Chapter 20: Special Class
Suri's sweat was already dry. It had already been an hour since he acknowledged the limitations of his upper body and stopped doing push-ups. Meanwhile, aside from the instructor, a student was still going on. What really amazed the Remorans was that the person who had yet to give up was one of the Serans who started way before them. Even after the Remorans joined in, they all dropped in less than an hour, including Korona.
Korona sat right beside Suri. She had a weak build, so it had also been a few minutes since she stopped and rested, but she was still exhausted. She turned to Suri and said, "It's already lunchtime. Shouldn't we tell them to stop?"
Suri shrugged, "I think that instructor's just as nuts as Aeon. Leave them be."
"Let's get some lunch?" Korona asked.
"Yeah. Let's get some food for Aeon as well."
"Mn."
As Suri and Korona left, the other students followed as well. Them leaving would not matter anyway since the class should have been over. They knew that none of them would get scolded. The two who were still doing push-ups were the unreasonable ones for continuing.
The instructor saw as the students left. He was about to get up when he noticed that one was still not stopping. At first, he was shocked. But then, he smiled. He stood on his hands and "walked" towards the student.
"Kid, it's already lunchtime. Shouldn't you stop?" the instructor said with a smile as he approached Aeon.
Aeon lifted his head. He saw Instructor Bell who was doing a handstand. He smiled in return and replied as he continued with his push-ups, "Not yet. I want to know my current limit."
Hearing this, Instructor Bell heartily laughed, "HAHAHAHA! I like you kid! What's your name?"
"Aeon Morgan." replied proudly.
The Instructor dropped from his handstand and resumed doing push-ups. Aeon's reply must have reminded him about something because he suddenly beamed. "Oh! The kid who doesn't have magic, eh?"
"That's me!"
"You don't feel sad or worried about it?"
"Nah! I'm sure I'm going to be an excellent Seran like my dad."
"Sure you will! But I'll tell you something. Be sure to not be late for your next class. You have a different class, right?"
Does every instructor in school know about me?
Aeon subconsciously slowed down from doing his push-ups. "Yeah? Is the instructor strict?"
Instructor Bell thought for a while. Though the person had not taught for a long time since he became a department head, it was still fresh in his mind. The person spared no person in his harsh criticisms and brutal training. Even sons and daughters of Generals couldn't use their influence against him. "Kind of. I suggest you start resting and reserve your energy. Get some lunch, too."
"I'll keep that in mind," Aeon said rather carefreely.
The instructor stood up and left.
Aeon was really puzzled by the instructor's last words though. He wondered if the next class, which was combat training, is going to be really hard. As he thought about it, Aeon was pumped up. He was surely up to the challenge. He did a few more push-ups before standing up and stretching to finish his exercise.
He had been doing push-ups for almost three hours, but he wasn't very tired. He had harsher training at home with his dad. Because his dad wasn't able to walk anymore, he couldn't spar with Aeon in order to train him. He couldn't show him any techniques or moves as well. Instead, Aeon was trained by doing extreme exercises, day by day. His dad simply gave him a manual and let him study on his own. All in all, his training was good. But Aeon knew that he was still lacking. He could have been way better if his dad trained him himself.
Aeon yawned. He grabbed the map of the academy and walked towards the direction of the cafeteria. However, he suddenly saw Suri and Korona who were carrying three packed lunches walking towards him. He smiled and rushed over. They had a short conversation wherein Aeon told them about his special class. He couldn't hide it anyway since Suri knew about him not having any magic.
The three sat on the open field and ate.
….
"Am I going the right way?" Aeon asked himself as he walked inside a dark tunnel.
It was the closest path that led to the Hall of Opportunities, according to the map. It was similar to the tunnel that led to the field where they fought the individual battles during the examination. The only difference was that the path was not straight. There were a bunch of curves that made the journey quite annoying as Aeon would occasionally bump into the wall.
Eventually, Aeon saw a window that let some light enter the tunnel. He rushed forward and peeked through the window. There was nothing weird with the room, but Aeon thought that it was not fit for combat training. He imagined it to be an open field. Instead, it was a medium-sized room full of chairs. The only area ideal for fighting was the front of the room which was a little more spacious.
Aeon shrugged. It was better than nothing. Aeon felt for the knob and turned it. There was still 10 minutes before the lunch period ended so Aeon expected to be alone in the room for a while. However, as he entered and took a seat, he felt uneasy.
Is it just me, or is the room a bit breezy?
Having walked through a long, winding tunnel to get there, Aeon imagined the room to be very secluded. He could not see any windows as well, so how come the wind was stronger than what was to be expected?
As Aeon observed the room, he realized that it is more suited for private meetings, rather than classes. He also noted that the room had absolutely no style into it. The walls were not decorated, the chairs looked like they don't belong to a prestigious school, and the ceiling was dusty. One could say that not much thought was put into the room, but from another perspective, it was more like the room was not used anymore and was abandoned.
"I see you're already here."
Aeon flinched. The voice came right behind him. He immediately turned around from his seat but…
There was nobody there. The room was still empty, albeit a bit more breezy.
Then he suddenly remembered something. The voice was quite familiar. He was confident that he heard someone speak so it wasn't his imagination.
"Mr. Montis?" Aeon asked with uncertainty in his voice.
"Yes?"
Another voice spoke. This time, it came from the front, the area where the seats had been facing. A man was now standing in the open space in front of the room. Sure enough, it was Montis.
Aeon's eyebrows furrowed. He was sure that he had heard the voice from behind the room. Moreover, he had not heard any footsteps. Mr. Montis just silently appeared, like last time.
Aeon's thoughts were interrupted by Montis' voice, "Are you ready for your class?"
Aeon was slow to respond. Obviously, he was still thinking about Montis' weird appearance. Instead of giving his affirmation, he instead asked a question, "You're going to be my instructor?"
Montis cocked an eyebrow, "Something wrong with it?"
Realizing that he had been rude, Aeon immediately apologized, "No, no! I'm sorry. It's just that, I was told that my instructor would be someone who was strict. And you didn't strike me as someone strict. So…"
"Hahahaha!" Montis laughed, "I don't recall ever being strict. Maybe I'm just... honest. Yes. That's the word."
Montis spoke again, "Speaking about honesty, you need to hear something."
Subconsciously, Aeon leaned forward from his seat.
"I'm the one who suggested that you'd be dropped from the school in the case wherein you fail to awaken your magic within a year," Montis said as he folded his hands behind his back, "if you're wondering why, well, it is simply because I believe that unawakened mages would never be stronger true mages. Maybe at the moment, you're still on par with your other classmates because they are still E-ranked mages. But when you face any mage higher than that rank, those with a lot more spells at their disposal, you won't be a match."
What Montis said was true. As his classmates improve, the gap between them would grow. He could not even fight Prius Melbark because he had a shield made entirely of flames. If any mage had that kind of defense, and he wouldn't have anything in his kit to fight against it, what was he supposed to do?
Aeon was already 19 years old. A person born with magic typically awakens to their respective elements between the ages 13 and 18. Although he was only a year overdue, there's only little hope for him to awaken. This case was extremely common. Born with magic in their bodies, but not able to use it until they die. Pity.
Thinking that the man was really honest, Aeon was about to say that it was completely okay with him and that he would not hold any grudges. But at that moment, he suddenly felt the wind blow towards him.
Thud!
Aeon felt a sharp pain on his abdomen before shooting towards the back of the room like a meteor. He knocked against several chairs before crashing on the room's wall. Upon collision, Aeon coughed a mouthful of blood.
"What are you doing?" Montis asked as he casually folded his outstretched hand behind his back, "the class has already started."
Harsh!
Rubble fell on the floor as Aeon stood up from the ground. Looking back, he saw that the impact was so strong that it left a shallow dent on the wall. That wasn't a normal punch, or kick, or whatever it was. His body was trembling from the pain. But he was smiling.
Now, this is a class.
Aeon kicked on the wall with both legs to boost himself and rushed towards Montis. The room was not too big so he was not able to reach his top speed before he closed the distance. When Aeon arrived in front of Montis, he saw that Montis had no intention of blocking as his hands were folded behind him. He smiled and swung his right fist.
Aeon was so sure that his attack would hit. Montis had no intention of blocking and he wasn't poised in a way where he could maneuver himself to dodge as well. Aeon guessed that he was giving him a free hit as compensation for sneak attacking him.
But reality proved him wrong.
The man disappeared right before his eyes. Montis' figure dissipated into a mist before completely vanishing.
After Aeon's punch missed, he sensed danger behind him and immediately jumped to the side. Midair, he looked back to see if his instincts were right and that an attack would come from behind him. No one was there.
It was his imagination?
"Nice reaction." a voice suddenly came from the front.
Aeon turned his head towards the front and…
Pak!
Aeon was slapped across the face and was thrown away once more. He crashed into more chairs as he slid on the ground. The room was now a complete mess.
Aeon breathed heavily as he assessed the situation. First and foremost, he was being destroyed. There was absolutely no doubt about that. But he could not understand how! He was confident in his speed, strength, and instincts. But he could not keep up with Mr. Montis, nor follow his movements?
Aeon could only come up with one explanation.
Magic.
"To be honest, you're not too bad." Montis slowly walked in front of Aeon who was still lying on the broken debris of the chairs he crashed into.
Not knowing how to respond to the instructor's sarcasm, Aeon could only smile wryly.
Montis reached out his hand to assist Aeon from standing up. Naturally, Aeon gladly accepted the offer, but midway, he spoke, "Mr. Montis, the class is still going on."
Suddenly, Aeon's grip on Montis' hand tightened. Before the latter realized Aeon's intentions, it was too late.
Aeon's muscles bulged as he held the instructor's wrist with his other arm and tossed him hard towards the wall.
….
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone