Chapter 7

As Blood Afreet's lesson continued, the sparkles in Alexander's eyes increased. What was told broadened his horizons. Now his thoughts about the Black Dragon Camp had changed somewhat. It wasn't just Alexander either.

The children were fascinated as they listened to Blood Afreet. Until this moment, the reason why they endured education was a necessity, but now they had a desire.

Blood Afreet's lesson lasted a little longer than forty minutes. As it was over, Blood Afreet took them out of the classroom and to the great hall.

"Everyone should move to the sitting position they are most comfortable with and close their eyes. Now I'm going to tell you various mantras. You will repeat them in your mind and follow the instructions I will give you. Then we will divide you into two groups."

From the moment the children received the orders, they quickly set to practice. Alexander moved to the lotus position and closed his eyes. He could feel others sitting in similar positions.

Then strange sentences began to enter his ear. Words he had never heard before were being used. As soon as he heard the words, he memorized them and began to follow the instructions he said immediately after Blood Afreet.

After Blood Afreet repeated the mantra he had sung before, no snap was heard in the hall.

According to Kan Afreet, there were two main meridians in the human body. They were also known as the Main Yin Meridian and the Main Yang Meridian or the Central Meridian and the Executive Meridian. These two meridians were the meridians responsible for the flow of energy in the human body.

With this breathing technique, they had to attack the acupuncture points there. However, they had to feel Qi with the given technique before they could do that.

'Because I was born in worse conditions than others, my ability and the purity in my body are inferior to them. Qi is a tool that will be of great help to our survival in this camp. Whatever happens, I have to feel it and get ahead of the others."

His breaths gradually deepened. An indescribable greed arose in it. He was constantly following the entire mantra. His body was covered in sweat, but he wasn't aware of it. Because immediately afterward, his body was refreshed as if he were in ice-cold water.

Time moved forward and an hour quickly passed by. Alexander felt the presence of tiny, blue water droplets enveloping his body. Suddenly, he felt energetic and kept thinking about the mantras. Mantras seemed to have magical power. The grains of water that surrounded his body slowly began to condense and accumulate in his body.

Time continued to flow, and as two hours had passed, the sound of Blood Afreet awakened them all from meditation. Alexander reluctantly opened his eyes and noticed that everyone, including himself, was drenched in sweat.

Sighing, he got up from his seat and lined up. Although his body was numb, a few small exercises he learned here brought him back to his former fitness.

Although he felt Qi, he couldn't concentrate enough. There was a deep sadness in his heart. He didn't make good use of this opportunity.

Blood Afreet tied his hands behind his back and looked at the children lined up like rope.

"The technique you're learning today is called Rise of the Black Dragon. Don't forget this and engrave it in your mind. The Rise of the Black Dragon is a special cultivation technique that can hardly be found even in the outside world. It keeps the body fit and strengthens the bones."

He continued his gaze on the children, and after pausing on Alexander for a moment, he turned his eyes and began to volley.

"But the opportunity to practice this technique will not always come! I will not repeat the twenty lines of the mantra that you learned today. After the exams in just one month, you will have the chance to learn the other twenty mantras!"

The balance would be completely stunned, as the exams held within a month would also determine who would enter the Black Dragon Lair. Those who succeeded in the exam would rise, while those who failed would be crushed by others.

"That's all your meditation training for today. Now you're going to take your new class!"

Blood Afreet disappeared after saying these things. No one waited without a word for their new instructor to enter the hall. A minute later, a man in a hohoe mask entered the hall and led them back to a lecture hall.

Everyone smelled of sweat like carrion, but neither they nor their instructors cared. After entering the lecture hall, the doors were closed and the new instructor was introduced.

"You can call me the Cloud Demon," the instructor said in a loud voice. "From today I will be in charge of your theoretical lessons. Blood Afreet will be your practical trainer. Without further ado, I will be introducing you to one of your core courses, Strategic Thinking, and Practice."

None of the training they have received so far requires thinking skills, but it seems that it will be different from now on.

"What is strategy?"

Cloud Demon posed a question to the students.

A slanted-eyed boy sitting in the back row raised a finger and replied.

"To lead the army!"

Another child raised his hand. All of them were those who intended to get into the eyes of the instructor. Those who did not need it kept their silence and waited for Cloud Demon.

"My father is implementing some strategies to sell the goods! The strategy is to sell the goods."

When Cloud Demon nodded in agreement, the eyes of the children who answered lit up. Cloud Demon wrote words on the board that Alexander couldn't read. Like most children, Alexander was illiterate.

"What you're saying is not wrong. Strategy is too big a concept to be limited to just one area. Trying to find an accepted meaning in words is important for obvious reasons to ensure understanding. On the other hand, striving to make immutable definitions can create boundaries around common sense and stabilize the flexible thinking that subsequently limits development."

Although Cloud Demon said these things, none of the children understood what he was saying. They couldn't even understand what he meant, let alone understand what he was saying.

"Strategy is the path and process to the goal. The essence of any strategy, from a small advertising campaign to theater-level military combat, is the relationship between results, paths, and means. Here, with 'result', aims such as complete victory, conditional victory, lock-in, and denial of victory; By 'paths' should be understood the way a strategy is pursued, such as military action, diplomacy, or economic sanctions, and by 'tools' the available resources such as people, power, weapons, international influence, and money.

."

The Cloud Demon turned around to look at the children's complex facial expressions and continued to speak as he hovered his eyes over them.

"It's simple strategy; it consists of tools, roads, and result. You can apply the strategy to anything."

After talking about some strategies that were too complex for children to understand, Demon Cloud walked out of class and gave them forty-five minutes to eat.

The meal time had finally arrived!

Alexander tried to understand what Cloud Demon said by repeating it in his mind, but he failed. His mind was not mature enough, and the hard training he had received here for two years had robbed him of his ability to think flexibly.

The importance of this lesson was well known.

'We now have two fields of study, theoretical and practical.'

You didn't have to be smart to notice the connection between them.

"Just learning the practical lessons will make me a muscle-headed idiot. Focusing only on theoretical lessons is a learned chicken."

The instructors aimed to teach both areas so that they could complement each other at the same time.

"I need to focus the strategy on my life. When I understand the triad of path, purpose, and end, I will improve on strategy."

It was a situation that he should not ignore.

He kept thinking even as he ate. He began to analyze both what Kan Afreet said and what Cloud Demon said.

Noah sat across from him and looked at his thoughtful face, but he didn't bother. He just sighed deeply and retreated into his inner world.