Although he was reading the book, Asher could feel the eyes of others on him and Aurora. He didn't mind; he had read almost an entire chapter on common floral species in the wilderness when he noticed a sudden silence in the training ground.
He glanced up and saw a middle-aged man with a rugged and imposing figure, standing tall with a broad, muscular build. The man had short dark hair with a streak of silver and a prominent scar running diagonally from just above his right eyebrow, crossing the bridge of his nose, and ending near his left cheekbone. The scar added a fierce intensity to his sharp, steel-gray eyes, which seemed to reflect years of battle experience.
He had a powerful aura that commanded silence in the class. After the students quieted down, he spoke in a loud voice, "Good afternoon, all."
Many felt a tinge of fear at the sound of his voice. When he didn't get a reply, he raised his voice even more, "I SAID, GOOD AFTERNOON, ALL!"
Instinctively, most students shouted back with trembling knees, "GOOD AFTERNOON, SIR!"
Asher didn't shout like the others; he responded casually. When the man spoke, Asher used his insight and noticed that the aether surrounding the man suddenly shifted from its usual peaceful state, moving erratically as if amplifying his commanding tone throughout the entire ground.
After scanning his surroundings, Asher suddenly felt a gaze on him and noticed the man smirking at him. A slight sense of foreboding crept up on Asher, but he kept his face composed, not letting his inner panic show.
The man looked around and announced, "My name is Darius Steele, and I'll be your combat instructor for the next two months."
He continued, "Looking at you now, all I see is a bunch of sprouts dreaming of reaching the sky. But just a little disturbance in the aether had some of you trembling, which, in my book, means WEAK And I mean it—ALMOST ALL OF YOU," he added, glancing pointedly at Asher. "You're as fragile as newborns in the awakener world. By the end of these two months, I expect all of you to grow into at least a small tree. There will be a test to measure your progress, and I'll be tracking each of your performances during my lessons. Your results will reflect that. So be warned—I don't need slackers; I need workers."
"So without further ado, let's start the class. Who can tell me what is the most important thing you need for fighting?"
Almost instantly, Ethan answered, "Experience and training."
"Wrong," Darius said without even glancing at the confused Ethan.
"Will," someone else said.
"Wrong."
"Powerful skills."
"Mastery of skills."
"Combat technique."
Some even gave silly answers that amused Asher, like "Money" or "Good weapons and armor." But he quickly regretted his laugh when he felt Mr. Darius's gaze.
"You, boy, what do you think?" Darius asked, pointing at Asher.
Asher looked at him and said, "Battle consciousness."
"Correct," Mr. Darius smiled and looked around the class. "Powerful traits, weapons, years of training, good skills, good items—your enemy can have all of these, even monsters. There are some monsters out there with equipment and skills far more powerful than ours."
"But battle consciousness or awareness is something not everyone has. Being aware of your surroundings during a fight is crucial. It helps us utilize our traits properly, coordinate our skills, control our weapons, and even find a path to retreat in case of danger." When he mentioned retreat, he noticed someone frowning.
"It's always best to retreat from a situation that puts you and others in danger rather than seeking death. Remember, in the wilderness or the vast world around us, the only ones you can truly depend on are yourselves."
"Even your closest people can betray you, whether intentionally or not. There are powerful traits among both humans and monsters that allow them to control the minds of others. Some of you might remember the night of the Spectral Sprite, when the entire town of Silverbrook, near a dungeon, was wiped out. An escaped monster, the Mindshackle Wraith, controlled powerful awakeners and slaughtered everyone."
"It was only after detecting a large surge of death elements in the area that the higher-ups noticed the anomaly and eliminated it."
As Darius spoke, a chill ran down everyone's spine as they recalled the news. Some students were visibly angry, having lost relatives in the tragedy.
Sensing the shift in mood, he added, "That's why I want all of you to train not just your bodies and skills, but also your minds, so you can face such dangers in the future."
"So let's start the training. All of you, form five lines and quickly do two laps around the ground. I don't want to hear any complaints or quitters, because if I do, I'll double the laps. Once again, I warn you: in my class, what I say is law, and you obey it."
With grumbling expressions, many students formed lines. Asher, who was at the back with Aurora, joined the last line and started the lap.
Though Asher was moving slowly, he wasn't really trying. It was just a light jog for him, but after the first lap, some students began to sweat and tremble. Unlike Asher, whose overall attributes increased with each level up, some of them were non-combat or non-physical awakeners with low strength, agility, and physique who only increased either one or two attribute.
At the end of the laps, only a few students, like Ethan, Aurora, and other physical awakeners, were not sweating and gasping like the others.
Once everyone had finished, Darius spoke again. "Now, I want you to choose the weapon you desire. But let me tell you something: it's not the weapon that makes you powerful, it's how you use it. You can choose multiple weapons during my lessons, but make sure you advance in each one of them, as I don't tolerate those who take things just for fun."
"You may select training weapons and armour from the storerooms in the corner. Be sure to return within 15 minutes. Also, if you have your own armour, you may only wear it if it's ranked below uncommon"
At this, the entire class moved towards the weapon rooms in the corner. The area wasn't crowded, as there were multiple rooms with similar weapons neatly stacked.
Asher, who was near one of the rooms, entered along with Aurora, who was ahead of him.