"The warriors who used seals to grow stronger were called magic warriors," Julius said as he approached the table where Cassian was sitting. He continued, "Now, what's the difference between mages and magic warriors, considering both store mana inside their bodies—mages with their mana hearts, and magic warriors with seals?"
Julius paused, scanning the room, but no one seemed to know the answer. He went on, "The difference is that mages store mana in their mana hearts, while warriors store it directly within their bodies. For warriors, this means mana constantly flows throughout their body, with no way to escape. As this mana remains sealed inside, it starts to bind with the body, gradually making it stronger."
This was the first time Cassian had heard anything about mages or how they came to be. The books he had read never explained how to become a mage. As he pondered this, Lady Katherine came to mind, and he thought, I should ask her a few things about it.
Not wanting to miss anything Julius was saying, Cassian quickly refocused his attention.
"Now, take note," Julius continued, "you can't create as many seals as you want. Each body is different, and so is its limit. This limit can be increased by certain treasured herbs or miracle potions. But the most any human has ever reached is 13 seals. For circle warriors, the limit is just 9."
Julius glanced around the room with a satisfied smile but noticed some students growing impatient. Aware of the reason, he addressed them. "I know some of you are wondering how learning about seals will help you become better swordsmen or circle warriors," he said, pausing as the eager faces around him waited for more. "Seals won't make you good with a sword—that's your own talent.
But for becoming a circle warrior, they play a crucial role. I understand people see us warriors as muscleheads, and, in many cases, they're right. You don't need to know the theory I'm explaining to become strong—those with sheer willpower will find their way to becoming circle warriors regardless."
"But some of us, like myself, prefer to know the technical details of how things are done," Julius said with a smug grin. "It gives us confidence in becoming circle warriors and helps establish a plan. To be honest, most nobles, like me, learn the theory behind circle warriors before we even start training.
Knowing it doesn't make the process a lot easier—just a bit," he continued, raising his hand and closing his fingers, leaving a small gap between them. "Just this much easier," he added with a playful smirk, emphasizing the tiny difference.
"But don't underestimate this small difference—it can work wonders. I'm living proof of that," Julius said with a confident smile. The students nodded in agreement, and even Eve, sitting beside Cassian, smiled in approval, making her look strikingly beautiful as she added, "Yeah, it would."
Seeing that his soon-to-be students were understanding the importance of seals, Julius continued, "Let's get back on track. Seals were artificial magical constructs, which meant they had to be created by someone adept at mana manipulation—mages. So, warriors needed a mage's help to form seals on their bodies, and that could get pretty expensive.
Without those seals, a warrior couldn't progress any further. Of course, they had the option of developing domains, but for now, let's stick to discussing those who relied solely on seals."
"Seals were considered similar to mana gathering techniques due to a magical construct known as a mana filter or mana adapter. This construct filtered the mana entering a warrior's body, making it compatible with their physical form," Julius explained.
His smile faded slightly as he continued, "Here's where the problem arose, leading to the emergence of circle warriors: warriors needed mages to create their seals, leaving them vulnerable to the control of mages. The imbalance was so extreme that even lower-tier mages could dominate higher-tier warriors simply by controlling the creation of seals."
Cassian could already sense why this was a bad situation for warriors, and Julius confirmed it, saying, "The reason warriors depended on mages was because seals required precise control over mana—something mages mastered thanks to their mana hearts. Warriors, relying more on brute strength, lacked this level of finesse. If they had that precision, they'd likely have become mages themselves."
"It's not that warriors who could create their own seals didn't exist," Julius explained, "but they were incredibly rare. No one in their right mind would choose the path of a warrior if they had the potential to be a mage. At that time, warriors were generally weaker because they didn't have the advantage of domains.
However, those rare few who mastered both seals and domains were the nightmares of any mage. Inside a warrior's domain, the warrior controlled everything, making them nearly unstoppable."
As he explained this, Julius grinned with excitement and added, "And those warriors who developed both their seals and domains discovered something remarkable—the emergence of what we now call circle warriors and the famed mana gathering techniques."
"But before I explain how they developed the method to become circle warriors, let's first learn about domains," Julius said with a smile, noticing the eager faces in the room. "I know there are a few here who've already developed nascent domains, so why don't you explain to your colleagues what they are?"
He paused, glancing around the class. A few moments passed in silence until the person sitting next to Cassian stood up.
Julius grinned as he recognized her. "Go ahead, Sergeant Dallas," he said, clearly pleased to see someone familiar taking the lead.
Eve Dallas's expression darkened, her demeanor shifting to something far more intense as a fierce energy seemed to radiate from her. "I'm not certain that my method is the only way," she began, her voice steady, "but for me, I opened my domain to make the impossible... possible. To bend the world to my will, to force it to happen the way I wanted.
That's how I was able to develop my domain." Her eyes gleamed with determination as she spoke, making the room feel even more charged with intensity.