Chapter 59 - Class is in session!

The man who stands at the front of the class appears to be in his fifties, with streaks of gray hair invading the originally red color. His face is clean shaven and his appearance is well-groomed, giving the impression of a distinguished man heading to a ball. Rectangular glasses sit above his fine nose and he is clothed in a simple blue shirt tucked into his pants. Before continuing, he clears his throat. 

"Ahem, welcome to your first class of PURE F2-2, where you will learn to increase the efficiency of your pureflow usage. My name is Rivaldo Starshatter, a second stage enlightened of the Starshatter family. Before I start lecturing you, this session will begin with a short demonstration. Please, anyone who's melody allows them to increase their physical strength, raise your hand."

A few students raise their hands. The professor scans the class and points to a large man, not any smaller than Alex. Upon the professor's instructions, the man stands and walks to the front of the class. Then, the professor grabs a block of a certain material from under his desk and places it on top of it.

"This is an extremely special material which is known to be able to resist the might of even the [enlightened]. Now, I will have this gentleman… uh…"

"Varek"

"Varek! I'll have Varek strike this block with all of his might."

He turns to Varek.

"Please, whenever you're ready."

My classmate winds up his arm, and it grows even larger than it already is. In small increments at a time, it grows and grows, until it reaches five times its original size and its proportions become nearly grotesque. I can see that on top of the usage of his [melody], he sends waves of pureflow to his arm which, I imagine, increase the power of his blow even further. Without wasting much time, he hits the block with incredible power, causing the entire room to tremble and dust to fall from the ceiling. A cloud of dust rises in the front of the class, obscuring our view, but whispers travel the crowds.

"Whoa… what kind of [melody] was that…"

"That's insane…!!"

"I wish I never get hit by something like that…"

"An earthquake?!"

The smoke clears and we are able to see again. The professor is standing next to Varek who wears a confident smile on his face. Squinting my eyes, I can see that Varek's arm is embedded into the block, reaching nearly halfway through. He can't help but brag.

"How was that professor?" He says with a grin on his face.

The professor strokes the nonexistent beard on his chin.

"Well, considering your power enhances your strength, I suppose it is… alright."

The professor turns the block around, as to turn the gaping hole in it away from him. He rolls up his sleeves and speaks to the class.

"Without divulging too much information, my [melody] allows me to make some of my attacks unavoidable, nothing to do with physical enhancement. Now, please keep your eyes open."

He winds up his arm, but it does not grow in size like Varek's. Professor Rivaldo inhales and performs a simple straight punch towards the block. 

"Haap!"

Upon contact with his fist, it shatters into a million pieces. Shards fly throughout the classroom, but they thankfully do not hurt anybody. He rolls his sleeves back down and instructs the annoyed Varek to return to his seat. I half expected Varek to throw a tantrum and claim that the professor must have cheated, but I imagine the instructors from the other peaks must have hammered proper manners into their trainees as well. After fixing his collar, the instructor turns towards the class.

"Now, who can tell me why my punch was so much more destructive than Varek's despite him possessing a [melody] that clearly enhances his physical strength while I do not? Anyone?"

A girl with black hair sitting in a ponytail behind her head raises her hand. A few others and I turn around to look at her

"Go ahead trainee."

She points to Varek.

"Maybe he's just bad at handling pureflow?"

Varek nearly jumps out of his seat at her words but the professor quickly instructs, or rather orders him to settle down. Then, Professor Rivaldo looks back at the girl.

"What's your name trainee?"

"Sophia Thunderblade, Sir!" She says with a grin covering her lips.

"Well, trainee Sophia, you're not wrong, but he's not the only one. In truth, you're all terrible at handling pureflow."

It's difficult to see from where I sit without looking like I'm staring at her, but I notice Sophia raising an eyebrow. However, she does not do it with confusion, but rather curiosity.

"Oh? Why do you say that, Professor?"

The professor smiles at her inquiry. He once again turns to face the entire class and asks us another question.

"Following up on my question from earlier. What do you think is the difference between you and I? Besides that I've reached the second stage while you have not, of course." 

This time I raise my hand and the professor allows me to speak.

"You're doing something different with your pureflow, something that we haven't figured out how to do yet." 

He offers me an approving smile.

"Good, good! What do you think I'm doing?"

When I looked at him, the way in which he used pureflow was much different from what I was doing. It happened so fast that I did not grasp all the details. However, what I did see is that he sent multiple 'types' of pureflow to his arm before striking that block. With my hand scratching my head, I answer him.

".... I'm not exactly sure to be honest. Based purely on speculation, whatever you did must have been more complex than what we do while still being the same pureflow we all use."

The professor applauds my answer. 

"Great answer! That's totally right! The way in which I, and all the second stages use pureflow is much more complex than you trainees! What's your name, young man?"

"Alden Thorne, Sir."

I get a few looks from the other students that I ignore. Some of them do seem to linger on me longer than what this interaction warrants, however. I can even swear I hear some of them say something about me.

"...Isn't that him…?"

"... Yeah it is… The guy from the video..,"

'What the hell are they talking about?'

What I can't ignore is an icy breath on my neck. It feels like needles prickling at my skin. I can feel my body temperature drop as soon as it reaches me. It is followed by a whisper. Sophia, who sits right behind me, shares a few words with me.

"Ohh… you're smart too? The perfect man aren't you? Why don't we have a talk later, Alden?"

I turn around in stupor to face her, and she winks at me. I notice a cloud of condensation oozing out of her mouth, most likely the origin of the icy breath I felt. It may also explain her extremely pale complexion which contrasts her pupils of pure darkness. I suspect that the cold breath has a high chance of being related to her [melody], but I find it strange that she decided it would be a good idea to take me by surprise with it. Perhaps it is one of her personality traits, everyone here has a few quirks after all. When I turn back around still confused by the ordeal, I am met with Sylvia who has her eyes fixed to something near me. The smile she wears resembles her usual one, but there's something off about it. When more than a second passes without her saying anything, I question her.

"... Are you alright Sylvia?"

Sophia speaks from behind me before Sylvia can answer.

"If it isn't miss number two? Do you want to say something? Don't bother, I don't think I would be able to hear anything all the way from first place hehe."

Her eyebrow twitches and she immediately turns around.

Without looking at me, Ivana sends a few words my way.

"Mingling with the enemy, Seriously Alden? Are you trying to make Sylvia angry?"

"I didn't even say anything to her!"

"Not what it sounded like from here."

I frown with confusion and then I turn to Sylvia.

"Sylvia, I'm sure you know that she talked to me right? Not the other way around...right?"

She does not answer, pretending to focus on the lecture. 

"Sylvia!!"

I try to tap her on the shoulder, but the professor's booming voice interrupts me before I can reach her.

"As Alden Thorne, who now seems to be having a conversation more important than this class, just suggested, the complexity of pureflow usage is boundless! The concept you will familiarize yourself with during this class is that of resonant frequencies, or also known as your body's 'Fundamental Rhythm' in the [enlightened] world!"