Chapter 38: Teacher Lindy

Chapter 38: Teacher Lindy The process of learning things as a hunter was pretty simple. The first step was to get a breathing technique that matched the hunter’s affinity. A breathing technique worked as a way for hunters to breathe in the mana from the environment and use it to enhance their bodies and activate their skills. All hunters—even those who didn’t have body-enhancing affinities like Damian—had powerful bodies because of breathing techniques. Breathing in mana shaped their bodies over time, slowly but surely, making them stronger. But the hunters with body-enhancing affinities? Their bodies were on another level. That was their trump card. Damian grabbed a breathing technique and another book that covered basic body-enhancing skills. While browsing through the library, he spotted a few interesting books, some even about demons, but those were off-limits—at least for a new recruit like him. The old librarian was always watching. He tracked every movement, every book a student touched. There was no way he’d let someone grab a book they weren’t supposed to have. "Look at what I got," Mitra said after they left the library. "I can start creating trees! Imagine having my own garden or something." The ability to create trees and other living plants was definitely cool. Damian couldn’t deny that. Deep down, he wished he had powers like that too—but he couldn’t learn those skills the usual way. "I can just learn them through demons," Damian realized. Demons were the first ones to use mana. Humans had studied them to learn how to harness mana in the first place. So, if a hunter skill existed, chances were a demon had already used it at some point. And if a demon could use it, Damian could learn it. That was how overpowered his system really was. Anyway, everyone was excited now that they had something to focus on. The new recruits finally had real goals, things to work on both in class and during their free time. Everyone wanted to master the skills in their books as fast as possible—to stand out and get noticed by the instructors. "I think we’re in the same class this afternoon," Curt said to Mitra and Damian. "The one about demons." "Yeah, I knew I saw your names in there," Mitra said. Right after they got their books, it was time for their next class: demonology. Damian, Curt, and Mitra were having that class together. Some of the new recruits were scheduled for other classes that afternoon. They couldn’t cram everyone into the same room, so the academy had to split them up. Thankfully, Damian and his two roommates ended up in the same class. That was nice—at least he’d have people to talk to about the lesson and everything. They headed to the classroom, which was inside one of the more "normal" buildings of the academy. Nothing too flashy—just a simple room with desks, chairs, and a whiteboard. As soon as they entered, Damian and his friends chose seats next to each other, just like all the other small friend groups in the room. Not many people were there yet. The class would start in ten minutes, and Damian had arrived early. So early, in fact, that Mitra and Curt decided to take a quick walk while he waited inside. "Take care of our things, please," Mitra said with a smile. "No problem," Damian replied. She was talking about the bags with books that she and Curt left on their desks. Damian sat there for a while, then turned his gaze toward the teacher. She was already in the room. A beautiful woman, probably around 25 or 26. Black hair, green eyes, and a confident posture. Her outfit wasn’t flashy either, just a skirt and a blouse, but Damian couldn’t help but look at her legs. She also wore glasses and was staring at a few papers on her desk, clearly focused on something. Damian’s curiosity got the better of him. He stood up from his seat and walked over to see what she was working on. All the other few recruits in the classroom were doing their own thing, so no one minded when Damian got up and walked over to talk with the teacher. "Excuse me, teacher," Damian said, trying to be as polite as possible. "What are you working on?" Because of his early experience with Randal, Damian half-expected all the teachers at that academy to be jerks. He was ready for her to snap at him and tell him to sit down or something. But to his surprise, she actually looked happy to see him approaching. Her smile sent a strange warmth through Damian’s chest. She said, "I’m working on some old scriptures—demon scriptures." "Old demon scriptures? Really?" Damian asked, visibly surprised. "Yes. We researchers strongly believe demons have been in this world far longer than we originally thought. They even had civilizations—organized ones. Maybe they still do, and we just don’t know it yet." Damian nodded. Then, he glanced down at the scripture she mentioned. To his shock, he could read every word of it without issue... He was fluent in the demon language—probably due to the demon parts he’d absorbed—so reading that text wasn’t hard at all. Obviously, he had to keep that little detail to himself. "I’ve managed to translate a few parts of this scripture, but this word right here... I have no idea what it means," she said, pointing to a specific section. Damian didn’t know if he should help or not. How would he explain it? But at the same time, if he helped, maybe he’d earn some trust. Having a teacher like her in his corner could be a big win—she was kind, brilliant, and very easy on the eyes. "I actually studied a lot of this when I was younger," Damian said. "It fascinated me. My family gave me books about demons and their language." "Really? That’s not something many people are interested in," she said, raising an eyebrow. "Unique, I’d say." "Yeah... Anyway, this word—I think I’ve seen it before. I’m pretty sure it means ’underground.’" The teacher narrowed her eyes for a moment. At first, she thought Damian might just be making it up to impress her. It wouldn’t be the first time someone tried that. But as she looked again at the word in front of her, letting Damian’s voice echo in her mind... it clicked. "It does mean underground!" she gasped. "How did you know this?" Damian smiled. "Like I said—I’ve seen it during my studies." The teacher lit up with excitement. With that word translated, she now had a full section of the scripture deciphered, and that was a huge deal. She’d been stuck on that one word for an entire month. In a burst of joy, she hugged Damian. The warmth of her body caught him off guard—and her chest pressing against his didn’t help either. It was hard to keep his cool, but somehow, Damian survived it. Some students saw their hug, but no one said a word about it. They were just new recruits, so they all wanted to avoid getting into trouble with any of the teachers. Anyway, eventually, the class about demons started. The teacher, whose name was Lindy, couldn’t help but keep looking at Damian throughout her explanation...