But it was Lyris this time who proceeded to state his answer.
"The invention of Training Capsules solved this problem." Her enthusiastic voice sounded within the lecture hall.
The Teacher was still waiting for Aria to answer but was disappointed when Aria shrugged his arms in denial.
"Yes, Lyris's answer is correct. The invention of Training capsules solved this problem. As for the mechanism behind its functioning, it is confidential." Teacher stamped a sentence of approval for Lyris's answer as he proceeded to take out a small circular device from his pocket that displayed the time and continued.
"Since it's almost time for your combat class, let's see if any of you guys have questions."
After waiting for a few seconds, the Teacher's eyes moved on each and every student and sensing that no one had any questions but instead a look of excitement for the next class he sighed.
"Alright then let's move on to the combat class then." Saying so the Teacher took hold of his thick book and turned facing the wall.
-Ting Ting-
The bell rang signifying the end of the first lecture. Just then a heavy trembling spread throughout the lecture hall and the wall started to descend beneath the ground slowly. Little by little the view on the other side of the wall appeared in front of everyone's eyes.
A huge ground with a transparent dome covering the top. There were sprinklers on the dome that spewed a slight drizzle of water on the ground making it moist and preparing the ground for use.
"Alright cadets, get ready and stand side by side on the ground observing one hand distance between each of you." The Teacher instructed.
The cadets followed the instruction and stood in a line facing the teacher who was walking slowly with his hands clasped behind towards them.
"The Academy follows a rich history of combat and as the cadets of the Academy you are to excel in combat." Saying so, the Teacher's bent back suddenly turned ramrod straight.
Aria immediately sensed something weird just by looking at the Teacher's stance. He was waiting for Athenaeum to react. And sure enough it did--
***
[ Ancient Combat Art ]
[ Grade: Unknown ]
[ Integrating Knowledge ]
[ Successful ]
***
'Why does it say Unknown?'
[The 'Ancient Combat Art' is defined by the Book of Athenaeum as a art with limitless potential]
Along with Athenaeum's voice, everything related to the Ancient Combat Art was transferred to Aria.
The level of integration from the Book of Athenaeum depended on the user's mental strength, but due to Aria's previous life it always had a hundred percent integration probability. As Aria became more powerful in the future, his mental strength would sublimate with his body leading to perfection.
On the other hand, the Teacher continued with his demonstration of the combat art.
"The basis of our combat lay in five movement techniques which includes advancing on the opponent;
hitting his flank, deflection of incoming blows, taking a commanding position and striking. The combat art does not rely on fitness, flexibility or strength. Instead it uses tactical positioning and body mechanics."
The Teacher explained but everyone was still puzzled by this. Thus in order to clear their doubts he performed a series of movements. At first his entire body seemed to be swaying as he took a single step forward. Then using the momentum from that step he unleashed a punch.
-Pow-
The punch penetrated the air as a soft shockwave swept towards the cadets making their hair flutter. There was a hint of excitement on their faces. Then the Teacher took another step, followed by a chop from the other hand which immediately pierced the air creating a shrill noise.
As if it was just the beginning, he then proceeded to move his upper body backwards and use the other hand as an anchor point. Then utilizing the stored momentum he swung the other hand unleashing it as another punch landed at the position just before him.
-Boom-
This time the entire ground trembled from the sheer pressure of the punch's strength.
After this series of movements the Teacher retracted his foot and regained his original posture as he let out a deep breath.
"Now what I displayed to you was the basic form that I derived from the Academy's combat art. Even though everyone learns the same combat art, there are near infinite permutations for the basic forms you learn from the combat art."
No matter who it was, every cadet was excited and eager to learn. But it was only Aria who noticed that the feet of the Teacher seemed to have trembled a little as he completed the last punch.
'Is it another injury?'
A hint of doubt appeared in his mind, but he soon discarded this thought.
Then the Teacher guided each and every student with the basic forms of the combat art. It included five forms. First; moving a single step. Second; punching the air. Third; taking a step back while using your previous arm as an anchor. Fourth; a chop from the other arm while retracting your first arm and moving forward with the other foot. And Fifth; retracting your arm and foot as the body returns to the same position as before.
Although the five steps seemed simple and pretty much absurd to even think of it as a combat art. The difficulty lay in mastering the essence of the steps.
"Remember you must utilize your body movements and mechanics to unleash your strength. Adjust your body's center of gravity and mass in such a way that it would enable you to unleash two hundred percent of your body's potential."
Teacher's voice reverberated in the ground as he watched each and every cadet practice the steps again and again. He would peacefully and calmly guide them whenever he found an error in the movement.
'What a wonderful basic technique! It is perfectly suitable for cadets with our level and strength, as it enables us to maximize our body's usage. It is perfectly suited for this body and will be a lot more helpful in the long run.'
Aria thought as he went through the information in his mind. He closed his eyes and practiced the movements. In the beginning his movements were the same as the other cadets but slowly and surely they were starting to get better. Although no one noticed this as Aria was trying hard to minimize the movements effects and using less and less of his strength.
Even though the Teacher could not find fault with the movement, he did not sense the effects and thus arrived at the conclusion that Aria had not mastered the essence, only the movements, which was not a surprising feat as Maya, Jasmine, Dron, Lyris, Delia and Judas had also memorized the movements.