The hall for the wildlife class was even bigger, a 1,000-seating capacity hall.
5 minutes before 3:00pm, the hall was already filled to the brim as some students were forced to stand as all the chairs were occupied.
Looking around this large hall, Ramon saw some students that were clearly older than the first-year students. He guessed they were the carry over students that brother Shaggy spoke of.
Unfortunately, the instructor for this class did not come on time.
While some of the students used this time to socialize, finally settling down for the first time since his first class, Ramon finally thought back to it.
'The warrior path is divided into Evolvers and Transmutators'.
'The mage path is divided into Warlocks, Manipulators, and Transmutators'.
Thinking of this, Ramon thought back to all the astral battles that he had witnessed, predominantly that of the Fate Destroying Emperor and Joel's crew.
'Gustas is clearly an Evolver'.
'The Fate Destroying Emperor is a Warlock'.
'Iyana Olenor is what? A Transmutator? A Warlock?' As Ramon thought hard, invisible smoke seemed to come from his head as he grabbed his aching head.
'Ah…, too hard, I can't tell'.
'I can't tell those guys' paths but I can tell the paths of Joel's crew. With that electricity, Joel is clearly a transmutator like the Lightning Emperor'.
'Augustus, he was able to use a defense shield, this should make a Manipulator but at the same time, he created those doppelgangers'.
'Does that not make him a Warlock?' Ramon felt another headache coming.
'Perhaps, an astral warrior can major on a path like Guendouzi said while still be able to pursue another path'. Ramon put it at the back of his mind to ask.
'Joro is clearly a Warlock'.
'Lynx should be an Evolver'.
'As for Meyer, without a doubt, she is a Mage Transmutator, an Elementalist'.
As Ramon made all these connections in his head, clearing some of the mysteries of the astral world before him, his eyes sparkled as he could not help but fantasize. 'To become the King of astral travelers, I need a powerful crew like Joel's'.
'I will like to have an Evolver in my crew'.
'I will like to have a Transmutator too, 1 warrior transmutator and 1 mage transmutator would do,' he grinned happily.
'Manipulators don't seem so powerful or important but having 1 won't be bad,' he smiled mischievously.
'A Warlock is a must; they can do so much'.
'I want a Warlock like Joro though,' His eyes sparkled longingly. 'Afterall, what's the use in being an astral traveler if I don't have total freedom to enjoy life?'
'I want my crew to be like Joel's'.
'I want to have a musician like Joro to make our journeys interesting, I want a storyteller too that'd burst my head with the craziest adventure stories'.
'I also want a cook too, a cook that can cook like mom'.
'Hehe,' He grinned. 'What's life without good food?'
Thud! Thud! Thud!
Suddenly, all the noise and chatter in this hall died down as heavy footsteps reverberated in the hall, moving towards the stage but even as every student quieted down, a certain student didn't notice, still fantasizing happily.
From in his head, he started chuckling to real life.
"Hehe…,"
Silence.
"Hihi…,"
All eyes turned towards the small kid in the middle of the hall, the atmosphere changed immediately and this was what made Ramon unsettled, pushing him out of his fantasy to notice his situation.
"Huh?" He stared ahead; his face painted with surprise by the face that now stared back at him.
"It's you! Fat man!" Ramon suddenly roared.
Silence.
This hall quietened down like a graveyard as every student stared at Ramon with horror printed all over their faces, Mr. Patrick's face darkened.
As soon as Mr. Patrick's face darkened, Ramon felt a pull.
BAM!
A foreign force acted on Ramon as he was yanked from his chair, flying through the air all the way towards the podium where the instructor stood.
Ramon was now at the front of the class alongside the instructor.
Ramon glared at him. "You…!"
Mr. Patrick stared at him and for a moment, Ramon thought he saw pitch-black eyes as a load with immense force seemed to be tied to his lips.
Ramon could no longer open his mouth to speak, the simple task of opening his mouth to speak now felt like lifting a 50kg block.
"…!" Ramon panicked.
At this moment, Mr. Patrick wore casual leather hunting clothes on his fat chubby body even as his huge broad sword wrapped up by leather was tied to his back. The sword was too big to be strapped to his waist.
This instructor looked round the class. "Number 1 rule in my class, never speak unless when answering a question".
"You make noise and you'll suffer my gravity punishment".
"Studies have shown that an average non user could not withstand gravity greater than 5g without passing out, this is because the heart couldn't pump enough blood into the head".
"My punishment is subjecting you to 10g gravity throughout my lecture time, it's up to you if you can survive it or not".
Snap!
Mr. Patrick snapped his finger and Ramon almost fainted.
The ground beneath him revealed a small crack as sweat started running down Ramon's body rapidly. His heart and lungs were suffocating him, he could barely breath as he felt like the weight of the whole world was on his shoulders.
Worse still, his mouth still felt heavy and he could not speak.
Watching him, all the students of this class sucked in deep breaths.
'You f*cker!'
'How dare you do this to me?!'
'I'll kill you!'
'I'll murder you!' Even as Ramon raved in his mind, he also calmed down as he noticed something. 'He didn't even use his sword!'
'The fat man is this powerful? Impossible!'
Mr. Patrick had a casual look on his face but in his mind, he was impressed. 'He managed to withstand that without falling, he's definitely an evolver'.
The class finally started.
"Welcome to this class, WLD 101, Basic Beast Hunting".
"My name is Mr. Patrick, and I'll be your instructor for this course. By the end of this course, you'll have a basic understanding of what to do when faced against a terrifying astral predator in the wild to survive".
"Every astral pathway has proven and specific basics and instincts that they follow to react in every combat scenario against wild beasts".
"So, to start this class, we'll determine your pathways".
"Determining your pathways is easy".
"I want every one of you to release your astral energy. The astral energy of warriors tends to materialize around their whole body at the same time but for mages, they have better control and can already control where their energy appears at this early stage of their astral journeys".
"Between warriors, to determine Evolvers from Transmutators is also simple. The energy type of Evolvers is more aggressive and confrontational".
"You'll understand this phenomenon better in your 2nd year".
"Between mages, the astral energy of manipulators affects everything around them, other students around them will feel uncomfortable once they release it".
"As for Warlocks, in the Legionnaire stage, their astral energy is invisible".
"And as for Transmutators, the elements of nature will always react to their astral energy".
"With this knowledge, I want all of you to release your astral energy now".
This was a hall with over a thousand students, astral energy filled everywhere in an instant but Mr. Patrick was easily able to differentiate between them.
"472 Evolvers".
"257 Warrior Transmutators".
"135 Warlocks".
"104 Manipulators".
"129 Mage Transmutators".
"4 Specialists".
At the front of this hall, a certain 10-year-old boy trembled as his veins popped out. "Whaugh abouf mhef…?"
Snap!
Bam!
Snapping his finger, more gravity was added as Ramon was slammed against the ground this time. "I didn't give you permission to speak".
"As for you though, I don't need to see your astral energy first".
"You're an Evolver," this instructor paused. "But a Specialist too". Mr. Patrick secretly threw a glance at the little kid as his interest in him grew.
"Whaugh ifs a spechaulist…?"
BOOM!
Even more gravity as Ramon coughed blood.
The other students shuddered.
"You'll be taught about Specialists in your next education department class".
"With your pathways discovered, it'll be easier to teach you how to react when fighting and hunting astral beasts".
"There are different types of astral beasts but no matter how different they are, their powers are always oriented towards either of 3 directions".
"Defense, offense, or speed".
"If you meet an astral beast with good defense, never rush, the most important advantage of humanity is our brain and intelligence".
"Take your time to whittle its defense down, rush attack does not work against them most times, defense is their natural advantage".
"If you meet an astral beast with good speed, the best strategy is to target either their legs for land beasts or wings for aerial beasts".
"Remember, the goal is to use your advantages to weaken their advantages".
"You need to tip the scales of the battle in your favor before you have any hopes of emerging victorious from a battle between a powerful astral beast".
"If you can't tip the scales, you're as good as dead".
"Miracles don't happen in the astral world; only good astral warriors survive".
"In the wild, good offensive astral beasts are the bane of most hunter crews".
"The strategy against them is balance".
"If you can kill them with one attack, do so and if not, rely on all the training you'll be learning during your stay in the school and create a balance".
"A balance between defense, offense, and speed".
"This is the only way to win in battle".
Despite his suffering even as this lecture went on, hearing this, Ramon remembered something. 'Defense, offense, speed…; Augustus, Joel, Lynx…, the fat man is a good teacher!'
"Remember, in basic beast hunting and astral battles, the secret is in how you channel your astral energy to amplify yourself or your weapons".
"The secret lies in using your astral energy well".
"Over your time in the academy, everyone of you will work on creating your own combat style that is unique to you and your talents".
"In battle, envision your astral energy in your sea of consciousness, picture its flow and tell it what to do," Mr. Patrick packed his book. "It'll obey you".
"Before bringing this class to an end, I want to show you all a practical example of what it means to take on a beast in battle".
"Fortunately, today, thanks to a stubborn student, I have a scapegoat".
"Ramon Brenden, your goal is to kill the Berserk Boar before it kills you".
With one wave of his hand, a gigantic cage appeared, covering Ramon in its middle even as a big 2 meter tall and 3-meter-long Boar stood at one end of this cage. As soon as it saw the human, this Boar charged aggressively.
Ha! Ha! Ha!
Ramon was just catching his breath after the increased gravity was lifted even as he turned to glare at the instructor. "Fat man! How dare you…?"
GRUGGG…!
The Boar's loud grunt caught Ramon's attention as his eyes widened.
His anger against the fat man made him briefly lose sight of his surroundings, not noticing the Boar on time and now, this astral beast was directly before him, its sharp tusk pointed and ready to stab the life out of the boy.
"…!" Majority of the class yelped in fear at the sight.
But the boy reacted.
Whoosh!
Unlike most students, this was not Ramon's first encounter with an astral beast. Besides, Guendouzi was not teaching him for nothing for 5 years.
Ramon rolled backward, swiftly evading the deadly Boar charge.
Ramon was fast but the Boar was faster, he reacted fast but the Boar was on him again, stabbing with its tusk again.
Whoosh!
Ramon rolled backward again, rubbing his body all over the ground.
The Boar charged and stabbed again.
Whoosh!
This time, instead of rolling backwards, Ramon instead rolled sideways and as he did, he finally grabbed his wrapped sword from his waist, unsheathing it.
Shing!
The sword vibrated in response to his touch…, Sword Breaker was excited.
Just before the Boar could stop its charge, turn and orient itself again to the human, Ramon wielded his sword even as his eyes narrowed.
He wanted to swing like normal but he remembered something.
'In battle, envision your astral energy in your sea of consciousness, picture its flow and tell it what to do, it'll obey you'.
Focusing, for the first time since his awakening, Ramon saw himself back in his sea of consciousness as the waves of this sea moved relentlessly.
'Obey me!' He commanded in his mind and it obeyed.
Some of the endless water in his sea followed his command and in reality, golden energy erupted out of Ramon's body, coating his sword in it completely.
And finally, he slashed upwards.
BOOM!
The Boar released a high-pitched squeal before going silent.
The Boar's body twitched…, it was already dead.
Ramon beheaded this astral beast's head with just one slash of his sword but after that slash though, as the golden energy that materialized around him disappeared, Ramon felt exhausted and he fainted.
Mr. Patrick looked at his students. "And that's how you hunt".
"The class is over, dismissed".