Kael lied to Seraphina with a straight face, but no one noticed. He already knew what kind of power she had, so he got her started on training to help control divine power.

Divine power was not something Kael knew how to use, so he gave Seraphina the basic pointers and decided to leave her alone.

After all, as the future Saintess, he was sure she could figure out what to do.

More importantly, the one who needed his help now was Leon. His training with Iris had hit a stopping point because he could not seem to understand how he was supposed to infuse his mana into sword techniques.

This was something that Iris was supposed to teach him, but she was having a hard time with it.

So Kael decided to sit in on one of their sessions to see why this was such a roadblock, and it did not take him long to understand why.

...

"I told you already. You need to circulate your power into the sword and then release it sharply. You cannot sit back and wait for it to disappear before you do something."

Iris pointed out as she demonstrated how to do it. Leon tried to follow her example, but was unsuccessful.

It frustrated Iris, but she was a patient person who took a deep breath to calm herself down before starting her explanation again.

She was a genius sword master who had learned all techniques without a master. But it was clear that this was not as much of an advantage as Kael had hoped it would be.

More specifically, while Iris was a heart sword master, she was not a great teacher. She knew how to perform techniques, but had a hard time explaining what she was doing.

As someone who could read mana, Kael could see what she was doing in principle and understand it. But Leon was too inexperienced to understand what she was doing, even if he saw her technique.

"I...am I not doing the same thing you are? I can’t tell the difference."

Leon muttered. His annoyance was understandable since it did look like both Leon and Iris were doing the same thing to an untrained eye.

But Iris shook her head and tried to show Leon what to do again.

"Look carefully. My mana is much faster and sharper. You need to achieve this somehow."

"And how am I supposed to achieve this? Please give clear instructions."

This was getting nowhere, so Kael decided to interfere. He walked over to the pair and pretended he had not heard them arguing.

"What is going on here? Do you need my help?"

He asked, and Leon immediately shook his head. The earlier aggression was gone from his face, leaving only respect and calmness.

Iris, on the other hand, could not control her emotions and decided to let out a frustrated sigh.

"I cannot communicate with this kid. I am showing him what to do, but he does not seem to get it. I can’t tell what I am doing wrong either."

Kael could see the reason behind Iris’s frustration, but he also understood why this was happening.

The reason was simple—it was because Iris was a genius.

As a genius, some things came naturally to her that were hard for an ordinary person to understand.

Leon was a genius as well, but he was different from Iris in this regard.

"Hmm, I saw you both using the technique, and I think I know what Leon is doing wrong. Here, move your mana like this. It should work."

Kael circulated Leon’s mana through his body. It was not hard to do, but the fact that Leon allowed this meant that he was getting comfortable with Kael. This was a good thing to see.

Leon got the hang of what he needed to do after a few seconds, so Kael pulled his hand back.

"I see. So that’s how I am supposed to circulate the mana."

Leon nodded, and Kael looked at Iris’s blank expression. It seemed like she was trying to hold herself back from saying something.

"Iris, is there anything you want to say to me?"

Kael asked, and Iris thought for a moment before she decided to shake her head.

"No, it’s nothing. Leon, should we get back to training?"

She asked, and Leon nodded. Kael decided to give them some privacy by going farther away. He did think about listening in on their training, but ultimately decided that it would be too much.

These two needed their privacy.

__________

Iris looked at Kael’s retreating back before she turned toward her ’student,’ who was making an innocent expression.

But she was not fooled one bit by him.

"You did that on purpose, right? I know you picked up that technique as soon as you saw me perform it. So why did you pretend you did not know what you were doing?"

Iris questioned with narrowed eyes.

She did not doubt Kael’s judgment when it came to her student. He was a fast learner, and it would not take him long to surpass even her.

But sometimes, he pretended he did not know anything to get Kael to help him out, and that contrast shocked her every time.

What was even more suspicious was his attitude afterward.

"I don’t know what you are talking about, teacher. I genuinely did not understand what I was supposed to do until Kael showed it to me...not that you are a bad teacher or anything."

Leon even had a sharp tongue and knew what to say in order to flatter her.

She would have totally fallen for his act had she not seen his true nature with her own eyes.

"Ugh, enough yapping. Let’s finish our training so I can be free from my obligation as well."

’But what about after that? Do you have anywhere to go? Do you even want to leave this place? What if you delay teaching the hero just so you could stay here longer? No one would know-’

Iris looked at Leon’s sharp eyes and her heart skipped a beat.

There was one person who would know if she half-assed the training, and that was the most dangerous person of all.

"Teacher, let’s get along well. So, how do I do the next technique?"

Leon asked, and Iris shivered. But she decided that this was none of her business. She had made a promise to Kael, and she would keep it.

And what happens after that?...Well, she would take care of it later.