19 Chapter 19:Combat Class[2]
Lucas stood among the bunch of students and stared at the weapons.
Lucas looked for something handy which he could use practically unlike the sword which he had no experience with. On top of that, he would be a fool to expect muscle memory to come into play in such a body.
He searched for guns, however, there were not any. Passing through the piles of weapons, he came to standstill when he saw cuffs.
'Who the hell uses handcuffs as a weapon?'
Chakrams, maces, crossbows, polearms, rapiers, and some which even he did not know about lay here.
BANG!
"Are you courting death?"Lucas, turning back towards the source of the sound, finds a boy accidentally hitting another when he pulls the pole that was attached to the mace through a chain.
"Stop acting foolish and choose the weapons you can use. Don't try to act cool."Miss Ami shouted angrily.
"If something like this happens again I will cut 5 points."Her words horrified others as 5 points can be used to eat a luxury meal on the second floor of the canteen.
The students quieted and started to take things seriously after this.
As Lucas rubbed his chin, a student raised his hand.
"Miss, can we change our weapons after this or can we use many weapons?"
"Yes, you can but you need to have a primary profession and I don't think anyone here is striving for all types of weapon mastery, "Miss Ami raised her brows which caused everyone to avert their gaze.
'Let's take this sword. As for guns, I hope I can design something and reinvent some modern guns which could be used for lower ranks in case of emergency.'
Lucas pulled out a metallic sword that had a blunt end without any sharpness.
While selecting weapons, he kept an eye on the others.
As far as he remembers, in his class, Frederick, Charles, and Rose are the only ones who have reached the 3-Stars realm; however, some of their sub-stats are still in 2-Star.
By the time of graduation, the top dogs would reach 6-7 stars while the lower rankers would graduate with 3-Star and luckily at 4-Star due to their lower bloodline.
It might not look like but the gap between them was quite huge.
The 1-Star wolf whom he barely fought, gave him a hell of a run. If it was a bit more intelligent then it would have torn him into pieces.
The main characters choose their usual weapons that Lucas knew which proves nothing had deviated till now.
The students surrounded the sparring ring after choosing their respective weapons.
"Now who wants to come up?"
"I need five people," Harris spoke, glancing around.
Most of the cadets raised their hands trying to outclass others and go up as if they are going to get awards.
As for Lucas, he had only words to describe them.
Attention-seeking meatshields.
Harris picked five 2 Stars among the bunch. All of them seemed to be quite arrogant and looked hungry for praise.
"I will suppress my strength to the early 2-Star realm. You can go all out and come at me."
Swoosh!
The five of them released their aura stirring the wind.
Gentle gales blew from the stage caressing the ones standing below. Some of them had an uninterested look while others stared carefully.
Ami stood aside and shouted, "Beg..."
Her words were cut short due to two at the front stomping the ground and charging at Harris throwing their fist much to Ami's annoyance.
Lucas already burnt incense for their afterlife.
Harris stood rooted in his place and blocked their fist with both of his hands.
"Why don't you use your weapons?"
"We don't need them," The two replied arrogantly.
The two having their punches blocked, move their legs throwing a kick.
Harris let go of their hands and grappling their legs, rotated his body throwing both of them towards the other three.
"Ahhh!"
Two shrieks echoed as they were thrown into the air.
The other three sidestepped and dodged the screaming object.
One of them raised his gauntlet and pulled his body back. The veins on his muscle bulged and taking his stance, he whipped his fist at Harris.
BANG!
The ground trembled as Harris met the punch head-on throwing a punch of his own.
Axel's face contorted with a frown and his body shot out from the area.
He rolled out of the ground with widened eyes.
The remaining swordsman attacked with everything in their arsenal but Harris moved his body at the last moment and dodged their pincer attacks.
Thinking that this was enough, Harris kicked one of the guy's knees who lost his balance resulting in his body spinning in the air due to his momentum and falling on the other one who stood beside him.
BANG!
As they grimaced in pain, Harris dusted his hands and looked around.
"So, what did you notice?"
His question was met with silence and after a moment, a blonde hair girl with a speck whose name was Stacy spoke.
"Difference in experience."
"That's correct but something else."
"I think except for Axel the body balance of others is quite off."
"Good."
"Except for the one who uses a gauntlet, you all need to fix your basics. Truthfully, most of you here have not been guided properly and have messed up the basics. So, the first thing you all need to fix is your basics and build a strong foundation which is like the base of the tower over which floors would be built."
''If your base is weak, your tower will crumble when the floor increases.''
Lucas who listened closely knew more than anyone else what to do first but for that, he needed proper guidance and he hoped this guy would help him to fix his flaws, hopefully.
At that time, another one raised his hands.
Lucas knew that guy, he was a close friend of Axel. Although they are not the main character they have their roles to play.
"Yes."
"Professor, I am a close friend of Axel. Axel had a strength stat of 2-Star mid so I wonder how you defeated him. I mean, since you suppress your strength to 2-Star early, you should have been pushed back but your punch threw him out directly which should not be possible. At most, he should have been pushed back but not thrown out."Vagrave spoke while adjusting his specks.
Hearing his question, Harris smiled a bit.
"Excellent. I thought that like the previous year, I have to speak about this from my end. You have keen insights."
"I will award you two points for that."
Harris praised him and then looked around with a serious expression.
"All of you might know that the basis of our strength is mana. Whether it is mage, knight, or warrior all of them use mana differently to strengthen themselves."
"Even if we are in the same realm or have the same stats, it never means one is equal. A person having a mana pool of 1-Star may outlast one of 2-Star if he used mana efficiently."
"That's where precision and efficiency came into play."
"According to research, most of the mana is lost due to various cases and most of us don't realise it. This is especially true for those who have a large mana pool. Only those who have less mana pool try to use mana as efficiently as possible."
"Axel did not lose me in terms of strength, rather he lost me in terms of mana utilisation. However, it is easier said than done. Those who have large mana will find it more difficult to achieve this. Still, they have sufficient mana to waste but many of you don't."
"In long fights, those who have a low mana pool would fall first so you need to learn to utilise your mana properly and minimize the wastage. We cannot draw out 100% efficacy which you might already know why."
"Law of thermodynamics."Some murmured.
"However, we can strive for maximum output."
"Practice, Experience, Efficiency and Insight."
"Engrave these four words in your mind because this will be vital for your survival."
With a short speech, Harris ended his class.
...…..
Thankfully, the students were left early to let them familiarize themselves with the Academy buildings.
What made Lucas's heart leap with joy, was the absence of seniors. The dorms, cafeterias, and students' classrooms of each year were different. That means the chances of bullying and ragging by seniors can be minimized by staying in your place and treading out carefully.
Lucas, who was at one of the lowest levels, was surprised to get a whole room to himself. His luggage was already present before the room.
Swiping the card, he stepped into his room letting out a breath of relief. It was a spacious room. It had a bed, a table, a wardrobe, and even a separate bathroom. It also had a mini gym with few weights to train with.
The materials used were aesthetically pleasing and a wide window opened into a picturesque and surreal garden filled with chirping birds.
Letting his body fall over the mattress, and collecting his thoughts, his gaze lingered on the white ceiling pondering about today's session.
"I feel unnatural and out of place. I am not a loner or introvert so acting like one when others are enjoying company stings my heart."
"Me, who had only killed insects till now thinking about killing others feels like a joke and out of character."Lucas sighed deeply trying to harden his heart to face the crisis that lies ahead waiting for him.
