The classroom was big and spacious, built with a level of luxury that made learning enjoyable.

Nonetheless, Marlon still found himself dozing off during lessons.

"Sitting in class and learning is not for me," he muttered to himself.

While the other students listened diligently, including his two friends beside him, he fidgeted restlessly, his mind already drifting toward the world outside.

He could not wait for the class to end.

After one hour of boring lessons about the different habitats in low and mid-level danger zones and basic tips for survival, the class finally ended.

Marlon was the first to exit the classroom the moment the teacher left.

Ashton and Logan grabbed their things and sprinted after him.

"It's lunchtime. What're you guys having?" Ashton asked.

"I don't know yet. I heard the cafeteria has a lot of delicacies, including international ones, so I'll decide when I get there," Logan responded.

"Likewise," Marlon added.

Then he turned toward Logan.

"How is your aether beast? Any progress?"

"Oh, Blitz is fine. He's still recovering from the fight a few days ago. He sustained some serious injuries and exhausted his entire aether reserve, which is why the recovery is slow. Regardless, in a day or two, he'll be fully healed."

"That's great," Marlon nodded.

He understood why Blitz's healing was so slow. Blitz was a B-rank aether beast under an F-rank master.

The size and potency of Logan's beast domain were still too low to speed up the recovery. However, if Logan broke through, his domain would evolve.

With a single evolution, his aether potency would increase, and he would even be able to tame another beast.

To achieve all that, he simply had to grow stronger.

Speaking about growing stronger…

"Have you guys spoken with Lyra during my absence?" Marlon asked.

The two nodded. As he expected, she had already informed them about the collaboration.

And since both of them needed to level up, they had accepted her offer.

"Unfortunately, I can't come with you guys," Marlon said, shaking his head.

After the meeting with Axel, he realized he needed to get stronger as fast as possible, and taking his friends along would only slow him down since they were still levels behind him.

"We understand."

They had both taken time to think about their futures, and they understood his reasoning, even though he had promised earlier to join them.

"Blitz is a B-rank aether beast. Even though most of his potential is limited because of my current rank, low-level danger zones are still nothing to him," Logan said confidently.

"I'm not as weak as when we first met, either. I can take care of myself. Though it saddens me that I won't get to witness your awesome fight, I'll take this situation as a call to get stronger so I won't be useless in the future," Ashton added sentimentally.

Even though he tried to sound cool, the sadness in his tone was obvious.

"That's good. If you guys can reach D-rank in four weeks, I'll consider letting you in on a life-changing secret," Marlon said with a small smile.

He soon regretted mentioning the secret because his friends began pestering him endlessly.

To shut down the topic, he handed them the strength enhancement skill book he had been saving for them all this while.

While the skill would not be as useful for Logan as a beast tamer, it would be very beneficial for Ashton's growth.

====

"Welcome to combat class."

Inside a spacious hall, more than a hundred students who chose combat class as their final lesson of the day had gathered.

Each of them had changed into flexible sportswear fit for training.

Marlon and Ashton were present, alongside Lyra, who looked composed and beautiful in the sportswear that hugged her voluptuous figure, drawing attention from the male folks.

Since Logan was a beast tamer, he had chosen another class majoring in aether analysis.

On the raised platform at the front of the hall, the combat instructor stood tall at about six feet, with a burly muscular figure resembling a bodybuilder.

He had a scar running down his face and a thick moustache as his distinguishing features.

His name was Lawrence, and he was pretty popular amongst the male folks; even a few of the female students knew about him.

He was a hunter from Southshore Nation who majored in physical combat, popular for mastering dozens of weapon arts.

Even though he was still a C-rank hunter, his fame and expertise in the art of brute strength made him widely known.

Without bothering to introduce himself properly, the middle-aged hunter proceeded with the lessons.

"As your first ever combat lesson, we're starting with something simple," his deep voice boomed across the hall. "Survival basics. If you can't protect yourself, nothing else matters."

With a snap of his fingers, the entire hall shifted in mood. Conversations died instantly.

"Spread out!" he barked.

The students hurried to form neat lines. Marlon lazily stretched his arms, while Ashton bounced in place with excitement. Lyra tied her hair in a ponytail, her calm expression hiding the tension in her shoulders.

Lawrence paced in front of them like a beast inspecting prey.

"Combat isn't about fancy moves," he said. "It's about instinct, timing… and not dying." His sharp gaze swept over the crowd, making several students stiffen. "Today, we test all three."

He raised a wooden staff from beside him. Before anyone could react, he swung it down with a loud THUD that echoed through the hall.

"Lesson one — reaction. When danger comes, you move. You don't think. You don't blink."

Then he pointed the staff toward the front row.

"You. Step forward."

A black-haired girl with a petite figure nervously stepped out.

Lawrence tossed a wooden sword at her. "Hit me."

She hesitated. "S-Sir—"

But Lawrence was already moving.

A blur of muscle swept past her and, in one clean motion, he tapped her knee and shoulder, causing her to drop to the ground with a yelp.

Gasps rang out as the other students reacted to the astonishing speed and precision.

"As you can see," Lawrence grunted, "hesitation kills. I need fighters, not statues."

Without waiting for them to process what had happened, he clapped his hands and instructed them to group themselves in fours.

Not wasting a second, the hall came alive as the students scrambled into groups.

Marlon was partnered with Lyra, Ashton, and the black-haired young lady who was used as an example earlier.

She was known as Theresa, and she had awakened a C-rank swordsmanship talent. She was also one of the students from Eastlight Nation.

With hands clasped behind his back, Lawrence observed the groups one after the other.

He paid more attention to Marlon as he recognized him from the competition.

He could not help but wonder what he was capable of.

Nevertheless, he had to move the class forward.

Lawrence stepped back to the center of the hall and raised his voice.

"Since all of you are in groups of four, we're starting with group combat. No aether. No weapons. Just teamwork and instinct."

A wave of murmurs rippled across the hall.

Group combat on the first day?

Lawrence smirked at their reactions.

"Don't get too excited. You're not fighting me. You're fighting each other."

He then pointed randomly toward the far-left side of the hall.

"You four step forward, you will be group A."

Four boys stepped out, each looking confident, especially the tallest among them, who cracked his knuckles loudly.

"Your opponents…" Lawrence's finger swung toward Marlon's group.

A smile crept on Marlon's face. Finally, the class was getting more interesting.

Aside from Theresa, who was still anxious from the embarrassment earlier, Ashton and Lyra looked rather settled.

But it wasn't the same for the members of group one.

The confident expressions on their faces faded the moment they learned they would be facing Marlon.

The tallest one, who had been cracking his knuckles earlier to look tough, was now staring at Lawrence with a pleading expression.

"Hmm."

Lawrence observed their reaction, but he didn't seem to care.

He had already analyzed the strength of the boys; the weakest among them was already E-rank, and the strongest was on the verge of breaking through to D-rank.

Marlon was only D-rank as he had newly awakened, so the gap wasn't that massive.

Or so he thought.

"Get your shit together and stand in place."

He reprimanded the boys.

"But sir…"

One of them protested in a shaky tone. He had decided to keep his opinion to himself earlier in the hope that Lawrence would change his mind about the setup, but seeing as there were no changes, he could not keep calm anymore.

"How can we face Marlon?" the boy asked, worry in his tone.

The other students in the hall whispered amongst themselves.

Marlon was an anomaly amongst the newly awakened, and according to rumors, he could even take down certain veteran hunters.

They could understand why group one was afraid to fight him. It was already a loss even before they started.

Marlon observed the interaction with a smile on his face.

"Interesting."

....

Due to the bug mentioned in the announcement, chapters would be delayed till next month.

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