Beyond The System
Chapter 149: Student Lesson

“So, how exactly do we plan to get there?” I asked, drying off by the fire Miss Star had made. Our clothes hung behind us on a branch near another fire Sia had lit.

“Well,” Drake started, rubbing his hair, “the plan was to stop at a town, buy a boat or something, but that got tossed.”

“Plenty of wood,” Griffith offered. “We could just build one.”

Elric looked around. “Great. Who here knows how to build a boat?”

“A raft shouldn’t be too hard, right?” Trevor said. “Basically just a bunch of wood tied together.”

“There’s a lot of us,” Marcus pointed out. “We’d need evenly cut pieces. I can handle that part, but rope? Glue? We don’t have anything like that.”

“How about freezing it?” Velea piped up.

“That... would it melt?” Lyra asked, glancing at me while keeping a firm grip on the excited girl.

“Uhhh... maybe after a few minutes? Or a bit more.” I scratched my cheek. “I never really tested it, but if I keep feeding it Internal Force, it should hold.”

“Would it work though?” Sia asked the real question.

“I’ve read about it,” Trevor answered. “Ice was used as a sort of cement for wooden vessels in the poles.”

“Really?” I blinked. He was better in school than me back then, sure, but that sounded more like trivia than useful knowledge.

He nodded.

“What poles?” Miss Star asked. “Where’d you learn about that?”

Trevor pointed at me. “I'm from the same place as him, except I actually read.”

“Rude.”

He ignored me. “Poles are the ends of the planet, basically. If you know about magnetism, it’s where that phenomenon is strongest.”

“Wow,” Miss Star and the commander both turned toward the show-off.

“We should talk, you and I,” Mister Ironscribe said, eyes shining. Sia’s mother nodded in agreement.

“Sure.”

Guess Trevor found his calling. Modern information instructor.

Maybe not what he has in mind, but I would be happy if he could somehow work to provide some more modern comforts.

“Great, so we’ll try that,” I said, pointing behind us. “We taking them? Ooor…”

“Food,” Marcus replied. “The dogs are enough as companions. If we brought the mounts, we’d have to feed and exercise them. It's too much work for now.”

I honestly felt a little bad, but no one else blinked at the idea of slaughtering the creatures, so I let it go.

Save the blood, Luna requested. I want some more.

The way she said it made me feel uncomfortable.

Wasn’t the last big monster enough?

Do you like eating just once? she shot back.

Hard to argue with that. I’ll get it. No one else seems to need it.

She shuddered on my wrist.

People started to move, but I stopped them with a raised hand. “I want to learn some skills., and something else.” I nudged Velea slightly.

She took a shaky breath. “I want to say something too. And q—questions. I have questions.”

I gave her a small nudge, encouraging her.

“Mom and Dad were worried,” she began. “A couple months ago, they mentioned something about supporting the third prince.”

Thea placed a hand on Vel’s back, clearly concerned but not understanding her sister’s sadness. “They talked about it before we left too.”

“Drake, if the second has already been—” Elric began.

“Then there’s virtually no chance Lucan’s opposition is alive,” Drake cut in with a sigh, rubbing his hands together. “I’m sorry, Thea. Velea.”

“Wh—what?” Thea’s voice stuttered, cracking.

I think she knew. Maybe from the moment Vel opened her mouth, or maybe even earlier, back when we visited.

Lyra, Sia, and Miss Star moved closer to support them as Drake finished, “It’s likely that they, and anyone who didn’t support Lucan is probably dead.”

“Thea?” I asked gently, trying to coax a response.

To my surprise, she answered, though her tone was hollow. “Yeah. I—It’s alright.” She exhaled slowly. “Let’s focus on what we need to do now.”

“You’re sure?” Miss Star asked softly.

Thea nodded. “Yes… Please.”

Marcus, Drake, Helen, Trevor, and the commander quietly grouped together.

Elric walked over to us. “We’ll split into two groups for Channel Opening,” he explained. “It’s slower for each person, but overall we should get through it faster.”

He glanced toward Thea.

“We can do this later,” Sia offered, taking Thea’s other hand. “We don’t have to rush.”

Elric nodded. “No one’s likely to find us here. The island might get attention, but not right away. We’re safe for now, so yeah, like she said, no rush.”

“Can I go first?” Thea asked quietly.

They all nodded without hesitation.

“Want me to join?” I offered.

“You wanted to learn something, right?” Elric smiled lightly. “Anything you need from me?”

“Yeah, but…” I turned to Vel. “I’ll learn from my student first.”

“Then do that,” Lyra said simply.

I moved to Thea, now seated at the center of the group, and gave her a light kiss on the shoulder. “Whenever you need to talk. About anything, anytime. You know I’m here.”

She gave me a smile, nodded, then closed her eyes.

Lyra squeezed her arm, stood, walked to the other group, and cast something quietly before returning to do the same for Thea. But, maybe they were getting acclimated because there was no odd behavior. Everyone slipped into silent focus.

I stood and walked a short distance with Vel trailing behind me until we had enough space to move freely.

“Is she okay?” Vel murmured.

“She has us,” I said softly. “And you, of course. Everyone’s here for her.”

I looked at her. No way she was through all of it either.

“The same goes for you,” I added. “If you need to talk to anyone, always speak up.”

“Thanks.”

When we were far enough to move freely, I stopped.

“Alright, time for you to be the teacher.” I grinned, passing the title over. “I want you to teach me the barrier skill.”

“Ummm…” She frowned. “Mister Ironscribe’s explanation was so hard…”

“Is it like forming a core?”

She shook her head. “Don’t know, but I don’t think so. Or maybe… hmmm.”

This was going nowhere. “How about you just try your best to explain?”

“Okay. Let’s see.” She took a deep breath. “Listen up, girlie!”

She addressed me with a sudden shift in tone, doing her best at what must've been an imitation of Griffith. Being called girlie was new.

“You don’t have a system, so it’ll be tougher. First,” she held up one finger, “it’s about intent! There’s more to power than just manipulation.”

Another finger. “Second—umm… wait, second was… Oh! Yeah, gather Internal Force with an image and an idea!” She nearly bounced when it clicked.

Intent matters? Not just with Beast Force, but Internal too?

“And third! Release it with that intent and image!” She looked at me expectantly.

“What?”

“Too tall,” she huffed. “Get down.”

I crouched. A hand landed on my head, ruffling my hair.

“Good luck, little one!” she declared proudly.

Thank the heavens there were no witnesses.

Two voices crushed my hopes. Yes there are.

I ignored Wyrem and Luna, letting Vel keep playing teacher a bit longer. I smiled. “Excellent job. I understood perfectly.”

She blushed. “Don’t lie.”

“Any questions for me before I start practicing?”

She shook her head. “No, but I have an answer.”

“Answer?”

“You asked if I could feel another type of World Force,” she began, recalling my earlier question. “It’s hard to say. I don’t know, but… I think there is something else.”

Interesting. 

“Thanks. No need to dwell on it too much. I was just curious.”

She blinked at me, then sat down and closed her eyes, going into cultivation.

Before starting my own technique practice, I took a moment to observe my foundation again. It had taken several days to form, but now, after just a few hours… How much World Force had I passively absorbed and converted?

Honestly, it was hard to tell. I looked inward and could see the process happening, but the absorption only worked with Water Force through my expanded root system. Not a major issue, but I still needed to find a way to make core rotation passive like the rest of the processes.

The flow continued from there, fairly quickly, moving through the remnants of my old scars, looping, then cycling back. It wasn’t anywhere near the speed of active cultivation, and I was pretty sure it would take over a day just to fill my Grand Channel—Harmonic Space?

I’ll worry about the name later.

Still, it was something. A slow, steady stream of energy. Useful. Reliable. My current plan was to keep funneling the passively gained power into my Nexus until I caused an explosion or activation. Whatever we would call it.

But there was one problem. One that made me groan internally. Maybe it was a blessing in disguise, but still… the pain I would need to endure again, the time lost.

All my etchings from the Grand Carving were gone.

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