Tista had gone with them as well to practice her bat skills against the Phoenixes of the Nest and better understand the bloodline abilities of her Phoenix heritage.
Quylla had a great time teaching the basics of magic to the newly Awakened Verhens. She was a professor at heart, which made her an excellent but strict teacher.
"Cast magic until you have no mana, and then run until you have no breath." She said. "Only once your bodies and cores reach their limit are you allowed to have a short break and a snack.
"Remember to always heal your sore muscles with light magic before using Invigoration, or you'll hinder your body refinement."
"Is it me, or is this torture?" Senton asked, wheezing like a bellows.
"Torture? I'm not giving you one ounce of the tough love I received at the academy." Quylla replied. "As you are, you'd flunk all the first year's subjects."
"Quylla, dear, this is not an academy, and we do not have the vigor of a fifteen-year-old." Elina said amid pants. "Can't we take it a little easier?"
"If that's what you want." Quylla sighed. "Remember your words the next time an Awakened es for Surin, though."
She handed the baby girl to Elina, making her turn pale.
"Mama!" Surin pulled at Elina's clothes. "Num num. Num num!"
Elina froze in place, having flashbacks of the day of the assault. The baby girl seemed to disappear from her arms, but the warmth and weight Elina felt reassured her it was all in her head.
"I'll take five to feed Surin and go straight back to training." Suddenly Elina wasn't tired anymore.
She was too scared of losing her baby girl again to feel anything at all.
"That was a low blow." Rena panted, yet renewed determination lit her eyes.
"It doesn't make my words any less true, though." Quylla replied. "Lith won't always be here to protect you, and there will always be someone crazy or desperate enough to take a shot at you or your kids, Rena.
"You asked me to teach you because you wanted to be able to protect your families. If you have changed your mind, you can quit anytime."
Senton and Raaz gritted their teeth in frustration. Their armor boosted their physical prowess, but so did the equipment any Awakened who might attack them possessed. Vastor's potions greatly amplified their magical abilities, but they were still weak.
Raaz couldn't forget how easily the Awakened woman had avoided his attacks once he had lost the surprise effect. He was an Awakened now, but he doubted things would go any differently if they had a rematch.
'At least Raaz got to throw a few punches.' Senton felt even worse. 'The best I could do was resist the Awakened's aura of fear and shield my baby girl like a sack of potatoes. Leria is my daughter, yet she protected me.'
As for Rena, she just needed to turn her head to listen to Lenart's happy laughter as he played with Myrdin to reignite her will to fight.
'My baby boy has already lost his innocence because of those bastards.' She thought. 'I won't allow anyone to touch any of them ever again!'
Kamila, Jirni, and Selia, instead, followed Orion's lessons about advanced magic and sparred with each other to put what they had just learned to the test.
Jirni was glad to have revealed her Awakened status because now she had sparring partners at her core development's level. Kamila and Selia were both taller and heavier than her, which made up for the gap in their bat skills.
Up to a point, of course.
Selia had no formal training against other humans, and Kamila only knew the fighting techniques Jirni had taught her. The Archon usually had the two women fight together against her to teach them teamwork and be more of a challenge.
"I'm pretty sure you're older than me, Jirni." Healing magic took care of Selia's bruises, but it could do nothing for her ego. "How can you smack us around like dirty rags?"
"I've learned how to fight when you still plained about not wanting to eat your greens, Selia." Jirni replied. "Also, you are a hunter, not a warrior. You are used to preying on someone who doesn't fight back."
"You know, I'm proud of my job, but when you put it like that, you make me feel like a coward."
"That wasn't my intention." Jirni raised her hands in apology. "I simply meant that my bat experience gives me a great advantage over you and that your skillset is ill-suited for direct bat."
'An assassin is just a hunter of humans, child, and your light steps and habit of always going for my vitals make you a good substitute for an assassin.' She actually thought. 'Selia is nothing pared to a Gernoff, but they would never send a green core to kill me.
'On top of that, I'd use Full Guard against a Gernoff, whereas with Selia I can afford to fight without support spells, honing my reaction speed and battle instinct.'
Jirni took care of beating her sparring partners hard enough to temper their bodies without hurting them too much. Selia and Kamila only needed a tier one healing spell to get back on their feet, yet their fighting spirit was a different story.
After one beating too many, they excused themselves and left Jirni to her studies. Kamila taught Selia Dimensional Magic to the best of her abilities, helping the huntress plete the Pilfer exercise.
Much to their surprise, Friya attended the lessons as well, and took more notes than Selia.
"If this is a joke, it's not funny." Kamila said. "You're the only dimensional mage of your generation, and even Tezka recognized your talent. There's nothing you can learn from me."
"I wish you were right." Friya sighed.
"I beg your pardon?" Kamila frowned in annoyance.
"I'm sorry. That came out wrong." Friya replied. "Take my hand. It's easier if I show you."
A quick mind link shared the Suneater's lesson about the history of dimensional magic with the two women.
"I have a lot to learn from you just like Tezka did from his apprentices." Friya said. "Your limited talent for dimensional magic forced you to reach a deep understanding of details that I can barely notice because they seem obvious to me.
"It's the reason you can teach dimensional magic to Selia while everything I say sounds like gibberish to her."
"So, in your version of the story, you are Tezka, I'm a third-rate Fylgja, and Selia is the village idiot?" Kamila's eyes narrowed. "Someone sure is full of herself."
"That's not what I meant!" Friya blushed in embarrassment.
"Yet that's sure how it sounded." Selia snorted. "Please ignore the rich kid and resume your explanation, Kami. Maybe, if the village idiot manages to Blink, we can get our first victory on Jirni."
"Pilfer is just the second of many exercises you need to learn Warp Steps, Selia." Kamila replied. "Blink es after that."
"Let a woman dream, sister!"
***
"What in Grandfather's name did I miss?" A figure holding a golden token in his hand emerged from the Warp Gate of the Mansion. "I wasn't gone for that long, yet a lot seems to have changed."
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