Gasps of shock and surprise rang out in the building, and Drax, who was still in intense pain, raised his head up to see what was causing the commotion.
He could see the outstretched arm of Damion, and he had raised his head up in time to see Hakuro stumbling backwards and barely catching himself.
There was a look of confusion on his face, before his eyes widened in understanding.
"No, that's impossible," he uttered in horror.
His eyes jumped between Damion's fist and Hakuro, still not believing what his mind was insinuating. But that was the stark and bitter truth. Damion had forced Hakuro back with his punch.
"He must have cheated!" A voice from the crowd suddenly rose up.
"Yes that's right, check him sir, there's no way an abilityless trash like him can do something like that!"
"Punish him, he clearly used an unhandled method to…"
"Silence!" Hakuro suddenly roared and faced the students. His aura flooded the room, and they all suddenly felt suppressed by his presence. "One more word from anyone, and that person won't be leaving here complete."
Hakuro turned to Damion and examined him thoroughly, scanning him from head to toe and then back up to his head.
"You awakened your Ability," he said, and more sounds of surprise swept through the crowd.
Damion felt the need to nod to that statement, and so he did.
"I would not have asked what your Ability is, since it's personal information and everyone's little secret, but it's a rule that must be kept, and if you wish to not tell, that's fine, but I suggest you do so… if you want to keep attending this combat class that is," the old man spoke to Damion calmly.
He didn't press Damion for an immediate answer and waited patiently.
Damion thought deeply about his choices, his mind churning and the cogs in his head rattling. He had just two options.
One, tell him his Ability and keep attending the combat class, and also learn a lot.
Two, keep his Ability to himself and leave the class.
The first option was tricky and made Damion a bit uneasy. If he told Hakuro what his Ability was, it would be leaked and other students would know what to expect if he ever came for them.
It would expel the element of surprise from his attacks in the future.
However, if he decided to keep his Ability to himself and leave the class, he wouldn't get what he wanted from this class.
There were other combat classes in the academy, but he had chosen this particular class because it was the only place he could have some peace of mind and run from his bullies. Now that he had a little bit of strength though, he could defend himself, but not quite well, yet.
'But, who said I have to say it right here and now? I can just tell him in private, problem solved.' Damion thought.
"Please give me till the end of this class to decide, Sir," Damion said to Hakuro.
"Very well," Hakuro responded and turned around. He shot Drax a short glance before snorting in disgust and training his eyes on the students once more.
"I will demonstrate the technique again with Damion here and will begin showing it to everyone, one after the other."
"After that, we will move on to the next technique before we start practicing actual combat just like the last time."
The students showed looks of fear when the idea of practicing the technique with Hakuro was mentioned, and they couldn't help but take another look at Drax again and shudder involuntarily.
While everyone was going through this emotion though, there was a particular student with an eye patch over his left eye, staring calmly at Damion.
Surprisingly, his stare wasn't noticed by anyone, not even Hakuro. It was almost as if he wasn't there at the moment, and was a sheathed Sword.
However, there was a sharpness around him that betrayed his calm gaze as he exuded a strong aura no less than his peers.
He opened his mouth to speak, and the sword hanging on his back vibrated as he spoke… "He has a strong sword aura around him… a potential rival, but not yet worthy," he mumbled.
The technique was shown again to the students, and they were surprised to see Hakuro punching Damion's palm, but only managing to move it by an inch.
'He went easy on me.' Damion thought. Only he knew this, but the students watching thought otherwise and felt that Hakuro was unable to do more than that.
Hakuro didn't bother himself with the students' thoughts and walked off the stage to direct the students.
Damion was left to his devices after that, and he didn't hesitate to run back to the system to see what the new skill he had gotten was.
__________
[Dragon's Reflective Skin- Lvl 1]
[Skill Description: A Dragon's defence is Supreme and second to none other.
Rebuff 10% of any damage dealt to you]
[Cost: 1 MP]
__________
'A defensive skill I see.' Damion pondered. 'I've still not gotten an attack skill, so I have to depend on my basic skills once again.'
'Although I still have to develop those skills since they are too low level and just about useless.'
Damion moved back to the basic skills, and another thought entered his mind.
'So which skill do I improve?...'
__________
[Swordsmanship- Beginner]
[Skill Description- The way of the Sword is known only to a few, and amongst those few, only a handful seek to reach true Mastery.
Become one with the Sword, and open up Divine Sword paths that lead to the top]
----------
[Krav Maga- Intermediate]
[Skill Description- You have been taken for granted and looked down upon. Now's your time to fight back and come out on top.
Learn the ancient way of Defense and Offense from the long forgotten Martial Arts, and bring yourself to perfect protection]
__________
'If only there was a way to merge these two skills together.'
Just as these thoughts were processed in his mind, someone walked up to him confidently and sized him up.
Then with a stare that seemed to pierce through him, he voiced out coldly, "Get stronger and challenge me when you're at my level," the student said and turned around, walking away as if he was done talking, only to pause again and say, "...that's if you even reach my level," he said and walked away, his red hair swinging behind him.