Kayden had always been somewhat of a bookworm, so the normal classes were easy for him. He was more interested in the other classes and what they had to offer. With so many students in one academy, competition was bound to be fierce. In order to protect his family in the outside, he needed to grow stronger as soon as possible. He needed to ensure that what happened to his cousin would never happen again.
The combat classes were taught by three different teachers since the number of students were many. The class was divided into three groups with each teacher teaching one group. Kayden and his friends made sure they ended up in the same group, while his roommates ended up in a different ground.
"Good afternoon, students," the instructors greeted the students. "I hope you you are familiarizing yourself with the academy so far. As you may know, this is the combat class. Here, we teach you how to fight and defend with nothing but your body. However, the use of abilities is prohibited in this class. Whomever is caught breaking this rule will be punished," they explained.
"For today's lesson, you all will be focusing on a Japanese fighting style called Aikido. It is a martial art that focuses on redirecting attacks away from you. Aikido focuses on throwing, joint locks, traditional Japanese weapons, etcetera. This martial arts style involves grabs, strikes, throws, pins, and joint locks. While some Aikido techniques may look odd, like why do they have a defence against a knife hand strike to the top of the head. No one does that!
"These were originally designed to stop a samurai's sword strike. Moreover, these types of Aikido techniques are useful in order to defend against attackers armed with clubs, sticks, and so on. For the next few weeks, we will be focusing on basic Aikido techniques. At the end of each lesson, you all will be tested to assess what you had learnt during the lesson. You will then be graded based on your progress.
"For today, we will be focusing on an Aikido technique called Ikkyo, also known as the First Teaching. It is a technique that deals with elbow control. This elbow control technique is used in combination with many types of different attacks. It is the most basic of all Aikido techniques, and should be possible to do on any attack. It is also an entrance move for nikyo, sankyo, yonkyo, gokyo, and hijikime osae.
"For other Aikido techniques, please visit the academy's library during your free time. Using this technique, you will be able to use your opponent's movements against them."
The instructors them went on to perform a few demonstrations with each other while the students paid close attention. "You don't fight directly with your partner's line of strength. You follow your own. You raise both of your hands up, away from his line of strength. Then you slide forward. Your backhand is going to meet your opponent's elbow. Then, you turn the hips, and step in to the side.
"Remember, the shoulder should be pinned to the ground. Then down for a pin. This isn't one of the more painful pins, but it works really well in terms of keeping your opponent immobilized. Now that we have shown you how it's down, let's see how you can do it. Everyone pick a partner to practice the technique."
The students then looked at each other and began choosing whom to practice with. Kayden chose to practice with a random student. Since this was their first time seeing and even hearing about the technique, many were unable to execute it. Only a few were able to get it right. Perhaps it was talent, or maybe they knew about the technique prior to this class and how to practice it.
Because this was their first ever combat class, the instructors decided to take it easy on them. However, this grace wouldn't last for long. They displayed the movements to the students again, and they were ordered to repeat the same movements. After almost two hours, it seemed like they weren't making much progress. Although the movements seemed foreign to Kayden, he was gradually picking up on them.
Once the lesson was over, everyone got ready to head towards the next class. The instructors greeted them and asked about how their last class turned out. "Alright students, before this class begins, I we would like to give you an overview of abilities. You see, there are seven classes of abilities. You may have already encountered a bunch of them in your previous schools.
"The seven classes are: The Fire Class, The Serpent Class, The Boulder Class, The Wind Class, The Razor Class, The Tracker Class, and finally, The Mystery Class. Since there are six different ability classes, six teachers have been assigned to teach this class. Now, if you would just go and meet the teacher who will be teaching your class, we can begin the class," one of the teachers explained.
In front of each teacher, a sign was placed. On the sign was the name of the ability class they would be teaching. While Kayden had a mystery class ability, Blake had a Fire Class ability, Zain had a Razor Class ability, Carter had a Boulder Class ability, then Madison had a Serpent Class ability. Upon meeting the mystery class teacher, Kayden realized that there weren't many with that ability class. There were oh three students with that kind of ability.
'I guess that's why it's called mystery class,' Kayden thought to himself.Those in the other classes looked at the three who were in the mystery class. Some were envious that they had rare abilities, and wished they were in their place. Mystery abilities were not only rare. There were people who would say that such abilities were special. They said that mystery abilities possessed special traits and set them apart from other abilities.
Looking at the other two in the class, Kayden had no idea who they were.The woman who would be teaching them had purple long curly hair and an icy expression on her face. She wasn't here to play games. Once everyone was in their class, the lessons began. The rooms for students to learn were large enough to accommodate them with plenty room to spare. Kayden focused intently on everything the woman would say.
The woman proceeded to ask her students of their abilities, from this, he learnt that the other two students had abilities called Memory Alteration and Ability Copy. These two students were Markus and Dan. Kayden told the instructor that his ability was Werewolf transformation.
"Memory Alteration is quite a dangerous ability. Just like every other ability, it requires Mana to use. Your ability allows you to change the memories of those around you. Depending on how much Mana you have and how much of it your body can use at once, you can change the memories of a large number of people. However, I must warn you of this. Your ability, being a mystery class, is one of the most dangerous abilities in the world.
"Even I'm surprised that the higher ups didn't capture you and even allowed you into the academy after learning of your ability. Right now, even I don't know the extent of your ability or what it's truly capable of. I hope you use it for good, in fighting against the Shales in the future."
Markus bowed his head in respect. "I promise that I will only use my abilities for the greater good in the future," he declared.
"I'm glad to hear that," the instructor replied. "Before we start your lesson, I would like to see the capabilities of your ability. So I've arranged for some people to volunteer for today's lesson." Not long after, a group of adults walked into the room.
"These people are ordinary civilians living their lives as taxi drivers. I want you to change that memory into making them believe that they are superheroes sworn to protect humanity," she ordered.
Markus nodded his head and looked at the people. It was time for him to show just what his ability was capable of. Though he hadn't improved much on it, he intended to do the best he could with these five volunteers. Meanwhile, everyone else in the other a ability classes were focused on learning the best thing could from their instructors. Many were doing their best to keep on with the things their instructors were saying and doing.
Since there were only three students with the mystery class ability, Kayden hoped that the teacher wouldn't be too hard on them since she didn't have to teach as much students as the other instructors. Hopefully, it would give him the opportunity to learn more efficiently and without any form of unnecessary stress.
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