Chapter 2:6 - Tutoring

Saturday morning, Kevin woke at dawn to prepare for another of Elder Fischer’s early morning classes. After removing the charged flag from his Energy Interface Formation, he replaced it with a new one and then left for a last round of lobbing practice. 

He’d expected the Formation Courtyard to be empty when he arrived an hour early. Instead, there were two other figures already practicing. While they were spread far apart, he still recognized them as fellow FORM-115 students.

If he wasn’t mistaken, they were the second and third fastest to complete their formations in the last class. Perhaps they were intent on keeping their positions or simply more dedicated than the others.

Of Karlene, the fastest disciple, there was no sign. Then again, she’d had such a lead she might have felt no need for it. 

Other students or not, Kevin’s plans hadn’t changed. Finding a spot far from the others, he began practicing his technique. Over the past week, he’d seen significant improvements, and his flags landed where he aimed more often than not.

For a moment, he considered pulling out the flag straightening technique Fischer provided during the previous class. However, he decided against it after further thought.

His week had been so packed that he hadn’t read the manual yet, so there was little chance of him getting far with it at the last moment. The core lobbing technique had seemed the more important use of his time, and he hadn’t changed his mind.

Instead, he continued his regular practice until the last moment. Even a little more proficiency might be enough to push him forward or at least offset the improvements the other two were making.

Kevin was so engrossed in practice he would have missed the start of the lesson if not for the alarm on his pocket watch. As it was, he managed to sprint to the other students moments before Fischer arrived in a flash of Qi and momentum.

“You might have noticed that there are only five of you here,” the elder began, ignoring any social nicety. “Mr. Harris has decided to drop out of this class, leaving us with five members.”

Kevin blinked; he hadn’t realized they were missing someone in his rush to arrive. Looking around, he realized that Harris was the disciple who had the most difficulty with the lobbing technique in their first practical.

The man had still shown up for the theory lesson, so something had to have happened since then. Perhaps he’d had no luck improving, so he gave up before being embarrassed again.

“This is to your advantage,” Fischer continued, showing a distinct lack of concern about her missing student. “While Harris may have provided you almost no challenge, he still took up a measure of my valuable time.”

“With him gone, I can spend additional time teaching each of you. Today, we have the same formations as last week.”

“Line up and show me how much you’ve improved.”

The class hurried to obey the elder’s declaration, Kevin included. It was time to see if all his practice during the last week had paid off.

They spent almost the entire lesson lobbing flags, a test of endurance that Kevin barely made it through. As Fischer said, the first half was spent seeing how far they’d come.

There was a significant improvement across the board. Despite this, Kevin felt he'd edge out the others in improving the most. This time, he was the third fastest at completing his formations, jumping the previous third in speed.

It was one step closer to the top and to the promised five hundred merit at the mid-season lobbing competition. He was still a long way behind Karlene, but the draw of that prize kept pushing him forward.

He might overtake her in time if he continued improving at this rate.

During the second half of the lesson, Fischer increased the difficulty again. She placed a circular stone platform for each student and forbade them from leaving it during their throwing.

This required them to throw at an angle to reach the correct flag positions, which needed a new set of considerations. It was an intense step up from throwing in a straight line, and even Karlene struggled.

While Fischer’s guidance helped, Kevin could still see even more practice being required over the coming weeks.

The only break he got was that the elder didn’t even ask about the techniques she’d handed out. While that was a boon since he’d lacked the time to learn it, Kevin couldn’t help but worry it was a trap.

Perhaps she was waiting to spring it on them in a few weeks or even at the lobbing competition. That seemed like a thing Fischer would do. He’d have to find the time to learn it as soon as possible.

That time was not today, however. After class, Kevin jogged back to his dorm and pulled out his formation crafting supplies. 

Time was running out to finish the remaining three formations for FORM-101, and he needed to put every spare moment in if he still wanted to keep up his other commitments that weekend.

Here, the Twisted Script style showed its worth. It felt like he was improving his speed with every hour his brush jumped around following the technique’s strange steps.

Kevin surprised himself by finishing ten flags in the four hours between the end of FORM-115 and his tutoring session with Amelia. That was over half the remaining work and a massive step toward finishing in time.

This included all six flags for the Energy Pulse formation, which sent out pre-programmed bursts of Qi. While almost useless on its own, the Energy Pulse could be used to control other formations.

It was possible to do this by nesting flags, but it was far more common to use it as a component in a more complicated design. As with the others Kevin had been learning, it was a building block towards more advanced work.

At this rate, he would finish the last formation that evening. If so, he could dedicate Sunday to cultivation, something he’d done little of during the week.

He was close to the fifth-grade breakthrough; a full day might be enough to push him over the edge.

For now, however, it was time for his Qi Shielding tutoring with Amelia.

Amelia sat with closed eyes, reviewing every memory she’d stored about Qi Shielding. 

The previous week, tutoring Kevin seemed like the perfect opportunity to balance the scales after his cultivation assistance. Now, it was difficult to still her nerves.

It was not a feeling she was fond of. Apart from cultivation, there were few things in her life that she worried about so much. 

Learning new techniques was easy. Becoming the top in all her classes to attract an elder’s attention was simple enough. Mustering enough merit to enter the inner sect was challenging but still something she was confident about.

This tutoring session should have been in the first category. Even though she didn’t use Qi Shielding regularly, she was more than proficient in it.

Learning it had been fascinating when she’d first stumbled on it years ago, and she’d spent a few weeks studying everything she could. She would have happily added it to her regular combat repertoire if not for the Qi cost.

As it was, she’d still kept up practice whenever the fancy struck. Usually, when she found some new facet of the technique to explore, yet, despite her competency, Amelia couldn’t shake her worries.

Nor was it an issue with tutoring itself. This wasn’t the first time she’d taught someone less proficient; many people had turned to her over the years. Admittedly, it was the first time she’d taught someone whose opinion she cared about, but…

Amelia paused mid-thought, shaking her head. That had to be it; her nerves came from caring what Kevin thought about her.

How odd.

Minutes passed as her thoughts danced about, entirely distracted by the revelation. Was there a reason for her to be worried? She’d poked at the man a little by showing off her abilities, but he hadn’t reacted in any of the usual ways.

Not with the awe and concern of lesser cultivators nor with the veiled competitiveness of her peers. Instead, he’d simply been impressed and a touch jealous.

Then there was how kind he’d been in helping her through that embarrassing cultivation breakdown…

Taking his interactions so far into account, there was still no logical reason to worry. Yet her feelings refused to subside. 

With a silent sigh, no more than an exhale of breath, Amelia flickered to her feet with an effortless use of the Twisted Step. Now, that was an excellent technique, perhaps the best she’d seen since arriving at the sect.

Perhaps she should… 

Catching herself before she could go on another tangent, Amelia returned her focus to the real world. There were still a couple of hours before their session was due, so perhaps some additional Qi Shielding practice would calm her nerves.

If nothing else, it would ensure she was in the best shape to help Kevin.

The distant martial courtyard they’d organized to meet at was almost empty when Kevin arrived. Less than a dozen people were present, Amelia being one of them.

She stood by the edge of the grass, her arms glowing with Qi. It looked like she was practicing the basic Qi Blocking technique he was learning in class. Given that she rarely used it, the practice had to be for his benefit.

That was surprisingly touching, and Kevin waved with a smile as he approached. 

Amelia jerked when she spotted him, her usual grace gone for a moment. Then it returned as she spun to face him and waved back. By the time he arrived, she was already holding an empty page.

Welcome Kevin. I hope you have had a pleasant week so far.

“Hi, Amelia,” Kevin chuckled, ruefully rubbing the back of his head. “I guess you could say that. It was certainly a busy week, though a productive one. How about you?”

My classes have sped up, as well. Amelia nodded, looking entirely too pleased. 

It would seem the first week was an introduction before they got serious. I am no longer quite so bored, though I imagine the feeling will return in time.

“I’m glad to hear you’re enjoying classes more,” Kevin said, smiling as he forced down a surge of jealousy. After the massive amount of work he’d put in, it was a little hard to hear someone else be pleased about the increased difficulty.

Though, wasn’t he the same way? To some extent, at least. He was the one who asked Fischer to go faster in FORM-101. Sure, that had mostly been about impressing her, but a part of him was still eager to push through the class. 

Either way that had to be the usual reaction she got from people; Amelia deserved better from him.

“So, how do you want to do this?” He continued.

Amelia tilted her head as if considering him. Then, a bright smile flashed across her face. After a few moments, fresh text spilled across her page.

If you could demonstrate your current proficiency with the technique, I will provide what advice and assistance I can.

“Right,” Kevin nodded, a sudden feeling of awkwardness flooding through him. It was one thing to suck in his regular class, another to show off that level of incompetence to a friend. Particularly one who’d just shown such a high level of ability.

“I’ll warn you that I’m still pretty bad,” he sighed, feeling the need to set expectations.

Amelia only nodded in response, calm understanding on her face. 

Taking confidence from that, Kevin sank into his stance and performed a blocking motion. As his arm swung into position, he pulled Qi from his Sealed Land and directed it to his skin,

It reached just in time, lighting his arm up with flickering energy. “So that’s it,” Kevin sighed again, turning to look at Amelia. “I’m fast enough to get the energy in place now, but it’s far from stable.”

I believe I see the issue, Amelia wrote, her lips twitching into a smile.

You’re so hurried that you aren’t visualizing the final effect, just the route to get there. Am I correct?

Kevin opened his mouth, then closed it again as he thought over her explanation. “You got that from a single demonstration?”

She was right, of course. He’d only just sped up his Qi enough to make the technique work based on Dr. Vaughan’s advice. Focusing on the end result for more than a moment at the end seemed impossible.

Try this and see if it helps. 

Over the next couple of hours, Amelia used a mixture of written instruction and demonstration to coach him through the technique. Once again, she proved herself a font of information, imparting tips that weren’t even in the book he’d purchased.

It was beyond impressive for a technique she wasn’t even focused on, and the improvements in his ability spoke for themselves.

“How in the world did you learn all that,” Kevin chuckled as their session wound down. Shaking his head, he continued. “You’ve said you don’t even use it often, yet I’d bet you know as much as our instructor.”

Amelia froze at his question, then gave him a long, considering look before responding. 

A large part of it is due to my constitution. I could explain it over dinner if you would like.