Jack Blades said, "Pay attention, because I'm only going to give you one demonstration and one explanation. I won't be repeating myself for those of you who are too slow to focus the first time!"
He then reached under his cloak and pulled out a dagger with his left hand. Then he extended his right index finger and concentrated energy at its tip, making it appear as though a candle flame had condensed there. This was the sort of exceptional Hunter energy manipulation that could be expected from an S-Tier Hunter!
Jack Blades said, "At this point, you must create your own signature in the form of an encircled sigil. If you've ever played a video game where a mage uses a pentagram, that's the same general idea. But the shape in the circle must be unique to you, so memorize it carefully!"
He traced a symbol on the blade of the dagger, a circle with a kind of crossed set of lines inside. The Hunter energy left a trail behind where his finger moved, inscribing the sigil on the blade.
As soon as he lifted his finger, the Hunter energy on the blade changed color to a very light blue and shone more brightly. "Voila!" said Jack Blades. "That's all there is to it. Now, if the weapon leaves the zone of your aura, it will disappear into your personal space-time inventory!"
He tossed the dagger gently to the ground a short distance away. A few seconds later, a blue portal shimmered around the dagger and then engulfed the weapon. "Well… There are a few restrictions concerning what weapons you can bond to yourself in this way. First, the bond only works on objects containing a good percentage of zombie bone powder. The higher the quality of the powder, the better! More importantly, if someone else has already bonded the object, it's impossible to bond it also to yourself."
Jack Blades made the energy appear at his fingertip again and then made the crossed circle sign in the air, leaving a trail of Hunter energy behind. Suddenly, a blue portal appeared and rippled in the air about ten centimeters away. The instructor reached in and withdrew the dagger.
He held the dagger up like a stage magician with a wand. "This technique has two advantages! First, as you've recently experienced, even a Hunter can become unnecessarily fatigued by moving around in full combat gear… Trust me, you'll be carrying far more equipment than you are now once you're on active duty! Carrying gear won't be truly effortless until you've achieved Tier S.
"Second, you of course know from your shopping that Hunter equipment is extremely valuable, and many people will try to steal it from you. By linking your equipment to your personal Hunter energy, you can prevent others from easily stealing it."
The group of students could be heard muttering various words during this explanation.
"Wow!"
"Incredible, that's basically magic!"
"I can't believe we can do things like this…"
Indeed, for people who'd been mere humans only a few days ago, to see such an impressive demonstration was almost unbelievable. This went beyond easily understood powers like heightened strength or even the ability to manipulate lightning.
Jack Blades continued, "Of course, you won't want to keep every item bound to you forever. You may wish to sell a weapon, for example. Therefore, I'll now instruct you how to reverse the technique and break the link."
He placed the palm of his right hand over the sigil on the dagger. There was a noticeable pulse of pressure in the air and a second bright flash of light from under his hand. Curiously, the light grew much brighter than it had before, and the focusing of energy lasted for several long seconds. Suddenly, a sound like shattering glass cracked through the area!
Jack Blade said, "Voila! As you saw, my sigil was shattered by the excess energy I poured into it. Simply overload your own sigil when you need to remove it. Some of you may be wondering if you can do so on a sigil belonging to someone else in order to break their bond. Yes, this is technically possible. However, I strongly warn you not to do so. You'll quickly learn why if you try. One more thing… Be very careful what you choose to link and unlink. The immense amount of energy required to break the bond means that the object itself will suffer damage, lowering both its usefulness and resale value. It's estimated that most objects can be unliked three or four times before completely breaking, so be careful!"
Then he looked out over the students with a wry grin. "That's all. Classes are dismissed for the day! Tomorrow, we'll work on mastering this technique. Meet me at 6 a.m. in the main courtyard. Those who succeed will receive ten extra points, so don't slack off in the meantime!"
The teacher raised his arm towards the students, activated an unknown skill, and disappeared without a trace.