"Good morning, students! I go by the name of Arthor, but you can call me Growl. I will be your combat teacher."
"Today, I will be teaching you the basics, as this is our first class."
"In this combat class, you will learn how to fight real-life battles."
"I believe none of you have fought a beast before. In fact, most of you have only heard of beasts and seen them in drawings."
"That's not true. I have killed countless beasts single-handedly before coming to this school." A voice muttered in a low tone close to Zain. As he turned around, he saw... Kox.
"Killed beasts single-handedly, countless beasts, what the hell..." Zain's eyes were wide open in shock. The seriousness in Kox's demeanor as he said all this was undeniable. He wasn't joking.
Quickly turning away and back to the teacher, Zain narrowly escaped being caught by Kox.
"It's not like I haven't seen beasts myself or I don't know anyone who has accomplished the task of killing a beast. Gem can kill a couple of beasts single-handedly if his adrenaline has been triggered before running out of stamina and eventually dying. But the way he says it..."
"Who the hell are you, Kox?"
After the brief introduction, Growl teleported them to the school combat training ground for basic mages.
"We will start with stances, learning fighting stance," Growl started.
"Fighting stance varies, from your body size to your body build, and then to your magic. All these will influence and determine your stance."
The entire ground had multiple square-shaped platforms extending as far as the eye could see. All the platforms were 5 meters high from the ground, just like the platform during Zain's assessment. The width and length of each platform were also 5 meters.
Hopping onto one of the platforms in a single inhuman jump, Growl continued.
"Your fighting stance is not something you copy from others, nor do you learn it. Instead, you extract it from your heart, to your brain, and your body instinctively takes the stance."
"Now, everyone hop onto a platform nearby, one person per platform."
The room was massive with nothing less than 50 platform so the had no problem finding an empty platform.
Obeying Growl, everyone climbed onto a platform and waited.
"I believe everyone here has connected to their core, is that right?"
"Right!!!" Everyone echoed, except for one person who said something entirely different, which didn't go unnoticed by Growl, despite how indiscernible it sounded among the others.
Growl gritted his teeth as the veins on his forehead bulged in anger. He asked, "Who said left?"
"Sir, Zain raised his hands like a little pipsqueak and admitted. "I did."
"I still haven't connected with my core."
Turning his eyes towards Zain, who was a distance away, his intimidating gaze alone blew Zain's clothes like a gust of wind, while shivers ran down his spine.
"Those eyes... I have never seen them before. It's like a beast is staring directly into my soul, a beast tenfold more menacing than any beast I have ever seen."
Growl's aura reduced after Zain admitted the truth. Bending his knees, he leaped upward, leaving a gust of wind behind, and ended up landing on Zain's platform.
"You see, kiddo, I hate when I'm being messed around with, so be careful. Today is my first day teaching your class, so I won't be punishing anyone."
"So tell me, kid, what's wrong? Why haven't you connected with your core?"
'Gulp! Lucky me, I really thought he wouldn't hear me.' Zain thought inwardly.
"My core has been in some sort of locked state until recently when I unlocked it. Now, it is in a premature state."
Growl narrowed his eyes and studied Zain for a moment. "Locked state? Premature state?" he repeated, his voice filled with curiosity as he narrowed his eyes at Zain calmly.
Zain took a deep breath, gathering his thoughts before responding. "Yes, sir. It's hard to explain, but I recently discovered that my core, the source of my magic, had been sealed or locked away somehow.
Just recently, I managed to unlock it, but it's not fully developed yet. It's still in a premature state, which means I can't fully utilize my magic potential yet."
Growl's expression softened slightly, his intimidating aura receding. "You unlocked your core late, i see. Unlocking one's core can only occur when one isn't born with it is no easy feat, especially if it has been sealed, but for one core to be sealed is very uncommon.
It takes time and practice to fully develop and harness your magic abilities. I dont know why your core was sealed and i do not care to know but don't worry, Zain. My purpose here is here to help you grow and master your powers."
"I will be giving you some special attention so come see me at my office later, for now, sit back and watch."
Zain nodded, grateful for Growl's understanding.
Turning back to the other students, Growl spoke.
"Before you can think of having a stance, you must have had a complete connection with your core, I know you all already connected with your core but I'll like to do a little freshing up so no one will be left behind when we dive deeper into fight."
"Firstly your connection with your core needs to be strong afterwards, unlocking your stance will be a walk in the park."
"Now, let's focus on unlocking your core connection completely," Growl said, his voice filled with determination. "We'll start with the basic steps to strengthen your connection to your magic. Follow my instructions and let's see what you're capable of."
Despite how big the arena was, they all could audibly hear growl speak.
"Sit with your legs crossed." He ordered, and close your eyes.
After waiting for a while for all the students to obey, he then continued.
"Spread wide you palm and allow the back of your palms to rest above your knees."
After giving them enough time again, he then continued. "Clear your mind and focus on your hearth, try to search for what is hidden in your heart, focus."
"While you do so, take deep breath in and out."
With that said, the whole room went dead silent, all the student fully focused.
"Perfect." Growl grin malicuously as he stretched his hands into his jacket, as he pulled out his hands, Zain eyes widen in shock.
"Oh no!" Zain gasped, "this is bad."
Wham! Wham! Wham!
Three lashes from the wooden cane landed at thomas back, right in the middle in the spinal cord, where his hands couldn't quite touch as he wiggle like a worm due to the unexpected pain.
"You are breathing too fast, you are not a dog! Regulate you breathing."
Thomas gritted his teeth in pain and shock, with his mind doing all he wouldn't be able to say out. Son of a .... Damn
"I sense you lost your concentration." He said to another.
Wham! Wham!
"He is the man i saw that day." Zain realised with one of his eyes wide open in terror.
Turning his head to the side, Growl stared at zain with the conner of his eyes in menancing gaze and a wicked smirk.
"He said he will be giving me special..... special attention."
Whack!
"Why did i mess with this man!"