The training fields were damp as Professor Krylin’s (and for the time being, Tilo’s) student made their way outside. A total of 24 hours had passed since Tilo’s first class. 24 hours of stormy weather and unforeseen sleet, that kept everyone locked within the school halls until it finally let up. As is to be expected, being cramped in the school led to various pranks and other such shenanigans, especially on Rayden’s part. He seemed to have long since given up on fearing Tilo, using every opportunity provided to him in an attempt to relieve Tilo of his pockets’ contents. All of which failed, rather spectacularly in some cases.

And so it was that on his second teaching day, Tilo decided that his time would be best spent giving a more active demonstration.

With permission, he had obtained both the rights to the field and various artifacts that could be used. Enough artifacts were in his arms that he couldn’t see the ground in front of him, yet he had managed to weave through the halls without so much as a single loss.

By the time the whole class had reached the training grounds, he had every artifact set in a pile at the dirt field’s center.

“Does anyone know what is classified as an artifact? Yes, Wren?” 

“An artifact is generally an old object of significance to the people of the past. ‘Artifacts’ is also the name most people give to the items that allow for the control of magic. Artifacts aren’t enchanted, but rather have magic circles applied to their surface.”

“That’s probably true. I’ll take your word for it.”

From beside him, Nemo gave Tilo a firm nudge.

“I’m just kidding. Yes, that’s correct. Now, that’s the easy part to understand and one I’m sure you’ve heard hundreds of times. What we’ll be discussing is how they can be used. How many people here have seen an artifact used in combat?”

All six hands floated in the air.

“How many have seen an artifact used to its fullest extent?”

Half of the hands fell.

Tilo pulled a gauntlet from the pile.

“I should be seeing no hands. There hasn’t been a single person in the last few centuries who has openly wielded an artifact to its full potential.”

All hands disappeared from view.

“Does anyone know why that is? How about Chisi.”

“Aren’t there artifacts for simple tasks, such as washing laundry? Aren’t those used to their greatest extent?”

Tilo pulled his cloak off, pulling the gauntlet onto his still gloved right hand.

“You’d think, wouldn’t you? It’s common knowledge that no matter how much magic you try to force through it, it will always produce the same result. What if that wasn’t the case? What if the problem wasn’t that it couldn’t handle any more magic, but instead that it never reached the threshold where a change could occur in the output.”

He held his gauntleted hand upward. “Allow me to demonstrate. This glove is only supposed to produce a small flame, allowing for warmth during winter. Now, it’s more than a few hundred years old, but it can still create a spark.”

Tilo rubbed the forefinger and thumb together. 

‘Domos.’

  He pulled them apart, revealing a thumbnail-sized flame. Two small magic circles spun just beside the tips of his fingers.

“As you are probably aware, I began with a spell word to reduce the amount of concentration required. This spell word acts both as the ignition and preparation for my magic to flow through the artifact.

This gauntlet has a series of minute magic circles embedded on these two fingers that, when they make contact, they ask for a bit of magic from the gauntlet’s wearer, as all magic circles do. As with every other circle, it alters the magic flowing into it to get a desired result. Based on how large I want the flame, I can force a bit of magic through, but according to common knowledge, once I reach a certain point the flame won’t get larger.”

Indeed, the flame did increase in size for a short period of time, but soon, just as Tilo described, the flame grew no bigger.

“Now, here’s what happens when the amount of magic power forced through that supposedly exceeds the levels possible by any species.”

He held out his hand at arm’s length. Everyone watched in awe as the flame spurted upward, growing both in height and diameter until it reached a size great enough that the inferno’s heat could be felt from fifteen feet away.

Tilo tapped his index finger and thumb together once more.

‘Viche.’

Just as quickly as it had come, the flame disappeared. 

“And there’s the cessation spell word,” Tilo added.

Nemo yanked the gauntlet from Tilo’s hand, examining it. “I’ve never heard of anything like this.” He looked at the students, all of whom were still stunned. “I’m guessing they haven’t either - where did you learn this?”

“It’s part of the lesson, didn’t you read the text? Ah, nevermind, I think I never gave you that book. Most people won’t know this in their lifetime, because it’s not supposed to be possible, and the books about it are part of the restricted list, though I can only imagine why.”

Nemo looked Tilo over, up and down.“And yet, it is possible.”

“I’m getting there,” Tilo countered. “Can someone explain to me why it shouldn’t be possible?”

Chisi tentatively raised her hand.

“The best examples are the Overbeasts. Humanoids have a conscious regulation of how much magic can be dispersed throughout their body at a given time, while most common animals don’t. When an animal is used like an artifact, they can mutate to the point of being unrecognizable, also known as Overload. The same is true of humans when they manage to push themselves past their limits and use magic circles that cause more magic to circulate through them at one time than they can handle. I’m certain that the only way for that to happen is for a magic circle to be specifically developed so that it sucks magic into itself and can use a living organism as a conduit of sorts.”

“So then, how did I just do that? The answer lies in age. Around the era it was made, a lot of warring occurred. Weapons were commonplace and every invention was developed with the intention of increasing power. Someone eventually figured out that the threshold of magic required to be forced through for an artifact to be used to its fullest extent could be lowered. I didn’t need an obscene amount of magic to increase the flame size, just a bit more than usual. The only reason it isn’t found in every artifact today is that it came with an extreme drawback. It’s extremely inefficient. The time it takes for me to ignite that large flame is quadruple the time required to use an artifact with greater magic requirements, even though it produces the same effect.”

Tilo grinned widely. At that moment, he had the undivided attention of every student in his small class, even Rayden, who had spent the first half of class the previous day folding bits of his papers into small animals.

Nemo stood closer to the replacement teacher; he too, grinned.

“You’re quite good at this, aren’t you?”

Tilo laughed. “Who would have guessed?”