When the professor finished telling the story, silence filled the hall.
Then, as if used to it, he glanced at his watch before clapping his hands and saying,"Alright, that concludes our class for today. Oh, I just remembered—you’ll have another class later after lunch with me. We’ll be talking about world geography."
He then gestured for us to do as we pleased.
After that, we had the combat and essence control class. It was a practical lesson, so I had to head to its designated area.
I stood up from my seat and walked toward the exit, with Elliot beside me.
I turned my head toward him."May I know why you’re walking next to me?"
Elliot raised an eyebrow and said,"We’re going to the same place, so why not walk together?"
Of course, we’re not walking together; you’re the hero, and I’m the villain.
Still, I understood what he wanted. This was his way of easing into his request.
"Do you want to spar?" I asked him directly.
His face lit up, and a wide smile appeared."Yes, I really want to."
"Then meet me tomorrow at four in the morning, in front of the S1 Training Center."
I understood Elliot and what he wanted, and since he wanted to spar with me, I decided to take advantage of it as well and turn him into a training dummy. I had tried the mechanical dummies in the training centers before, but I didn’t like them; their reactions were mechanical, and their patterns repetitive.
Elliot nodded in satisfaction and opened his mouth to say something, but a voice from in front of us interrupted him.
"You look like a pair of sissies walking together like that."
I looked toward the source of the voice and found a wall in front of me. Well, not a wall—it was Garon Blackfall, the tank himself, staring at us with a disgusted expression.
I looked at him and smiled."At least I don’t look like a gorilla licking the finger he scratched his ass with."
But, to my disappointment, I didn’t get the reaction I expected. Instead, both Elliot and Garon looked at me with strange expressions.
"What is a gorilla?" Elliot asked.
I almost slapped my face. I forgot that animals from my previous world didn’t exist in this era.
Damn it, that ruined the joke.
I sighed."It’s nothing."
Then I walked past Garon, brushing by his side, but he grabbed my shoulder and stopped me in place.
"We’re not done yet, coward."
I looked at him over my shoulder and raised an eyebrow."Done with what? And my name isn’t Coward, it’s Caius Astroweild."
He pressed down on my shoulder, as if trying to force me to the ground."Don’t play dumb after you ran away from me during the test."
So that’s what he was talking about.
I smiled."Ran away? Please. You’re the one who went flying with a single punch."
Garon raised his other hand into a fist, a sinister smile forming on his face."You bastard coward."
So he was ready to start a fight right here.
But Elliot stepped between us and stopped him."Stop it. You can’t fight here."
I raised my hand and forcefully knocked Garon’s hand off my shoulder."Stop picking fights... talk to this gorilla here—ah, right, I forgot, you don’t know what that is."
At that moment, three girls passed by us. The princess was with Izel Ashvil and Ellen Asterval.
Izel looked at us and nodded, as if disappointed in a group of children."Pathetic men," she muttered as she walked past us with the other two.
I sighed at the behavior of these children, then turned around and left the hall, ignoring the furious Garon, whom Elliot was holding back from chasing after me.
...
Fourteen people, including me, stood lined up in a wide arena.
We were wearing suits that resembled leather armor, but they were equipped with devices—or more precisely, sensors.
In front of us stood a man in his late forties, with black hair and gray eyes that radiated strictness. He was wearing the same outfit as us.
He looked at us one by one without changing his expression."This is your first session with me. I will be your instructor for this class."
Even without using my ability, I could tell he was Rank 4.
"Here, you will learn how to use essence in combat with maximum efficiency."
He pointed at the suits we were wearing, specifically the sensors on them."These sensors can detect the flow of essence within you and measure how effectively you control it."
Then he pointed to a screen at the edge of the arena behind him."This screen will display your results as a numerical value. To give you a reference, the average score of a Beginner Rank 3 is 150 as a final evaluation. You are not required to reach this number; after all, all of you are still Rank 2, and you will be evaluated within that range."
He then raised his hand, and a thin layer of light appeared above it."In this class, I will teach you how to do this: extract essence outside the body, which is what distinguishes Rank 3 from you."
Then he pointed at us and asked,"Who knows the benefit of this?"
Several people raised their hands, so he pointed to a blonde girl to answer. Her name was probably Talia or something like that."We can use essence this way to create powerful explosions, protective layers around our bodies, enhance our weapons to make them more lethal, and—"
He gestured for her to stop.
"Yes, there are many benefits to being able to extract essence, not only in combat, but in all fields. Even healers use this method to increase their efficiency in healing wounds by sending their essence into the bodies of others."
Then the instructor pointed at me."In fact, your classmate Caius can do this while still at Rank 2. Some of you may already know this, as he used it during the test against you."
When he said that, I saw Leona Starlin tremble from the corner of my eye, and Garon clench his teeth.
He looked directly at me and asked,"So, Caius, would you mind sharing the reason you can do this while still Rank 2? It might benefit your classmates."
I felt everyone looking at me.
I didn’t mind the question, so I answered in a routine tone."It’s nothing special. I can only do it because I have high sensitivity to essence."
The instructor nodded, as if accepting my explanation."Acute essence sensitivity... I see. That explains it. Still, it’s an impressive achievement, so you don’t need to be too modest."
The moment he said the word modest, I heard a lot of low curses around me. I even heard what Izel said:"Modest... yeah, the most modest person in the world."
It didn’t matter. He probably hadn’t heard the speech I gave yesterday, so he had the wrong idea about me.
The instructor clapped his hands."Now, you will fight one-on-one. Do not use abilities, only essence. This suit will measure your essence usage score."
Then he picked up a tablet and swiped his finger across it before announcing,"The first match will be: Caius Astroweild versus Izel Ashvil. The pairs were chosen randomly, and the loser will not be harmed."
"Now, the rest of you, stand at the boundary. Only Caius and Izel remain."
Moments later, I found myself standing in front of Izel Ashvil, with her fiery red hair and orange eyes. She was extremely beautiful... to the point that I felt tempted for a few moments.
The instructor stood between us and recited the rules."The use of weapons and abilities is prohibited. Remember, this is training in essence usage during combat, not a contest to determine who is stronger. The match will end when one of you leaves the arena boundary, surrenders... or when I decide the match is over."
He paused for a few moments, then vanished from between us and announced:
"Begin."