CHAPTER FIVE

" Today, we will focus on getting in touch with our core, our inner selves, our sources of strength." Ivan began the day's lesson when all his students were in and fully settled.

"Your core is what defines you. The core is what gives you power to do everything that you need to do. Most people say that the hands and feet are what matters most in karate but in real sense, it is the core. Without energy, there is no difference between your feet and your ears- they all become useless." Ivan assured his students. He then did the full body stretch before instructing his students to mimic him. His well-toned muscles showcased themselves, with the ridges in his biceps and triceps taking most of the glory. His abs, on the other hand, looked like they had not been worked on in a while, and his nicely shaped quadriceps commanded the ground on which he stood. They seemed too perfect for a forty-year-old karate teacher. He could have quickly passed as a professional wrestler but for his gait. He looked more a reader than a fighter, but that did not mean he never fought. Ivan had his demons that he combated daily.

"A little higher. Higher." Ivan's ocean blue eyes bore into the nearest student to the door.

"Mmmmmph." He grunted.

"I said higher!" Ivan lifted the kid's feet off the floor and suspended him that he was supporting himself horizontally with his arms- the ultimate core pose.

"Mmph. Mmph. Mmph." The kid heaved. One more elevation would surely topple him over. He was trying his best to maintain that posture just long enough until Ivan went elsewhere.

"You are doing well." Ivan had moved to another one of his students.

"Excellent. But go a little lower." He said to another.

"A little higher. There. Perfect." He said to Kate, who seemed to be straining. He had figured that if she were progressing on her upward-facing dog, she would be better at her core pose. From her struggling huffs, that wasn't the case. Ivan remade his ponytail before moving onto the next student.

"You are doing great." He congratulated one of his stellar students, Mark, who seemed to be as graceful as anyone in that pose could ever be. His students seemed to be doing just fine.

"Hold it for one minute!" He shouted from the back of the room. They only needed to be at that pose for forty-five seconds, but Ivan was a firm believer in going the extra mile. It was what had made him arrive at where he is—always striving for more. More pain bred character, or so he believed. That was what his father had always taught him. More pain was necessary for building solid attributes. Go further. Persist through the pain. Let the pain be your servant, and you its master. Control the pain, all the mentors before him had said. That was what he was trying to instill in his students, the future generations.

Ivan strutted across the room and finally came to a stop by the window, gazing to the street. He saw the traffic light flicker from red to amber to green. He waited for it to change back to red for the pedestrians to cross. He thought of how people change, how they turn from good to being impartial to evil, and finally, being the devil reincarnate. Of how he had chosen this profession to help him control his demons. To at least keep them in check, as no one gains control over evil. Of how the last time evil had manifested in him, he had to flee the Kingdom. Of how he was a hunted man in over nine realms, with almost no chances of redemption. The only shot he had was to find the mystical weapon, something he considered to be folklore. Even though he didn't believe it, he opted to hide in plain sight- open a dojo at the edge of town, just in case this Wonder kid came. He had been here for over fifteen years, and yet nothing had happened. Today was just another day that the slightest belief of his redemption would fade away.

Ivan looked up at the traffic lights once more. They didn't change when they were supposed to. It had been longer than a minute already. Green had been on longer than it should have. Something was up. He looked over at the pedestrians. They were not moving. Nobody was. Nothing was. With his experience of the mystic arts, two things were happening. Either he was in his core state, or someone else was. There was no way there could have been a wizard around him, or he would have felt the presence of the mystic powers. Furthermore, it was customary for wizards to notify other wizards of their company in town to prepare for any interruption in the mystic forces if they did some craft that would have required some channeling of power. It was written in the first Witchcraft Grimoires, and yet Ivan had not been approached by any wizard or anyone of the sort. Something was up.

He turned around to face the room and saw that everyone was in a state of suspension. No one seemed to be moving. Not even the ones who seemed overwhelmed by the core pose. Everyone was frozen. The water from the nearby fountain was suspended mid-air too. Dust particles from some of the student's mats were still. A drip of sweat from Kate's forehead had not spilled to the floor yet. It was still suspended mid-air a few inches from her mat. Ivan took a towel and abruptly let go. It wasn't surprising when it stayed mid-air, too, in a state of suspension like all the other people. Nick was at it again. Ivan then took out his phone and called Nick, one of his students who hang around after karate class for Mystic Arts lessons. Nick's number went straight to voicemail.

"Hello. You better not be practicing magic over there again. You are messing with the forces." He practically bellowed on the phone. The last time Nick practiced magic, half the block got frozen. Literally in ice. He had mispronounced a spell that had resulted in cold temperatures that lasted for a whole week. With whatever was happening right now, Ivan was sure that Nick had something to do with it. Or so he hoped.