this time, he simply stood there.

He tapped his shield with his practice sword. "Your turn."

Taunt.

The half-orc could feel it. His words were laced with such obnoxiousness that he seemed like a totally different person altogether. One that Grace would happily punch in the face.

Whether she was falling for it or not, the half-orc realized that she had to attack anyway. She leaned forward and dashed, Haste carrying her instantly into striking range with a single step.

Rather than attack, however, Grace feinted, and then stepped to the side.

She jumped and thrusted with her Mana-Edge +3, aiming for Ren's shoulder. To her surprise, he was already looking at her attack.

Mana-Edge met mana-reinforced shield, causing sparks to fill the air all around them. Grace didn't relent. She unleashed a combo of feints, dashes, and strikes, trying to get a hit in.

The Shield Knight played his role perfectly, ignoring every feint, following every dash, and deflecting every strike.

Grace stopped to catch her breath. The moment she did, a wooden blade flashed out of nowhere and struck her on the shoulder. She blinked, realizing a second later that Ren had already withdrawn back behind his shield.

"Hit," Valor'el announced. Chippy was chirping aggressively at Ren. "Point for Ren. We end at five points."

"Drats!" Grace cursed. "You caught me there."

"You fell for my Taunt," Ren said.

"It was pretty convincing, yeah."

The half-orc returned to form, this time using the initial stance she had wanted to use the first time. Not waiting for Ren to Shield Charge again, she made her move.

This time, Grace abandoned the use of feints and dashes, bringing her Mana-Edge down on Ren as fast as she could. Whether it got blocked, or dodged, it didn't matter. She kept attacking.

The Shield Knight, realizing the attacks wouldn't stop soon, tried to retaliate. Grace had been aiming for that moment.

Sword Dance activated, projecting a defensive mana-blade to Parry Ren's attack. At the same time, she made her own slash, driving her Mana-Edge across the Shield Knight's arm, but leaving him unharmed.

"Hit," Valor'el announced. This time, Chippy was hopping with joy. "One all."

"Good hit," Ren said. "That caught me off-guard."

"Thanks," Grace said, resuming her stance. "I'll get the next point, too."

"I wouldn't count on it."

While Tayin practiced twin-casting Shooting Star and Flame Lance, Shallies busied herself in the kitchen with preparing dinner. At the same time, she was browsing the Adventurer's Guild Database for a dungeon quest that was some distance away from Cinterbrim Town and Stoneglow City.

Like Stachie said, they couldn't travel beyond El'doron Kingdom for an isolated Dungeon. They didn't have the time nor the speed to get back, in case something happened with the Same-Plane Rift.

It wasn't difficult to find one, however.

"Rullzia Town, huh…" Shallies smiled. "They'll be in for quite a shock."

She sent the information over to Valor'el, while she sent a message to the town's Guildmaster to reserve the quest for them. Immediately, she got a reply for the usual three-day grace period to allow for travel time.

"We'll be there in an hour," Valor'el replied through the System Console. "I can speed up, if you want."

"No need," Shallies said. "How's the sparring over there?"

"Three-two, in Ren's favor… Four-two now. I'm giving them a five minute break."

Shallies said nothing of it. "I'll have dinner ready in an hour. We can eat first before going down to Rullzia. Don't tell them anything about it, except that it's another seclusion, if they ask."

"Not a problem."

Shallies went back to work, hearing the occasional clashes from the sparring room, and the rare celebratory yells from the training room.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.