TWO DAYS LATER!

The weekend was finally over, and the students were ready to tackle their classes as usual. They casually took their breakfasts at the canteen without any single drama, their chatter filling the air in a calm and lazy rhythm.

Soon after, they walked to the training hall for their hand-to-hand combat lesson with Kent.

"Alright! I said we would be focusing on the first two steps of the flash step for two weeks, right? Well, I'm glad that all of you, with no one left out, have perfected the first two steps. Now, we can move on to the third." Kent announced with a proud look while the blue and yellow bands had beaming smiles on their faces.

Except for the red bands who had deep frowns etched across their faces.

'Tch! Slow pokes,' one of the red bands thought angrily, clearly irritated at being forced to participate and repeat the same steps for two whole weeks.

Rivock, on the other hand, leaned casually against the wall with his arms crossed, his eyes sweeping lazily over the hall. His usual creepy smile curved at his lips as though he was enjoying a private joke.

Mada, Noelle, and the rest of the red bands were positioned at the front of the class, their eyes locked on Kent, listening to his every word. Rivock remained far behind, detached as ever.

'This is boring as hell. I need me some action. Sitting here stiff makes me feel like I'm rotting,' he yawned inwardly, fighting back the urge to simply walk out.

"Alright! I want you all to perform the first two stances for me," Kent demanded, his sharp tone echoing through the hall.

Immediately, the students, with the exception of Rivock, snapped into position. Their bodies tensed, Ki swirling and compressing at the soles of their feet, waiting for Kent's further instructions.

"Are you ready?" Kent asked as his piercing gaze swept across them. "Now I want you all to burst forward. Snap your body ahead—not with your legs, but by releasing the Ki through your feet. Your body should lurch forward like a blur. If you're lucky, you'll move a few feet.

But if you do it wrong, you'll fall flat on your face, or worse, tear a muscle."

His voice grew louder. "Go!"

The command rang through the hall like thunder.

Mada, Noelle, and a handful of red band students shot forward with startling speed. A loud bang echoed as their feet slammed down and they blitzed three metres away from their starting points in the blink of an eye.

The rest… weren't so lucky. Some of the red bands, along with all the yellow and blue bands, tried to mimic the movement, but just as Kent predicted, they failed miserably. Their bodies flung forward clumsily before crashing face-first into the ground, skidding across the polished floor.

'The technique to every single thing in this life is balance,' Grey thought calmly. He hadn't attempted the exercise yet, his eyes observing carefully.

Finral tried and immediately fell flat with a groan, face first on the floor. Ray gave it a shot too and was slightly more successful, his body blurring forward for a single metre. But he was unable to control his halt and ended up tripping hard, crashing into the ground. The hall erupted in laughter at his expense.

'Balance between the meals one eats, balance between the clothes you wear, balance in the steps you take. Everything in this world and in life requires balance, and I'm certain this technique does too,' Grey continued thinking, his gaze sharpening.

He leaned forward, Ki swirling tightly as it compressed into the soles of his feet. His breathing steadied as he locked his eyes on the empty space ahead.

To him, it seemed like nobody was paying attention—but he was wrong.

Rivock's unsettling grin widened. His eyes never once left Grey, watching closely, intrigued to see what he was about to pull off.

'I need to keep balance in every single movement. My body mustn't falter, and my Ki must not flicker. Stay calm, focus,' Grey told himself, inhaling a deep, controlled breath.

And then…

Bang!

A deafening sound exploded in the hall. Heads snapped instantly toward the source, but their eyes couldn't catch him. Grey had blitzed forward like a blur, his body cutting through the air with frightening speed. In the blink of an eye, he had covered four metres.

'Control!' Grey roared inwardly, forcing his body to halt. He quickly commanded the wind, swirling it around his feet to slow his momentum. His shoes screeched against the floor as he skidded, his body finally coming to a halt—only an inch away from where his balance threatened to collapse.

A stunned silence filled the hall.

The whole room stared with wide eyes at what a peasant had just managed to pull off. Being only a stage 2 warrior, he blitzed a full metre ahead, surpassing what even two direct descendants and several red bands had done.

The shock was so great that Kent's jaw fell open, his mouth hanging wide as he stared at the unbelievable feat the yellow band peasant had just displayed.

"Ho… how… that was quick," Kent muttered after stuttering a few times, clearly struggling to process what he had just seen.

Mada, on the other hand, looked as though he was about to explode. His eyes were nearly bloodshot as he dug his nails into his palms so hard that blood began to drip. His fists were clenched tightly, trembling with fury.

'Argh! I just want to freaking chop his head off! What a damn show-off!'

'Hmph! That was impressive for a stage 2 warrior to pull off. I wonder if he's truly growing stronger day by day, or if this is nothing more than sheer luck,' Noelle thought, her gaze lingering on the stunned Grey.

'Kek! Mada! I can see you tensing up, your rage about to make you lash out. Keep cool,' Rivock thought as his sharp eyes flicked between Grey and Mada. 'I already have a plan to take him out of our way.'

'Hmph! I didn't even bother performing that trick because I already knew I could do it. But if I had, it wouldn't have shocked anyone. I'm a blue band after all. What really makes it surprising is that Grey, a mere yellow band, managed to pull it off on his first try. Just how much of a genius is this guy?' Thalos thought, silently studying the warrior mage who was now basking in the silent awe of the crowd.

"That was impressive," Kent finally chuckled as his stunned expression softened into curiosity. He fixed his eyes on Grey, clearly itching to ask more. "Anyway, let—"

BANG!

The doors to the training hall burst wide open with a resounding crash, the force startling everyone inside. Heads whipped toward the entrance, and silence fell.

"Huh? What is it?" Kent asked sharply as he spotted a messenger dashing in, his breathing ragged and urgent.

"We have a problem! The vice principal said I should come straight to you. He said you know what to do!" the messenger blurted out in a single breath, his words tumbling together.

The entire hall froze, the tense air now crackling with unease.

Kent's mind immediately flashed back to the grim meeting from earlier, and a cold shiver ran down his spine. His throat went dry as he gulped loudly, his heart sinking with dread.

'These kids are toast,' he thought grimly, already realizing what the order meant.