OLD-WORLD EXTRA-Chapter 510: To Be A Worthy Student

The day after the duel, Monday, was just another lesson for Emir.

He strolled into class right on time like nothing out of the ordinary had happened, not even glancing at those still whispering about Arthur's 'surprising' victory.

Emir practically ignored every word that was spoken, and if they thought he'd bring up the duel, they were out of luck, a concept foreign to the very boy they were speaking about.

Rather, he almost seemed out of it altogether, his mind somewhere far from the class.

Only Elijah, Sofia, and Quinn picked up on that, so it wasn't obvious, not even close, but to them, it was quite a noticeable difference.

However, when he stepped behind the podium, the Emir they knew had returned, and he kicked off the lesson with a heavy phrase:

"As a mule is neither donkey nor horse yet has traits of both, so are Ascendants-neither true Celestials nor common men."

Most of the students perked up, unsure what he was getting at, while others just gave each other blank looks.

Emir liked dropping lines like this—-it kept them on their toes, reminded them of what they were, their nature, and what they strove to be.

He was adamant about them remembering where they started, about revisiting the core of their still-building foundation.

His students were a people halfway between worlds, a confusing phase that likely kept many Celestials beneath its shades, unable to adapt, to proceed.

"Now... a simple way for you to understand the difference is..."

Quietly, Emir pulled out many small objects from his pockets, and all looked the same.

They were coins, more specifically, Valora coins, each one worth a billion UC.

At that moment, he was literally holding an amount of wealth so enormous, it could cripple an entire section for a day if lost.

The students weren't surprised by the amount, at least not most of them, as the 'impure' were not familiar with such lavishness.

While the Elite might not seem like it when in front of Emir, they were special and they too had seen astronomical amounts of UC in their lives.

So, instead of staring at him in surprise, they saw it as something natural, expected, and focused on his actions, curious.

"...this."

Emir slowly touched each coin, and, using his first aspect, Weaver's Veil, he infused an almost invisible pulse of Aether into them.

Now, that sight was what finally surprised the students.

The way he did it was simple, as if it was a mundane task that required zero focus, but that was exactly why they had reacted that way.

Not even the strongest Spell Weavers in the Academy, Judas, and Judal, had shown a similar level of skill in detailed control.

Emir proved to them that they had still underestimated him, once again.

Though, unlike how they would've reacted before, they were relatively calm, as if subconsciously expecting it to happen, a contradiction that confused none of them. "Now, here's the deal."

Once they were all shimmering faintly with his Aether, he threw them out across the classroom and had them land on each of their desks.

"I need all of you to try to imbue your own Aether into it. Take control of it. Use whatever method you like, but take control. Don't worry about me losing my hold, go all out- I can keep my Aether in these from here..."

He flicked a casual finger in their direction and they felt a wave of Aether flicker in the coins, smacking them in the face as if it were a gust of wind.

"Even if most Celestials couldn't."

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This time, silence was the only response.

The students were utterly speechless, no exceptions.

Whatever they had previously expected, this went way beyond that.

The fact that Emir, a specialist in an unforged path, had more control than any Spell Weaver they knew, yes, any, even the four Elite family heads, was too much to process.

It was a borderline obsession, and though they didn't know of his seventh ability, Author's Strings, they'd still be relatively correct in thinking that such a level of Aether Control wasn't needed.

At least not on the rank of Seraphim, if he was an Archon like the six, it would've been not as, well... speechless inducing.

Once a few seconds had gone past, most of the students glanced at each other, uncertain of how to go about it.

But then, seeing Sofia go first, they quickly copied what she did.

The same happened to those around Elijah, Aria, and surprisingly to no one, especially after yesterday, Arthur.

They hesitatingly touched the coins on their desks while slowly circulating the Aether within them, and allowed much of it to extend into them.

At first, they met extreme resistance, unable to even penetrate the first barrier, unable to stuff even a minute amount of their Aether, but then, after at least a minute of trying, most students crossed that barrier.

Things didn't get easier after that though, and if Sofia's scrunched-up face was any

indication, it was way harder.

Immediately, every student that crossed the barrier, except her and Elijah, were ejected, their

hands springing off the coins.

It was like they had played tug-of-war with invisible ropes, only this time the ropes were pulsing with Aether that was barely theirs, and mostly Emir's.

There seemingly was no chance for them to win, pull Emir off the platform, take control.

Though it appeared that those two might've had a chance.

The whole class nervously watched them, trying to see who'd lose control first.

"Gah!"

And, surprising no one, it was Elijah.

His hand blasted off the coin as his chair was sent back.

The same happened to Sofia a moment later, however.

She had managed to keep her mouth shut, enduring the backlash.

That was when Emir raised his hand, taking the attention of everyone in the class.

"Defending is easier than attacking. Especially when you're lower-ranked."

He gestured for them to continue, wanting to explain things to them while they worked.

They did exactly that, and he watched as a few students, mainly the 'named' seven, finally started to settle into the flow, penetrating the barrier in half the time as last time, their Aether stabilizing in little flickers.

They were starting to feel like they had control, at least some semblance of it-that was, until Emir 'pulled' a bit harder, completely overpowering the thin layer of Aether they'd managed

to put into it.

The coins were practically lit up with his Aether, erasing all traces of the student's Aether as if

it had never been there.

Clicking their tongues, and sucking in their breaths, the frustrated seven slowly began to

realize the point he was making.

"But..."

Emir leaned back, continuing with a smirk:

"If the difference in rank is like this-then it wouldn't matter. It'd just be one-way violence."

His tone was casual, almost too casual, and the students shifted uncomfortably, the weight of

his words sinking in.

'Don't fight above your rank, at least not in any straightforward manner.'

That was the sentence that he was going to instill into them today, make sure that they could

not only see but also feel the difference in their ranks, and understand exactly why they must resort to trickery when against any such opponent.

To some, it was a direct comment on the way they dealt with the priests two months ago, and

to others, it was a warning not to match those special and fight any such priests in the first

place, to know their place in the world.

Their prolonged lives would thank them for it.

"Alright, enough about that. Do continue."

With that, the students resumed the fight, and for the rest of the lesson, each of them became

a little more aware of just how far they had to go to reach Emir's level.

That distance seemed impossible, but, only Arthur was triggered by that, the rest were completely fine with it, long since accepting Emir as someone just better than them. They didn't give up though, they were diligent, most of them managing to keep some control

even after Emir 'pulled' a little, though not enough to even near his full power.

Little victories, sure, but he let them have those without comment.

And as they wrapped up, Emir pulled back the Aether he'd left lingering on the coins and looked at Elijah, Junior, and Quinn, silently asking them to collect them.

Nodding their heads, they quickly stood up, and, without talking, picked a row, picking up

each of the coins.

While they did that, Emir gestured at the holoscreen, which lit up, displaying a date.

"One last thing... Midterms are here. Tomorrow. And I don't care if you think you're ready- you're not. My test will be open-book, and you know what that means."

He let that hang in the air for a moment, watching as the students glanced at each other with

worried faces.

"Obviously, we don't have time for revision, and it's not like it's needed, but here's a tip, something to get you in the right mindset."

All of them leaned in, eager for any edge they could get.

Emir glanced at them, assessing, before he gave them his final words of advice: "Path Optimization. Work on it. Whatever personal method you think is working, learn it, understand it, see what's wrong with it, trim the fat. Cut out every wasted attempt, and refine

every stray attempt that barely brings you close to your goal. Focus on your strengths and take

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them as far as you can go."

With that, he waved them off, picked up the coins that were left on his desk, made them

disappear on contact, and left the classroom.

Whatever they thought they knew wouldn't be enough.

The midterms would soon show them just how much more training they needed to undergo to

be sufficient at Path Optimization.

To be worthy of being his student.