Chapter 122: Guiding Lectures!

He practically ran toward his class, desperately hoping that whoever was lecturing them hadn’t arrived yet.

***

By the time Ethan finally reached his classroom, he was already prepared to accept the worst.

He slowed down just enough to catch his breath before stepping inside, only to find that the lecture had already begun. Mr. Davin was standing at the front of the class alongside another male lecturer, and both of them were already in the middle of teaching.

Ethan immediately breathed a quiet sigh of relief.

At least it was Mr. Davin.

He was still going to be punished for arriving late, that much was probably unavoidable, but at least it would not be because the instructor hated him. As far as Ethan knew, Mr. Davin did not dislike him the way some of the other instructors seemed to.

That alone made being late slightly less terrifying.

Ethan stepped into the classroom and quietly greeted both lecturers.

"Good morning, Mr. Davin. Good morning, Professor."

Mr. Davin glanced toward him and simply gave him a small nod in acknowledgment before turning his attention back to the lesson.

That was it.

Ethan stood there for a second, almost surprised by how easily he had gotten away with entering late, before walking toward his seat with a small smile.

What a kind man.

His mind immediately wandered to the first time he had been late for one of Instructor Alex’s classes, and Ethan could not help shaking his head at the memory. The contrast between Mr. Davin’s reaction and Alex’s had been practically like comparing a white pot to a black one.

Jake and Lara noticed him as he approached.

"Ethan," Jake whispered, giving him a quick greeting.

Lara also greeted him quietly before both of them immediately turned their attention back to the front of the classroom.

Ethan took his seat, and before he could even wonder what exactly they were learning, Jake leaned closer and quietly briefed him on what he had missed.

"Today’s lecture is about physical reality guiding," Jake whispered. "They’re talking about the dangers of using it and how to overcome them. They haven’t gone too far yet, so if you listen from now, you’ll understand everything."

Ethan nodded gratefully.

"Thanks."

He then faced forward, giving the lecture his full attention.

At the front of the classroom, Mr. Davin and the other lecturer, Mr. Kingsley, continued explaining the topic.

"Guiding is something every Guide must learn to perform properly, and as far as I know it must have been thought in all previous classes, either high or low." Mr. Davin said, his voice carrying clearly throughout the classroom. "But there is more than one method of guiding, and each method comes with its own circumstances, advantages, and dangers."

Mr. Kingsley continued from where he left off.

"There are mainly two practiced forms of guiding. The first, and the one most Guides are familiar with, is entering the Sentinel’s Mental Sea and carrying out the purification from within. The Guide enters the Sentinel’s spiritual space, locates the source of the corruption, purifies it, and guides the Sentinel directly through their spiritual energy."

Ethan listened carefully.

That was the method he had used with Drey and Xavier. Practically it was his preferred guiding method, despite how hard and exhausting it was.

"The second method, I’m sure you all know it" Mr. Kingsley continued, "is reality guiding."

A few students straightened in their seats.

"This method is carried out while both the Guide and Sentinel remain in the physical world. The Guide does not enter the Sentinel’s Mental Sea. Instead, physical contact is used to channel spiritual energy directly into the Sentinel’s body and carry out the guiding process from the outside."

Mr. Davin nodded.

"Entering a Sentinel’s Mental Sea is generally the more assured method when it is possible because it allows a Guide to directly access the Sentinel’s spiritual space and completely cleanse the corruption from within. However, that method is not always available."

He paused briefly before continuing. "Many Sentinels reject outside access to their Mental Sea. Some will actively put up barriers to prevent a Guide from entering."

"This becomes particularly difficult when the Sentinel is injured, unconscious, or in a berserk state. In such situations, the Sentinel cannot necessarily be reasoned with or convinced to lower the barrier themselves. A Guide may know that entering the Mental Sea is necessary, but the Sentinel’s own spiritual defenses can make that impossible."

Mr. Kingsley took over.

"So what does a Guide do when access to the Mental Sea is completely blocked?"

The classroom became quieter.

"They use physical reality guiding as the second option."

Ethan’s eyes remained fixed on the lecturer.

"Physical reality guiding can take slightly longer than entering the Mental Sea and guiding from within, but it allows a Guide to work around a Sentinel’s spiritual barriers when entering their Mental Sea is not possible."

Mr. Kingsley then changed the direction of the lesson.

"However, physical reality guiding comes with its own challenges." He looked around the classroom. "The most important danger is environmental contamination."

"When a Guide performs physical reality guiding, their spiritual energy is being released into the surrounding environment. In some circumstances, the guiding process can act like a magnet, drawing surrounding spiritual energy toward the Guide."

Mr. Davin continued.

"This means that both the Sentinel and the Guide can potentially be affected by the energy surrounding them. Most of the time, the energy present in the environment is too weak to have any meaningful impact on the guiding process. Spiritual energy is densely dispersed throughout the air, and is practically present everywhere, but under normal circumstances, its concentration is nowhere near enough to interfere with a Guide’s spiritual energy."

Ethan nodded slightly.

That made sense.

"But the situation changes when the surrounding energy is unusually strong."

Mr. Kingsley raised a hand slightly as he explained.

"If the environmental spiritual energy is strong enough, it can be pulled toward the Guide during physical reality guiding. And if that surrounding energy is corrupted, it can mingle with the Guide’s spiritual energy while the Guide is trying to channel it into the Sentinel."

"The result," Mr. Davin said, "can be spiritual energy corruption."

A few students exchanged uneasy glances.

"If the Guide’s spiritual energy becomes contaminated during the process, the guiding can fail. The Guide may be unable to properly cleanse the Sentinel, and in more serious situations, the Guide themselves can become affected by the corrupted energy."

Mr. Kingsley continued, "Fortunately, this is not something that happens frequently in ordinary environments. Environmental spiritual energy generally does not possess enough strength to interfere with a Guide’s energy to that degree. The danger becomes significantly greater depending on how strong the spiritual energy in the surrounding area is."

He paused.

"And there is one particular situation where this becomes especially dangerous which is when one or more monsters have been killed in the area."

Several students immediately reacted.

Mr. Kingsley nodded. "Exactly. Monsters contain extremely high amounts of spiritual energy, and that energy is corrupted. When a monster is killed, its physical body disappears and eventually turns to ashes, but its miasma does not simply disappear along with it."

"The miasma remains behind," Mr. Davin explained. "It mingles with the air and spreads throughout the surrounding environment."

Ethan’s eyes narrowed as he listened attentively, taking keen interest in the lecture than he had expected of himself.

"Now imagine a situation where several monsters have been killed in the same area. Their miasma accumulates and spreads through the environment. Then, a Guide is forced to perform physical reality guiding in that exact location."

Mr. Kingsley’s expression became serious.

"The Guide’s spiritual energy can draw that corrupted environmental energy toward them during the guiding process. Once the miasma mingles with the spiritual energy being used for guiding, the Guide’s energy becomes contaminated."

"And like I said before once the spiritual energy is corrupted," Mr. Davin added, "the guiding can fail."

Whispers immediately began spreading throughout the classroom.

Some students sounded impressed by the explanation, while others quietly admitted that they had experienced something similar before.

"I’ve actually experienced that before..."

"So that’s why my guiding failed?"

"I thought I was just exhausted."

Ethan remained silent.

His mind had already gone somewhere else.

Drey.

During the rift mission, where he had drawn huge amount of energy towards them. The situation with Drey had been strange from the beginning, but now that Ethan was hearing the explanation, parts of it suddenly seemed to correlate with what had happened.

Could that have been connected to it?

Before Ethan could think any further, Mr. Davin raised his voice.

"Quiet down."

The whispers gradually died away.

Mr. Davin looked across the classroom, waiting until everyone had settled before continuing. "Now that you all understand why physical reality guiding can become dangerous in an environment contaminated by miasma..."

He paused his eyes scanning the classroom before continuing. "... we can move unto the next part which is how the problem can be solved!"