15 Vice Class Representative

The room was stunned. No one had expected for Ryouma to ask to serve Arata, even Arata was shocked himself. This was the first time his facade was broken as he stared at Ryouma in disbelief. He pulled himself together the best he could.

"You can't be serious?"

Looking at Ryouma bowing with his head on the floor, Arata knew he was serious. He was stuck. Clueless as to what he should do. Teacher Takuma walked on stage and hit Ryouma.

"This is a classroom. MY classroom. Don't just go around doing what you want on my time. Get up and you can confess your love after class."

Ryouma got up and immediately apologized to Teacher Takuma and got off the stage, leaving Arata. Teacher Takuma stared at him for a moment.

"So you're the heir to the Sato Clan. You can stay. No wonder they let you in the class. Now the matter of who the Class Representative will be."

Arata quickly spoke up at this.

"I do not wish to be the Class Representative. Much like my father, I prefer to move in the shadows uninhibited. The position should stay with Akari Ise."

At this Arata walked off stage and went back to his seat. The stares he got now were completely different. Before they were of disdain, now they were of respect. Although he had an arrogant persona, it was one that was rightfully earned. And the fact that he let Akari keep the Class Representative position added extra points to their impression of him.

"Wait."

Arata stopped and turned around. Teacher Takuma looked back at him.

"Do you think you are the teacher now? Last time I checked, I was still the Teacher of this class. So the decision is not yours, but mine."

Arata's heart dropped. He really didn't want to be the Class Representative. Too much responsibility. Too much effort. He didn't want that kind of extra work. Teacher Takuma grinned. She knew he didn't want to do it, but she also knew that having someone of his calibre leading the class would bring about a vast improvement in the class overall. However, there was also the matter of the class's rapport and support of Akari. So Teacher Takuma came up with an idea.

"Akari will stay as the Class Representative. However, Arata will be the Vice Class Rep. You will support Akari in maintaining the students, improving the classes overall power and taking on the responsibilities of the students. You shall sit up the front from now on next to Akari."

Arata was shocked. He didn't like the sound of this. This just screamed extra effort to him. No thanks. Akari turned to him with a devilish smile. Of course she liked this idea. Arata glared at her before turning back to Teacher Takuma.

"Teacher Takuma, I don't think that that would be appropriate to just put me in such a position having just entered today. I don't think the rest of the class would agree with this decision."

"I agree with your decision Teacher Takuma."

"So do I."

"Arata should be the new Vice Class Rep."

"Great idea, Teacher Takuma."

The room all agreed to this decision quickly. Their attitudes toward Arata had completely changed. Being in a class led by the Heir to the Ise Clan and the Heir to the Sato Clan was something that they as warriors were excited at the prospect of. The potential to grow would be doubled, maybe even tripled. And having seen his strength, they knew that having someone strong leading the way would be of great benefit to them all.

Arata was frustrated at how quickly the class had switched sides.

'Aren't you supposed to hate me? What is up with this sudden popularity?'

Arata tried to think of another way to get around this headache of a problem. Akari laughed and called out to him.

"There is no point complaining, Teacher Takuma and the class have decided. We will be working together from now on. Please treat me well."

Arata groaned. He had fallen into her trap. He felt completely ganged up on. The whole class seemed to be completely against his wishes. He sighed resignedly. He walked over to the front and sat down next to Akari. He was the very epitome of bitterness right now. As he sat down, on his other side Ryouma sat down next to him with a huge smile.

"The Vice Class Rep. As expected of Master."

Arata looked at the crazy obssessed guy to his left and the scheming Class Representative on his right. A violent teacher and a class he didn't get along well with. Arata wanted to scream at this terrible situation. And this was only his first day. Arata inwardly cried.

Teacher Takuma turned and walked to the stage and then faced the class.

"The battles we just witnessed are a perfect guide for our first topic of the day. Did anyone catch what had happened in the exchange between Arata and Ryouma?"

The class looked around silently. They felt the energy waves but they weren't too sure what had happened. As expected, Akari put her hand up. Teacher Takuma nodded to Akari, who stood up.

"Arata was using a type of redirection method to take the opponent's energy and send it back to them. But to do so, he must first contain the energy. Ryouma saw this and decided to face him head on. Essentially testing to see who's capacity to hold power was greater. In the end, Arata came out on top."

Teacher Takuma nodded as Akari sat down. The class all put the pieces together and realized what that meant and stared at Ryouma and Arata in awe. They didn't realize how great the battle before them was until now. They also knew of how powerful Ryouma was, and to know that Arata had a higher capacity than him was an outstanding thing. Teacher Takuma carried on.

"One's Elemental Reservoir dictates your capacity to hold energy. It is your limit that you can not surpass. If you wish to grow stronger in any Magical Art, you must focus on your Elemental Reservoir.

"Magic is a powerful tool that we were given to improve our lives. As society grew, our understanding and application of Magic grew as well. Soon it was developed into a weapon. Wars broke out and thus began the Great Mage War's."

The room went silent. They all, of course, knew about the Great Mage War's. Over the years, different Kingdom's and Nations pursued the advancement of Magic. Everytime there was such a breakthrough, Kingdoms would fight for more land, more resources and more information on ways to grow stronger.

Teacher Takuma looked over the class.

"I bring this up to remind you of the power and responsibility you have as Magic users. Many of you are also from wealthy families and Clan's, so your responsibility is even more so. The use, growth and development of your powers will bring a great change to the kingdom, but its misuse will bring destruction. If you can't acknowledge and understand that, then you can get the hell out of my class."

Teacher Takuma stared silently at the class, looking at each student before landing on Arata. Arata's face never changed as he stared back at Teacher Takuma resolutely.

Teacher Takuma evilly smirked.

"Good." She walked over to a lever on the side of the stage and pulled it. Metal rods then came up from under the desk in front of each student. Teacher Takuma gestured to the rods.

"For today's class, you will hold onto the rod until lunch time. Begin."

As she said this she went to her seat and sat down. The class looked at each other with fear. Arata could sense the fear and knew that these metal rods weren't that simple. Arata then heard a series of screams behind him. He saw that each student that was gripping the rod were convulsing with pain. Their faces were twisted and distorted. They were shaking and some were screaming. Akari and Ryouma both gripped their rods and began shaking, although not as much as the others. He could see that they were able to handle whatever pain it was a lot better than the others. He looked at the rod before him and sighed.

He gripped on the rod, closing his eyes and bracing himself for the pain that was about to commence.

There was a powerful current that forced it's way into the student's body, it tore through the insides of the students and forcefully and painfully opened up their meridians. It was a painful process for all the students but it was a necessary and much needed thing for them to go through. By opening up one's meridians and creating a pathway for energy to flow, you could gain more access to your Elemental Reservoir. Your body contained and held the Elemental Reservoir and, many times, the Elemental Reservoir were actually pieces that were scattered throughout the body.

But by opening the pathways and strengthening your meridians, you could connect them all together, and eventually over time, you could have the pathways be a part of your Elemental Reservoirs as well. Stronger meridians also meant that they were less likely to explode. If your capacity grows too powerful for the meridians to handle, the energy would burst through it and explode out of the person.

Basically, instant death.

This exercise was used to forcefully create pathways and stretch a persons meridians. The pain was unbearable for most and this was an extreme method that many other teachers refused to use. But Teacher Takuma wasn't an ordinary teacher. She wanted to push her class to their limits. And then overcome those limits.

All the students were crying out in pain. They couldn't control the spasms and shaking of their bodies, they were just children. As the class continued to undergo this torturous bit of training, one student hadn't moved a muscle since they had gripped the rod.

Arata opened his eyes after a few moments and stared at the rod he was gripping

'Is that it?'

Arata was shocked to find that the metal rod's that were causing everyone in the room so much pain, was quite pleasant for him. It wasn't even the slightest bit painful for him as he allowed it to course through him. Teacher Takuma noticed the relaxed face on Arata and frowned.

Arata looked back and gestured towards the rod, implying if this is it. Teacher Takuma's eyes widened as she realized what this meant. He had already shaped a perfect pathway within himself and this exercise was completely pointless for him. She approached him and placed a hand on his shoulder. She sent her energy through his body and confirmed her suspicions. His meridians were perfectly crafted and his pathway through his body was smooth and powerful. She couldn't understand it.

This painful method that she was using on the students was a horrifying thing already, but what kind of brutal methods did this child need to go through to create such perfection? There were adults that killed themselves trying to reach this level, yet an 11 year old sat in front of her having achieved this feat. Teacher Takuma was awestruck.