Moving to the wall opposite the large television, the students saw the holographic display of the leaderboard come into view and the names began appearing one after the other with the ranking of each student in front of the names.
Jake Cayden – 1
Kyle Astor – 2
Kevin Reed – 3
Rick Humdon – 4
Smith Hale – 5
Max Duane – 6
Sora Tinsel – 7
Ava Harry – 8
Diane Grey – 9
Mike Razo – 10
Lilah Gabriel – 11
Dave Floe – 12
Barry Enzo – 13
Nora Clancy – 14
Kara Edisto – 15
Seeing their rankings on the leaderboard, some of the students were happy about the positions they had gotten while some were feeling downcast.
"There is no need for you people to worry, wipe those sad looks off your faces." Anna said to the students. "As expected, Jake is at the top, the number one student, and Kyle is second in the rankings. But the rankings can change."
"What do you mean?" Diane asked. She had gotten the ninth position on the leaderboard and hearing the rankings could change, she became very interested.
"Yeah, what do you mean?" Kevin asked. He was at the third position on the leaderboard and now hearing the rankings could change, he got a bit worried. He was satisfied with being at the third position but dropping in position on the leaderboard was not an option for him.
"What I mean is, for those of you who feel like you didn't do well in your respective fights, and for those who feel like they should be at a higher ranking, you all will have a chance to hopefully do better than before." Anna explained.
"What type of chance?" Kyle asked.
"The type where one of you gets to pick a student he or she wants to fight, and if you win you get the person's ranking on the leaderboard. You can only challenge a person once a week. Pay attention to what I'm saying and listen closely." Anna said after she saw two people talking somewhere in the small crowd of students.
"Let's say, Max challenges Smith to a fight," Anna continued, "if Smith wins, Max can not challenge him again until the next week. But Max can still challenge someone else, only once in a week. Do you guys understand?"
"Yes."
"So from what you just said, no one can be challenged to a fight this week right?" Kevin asked.
"That's right, it's until next week." Anna answered.
"Phew, thank god. I got worried for a second there." Kevin said.
"Why were you worried?" Jake asked. "You can probably beat almost everyone here in a one-on-one fight."
"Yes but I might get a little carried away and decide to fight without magic again. And besides, what if someone here has the magic to somehow stop me from possessing them?" Kevin asked.
"Then I guess we'll see what happens next week." Anna said. "It's time to start the real training of the day."
"Is this going to take long?" Kevin asked.
"You're going to find out." Anna replied. "I've already taught you all the right way to throw a proper punch, and from all the fights I watched today, I'm impressed. I'm impressed with myself, not you guys. You guys learn fast, it's because you have an amazing teacher like me. You're welcome."
After taking a slight bow, Anna continued "In the fights you guys had, only a few of you didn't use the methods I taught you to throw a punch. While some of you used the method, you were slow in doing it which is why some lost to their opponents. As much as I would like to drill you all more on the punching steps, that is no longer my problem. I've done my part by teaching you, do your part by practicing more, for your own good."
"But we were pretty good during our fights weren't we?" Kevin asked.
"Speak for yourself." Diane said to Kevin.
"Today I'm going to teach you a kicking technique. I've taught you the right way to punch, now I'm going to teach you the right way to kick." Moving towards the large doll while Kevin stared at her butt, Anna pushed a button on the doll and it began appearing in different places in the training room just like the last time.
"You all know what to do, move to a doll and face it but still pay attention to me." Anna said as she walked to the doll at the front part of the training room.
Following Smith and Kevin, Jake faced a doll and looked at Anna. 'I've already learnt how to kick the right way. Not only that, she also taught me how to do a front kick. That kick really helped in my fight against Kyle. Maybe I should use this time to focus more on my flow of magic.'
Seeing Jake with his eyes closed, Anna stopped with her demonstrations and said to him "Jake? Do you mind paying attention to what I'm demonstrating? You might be at the top on the leaderboard but you might learn a few new things from what I'm teaching right now."
"Okay Miss Anna." Jake said then began paying attention. 'I already know this stuff.' he thought as he heard what she was saying and saw what she was demonstrating. 'She's still teaching them about the stance. It won't hurt to practice it while she's still on the topic.'
"Now that you all have gotten the stance," Anna said to the students after an hour, "you're going to learn a front kick. Do you know what a front kick is? Yes Smith?"
Nervous, Smith put his hand down and answered in a timorous voice. "A f-front kick is one of the m-most basic ways t-to kick a person and you sh-should aim for the torso be-because it's easier to hit w-when using a front kick."
"That is correct. Looks like someone has been doing some studying." Anna said. "If you want to use a front kick to attack somebody, bring the back of your knee up towards your shoulder to enter. Then extend your leg straight out for a strong kick. You must make contact with the ball of your foot, using your toes to make contact could break your toes. Watch me."
Demonstrating what she had explained to the students, Anna hit the doll in front of her with a front kick. "Try doing what I just did. Remember, like Smith said, aim for the torso of the doll. Listen to instructions."
Trying to do what they had seen Anna demonstrate, the students were not getting it right apart from a few of them. "It seems like you guys need a little break, go out for ten minutes. After ten minutes, if I don't see any of you here there'll be consequences."
"I would take consequences from you anytime Miss Anna." Kevin said as he left the training room.