Klein nodded his head, slightly amazed at the question of the boy. It seemed he wasn't in a class filled with spoilt, brain-washed students, and there were still some smart ones around.
It also told him that he needed to be careful around those smart ones, especially that little fraudster at the back.
"According to the school grading scale, your spell casting time would be checked, and your ability to react quickly and think fast would also be checked. You must do your best in this training because it could also lead to a demotion."
Klein's smile widened until his eyes looked in Martin's direction.
'What the hell? Why is he sleeping in my class?" Klein felt a wave of anger.
Martin's head was on the table as he was getting bored of the class, and that little gesture ticked off his teacher.
Just as Klein was about to say something, the bell rang, signaling the end of the period.
At the same time, Martin looked up at the man glaring and shot a smile at him.
Klein understood that this little devil was mocking him.
He clenched his hand into a fist, unable to do anything, before dismissing the students.
He would have dealt with this stubborn student in another class.
Martin, on the other hand, couldn't wait for this physical training, and soon enough, everyone in the school was talking about it.
Martin knew he had to train to start unlocking his fire rune.
The fire runic lines weren't as gentle as the winds as they shook earnestly, asking to be fed with more mana.
Martin found a space in the school garden where he knew no one could see him.
Many people already knew him as a wind mage, so it would raise questions he didn't want to answer when they found him cultivating the fire element.
The fire element was the most dangerous one among the primary elements.
It was even more deadly than lightning, as Fire could destroy both outside and inside the body.
He knew he would need help, and the only person that came to mind was Tana.
She was very talented, and Martin still couldn't help but wonder where the hole in that dead beast orc had come from.
The opening of the fire rune was what Martin had decided.
Anything could happen in a mission, so he had to be prepared.
He moved the mana around his central mana core, trying to understand the current flow in his body and control it.
Martin felt a calm sensation in his chest, which meant it was time to work.
He dragged mana from his core, moving it into his right hand and straight into the fire runic lines.
A scorching heat enveloped his body the moment mana touched the first entrance of the rune symbol.
Martin had to fight through it.
Rune opening was never a simple or painless task. People with no talent would go through much worse pain.
Axton's body had no talent, but Martin had created a Pseudo-mana core, and he had a rune that sucked in and stored mana. So he was a walking mana tank.
Martin knew he had three elemental runes, so he cherished the pain as it meant he would be much stronger than most mages.
Most of his classmates were at the breaking point of the Elemental Initiate, ready to break into their next level as long as they were able to awaken their second rune.
However, he wasn't anywhere close to a breakthrough until he could perfect all his runes, so his cultivation level was still stuck at the beginning of Elemental Novice.
"Come on, Runic lines. Be good, and obey me. I need your power."
Beads of sweat lined across Martin's forward as he moved mana slowly through the entrance.
He had to take his time.
If not, the meridians connecting his mana core to his rune could explode, causing his right hand to be useless.
"Finally."
After six hours, a blaze of heat erupted from Martin's body, scorching the plants that surrounded him and killing them.
Sweat soaked through his back and even in his front, coating his body in a slick shine.
Martin opened his mouth and breathed out, releasing a breath of red air outside his body.
His eyelids opened up, and his eyes had changed to a red color, but they quickly returned to their bright blue color after a few blinks.
Martin had successfully activated the fire rune. Now, he would have a better chance of running away from that adventurer group if anything happened.
Martin stood up and looked around, but no one was in sight, and he couldn't hear a single sound.
"How long have I been here?" Martin scratched his head and muttered.
He didn't know that he had been in that position for six good hours.
Every student had left for home; he hadn't broken his concentration because of how immersed he was.
Four hours ago, Klein was so pissed when he didn't see the Axton boy, and he had proceeded to give the students a test, much to everyone's annoyance.
He stated that Axton's absence was why he had given them the test, making everyone hostile to the boy.
Meanwhile, the kid had just been putting time and hard work into his cultivation.
Martin laughed when he pictured the look on Klein's face when he didn't see his beloved student.
The man must have looked like the raging bulls he had seen in his former world.
Meanwhile, Tana watched as a purple aura erupted from Frey's body.
He had broken through the initiate level and attained a second element.
Tana was disgusted by her father's relentless act to make Axton suffer.
Nevertheless, she couldn't help but worry about Axton.
Would he be able to defeat Frey now that the boy had awoken a lightning rune?
-----
The walk home was dull, and Martin took a different turn.
"I'm sorry. It wouldn't happen again." Martin heard a voice along the route he had decided to take.
He frowned but kept on walking. He couldn't turn back because he had walked a long distance.
He would have used gale steps but had to keep his abilities low because he didn't know who was watching him.
Martin walked forward, and a scene unwrapped in front of him.
A group of boys had gathered around someone, and they were beating him up.
Martin could hear the painful sounds escaping from the boy's lip, but he didn't care.
The last person he had bothered to help out of a bullying problem had turned his back on him.
So he wasn't going to make the same mistake again.
The bullies and their pitiful victims could die for all he cared.
At the very least, they weren't obstructing his path since they were on the left side of the wide path.
"The next time I send you on an errand, I want it to be done very fast. I don't pay you ten bronze loin every month to laze around." The voice that spoke had to be the ring leader from Martin's experience with this kind of people.
However, he didn't care and just passed the other side of the road.
"My mother needed to be at the hospital, so I wanted to take her there, and…"
The victim cried out in agony when a kick to his stomach interrupted his words.
"..."
The man was about to say something when he felt a scorching heat by his side.
He instantly felt like a prey in front of an apex predator.
However, the moment the feeling appeared, it quickly vanished.
The Ringleader looked up to see a tall guy who had just walked in front of him as if he was nonexistent, making him feel weak.
Ringleader didn't like feeling weak.
"Hey, Scum!"
Martin halted in his steps.
This ringleader didn't understand the severity of the situation he was putting himself in.