Chapter 4 - Martial Arts Class

Three days passed in a flash. During these three days, Lynn, Aaron and I has been walking around within the academy to familiarize ourselves with it. We found out that there are 4 blocks, 2 fields and 2 dorms in Arshan Academy.

Block A is the smallest of the six. There are only Headmaster’s Room, Staff Room and Assembly Hall. Usually, only when there are important matters or needing help from teachers would one go to Block A. Next, Block B is the biggest building in Arshan Academy since all classes are held there. Other than classes, Block B also has regular library and magic library. Block C is where students can receive missions to raise their rank. Thus also known as Mission Block. Block D is a building with a stage specially built for fighting inside. This building is used whenever the academy host tournaments or two students agreed on a duel.Field A and B are open fields where elemental magic classes and martial arts class are usually held. Students can enter the field to train by themselves if there are no classes are using it. Field A is for magic training field while B is for martial arts training field.

“Bro Leo, have you decided which class to take?”

Aaron and I are currently inside my room in male’s dorm. His room is right next to mine. Aaron told me that each room is shared with two people, though, I have never seen my roommate during these three days. I might see him later since class starts today.

“Yeah. I’m taking Martial Arts Class, Magic Understanding Class and History Class. What about you?”

“I’m taking the Earth Elemental Magic Class, Magic Understanding Class and Martial Arts Class. I guess we’ll be stuck together for two classes.”

Two days ago, we asked the headmaster to help Aaron discover his magic affinity. He gave the headmaster a surprise by possessing extremely high affinity with earth element. His talent is just a little lower than Lynn’s exceptional water talent.

“Looks like it. By the way, Lynn said she’s going to take the Water Elemental Magic Class and Magic Understanding Class, didn’t she?” I asked

“Yep. She looks a little sad when she realize that we will have less time to be together though.” Aaron replied

“Can’t be helped. We need to learn as much as we can and get stronger when given the chance.” I said. ‘So that we can avenge our village.’

“Alright, Martial Arts Class is going to start in 20 minutes. Lets go now.” Aaron said as he glanced at the clock on wall.

“You remember where Block B is?”

“Of course I do. What do you take me for!?”

“Lead the way then.” I grins.

I found a good place to sit on at the back of the classroom. Right next to me is Aaron who is currently bashing his head on the desk lightly. He looks like a hobo who has given up on living.

“I can’t believe I still got lost..”

Aaron chanted as he keep bashing his head. Well, can’t blame him. After what he said, we took a whole 10 minutes being lost before he gave up. In the end, we arrive in the classroom 5 minutes before the class begin with me leading.

I ignore Aaron and observe the class from the behind. Looks like the headmaster didn't lie when he said martial arts class is full of students.

‘Hm? Why are they staring at me like that?’ I was looking around the classroom before stopping on a group of five, four boys and one girl, looking at me with contempt. ‘I am pretty sure I haven’t met them before.’

Swish

While I was in the middle of my thoughts, the door bangs loudly and freaked us students out. A man with robust body walked in and stood behind the teacher’s desk. He scanned the classroom and nodded once all the students are seated.

“My name is Maverick Weiser. I am the one and only Arshan Academy’s Martial Arts teacher. You veggies will refer me as Mr Maverick. Understand?” The man, Mr Maverick, said.

“Yes.” The students replied.

“Understand or not!?”

“YES!”

“Good. We will start our first lesson now.” As he said that, he took out an hourglass from under the desk and put it on top of the desk. “This hourglass is set to run out in 5 minutes. You all must be at Field B before the time runs out. Whoever fail to meet my order will be punished.” Mr Maverick said.

A boy who sits on the front row raised his hand.

“What is it?”

“The distance from Block B and Field B takes at least 10 minutes. Its impossible to be there in 5 minutes.” The boy asked.

“You must be new. You can sit now. Alright, I’m sure some students are also wondering about it too.” He said as he look at all the students. He then grin and said “Well, let me ask you this. Do I look like I care?” He slammed his hand on the desk and continues, “I don’t care how you do it, be it fly or teleport or running like hell, but if you fail to meet my orders, you’ll be having some good punishment. Now go!” As soon as he finished, he flipped the hourglass.

“Move it!”

“Ouch! Hey, don’t push!”

Everyone in the went out of the classroom and starts to rush towards Field B.

“Bro Leo, why are you still sitting? Don’t you know, the seniors said that Mr Maverick is known for making students run insane amount of laps around the field as punishment! We need to go now.” Aaron said anxiously.

“No need to hurry. Look, you can’t even get out with the others stuck at the doors.” I pointed at the front and back doors. “Think smart. Follow me.” I smiled as I walk towards the windows and open it.

We went through windows and alleys between blocks to avoid wasting the already short time.

“Wow, Bro Leo! How do you know about all these paths?” Aaron who is following behind me asked.

“I just remember the map.” I replied

Aaron went silent after I answered his question. We were able to reach Field B in 4 minutes. What surprised me was that Mr Maverick is already infront of Field B. I was sure that when we start moving, he was still in the classroom.

“Oh? I didn’t expect to see someone here so fast.”

“You’re much faster than we are, Mr Maverick.”

“That’s a given. I have trained my body to the very limit. If I can’t even do at least that much, I should just stop being teacher.”

Out of 300 students, excluding Aaron and I, only 14 manage to reach Field B within the time limit. We waited for another 5 minutes before most of the students appear. Just as promised, Mr Maverick punished them with 12 laps around the field after the lesson end. Though he said he was being merciful as it was the first day.

“Sit down and listen carefully. I’m not going to repeat whatever comes out of my mouth and if there’s any questions, ask after I finish explaining. Also, you can only talk when I give you permission.” After all the students sit on the ground, Mr Maverick started to speak,

“Since you veggies was able to enter this school, I’m sure that you all know the most basic of martial arts. You, stand up and tell me what they are.” Mr Maverick pointed his index finger towards a student.

“Y-yes. The most basic of martial arts is body enchantment magic.”

“Good. You can sit down now.”

Just like the student said, body enchantment magic is a must in martial arts. Unlike elemental magic, anyone can learn body enchantment magic even if they don’t have affinity for it. This is the reason the man from Magic Affinity Test Hall and probably most people look down on someone with only Body Enchantment Magic talent.

“Like the shrimp said, body enchantment magic is the basic of martial arts. Without it, you won’t last a minute against someone with it in close combat. For example, look at this.”

Mr Maverick turned around and punched the air once.

“Nothing incredible, right? See what happens when I use magic. Enchant:Force Limbs.” As he said that, all of his limbs gave off a faint light and returned to normal. “Look closely.” He said.

He punched the air again. What happened next made all students behind him shocked. His punch let out a shockwave and a small booming sound. It clearly had many times more power than the first one.

“What, shocked already? This is only a low-ranked magic though you need to master it to achieve what I did. I'm too lazy to teach so you can just go to magic library and learn it yourself." He said. “Enough about the magic. Today, I’m going to have you all to form a pair of two and fight eachother.”