Chapter Five: The Bending Professor
"Rhea, are you certain about this?" The saint's stern question was phrased as prudent counsel even as his voice betrayed a glimmer of hope. "I can't help but think we are putting these students' lives at risk if the new professor proves insufficient to the task."
"The Avatar has lived through many lifetimes. Each time the world has needed him or her, they have risen. A time of turmoil is approaching. If Byleth fails to rise to the role of Avatar, the world will be at far greater risk."
Seteth sighed. He knew it would be futile to try to dissuade the Archbishop once her mind was made up, especially on matters concerning Prophecy. But even so, he felt his duty was foremost to ensure the safety of the Academy.
"Let me at least oversee their progress. You are aware that the Death Knight is among our enemies, and with Jeralt gone he will have no one else."
"He has Edelgard."
"Is it wise to allow the future Emperor of the Fire Nation to exert so much influence on the Avatar? Unlike her father, she is extremely ambitious, and the Fire Nation has been known to house those who see military conquest as an act of benevolence."
"Perhaps you underestimate the will and influence of the Avatar. He who has the experience of countless generations preserving balance between the nations will not be easily swayed by political ties."
"The leaders of the other nations may not share the same faith."
"Tenacious as ever, Seteth. Very well. You may monitor and protect the students. Just remember that this is a test of Byleth. Don't lose sight of who our true enemies are. Now please, I must return to my meditations."
Seteth bowed and prepared to exit. But his curiosity prompted one last question.
"Have you ever spoken with her? With Sothis I mean?"
"You know I cannot, for I am not the Avatar, nor do I bear the Crest of the Fell King."
He allowed the doors of the meditation chamber to seal shut behind him.
…
"Now as many of you know, crests are the heritable elements that link certain lineages to the original rulers of Fodlan," Hanneman was saying. "One of the most remarkable and mysterious effects of crests is their ability to grant the bearer a strong elemental affinity, be it Earth, Fire, Wind, or Water. Over time, the families through which these crests were passed down each became associated with their particular elemental affinity; Blaidydd with Earth, Hresvelg with Fire, and so on, and this became the basis for their allegiances to one another, and ultimately the three Kingdoms we see today."
Byleth sat in the lecture hall along with several students from the three houses. According to the schedule he was given, he would be listening to lectures three days a week and receiving mentorship from Hanneman, a veteran professor of history and crestology, while preparing to teach his own classes on alternate days. He found himself interested in the information.
"Forgive me", a student said, "but that seems a rather superficial designation by which to form the basis of a political system. How is it that the common people readily accepted this reason for living apart from one another?"
"Hmm, very good point, Linhardt. It is, unfortunately, an inescapable tendency for humanity to form tribes and ideologies guided by such superficial symbols. Followers of Hresvelg, for instance, have taken inspiration from their element of Fire to innovate and industrialize, and members of their nation have a particular zeal to see their ideas spread far and wide. It has...been the source of much political tension, as some of you may have experienced. But that's enough for today, we'll pick up the discussion of the nature of the four elements next time."
As the class dismissed, Byleth stayed behind to speak with Hanneman.
"Ah, you must be Byleth, my new colleague. I hope you did not find my lecture too trifling."
"No, it was quite fascinating. I had never considered crests to be such a potent source of conflict."
"Unfortunately it is so. The nobility of the nations see crests as a sign of rightful power. Even Air, an inherently peaceful element, has a history of misusing crests to expand its power, perhaps not through war, but certainly intellectual persuasion - some would say indoctrination."
Byleth felt he had just chewed on something bitter.
"I too found it quite interesting," a voice behind him said. Byleth turned to see Edelgard, who had stayed behind as well. "Though Linhardt's point makes me wonder if there is room to create a world not guided by such superficial symbols as crests."
Hanneman considered. "In theory, perhaps, but it's an experiment few would be willing to undertake. To upset the current order of the world would certainly trigger war, or worse."
His face darkened.
"Hohoho, but that's just speculation. I admit, what really intrigues me about crests is studying those people who bear them whenever and however I can. And if I am not mistaken, my young colleague, you are almost certainly in possession of such a crest."
"I am?"
"Yes. Or so I can infer from your flawless demonstration of the Pneuma Galefist. Who knows, it may even be the Crest of the Goddess herself! Oh, but I'm getting far too ahead of myself. Calm down, Hanneman, great scientific endeavors require patience…"
He smiled contentedly and seemed to gather himself. "Do join me for a cup of tea sometime, won't you, my young colleague?" With that, he left the room, leaving Edelgard and Byleth alone in the lecture hall.
...
"So you're the new professor. I had thought you were too young, but I suppose given your proficiency with Air, it's not too surprising."
"I still have no idea how I learned to execute that move."
Edelgard looked at him seriously. "Then you'll have to discover it soon. Byleth, I'll be honest, I want you to succeed in leading our class, but most of the students here see bending skill as a sign of status. You've seen how hard Dimitri trains, and Claude is a much better waterbender than he looks."
Byleth nodded. "But what about you?"
"I've...been exposed to firebending since I was a young girl." She calmly ignited a fan of flames spreading from her palm, then quickly retracted it. "Firebending isn't strictly allowed on monastery grounds these days, ever since the fire that burned this place 20 years ago. Most of our class hasn't had a proper firebending teacher. Bernadetta, for instance. Her father used to beat her for going anywhere near fire, and now she's terrified of it. Even Ferdinand, the son of the Prime Minister, has little experience beyond the basics, even though his father is considered a firebending Master."
"Why won't they hire someone to teach this?"
"The Church is of the opinion that firebending is unnecessary in a peaceful world. Teaching children firebending has been discouraged to the point of becoming obsolete."
"Doesn't the Fire Lord...your father, I mean...object to any of this?"
She sighed. "My father gave up his influence on the Church long ago. His power is a mere shadow of what it once was. It's up to me to set things straight."
She looked ready to set something on fire again, then calmed herself.
"If I were just able to teach the rest of the students what I know, I'm sure we would win the Battle of the Eagle and Lion this year. And with that, perhaps reclaim some of our house's dignity."
"Isn't there any exception?"
"There is. We could practice firebending, but it would have to be outside the grounds under the supervision of a professor of the Academy."
...
Byleth paced nervously outside the classroom he would be teaching. The sleeves of the Academy's official professor's uniform draped awkwardly over his arms and felt too big for him in more ways than one.
The topic of his class was mercenary survival tactics. He'd decided it would be the best topic for his class to know for fighting bandits, and it was something Jeralt had taught him well.
In his hands was the roster of students he'd be teaching. In it he could see the profiles for Edelgard and Hubert, along with:
Ferdinand, son of Duke Aegir. Likes tea and healthy rivalry.
Bernadetta, daughter of Count Varley. Likes plants and embroidery.
Caspar, son of Count Bergliez. Likes to fight with his fists. (let's watch out for this one)
Linhardt, son of Count Hevring. Likes reading and catnapping.
Petra, daughter of the King of Brigid. Likes hunting and the outdoors.
Dorothea, daughter of a songstress. Likes drama and performance.
The list also included a few students from the other houses, including (to his slight consternation) Leonie.
Finally summoning up the courage, he strode, perhaps a little too bombastically, into the lecture hall.
…
"I wonder who the new professor is!" Dorothea said excitedly.
"Probably another washed up songstress from Enbarr," Linhardt yawned.
Moments later Byleth strode into the room. His face looked a little pale, but he wore a straight posture.
"Oh my, he's so young. And quite handsome!"
"Shh!" Lysithea hissed.
"Good morning!" Byleth declared in an upbeat tone. "I'm Byleth, a former mercenary and son of Jeralt Bladebreaker. I'll be your tactics professor for this semester."
"Wait, isn't he the guy who saved Edelgard?"
"Yes, the airbender."
"I thought they were all living at the Church these days."
"Today, I'll be teaching you how to anticipate an enemy decoy," Byleth continued.
"Well that's a rather germane topic considering our recent mock battle."
"Easy for you to say, Linhardt. I don't remember you calling out Claude's bluff."
"That's because I was making sure you didn't get clobbered too badly by Dimitri, Caspar."
The class continued thus. Byleth began with an analysis of the recent mock battle, indicating a key moment where Edelgard could have seen through the decoy and secured her own victory.
By the end, the entire class had actually become quite focused. They were now discussing a key tactic employed at the legendary Battle of Tailtean, where the followers of Seiros finally lured Nemesis into his fateful duel.
"I don't remember reading about that in any history textbook."
"It's as though he was actually there!"
"Impossible. I'm sure he's just embellishing for the sake of instruction."
The class took diligent notes.
…
"Wait, so how long did you say you've been a mercenary?" Dorothea sounded skeptical.
"About 3 years."
"And you're a bender, right?" Linhardt stifled a yawn as he said it.
"Well, I -"
"That's pretty incredible," remarked Ferdinand. "Most people have to practice for years, even with a crest."
"While it's usually the case," Edelgard said, "there have been some notable exceptions. It may have been luck, but natural talent is just as viable an explanation."
"I'll believe you if he'd show us."
"That is -"
"Yeah! Teach us that amazing move so we can kick some Water Tribe butt next battle!"
"Er -"
"That sounds scary! Maybe I can watch it from far away."
"Oh that's -"
"Please be showing us the move, Professor, I cannot be waiting -"
"I CAN'T DO IT!"
The group fell silent.
He explained what had happened.
"So...you were able to do an awesome move but...you don't know how you did it?"
He nodded.
A few more moments of silence. Then Dorothea exclaimed, "Well I still think you're young and handsome!"
...
The library shelves were adorned with countless worn books, mostly historical and religious texts as far as Byleth could tell. The first one he examined was a noble's account of the War of Heroes. Another was titled "The Ascension of Seiros: Salvation by Faith". He scanned the shelf above that and -
"Excuse me, Professor?"
He turned and saw no one until he looked down at his waist to find a young girl with snowy white hair peering up at him through large purple irises.
"Professor, could you please help me?" She said, "I'm trying to reach a book, but it's all the way on the top of that shelf." She pointed to a particularly dusty section of books above their heads.
"Sure, no problem." He lifted her up and she clambered onto his shoulders. She was even lighter than she looked, as though she had only half the organs of a normal human being. She reached out and grabbed the volume she was looking for - "A Realist Perspective of International Relations" - and then waited as Byleth helped her back down.
"Thank you." She said. "By the way, that was a really interesting lecture. I don't think I've ever read about the pincer ambush at the Battle of Tailtean, and I've read most of the books in this library. I'm Lysithea, by the way. Is there something I can help you find?"
He asked if she knew of any good book on Airbending.
"Oh, of course! It's Wan's Guide to Bending." She indicated a shelf in the back of the library. "It's a little dated, but some techniques haven't changed in centuries."
He scanned the shelf and found the book Lysithea mentioned. It was heavy and worn, but its leather-bound cover was quite durable. He turned to the first page and began reading.
Wan's Guide to Bending
A Pathway to Elemental Mastery by the Second Avatar
The language was a little old but still recognizable to Byleth. The first section discussed the origin of the Elements.
"A long time ago, there existed powerful beings whose abilities were said to resemble the force of nature herself. These beings were direct descendents of the Goddess, known as Macuil, the Messenger of Wind; Cethleann, the Maiden of Water; Indech, the Immovable Earth, and Cichol, the Unquenchable Fire. The original humans worshiped these beings as the Four Saints, and it was said that any children bearing their namesake crests would be blessed with great elemental prowess.
The greatest generals of Fodlan at the time made pacts with the saints to inherit their powers through their own crests, each symbolizing their devotion to one of the elements, and became known as the Ten Elites. But their king, Nemesis, was not satisfied until he had mastered all of the Elements. After being gifted with the element of Fire, he betrayed the Goddess and imprisoned her. He then consumed her body with his flames and took her power for himself, the power to bend all the elements and bring the world to its knees. It wasn't until Seiros united the four Saints and defeated the Fell King and his followers that the world finally saw an age of peace, though the crests of the Ten Elites continued to be passed on through noble bloodlines, preserving our people's connection to the Elements."
Wan went on to describe each element in detail, and the powers associated with each. Water, for example, often gave superhuman reflexes and the ability to heal wounds quickly. The book claimed that anyone who had the dedication could learn the abilities associated with each of the elements, though only those with a compatible crest could manipulate the element in physical form, such as directing water to grab onto and choke an enemy's esophagus.
Particularly intriguing to him was the power of Air, which seemed to be connected to the mind. Practitioners of Air were said to be able to anticipate the flow of battle as though they could see the enemy's movements before they happened. Some masters of Air could even turn the tide of battle simply by implanting false ideas into the mind of the enemy general, causing them to act irrationally and make decisive mistakes.
He thanked Lysithea for recommending the book, and asked if she thought this was really something that he could learn through practice.
She furrowed her brows. "The prevailing theory is that it's a gift that has to be nurtured from a young age, but there have been cases of adults picking up techniques with enough dedication. Basic air and water isn't too hard, and earth is mostly a matter of physical conditioning. Fire's the tricky one. As far as I know, there's only one case in the history of the Academy where someone learned to bend Fire without an inborn crest. A girl who studied here about 20 years ago by the name of Lyn Bei Fong."
"Where is she now?"
"Dead. Buried in the church somewhere. But no one knows how it happened."
...
The air in front of him remained stubbornly calm. He tried the technique again as described in Wan's Guide. First the movement to expand the air from his chest, then the amplification of the vacuum using his core, then the sudden release through the diaphragm. Still nothing happened.
The thought occurred to him that it might be something he's only able to do when in immediate danger. He looked around and suddenly had a crazy impulse to leap off the side of the canyon, or challenge Leonie to another duel, but immediately thought better of it.
Besides, it didn't add up. He'd been in plenty of danger on plenty of occasions with Jeralt, but somehow he'd never been able to summon the power before meeting those students...
After several more fruitless attempts, he decided to go to sleep, exhausted from the day.
...
That night, the girl on the throne revisited him in his dream. This time, though, instead of merely dark emptiness, it looked as though they were standing on a glass platform suspended high above the ground. A featureless sky extended overhead like a massive dome, and Byleth could even feel a light breeze.
You're never going to be able to teach those students if you can't teach yourself.
She approached him.
Why don't you let me help you.
At that moment, the glass panel shattered and Byleth began tumbling to the world below. Falling along with him were Edelgard, Hubert, and the rest of the Black Eagles class.
The green haired girl floated lazily in front of him, eyeing him as one would eye a tiresome child.
I thought you were going to help me! he protested.
I am. Wasn't it you who wanted to jump off that cliff earlier?
He could feel the waves of air passing by him, each ripple faster than the next. He cursed. He tried the technique from the guide. It didn't work. He was still falling.
In desperation, he reached for Edelgard's hand. It was soft, covered in sweat, but also reassuring. Suddenly he had an idea. Do this! He instructed urgently, and showed her the technique for the Pneuma Gale. She mirrored him. Soon the rest of the class was following suit.
Suddenly, a spasm of air erupted from beneath them, slowing their descent. The air pushed up against the force of gravity until they were no longer falling, but suspended in the sky atop a giant swirling ball of air. Byleth looked around and saw his class floating gracefully with arms outstretched, bouncing slightly as the air expanded and contracted. He then commanded the ball of air to move, and it did. Soon, he and his class were soaring across the skies; over the Monastery, across northern Fodlan, and into the lands beyond.
…
The next morning he approached Edelgard with his idea. "You said you wanted the class to learn firebending, right? Why don't we teach them together?"
And so, that afternoon, he and Edelgard led the class out to the mock battlefield to practice the first firebending technique in Wan's guide, the flash flare. Byleth had studied it during lunch and had memorized the technique, even if he couldn't execute it, but Edelgard was more than capable of demonstrating.
First the breath. Then the gathering of chi in the right palm while siphoning it from the left, then connecting the palms to release the energy.
Hubert was the first to get it, and Byleth was almost blinded by the intensity of the flash. Linhardt was not far behind, and soon enough, even Ferdinand and Caspar got the technique. The one who was having the most trouble was Bernadetta, who winced each time she brought her hands close as though afraid of popping a balloon.
Byleth walked over and examined her form. Suddenly, he had an idea. He suggested that she modify the technique a bit so that she released the energy as a gentle pulse rather than a blinding flash, and then showed the necessary modification. She tried it, and to everyone's surprise, a warm glow began to emanate from between her palms, pulsing every few seconds. It was astonishing most of all for Bernadetta, who stood with a look of pure joy and relief on her face. Pretty soon, the other students wanted to learn this version of the flare as well.
They spent the rest of the afternoon trying out different variations of their own invention. Hubert managed to turn his green, while Dorothea managed to make heart-shaped fireworks. Most interesting of all was Petra's, who had somehow set hers off in the shape of a flying lemur.
That night, as Byleth was sitting in the dark, on a whim he tried the technique he had taught to the students that day. To his astonishment, the room lit up in a red glow. Hovering inches above his open palm was an orb of warm red light. A burning flame, pulsing steadily like a heartbeat.