He immediately turned back to Ray. "And you. I made you captain because you're calm. Yet you failed to restrain him or coordinate the team."

"That was your responsibility."

"Your use of power was even worse. You didn't truly employ your martial soul and instead relied on brute force. What were you thinking?"

Ray stood silently.

How could he explain the Golden Dragon King, the mutation of his Silverfalls Vine, or his own uncertainty over his strength?

Alfred finally looked at Lily. "I assigned you as the team's stabilizer."

"But your battle tendencies only worsened coordination."

"Tendencies?" Ray was confused.

Raziel Phoenix, however, looked oddly thoughtful.

Now that he considered it, Lily had stayed beside Ray from beginning to end. She erupted only when Ray was injured. But when Raziel Phoenix himself was under pressure, she had offered little support.

Alfred's words were merciless.

Then his gaze shifted to Barbara and Volt. "Your team has problems as well."

"Ares shares the same flaw as Raziel Phoenix, only worse."

"Barbara, your arrogance delayed your entry into battle. Arrogance leads to death."

"Among the three of you," he concluded, "Volt performed the best. Suppressed as he was by Ray, he remained cautious and fulfilled his role."

The classroom fell silent.

Teacher… had just praised Volt. "But!"

As expected, there was a but.

Alfred's voice turned colder still. "All five of you share the same flaw, and that flaw will be addressed through combat training. You lack combat experience and technique. Severely."

"I'm not talking about your familiarity with martial souls and soul skills. In that regard, you're passable. Not excellent, but passable."

"What you lack," he said slowly, "are basic combat techniques when you are not using your martial soul."

Basic combat techniques?

The four students besides Ray instinctively frowned. Soul Masters fought with martial souls and soul skills. Who cared about bare-handed techniques?

Only Ray fell into deep thought.

Alfred's gaze swept across them. "Do you really believe basic combat techniques are meaningless?"

Lily spoke up calmly, "Teacher, my strength lies in elemental control. As long as my control is precise, I can defeat any opponent. Why should I divert effort to basic techniques? Shouldn't I focus on improving soul power and spiritual power instead?"

Alfred nodded lightly. "Very well."

"Let's test that belief."

"Lily. Ray. The two of you will attack me together."

"I will not use any soul skills. I will suppress my soul power to your level, around rank thirteen. You may use your martial souls freely."

As he spoke, Alfred turned, picked up a wooden teacher's pointer from the platform, and returned to the center of the room.

Lily stepped forward without hesitation, standing beside Ray. No soul skills? No martial soul? Is he mocking us?

Ray and Lily exchanged a glance and retreated a few steps, creating space. Their martial souls flared to life.

"Come," Alfred said flatly, lifting the pointer as though it were a sword.

Ray charged first.

Silverfalls Vine surged outward in all directions, weaving into a net meant to bind Alfred completely.

Lily followed immediately. With a flick of her hands, seven or eight compressed wind blades shot forward, slicing in from multiple angles and sealing off every possible escape route.

Their coordination was flawless.

Months of training together allowed them to move almost instinctively, without a single spoken word.

Alfred stood at the center, unmoving. The pointer in his hand trembled once.

In the next instant, phantom afterimages bloomed behind it.

The wind blades arrived first.

The moment they entered the pointer's range, they shattered into harmless gusts, collapsing as if their cores had been pierced.

Then came the Silverfalls Vine.

The vines twisted toward Alfred, but none could cross the one-meter boundary around him. Each strand that entered was severed cleanly, soul power instantly disrupted.

Ray and Lily stiffened.

Lily felt it clearly. Every time the pointer struck, it pierced the core of her wind blades, destabilizing the elemental structure itself.

Ray felt something even stranger.

His Silverfalls Vine was alive with force, yet Alfred's pointer always struck the exact "seventh inch" of each vine, cutting the flow of soul power at its source. The vines collapsed before they could resist.

What kind of control was this?

Lily raised her hand again, launching fireballs. The pointer was wooden. Fire should work.

At the same moment, Ray closed the distance.

Golden scales flowed over his right arm as he reached for Alfred's chest. The scales were not just for power; they granted defense as well. This was why he dared to attack head-on.

Bang!

The pointer struck his wrist.

Ray's arm trembled, but the golden scales absorbed the force. His momentum did not stop.

Alfred's eyes flickered in surprise.

He stepped back once.

That single step placed him outside Ray's reach and out of the fireballs' trajectory.

Even more shocking, as he retreated, the pointer stabbed repeatedly, dispersing each fireball midair. Not a single desk was scorched.

Brilliant.

The pointer stabbed again, striking Ray's elbow.

A numbing sensation spread, but the scales held. The blow failed to penetrate.

Alfred's gaze sharpened.

He sidestepped once more.

Bang!

Agonizing pain exploded across Ray's neck. His vision swam as he stumbled back. His arm was protected, but his neck was not.

The pointer flashed again, now aimed at Ray's waist.

If it landed, the fight would end.

At that instant, Alfred's expression changed.

Fireballs streaked toward the classroom walls.

Lily was smiling.

If you're protecting the classroom, then you'll have to stop.

Alfred abandoned Ray.

Then the world blurred.

His figure split into countless afterimages that filled the room. The fireballs vanished instantly, erased before anyone could track his movement.

The pointer struck Lily's waist.

She collapsed with a sharp gasp.

Before Ray could react, numbness flooded his body. His legs gave out, and he dropped onto the floor beside her.

Silence fell.

Alfred walked back calmly, stopping in front of Ray. His gaze lingered on the fading golden scales.

Even with suppressed soul power, he had failed to pierce Ray's joint defenses. The scales were terrifyingly resilient. And Ray hadn't even used the Golden Dragon Claw.

That realization settled heavily in his mind.

"Teacher," Raziel Phoenix asked hoarsely, eyes wide, "were those… just basic techniques?"

Alfred nodded. "Do you still think they are useless?"

"Martial souls and soul skills give power. But how you use that power determines everything."

"This applies equally to battle armor and mechas."

"From today onward, you will undergo extended combat technique training. No exceptions."

"Slack off, and you will regret it."

"This," he said coldly, "is a subject that decides your future." Ray's days had become… bleak.

Among the five of them, he and Lily were the only ones who hadn't suffered fractures, and as the only uninjured male, Ray had been chosen by Alfred as the perfect teaching material. Every lesson turned him into a living demonstration board. The teacher's pointer struck him again and again as Alfred calmly explained angles, timing, force, and counters.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.