Ch 50:- Class

Rayne rose from his bed around 6 am. After some light stretching and freshening up, he sat down on a chair to relax. After all, he had been through some intense things during his quest for beast hunting. As he sat on the chair, he looked at his fabricator before opening his laptop and booting it up. After that, he opened a specific file named VDM-0.1, where he started reconfiguring the design of the rifle. He wanted more power from it in its usual stats before he added any enchantments to it. After some configuration, it was finally ready to be made, but he didn't have any materials at that moment. That meant he would need to order some soon. After exiting from the file, he logged into the school's Wi-Fi network before opening a website to check his stock prices and how much their value had increased. Seeing some potential for growth, Rayne then got ready for school and left his room to make his way to the first class of the day.

Before entering the room, he took a deep breath and tried to suppress his smell as much as possible. When he entered the classroom, he saw Erin sitting on the first row. He greeted her, causing her to blush before greeting him back. Layla was confused because Erin didn't seem to be adamant about socializing. She shrugged it off and instead focused on Rayne, who looked more handsome than usual. Some of the girls were looking at him as he made his way towards his seat while biting their lips. He went and sat beside Peter and Quinn, with Vorden on the other side. When Vorden and Quinn saw him, they were shocked because they had completely forgotten about him due to their problems and stress with Peter's condition. They didn't think they would have survived without Rayne's help against that Dalki.

"How are you?" Rayne asked.

Peter was the first one to answer, with a smile on his face. "We are good, how about you?" he lied, not wanting to worry Rayne even more after what he had done for him.

"I am also good, feeling much better than ever actually," Rayne said.

Meanwhile, Quinn was staring blankly before looking at Rayne with confusion etched on his face. He was going to ask something, but the teacher entered, and they resumed their studying. Throughout the class, Erin kept looking behind her to steal glances at Rayne, causing her face to heat up. This behavior didn't go unnoticed by Layla who was right beside her and looked at her with puzzlement on her face.

After the classes were over, it was time for the combat class to start, but before that, they had a break. As Quinn looked in Rayne's direction, all he saw was an empty seat. Rayne had vanished. Meanwhile, Rayne, who had regained his power to eat normal human food, could be seen stuffing his mouth with garlic bread.

Rayne was on his way towards the beast weapon class when he spotted Quinn along with Layla and Erin. He walked towards them and greeted them warmly. Erin, who was just behind Layla, looked at Rayne and her mind went to the event that happened previously before settling on the book she had read, "Bite Me or Love Me." Her face went bright red, and although she didn't want to admit it due to her dignity, that day when Rayne bit her, she felt good in a weird way. And then, reading that book only fueled her imagination, causing her to see strange dreams. She also kind of felt a little bit attracted to Rayne for some reason. It was as if her body was telling her to get bitten again, but her mind rational part didn't.

Seeing her blush like that, both Quinn and Layla were confused until they heard two students gossiping about them.

"Isn't that Rayne and Erin? I heard that one day they were seen exiting from the same room," one student asked.

"Yeah, I also heard about that. But it seems the rumors were indeed true with how she is acting," another one said.

"You don't think that something happened, right?" she said.

"You don't mean that Di you?" the girl said.

"Unfortunately yes," she said.

As they heard, Quinn was left more confused than ever, but Layla was able to piece the puzzles together and form a much broader image in her mind. She remembered how Erin didn't return to the dorm room one night. Layla, as if understanding what happened, she looked in Erin's direction while thinking, "Rayne must have drank blood from her because she is not the type of girl to do that kind of thing."

As they walked, Quinn turned to Rayne before saying, "I hope you are okay, but you didn't tell me how you became a vampire."

Rayne looked at Quinn before saying with seriousness, "I don't know when, but all I can say is that I didn't know I was a vampire until recently."

Quinn's system at that moment said to him mentally, "He is lying. If he didn't know, then how did he fight like that? The way he used his blood skill, those kinds only a vampire leader or a skilled vampire knight could perform like that. He is hiding the truth from you, Quinn."

Quinn on hearing this looked at Rayne before thinking, "Why are you hiding the truth from me? Aren't we brothers?"

Quinn didn't pursue Rayne anymore and completely dropped the subject.

Layla could only look dubiously at her because if she wasn't wrong, then Rayne must have lied. "But why? Why is Rayne hiding the truth from his brother, who is also a vampire? What if, just what if, Rayne isn't a vampire? Because I saw how the sun didn't affect him. What if Rayne is something more? But it's just a theory," Layla thought

They arrived in the large training hall, and Leo was there as usual. As soon as they entered, Leo looked over in their direction and smiled.

"If I didn't know any better, I would have thought he could see us," Layla said.

"He probably just knows where the entrance is, and when he hears students' footsteps, he smiles at us," Erin replied.

But this time, Rayne was easily able to sense what Leo was doing. He was watching them through their aura, just like how his Draconic Vampire eyes work. Thinking of tricking the man, he decided to let his vampire aura surface, which caused Leo to squint in his direction before he returned it to its original state, where a thick layer of Qi covered his real aura.

This time, Leo had all the students gather at the front of the training hall where a small platform had been raised. The platform was similar in size to a boxing ring, only there were no ropes, and it was raised about a foot off the ground. Leo stood on top of this platform as he explained the upcoming lesson to everyone.

However, just before the lesson started, a new student entered the room, and Leo was completely distracted as he noticed something. This student had the exact same aura as Quinn.

"Hey, this is the Beast Weapons class, right?" Fex said as he walked through.

"Who's that?" someone asked.

"I think it's a new student."

"This late into the term, that means he must be a draft evader."

When they looked at Fex, their interest quickly died down after seeing he only had the number one on his watch. He wasn't worth getting to know, and it would only waste their time. Seeing this, Fex was once again annoyed.

"What is wrong with these people?" Fex thought.

As he said those words, he started to sniff about in the air. Something seemed to catch his attention. He moved closer towards the smell until he finally realized where it was coming from.

Quinn looked at Fex the same way, and they both knew instantly that this was the person they had fought with last night. Fex gave Quinn one look up and down before walking off to find his own spot to watch the lesson from.

But Quinn could worry about it later because what was more worrying was his brother, who was practically growling like an animal while looking at Fex's back. Before returning back to his normal self, he still didn't quite understand how Rayne was able to hide his scent so well. Soon, all the students got into spots of their choice to watch the lesson.

"As you all know, we have been learning the basics of each weapon. I haven't taught you how to use each weapon individually but only explained how to activate the Beast Weapons power for a greater result," Leo explained as he drew out his katana blade. "But there will be times where one's weapon will break or certain weapons will prove ineffective against the enemy."

Leo then threw his blade at the wall behind him. It flew fast, and half of the blade managed to go into the wall until it stopped. "In these times, we will have to use our own fists."

The students started to mumble. Using fists against beasts seemed logical only for the lower ones, but using it against Dalki sounded barbaric to them, almost suicidal. Still, it seemed possible to some, only due to the presence of the three students in their class: Kim, Rayne, and Lee. These three students were known throughout the Beast Weapons class due to their martial arts prowess. Kim was an effective karate master, making people want to spar with him more. Lee was an all-rounder, knowing skills from taekwondo, karate, boxing, and many more. He was a versatile fighter who everyone wants to fight to increase their quick thinking against unpredictable attacks. Finally, there was Rayne. Everyone wants to fight him when he is not using his legs, but when he starts using his legs, he is a monster. Usually, in such cases, the opponent gets their limbs broken or head cracked if they are not allowed to use their ability or if they are not a seasoned fighter.

"I see, so you all are eager about today's lesson, correct?" Leo asked.

Leo then started to tear off his military clothing, and underneath, he revealed a chest piece armor that had the face of a demon on it. The students also noticed that he was even wearing beast gear on his feet as well. Erin, Layla, Vorden, and Quinn had all seen this equipment before, but not Rayne, who had been recovering after that fight. He was curious to see something like that.

"You all know that our old technology, our weapons were useless against them, and our nuclear weapons were rendered useless before we even had the chance to try them. Even armor-piercing bullets from a sniper rifle at most could knock a single scaled Dalki back. However, when activating the beast gear, the higher-level tier of equipment, the more empowered our bodies become," Leo said.

At first, the students thought they imagined it, but they could all see clearly that the blackish armor around Leo's chest was starting to light up and turn red. Little particles of steam were emerging from the piece as well.

"Right now, if I were to throw a fist with all my force, I could crumble the foundations of this entire building." The steam started to disappear, and the chest piece's color started to return to normal.

At that time, the students realized that a certain pressure, as if they were under a gravity heavier than they were used to, had disappeared from the room. They didn't need Leo to demonstrate; they could all feel the power he held in his hands.

"So, they finally figured out how to properly use the power of the beasts, huh," Fex said. "Well, looks like they advanced quicker than my father said they would."

"The power of the fist is useless if you cannot hit your opponent or if you do not know how to throw a punch," Leo explained. "So for today's lesson, I shall be showing you a basic martial art that all soldiers are required to learn. For this, I will need a volunteer." Leo then looked around the room until his head stopped at one person. "Rayne, would you like to have a spar with me?"

As Leo spoke, it didn't come as a surprise to them considering Rayne's fighting style; it was just a logical thing that many of them had predicted. However, it was still quite a shock to them that for the first time, their teacher wouldn't be favoring Quinn and they wouldn't be sparring. But with Leo's announcement came a problem: students started to bet on how much time Rayne would last against Leo.

Rayne walked up to the platform and gave a respectful bow followed by Leo before they both entered a fighting stance.

The two fighters stood facing each other, each assessing the other's stance and movements. Rayne was in the standard L stance of taekwondo. Leo, on the other hand, had a more grounded and solid stance, his movements more deliberate and forceful.

Rayne then took the more active approach and started to circle Leo assesing his overall form he then dashed forward and the spar began. Rayne launched a vicious roundhouse kick, his entire body behind it as he aimed for Leo's head. Leo quickly raised his palm to block the attack, but at the last second, he deftly ducked and slid across the floor. As Rayne's foot whizzed by, he performed an {Arang} sending shock wave through Leo's armour.

But Rayne didn't stopped there Hye immediately went for swift low kick aimed at Leo's midsection. At the last moment, he changed the course and aimed for Leo's head, but Leo was ready. With lightning-fast reflexes, he caught Rayne's foot with one hand at that moment Rayne used his other leg to free himself, landing softly on the ground.

Seizing the opportunity, Leo pivoted on his foot and launched into a powerful spin, aimed at Rayne's torso. But Rayne was equally skilled, and he nullified the attack with his own {True nullifying spin(Weak)}, causing Leo to lose his balance. In a split second, Leo regained his footing and went for a powerful kick, aimed at Rayne's head. Rayne ducked under the attack, narrowly avoiding the blow.

Rayne continued his assault tiring himself out, but Leo remained calm and collected, his movements precise and efficient. He waited for the right moment, analyzing Rayne's attack patterns and waiting for an opening. As Rayne went for a high kick, Leo swiftly ducked under it and delivered a swift strike to Rayne's knee, causing him to stumble before he fell down on the floor huffing and panting running out of his stamina reserves.

"That was good fight boy," Leo said as he held his arm out for Rayne to grab on before pulling him into standing position.

"Thank you sir," Rayne said before making his way beside Erin.

During the fight, Leo displayed many different techniques, but what stood out to the students was how he thought. They all recognized a particular style of his. He would always use the palm of his hands for defense, and whenever he attacked, he would use his legs.

"What you have just witnessed is the martial art we teach our soldiers here. It is named the Pugna style, a mixture of Karate with other hand-to-hand combat techniques, while using a form of Taekwondo in our legs. It's important to note that the reach in our legs is longer and more powerful than our arms, but our arms are more versatile and flexible," Leo explained.

Leo then turned to the crowd of students. "Is there anyone here who would like to have a go? This is your chance to have a one-on-one battle with your teacher."

Most of the students were nervous. They didn't have much hand-to-hand combat experience because they focused on using their abilities or training with weapons most of the time. Other than the occasional street fighting, they all felt it would be embarrassing to go up.

Out of all the students there, only one person raised his hand. "I wouldn't mind having a crack at it," Fex announced as he sauntered forward out of the crowd.

When Fex came into view, Quinn was surprised to see him. "Oh, if it isn't the newbie," Leo said with a smile.

Sweeping his black hair back with his hand and taking a look at Quinn, Fex had a big smile on his face. "Bring it on."

Before heading up to the stage, Fex looked around the room and spotted Erin. To his surprise, she was standing right next to Quinn.

"He didn't already make her his, did he? But how? My charm didn't even work against her. Still, it doesn't seem like she's been blooded by anyone. Maybe I can still use her?" Fex said.

The group caught Fex looking over in their direction. Then, the next thing they noticed was a cheesy wink with a smile.

Seeing this, they all wondered who the wink was directed at and cringed a little inside.

"That wink wasn't towards you, was it?" Layla asked, thinking it was meant for Quinn.

"I guess?" Quinn replied. It had to be at him; he thought he was the only one who knew who Fex was, and he was looking right at them.

Although the wink was actually directed at Erin, she had no clue of this. In fact, she could hardly remember seeing the boy. The only thing that kept happening for some reason was whenever she looked at him, her face would start to heat up a little as she felt embarrassed.

At that moment, Rayne whispered to Erin, "Why are you blushing while looking at him?" he said while gritting his teeth.

Layla then said, "Maybe he has a thing for you?"

Layla's words jolted Erin's memory, and she remembered where she had seen the boy before - in the library, reading a particular book.

Erin looked at Rayne before saying nervously, "Yeah, that has to be the reason. Maybe he likes Quinn." She felt like the wink must have been a sign, perhaps he was planning to use it as blackmail against her. She knew she needed to keep the boy silent, no matter what.

Fex and Leo were on stage, and even Quinn was a little excited to see the outcome of the match. But Rayne was much more excited; he wanted Leo to utterly destroy that hormonal teenager's pride.

"Hey, Quinn," Layla whispered, "Is he a vampire as well?"

"How did you know?" Quinn asked.

"Well, you've been acting strangely ever since he got in here, and you did tell us someone attacked you last night, right? Well, who do you think is going to win?" she asked.

"I'm not sure. I was just thinking that myself. If it was just hand-to-hand combat, I felt more useless fighting against Leo. Not only that, but Leo has years of experience. I just can't see a student beating him."

Layla then went to have a closer look at Fex; he did indeed seem young, the same age as all of them. "Well, if it's like the books I've read, vampires can live for a lot longer than humans. Some of them are eternal, so maybe he looks young just because he wants to."

"He is young, one," Rayne said.

"How do you know that?" Layla said.

"Did you miss the psychology class, or what? Can't you understand by looking at his behavior that he is still young?" Rayne said.

"Oh!"

Leo got into the same fighting stance as before and moved his fingers, telling Fex to come forward. Unlike Quinn, Fex didn't rush ahead and calmly walked over. Then when their fists were within touching distance, Fex got into a fighting stance of his own.

When looking at the two, their fighting stances were quite different. Leo had both hands out in front of him, similar to Karate or a little like boxing, while Fex had both hands down by his side, but his knees were slightly bent. Slowly, Fex was circling Leo.

The tension was high, not knowing when either of them would attack.

Fex was the first to strike; he came in throwing his fists in quick succession, two to the head and then another to the body. However, just like before, by using his palms, Leo was able to knock them away.

The fight now continued with no breaks in between, while one focused on their fists, the other focused on using their legs to attack. They would block each other's strikes while hitting each other once in a while.

'Ha, I don't know what father was talking about, they aren't weak at all.' As the fight continued, Fex got more excited, and he started putting more power into his punches. It got to the point where it was power beyond a regular human with no ability.

Leo could feel this and could sense the energy inside him getting wilder. At first, he thought he had never seen such a fighting style or martial art before. So Leo decided to lead him on, hoping he would reveal everything he had, but perhaps he had played with the boy for too long.

While looking at his energy growing wilder and stronger, it started to remind Leo of the Dalki and, in turn, soured his mood. It brought back specific memories. He started to remember that there was one time he had faced something similar. It was a Dalki. Usually, the Dalki were reckless when they fought, but the toughest opponent Leo ever had to face was one that knew how to use martial arts skills. Right now, the resemblance was too close.

'Why was this boy's fighting style so similar to that of the Dalki?' Leo thought.

When the kicks momentarily ceased, Fex believed he had a chance to recover, but before he could react, Leo launched another attack - an axe kick that crashed down onto the back of Fex's head with tremendous force. The blow was more powerful than Fex had anticipated, and he was unable to brace himself in time. His legs buckled beneath him, and his head bounced off the ground.

He lay there motionless on the floor.

"Did Leo just kill him?" a student exclaimed.

"Isn't that going too far for a mere student?" another asked.

Unbeknownst to Leo, he had become too absorbed in his past memories, and his usually sharp mind was clouded. However, he knew that Fex was safe since his aura was still burning brightly.

Fex slowly rose to his feet, propping himself up with his arms and with his nose slightly askew.

"Regrettably, I may have taken the fight too seriously, given that I did not expect to encounter such a skilled student," Leo stated. "Consider yourself fortunate. If I had used a sword, you would not have lived to tell the tale."

"Hurrah that it how do you like it boy," Rayne thought mentally cheering.

"Thank you for the battle, teacher. You have taught me how useful your martial arts truly are." Fex said as he bowed down and walked off of the stage.

"Wait!" Leo said. "Please tell me, where did you learn to fight like that?"

"As you can see, my ability is only a level 1. My family has always been weak, so we decided to train in the form of martial arts to help build a good foundation. "Fex answered.

"Liar," Rayne thought.

After that Leo demonstrated a total of three kick and asked them to practice it while he pulled out some kind of 30 kg heavy chains before giving it to Rayne and saying him to run a full circle.