21 Gym Class

The students are now gathered inside the gym. All of them are already in their gym uniforms which consists of a red tracksuit. The others also have personalized uniforms to suit their tastes and fighting styles.

The students formed 4 rows of lines, all of them facing a man. To say it was a man seemed to make the students' mouth itchy. He was bald and his face looks like a gorilla looking for a fight. He wore a simple white shirt and black shorts, showing the impressive sight of his bulging muscles. Coupled with his towering figure, calling him a "man" would seem inappropriate.

"Pay attention to me maggots!" He shouted in his most primal tone.

His voice was enough to awaken the survival instincts of some students and it immediately made the unorderly gym descend to silence. The students who were not paying attention stopped whatever they are doing afraid of the outcome should the gorilla's ire be directed at them. However, one student seemed unafraid of the gorilla as he continued to stare at the ceiling without a word.

*FWOOOOSH*

Without any warning, a sandal went flying straight at him in breakneck speed. And with an agonizing thud, which of course made the others flinch, it mercilessly hit him squarely on the chest. He then went flying in unprecedented speeds, directly straight to the walls.

'Why am I the only one getting hit?!'

Embedded on the wall, he let out an annoyed groan. He can't just stay there stuck and slowly, he pulled himself away from the wall. Once he was out, everyone could see a man-shaped dent on the wall.

"Tough eh?" The gorilla gave him a piercing glare.

"Get back there." He ordered.

But as soon as the student turned his back to walk away, he made a mocking face. Unfortunately, as if the instructor was equipped with a radar to detect such faces, a brutal kick was directed at his rear.

"Do that face again and you're dead." Warned the man.

"Yes, sir." Nodded the teen.

"Am I understood?!"

"Sir yes, sir!" This time the youth replied with practiced familiarity. This made the man look a bit surprised at his response.

"To conduct this lesson, I've decided to merge 2 class for this session. And today we'll be having a team competition. The groupings will be based on a raffle. Once your names were called, come in front."

"Kris, Jane."

"… Nyu."

"A sparring session?!" The teen who was thrown onto the wall earlier exclaimed. "Why are we fighting?"

"This is a combat school you know." Explained a girl. "Did you enroll here with no knowledge at all, Ye Han?"

"Yes, Alice."

"What?!"

"Nevermind."

"…Alice." The instructor called out.

"That's me, bye Ye Han." Alice waved him goodbye.

"Yeah sure." Ye Ha raised his hand in acknowledgment.

'This is actually a combat school?!' Confused confusion painted Ye Han's face. 'Is this going to be one of those schools back in the day?' Fortunately, nobody took notice of his strange actions. 'I actually enrolled myself in this kind of hellhole?!'

"Ye Han."

'Maybe I should transfer?'

"…Ye Han."

'But the cost! It'll kill me. And that scholarship was actually for combat schools?!'

"Ye Han!"

'I don't want to fight anymore. I'm tired.'

"YE HAN!!!"

'Start a new life, that's gotta be the way-'

Ye Han was pulled back to reality courtesy of another flying sandal, luckily for him, it only grazed the side of his face.

"Listen to me when I'm talking!" Scolded the instructor.

Ye Han nodded his head vigorously but is still mulling the fact that he enrolled himself in a combat school.

"You will be partnered with Freyja here. Now go."

Ye Han approached his partner while still maintaining the confused look on his face. He just stood unmovingly by her side with no intention of interacting with here.

"So you're going to be my partner?" She asked.

"Yeah. I guess so."

"You sure you could handle yourself in fights?"

'Are you questioning my abilities little girl?!' He took her statement as a sign of insult against his pride. 'You're lucky I never wanted to show off.' "I don't know."

"I thought so." She sighed in mock disappointment. "Listen here noob, don't get in my way. Better yet, don't do anything at all. If you want to be useful just don't drag me down."

Ye Han felt some of his capillaries burst in anger. 'This girl.'

"You got a problem with that?" She asked arrogantly.

"No." Ye Han can only reply with the usual blank look in his face. 'Oh don't worry girl, I'll never do anything at all.'

His classmates did not fail to notice the bullying. They could only sigh and shake their heads. 'Although we hate you, Ye Han, having Freyja as your partner is actually still harsh for you. But still, you get to suffer, hehe.' All 5 members of the Inquisition thought in glee. On one hand, they took pity on Ye Han while the other gloated on his predicament.

"Now listen here." Called the instructor.

"This will be a sparring session. This will help build a sense of teamwork in each of you. The rules are simple, no magic, no weapons just pure physical combat. No killing blows allowed, for fatal hits, I'd be the judge. Conditions for winning are: Until the two members of a team become incapacitated or steps of the boundary line, the opposing team becomes the winner. It doesn't matter if a member of the team is unable to battle, as long as a member still remains."

Ye Han snickered.

"But to make things fair, I'll be rating each team. The criteria for rating, not gonna tell. So if I called 2 teams to go, immediately take the stage. I don't want to wait. If they failed to comply within 10 seconds, they're considered forfeit. For the first match, Jiang & Heather vs. Grace & Sif."

The two teams immediately went up to the stage, afraid to antagonize the intimidating instructor.

"On 3. 1, 3!"

But it seems that both teams did not expect that. The members looked at each other unsure of what they are going to do. Finally, their gaze landed on the instructor.

"What are you waiting for?!" He snarled. "Fight!"

Hearing his angry voice, the teams immediately engaged with each other. Jiang's enemy group showed refined teamwork with each other. Their movements are smooth and free flowing showcasing an astounding amount of familiarity of each other. Meanwhile, Jiang's group committed a lot of mistakes during the spar. Most of their mistakes are caused by their miscommunication, allowing the opposing team to land hits more often than them. And another factor is their incompatible skillset. Both teammates were built to tank damage and defend others. The lack of anyone to complement them made then easy pickings. Moreover, Jiang's teammate seemed to be uncomfortable in his presence.

'What a bunch of amateurs.' Thought by an irritated Ye Han. 'They call this combat school?! Even the kids back on my time could do better than this.'

"Why am I stuck with this idiot?" Sighed Freyja who did not even bother to hide her utmost disappointment on him.

'Kids these days.' Ye Han knew the better option of not arguing with her. 'Just you wait.'