The meeting in the Headmaster's office concluded. As soon as we stepped into the hallway, Negi turned to address us.
"I'm terribly sorry, but I have a mountain of preparations for the school trip to get through," he said, his voice a mix of apology and exhaustion. "I'll have to take my leave here. Thank you for today. Axel-kun, I'm looking forward to working with you on the trip!"
He gave a brisk, polite bow and bolted down the hall. In that instant, I saw Kamo scramble out from the folds of Negi's robes to reclaim his perch on the boy's shoulder. It occurred to me then that the ermine hadn't uttered a single word while we were inside.
...Well, it made sense. Even if he was technically under Negi's employ now, he was still an escaped convict. Even with a permit to serve as a pet or familiar, it wasn't wise to flaunt his presence in front of Konoe, the man who stood at the very top of Mahora's hierarchy.
"Axel, I take it you're free this afternoon?" Evangeline's voice cut through my thoughts. She began marching away without waiting for an answer. "We're heading straight to the villa. It's time I saw how your training is progressing."
Chachamaru gave me a small, silent bow before following in her master's wake.
"Well... I did have some business in her library anyway," I muttered to no one in particular, falling into step behind them.
"…And why, exactly, are you two here?"
Evangeline's voice echoed across the courtyard, laced with blatant irritation. We were standing in the front garden of the castle where she and I had once traded blows. Our group consisted of the usual suspects—Evangeline, Chachamaru, and myself—but we had been joined by Ayaka and Chizuru. Chizuru had spotted me packing my bags in the classroom and promptly summoned Ayaka; somehow, that had spiraled into them accompanying us to the villa. Evangeline was clearly not amused by the extra company.
"To ensure you don't subject Axel-kun to any 'inhumane' treatment, of course," Ayaka declared, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. Beside her, Chizuru nodded with a serene, knowing smile.
"Besides, magic is easier to channel within the boundaries of this villa, isn't it?" Chizuru added, pulling a practice wand from her bag. "It's the perfect place for us to get some training in as well."
Evangeline stared at them for a few seconds, her eyes narrowed in thought. Finally, she let out a long, weary sigh.
"Fine. Just stay out of our way."
The two girls nodded obediently. With the formalities out of the way, I moved to a clear space a short distance away to begin practicing Koku Shundo—the Airborne Instant Movement. Ayaka and Chizuru watched me with curiosity while they fumbled through a beginner's grimoire, attempting a few simple spells of their own.
"Listen well," Evangeline called out. "The first thing you must understand about Koku Shundo is that it is strictly the application of 'Instant Movement' in mid-air. Do you grasp the nuance?"
The meaning of using Shundo in the air? I considered it. Shundo was the technique of concentrating mana or ki into the feet to achieve high-speed displacement. Doing that in the Koku—the void, the air. That meant…
"So, Koku Shundo is essentially a series of leaps," I said. "It's not actual flight."
"Exactly. Your intuition for combat remains sharp," she noted.
"For the record, my test scores are among the best in the year—higher than yours, actually."
"Hmph. That is merely because I lack the motivation to try," she countered with a smirk. "Think about it: I have been playing the part of a student for nearly fifteen years. Even with my frequent truancy, one eventually learns middle-school curriculum through sheer repetition. If I scored too well, I'd stand out, and that leads to complications. I prefer to linger comfortably in the middle of the pack."
...She had a point. Coming from someone who had been stuck in middle school for fifteen years, her words carried a peculiar, heavy sort of weight.
"In any case," she continued, "as you said, Koku Shundo is a method of pseudo-flight—or rather, leaping. It is fundamentally different from my own levitation or the brat's use of a staff. Burn that distinction into your mind. If you recognize the technique for what it truly is, the risk of the 'misfiring' you experienced yesterday will drop significantly."
"Does a shift in perception really make that much of a difference?"
"It does. Now, try it again while keeping what I said in mind."
I nodded, focused my mana into my feet, and leaped. While suspended in mid-air, I coated my soles in energy. I'm not flying, I told myself. I'm jumping off the air itself.
-------------------------
If you enjoy this story, you can read + 70 advanced chapters on Patreon!
Webnovel will keep getting 1 new chapter every day but Patreon readers can stay far ahead.
Maybe it's not a big deal now… maybe it will be later.
[email protected]/Greyhounds
"And If you're enjoying it, drop a Power Stone for me!"