"Today will be the mock battle with hand-to-hand combat and I will be the one who chose the pair" Rock said as he stood infront of the students.
'chatter'
"Silence" Rock shouted and said, "I am one in charge here. If you want to enter Nex, then all you have to do is gather battle experience, that is the only class you has for the next 6 months".
Everyone nodded because he was at least teaching something that will be useful for the Inter-Division competition.
"Well then, let's start with...hmmm..." Rock then scanned around the students and said, "Eli, Soulless vs Cyrus, 1-Star"
Eli and Cyrus came to the battle area and they took the stance and waited for the signal.
"Remember Only hand-to-hand combat" Rock said dangerous smile and signaled them
"Let's start!"
Eli didn't wait for Cyrus guy who has gills on the neck, just throw a punch but it just slipped and Eli fall off.
"What?" Eli confused.
Using this chance Cyrus started to throw punches and kicks randomly at him and Eli tried to block but it also slipped. Eli then finally realized, Cyrus's whole body was coated with a slippery fluid.
Cyrus tried to bite Eli but sensing something dangerous, Eli rolled back and backed a few meters away from Cyrus.
"What? You are not strong without your technique, right?" Cyrus looked at Eli with amusement as he licked his lips.
"No, this is the first time I am fighting against oceans" Eli stood up and changed his stance and charged toward Cyrus.
Cyrus believed Eli would do the same thing but Eli used his fingers as he inserted into gills on both sides and head-butted as strong as he could.
'tttkkkkk'
Cyrus felt those fingers forcibly enter inside of the gills, that place is very sensitive to oceans and so he felt his head being torn and not able to breathe due to opening gills.
With a strong head-butt, Cyrus lost consciousness and fall down; a little bit of blood flowed from Eli's forehead and then he turned to look at Rock who was a little surprised.
The medical team took Cyrus and Healed Eli.
Oceans who saw this, were really scared and disgusted because that is their sacred and sensitive place.
"Winner: Eli" Rock announced and turned around looked at other students and questioned them,
"You see, even a soulless or mortal without a technique can able to beat 1-Star Ranker. 1-Star Ranker strength basically stronger than 10 times Mortal strength but Cyrus lost.
Can anyone know why is that?"
"That's because he did something cowardly by blocking our sensitive gills" other oceans said with disgusting looks.
"Can you explain to them why did you focus on the gills, Eli?" Rock asked as looked at Eli who was now healed.
"Well, when he attacked me, I saw around his neck the gills were dried and fully closed. So I thought If I opened it I may be able to get a solid grip" Eli explained calmly. Rock raised one finger on his right hand and looked at the students.
"You said this was the first time you fought against oceans, right?" Rock questioned Eli.
"Yes"
"So, you came up with that solution whether it might work or not, right?" Rock again questioned Eli.
"Yes, If it didn't work, I will focus on his mouth or nose or throw the sand on him, as long as I caught him everything is fine" Eli calmly said. Rock now raised the second finger on his right hand.
"Why did you back off?" Rock questioned.
"I felt something dangerous when he tried to bite me so I backed off, it's better safe than sorry" Eli smiled. Rock now raised the third finger.
'gasp'
Everyone started to belittle Eli,
"He's just a Coward"
"Fighting just like animals, tsk"
"What you can expect from a coward?"
'chatter'
"Silence" Rock shouted and said, "Coward you say...but he's just a mortal though, how can you expect him to fight fairly against 1-Star Ranker in the first place?"
Everyone turned silent.
"Listen little brats, What he did was, nothing but a foundation of fighting. Even I didn't expect this result from 'him'" Rock said solemnly.
'gasp' Everyone gasped and Rock pointed his fingers one by one while explaining,
"/Survival Instincts/
First, Analyse: Analyse your opponent first in order to defeat him. If it monster wait and let the monster make the move; If it is an intelligent species like humans, oceans, etc., make a first move and tried to bring out his way of fighting or let him make a move first.
Second, Multiple Solutions: Find a solution after analyzing. But do not think you can win if you have only solutions, having multiple solutions make it easier for you to understand enemies.
Third and Last, Danger sense: If you felt danger, ran away as fast as you can. Do not think about anything, your life is more important than some honor and title.
These three are the Survival Instincts, that's all we need as a foundation." Rock explained and let them process it for a few minutes.
"Any question?" Rock asked all of them whether they understood or not.
"Isn't that same as Beast or Demi-humans?" One Demi-human boy asked.
"Yes, that's right. Do not forget at the end of the day, We are nothing but an Animal who wish to survive" Rock said flatly.
But not everyone liked this kind of idea.
"sigh, I know not everyone liked this but these survival instincts are important. Until the end of this month's mock battle, you all wear this bracelet" Rock waved his hand and the black bracelet appeared on the hands of the students.
"These bracelets, let the wearer turn into a mortal and it only works on 1-9 Star Heart Rank and can only be removed by me. So get ready" Rock smiled dangerously.
Eli just stood there and listen to this lecture; wanted to go to the library but,
"Eli, soulless vs Darnell, 2-Star Rank" Rock announced the next match.
"What?" Eli was confused; He thought it was over for him.
"Oh, I forget to mention, you all will battle till one of you remain" Rock said to them carefreely.
"And don't you want to enter the Nex, then it is time you should learn a few things about other species" Rock said as he looked at Eli.
Eli's eyes were wide open and said, "I guess, Till I only fought the monsters. So it is time to know more about my classmates" Eli had a blissful expression but inwardly, 'It is time to test, what these people are capable of; rather than learning from books'.
"Good then, Let's begin" Rock nodded with a smile and started the one-sided massacre and this torture will remember for eons to come.