"... And that's why they're here..." I finished explaining to Fran, Theo, and Cecil why Kaida's group joined us on training up Atro.
Cecil laughed.
"That's great, Mr. Alen! I always love to train with more people"
Cecil formed a group with Tirino and Cole, where they began to talk about how they'll train today.
"Sure man... they can train with us if they want" Theo sighed as he began to talk with Atro about the routine he'll have to follow today.
"..."
Fran had her arms crossed and a frown on her face as she looked at me, clearly not pleased that other people joined in, especially Kaida.
"I-I kno-"
"What is she doing that close to you?"
Fran asked with that cold tone she had never used on me before.
She pointed at Silva Traltrae, who was still clinging to my shirt.
"Sh-she is a bit scared..." I said.
"I'll give her a real reason to be scared" Fran took a step to approach me.
"Th-that's not something you should say right no-"
"She either releases you right now, or she doesn't and faces the consequences"
Silva just hid behind my back.
"Not only do you bring that sinner here, but also this girl who's..." she couldn't finish her sentence. Her cheeks became red as she just huffed and turned around.
"If she's still like that with you after the training. I will make her regret ever following you, got it?"
"Yea..."
I'm honestly kore surprised by the fact that Silva became Fran's top hating priority instead of Kaida.
A blushed and flustered Kaida was being teased by Yani on the sides while they looked at me being in the middle of Fran and Silva.
"Let's start the training!" Cecil called out loudly.
He ordered the others to sir on the ground while us in the S class tell them what to do.
Kaida's group, Atro, and Silva sat on the ground of the arena and looked at us with expectations.
I don't blame then, they're about to be trained by the students who are on top of the rankings for the first years.
"..."
"..."
"..."
"..."
Huh? Is no one going to say anything?
I glanced around and saw everyone looking at me.
"Wh-what?"
"Aren't you going to teach us, Alen?" Cole asked.
"What do you mean? They also have to teach and train you" I pointed at my classmates.
"We were hoping that you'd teach them" Cecil said with his usual calm demeanor.
"N-no... all three of us have to-"
"But we're here to learn how to duel better... and you're the perfect choice" Atro said as he looked at me through his bangs.
I could only just sigh at this situation.
Not only do I have no idea how to train them, but I also have no idea why they have those kinds of expectations on me.
Actually, I do know how to train them, or at least most of them.
With the exception of Silva and Fran, the others are all characters in the game. So I should know a thing or two about them.
But the game doesn't coincide a hundred percent with reality.
That leaves me with... what I've been personally training and doing these last days.
I clear my throat and think my next words carefully.
"Right now, I'll only teach you about the main thing I do when fighting against someone..."
"Chaining spells. That's what I mostly focus on, the potential synergy of two or more spells to create an interaction that gives me an advantage"
They all looked at me with weird expressions.
"That's something only you and director Goldenlaw can do, though. We can't cast spells without incantations like you two" Yani was the first one to talk.
"Yes... and no..."
I can't reveal to them that my incantationless casting is fake.
"Spell chains are still possible for all of you. The only difference is that they'll have to be slower"
"And you have an advantage I don't have... multiple affinities. I only have a simple affinity to wind, so I can only search interactions between spells of a single element"
I start snapping my fingers, trying to think of an example.
A slow spell that goes first and a second spell that could react with it.
"For example... electro charged terrain... and fire pillars..."
"Those are both third and fourth tier spells, respectively. We can't use them" Theo said.
"Right..."
"What about... scorching path to leave a trail of fire behind you? Could you cast fire attacks from them? What about casting water current from them? Could a geyser-like effect be caused?"
Being locked to a simple element made me not take into account the endless possibilities of spells that could work with others.
"What about sparky step? It charges your feet with electricity, making you faster... and then you could cast wind current in an opposite direction to make an electric current flow towards the opponent... and then casting a fire spell to make it explo-"
"Oh... sorry... I kinda lost track and... you know"
"N-no... it's okay, Alen" Theo said.
"I... I could try one of those... spell chains... ?" Kaida said as she raised her hand "It sounds... fun to search for the perfect combination of spells"
"No. I'll be trying spell combinations with Alen... you don't get to train with him, sinner" Fran said, getting in between Kaida and me.
"I also want to learn those spell chains" Yani raised her hand.
"It's supposed to be only my training" Atro whispered to himself as he lowered his head.
"I don't really care about those things, so I'd rather train my body" Tirino said, followed by a silent nod of approval from Cecil.
"Atro, what you need right now isn't spell knowledge or training. Right now, you need to train your body to be able to last a full duel without getting exhausted in the first five minutes of the fight"
Theo was thinking about the task the S class students had.
"Go and train with Cecil, Tirino, and Cole"
"But I also wanted to learn spell chains" Cole said while looking at the group that formed around me.
"Then the physical training team for today will be just you three" Theo pointed at Cecil, Tirino, and Atro.
Cecil had a disappointed expression on his face. Out of all the present to train today, he was relegated to train with only two others.
As for me...
Fran got in front of me as if shielding me from the other girls that were on our side of the training plan.
"As long as you keep your distances, I'll allow you to hear what Alen's going to teach me"
"This is going to be a long day..."
I couldn't agree more with what Theo said.
"Let's start by dividing ourselves into groups" I said.
"I'll be in your group" Fran crossed her arms and looked at me with serious, sharp eyes.
"Kaida'll also be in your group. She was the first one to join you" Yani said with a wide smile, making her friend blush.
"No, I'm not going to be part of a team... you'll form teams, and I'll help every group to create a nice spell chain"
Everyone became silent and looked at me with weird expressions.
"I am part of your group" Fran frowned as she looked at me.
"Y-yea... okay...." I ended up agreeing, knowing that arguing will be a losing battle.
...
The groups were:
Theo and Silva, who tried looking for a supportive spell chain that involved the light and nature affinities.
Yani and Kaida, who searched for an offensive lightning and wind spell chain.
I had to be part of two teams, one with Cole, where we searched for a defensive wind and rock combo. And with Fran, we went for a supportive wind and ice combo.
"What's the progress here, Theo?" I asked as I sat down.
"We did what you suggested us, chain the flare and energy store spells" Theo explained.
"I honestly thought they were mostly useless spells, but the possible interaction is interesting to think about"
Energy store is a plant affinity spell that does exactly what the name suggests to power up the next spell. The only condition is that the spell can only store energy from light sources.
Flare is a light spell that casts a blinding light, perfect to charge the other spell at max.
"We did find a couple spell that could work really well as a follow-up."
"Really? What spell?"
"Energy store makes the next plant spell stronger, so we wanted to see how it affects the healing spells or the binding ones"
Plant magic is one of the only three elements that have healing spells.
The stronger vines, thanks to the energy store, could cause a better grip.
"Nice, now you'll have to actually try it. You could try it on Cecil or one of the other two guys" I patted Theo's back and smiled at Silva. Both of them smiled back at me and nodded.
"Hey Alen, this is really interesting to learn"