landbeastnovel Chapter 213: Luna’s students
Chapter 213: Luna’s students
"You are all as dumb as a flock of geese!" - Luna’s impatient and irritated voice cut through the icy northern. Despite the distance, it reached Henry and Luke’s ears as they stepped through the gates as they made their way towards the small wooden hut near the city walls, their breath hung visibly in the cold.
They followed the voice, coming to a halt as the all-too-familiar sight of destruction appeared before them. The ground was riddled with craters of all shapes and sizes, some shallow, others jagged and gaping as though hundreds of meteors had pummeled the earth. Thin wisps of smoke rose from a few of the larger craters, the heat lingering long enough to melt the snow around them, leaving the earth dark and scorched. This messy constellation of craters surrounding the wooden hut was the only area untouched by the white blanket of the North.
"She is going to turn my capital into a crater one of these days..." Henry muttered, rubbing his temples in frustration.
Luke, balancing a teetering pile of parchments in his arms, gave a small laugh - "I will send someone to patch it up again, my liege" - he said, though his tone suggested this was not the first time he had made such a promise. His arms were too full to write down the king’s order, but he mentally filed it away with the long list of other tasks he was supposed to handle.
Henry continued to walk - "Be careful not to fall. She did a great destruction job this time"- he said, glancing back at the brown-haired midget - "These holes look big enough to swallow you"
Luke tilted his head to peer over the top of his documents, carefully picking his way around the craters. His eyes darted nervously toward the jagged edges of the nearest one, struggling to keep pace with the king.
As they neared the hut, they found the source of Luna’s anger. Ten students stood in formation, clutching what looked like twig-like wands in their trembling hands. They faced a line of battered wooden dummies, the same kind used in Stahl’s military training grounds.
"I have told you over and over!"- Luna’s angry voice rang out again, full of impatience. Her golden hair glimmered faintly in the weak northern sunlight, her emerald-green eyes flashing with frustration. She threw her hands up in exasperation - "All you have to do is pull the mana you can feel and focus it into one spot! How is that so hard? This is worse than teaching children! I should have charged three more books."
The students stood frozen, clearly unsure whether it was safer to respond or remain silent. Their grips on the wands tightened, their shoulders tense as they exchanged nervous glances.
"You have all already learned to sense the strands of mana around you" - Luna continued, pacing back and forth in front of them like an impatient instructor - "The more you grow, the more strands you will be able to perceive and manipulate. And the more strands you control, the stronger your spells will become."
Henry, standing at a distance, remained silent. His hands rested loosely behind his back as his gray eyes observed the scene. He made no move to interrupt, choosing instead to listen quietly.
She approached him, her tone less sharp but still blunt, not a single ounce of respect for a king present in it - "So? Did you bring me more books?" she asked, breaking the king’s trance.
Henry blinked and shook his head slightly, his focus returning to the present. "No," he replied, his voice calm. "I came to check on your progress with teaching and to hear about your research on the Torch Tree Seeds."
The excitement that had briefly lit up Luna’s face faded instantly, replaced with a look of boredom. She gestured toward the group of ten students behind her. "They are hopeless. Their talent is mediocre, and this area makes it even harder to practice magic. But if they can push through and learn even the basics, they will have far greater control over mana than the average mage."
Henry nodded, though his mind was still replaying what he had just witnessed. The process of forming a spell, while different from the warrior techniques he practiced, reminded him of the way the Sun God Technique manipulated mana through his circuits. It was fascinating. He wanted to understand more about it.
"And the seeds?" Henry asked, bringing the conversation back to her research.
Luna raised her hand, and a small seed materialized in her palm. "Progress, but not perfection" - she said - "We can handle them now without them exploding, and they will stay stable if planted. But I still do not understand how the energy inside them is produced, or why they seem so tied to the Frozen Forest. If they’re taken too far from its influence, they could detonate. I’m working on stabilizing that."
"Good work," Henry said with a slight nod. "I’ll ensure the barbarians keep bringing you more from the forest."
"That would help" - Luna replied, her green eyes gleaming with a faint hint of greed. "The more I can test, the faster I can figure this out. And..." Her tone turned sly. "You could always bring me more books. Those might speed things along too, and maybe even help me teach those ten hopeless geese something useful."
A small smile tugged at Henry’s lips. Some things never changed. "I’ll see what I can do," he said. "But first, I’d like you to explain something to me."
Luna’s eyes lit up with excitement, her earlier irritation vanishing. "Of course! Shall we go inside? I’ve got tea," she said, her voice suddenly more respectful.
Henry nodded, following her toward the hut, his mind already racing with questions - "You can wait here with them." - He said to Luke, who nodded, afraid of that golden-haired woman.