Practical Class 2

Rapidly knocking another arrow, Tea sent it flying towards the closest wolf bounding towards her.

Jumping back, making space between her and the group of wolves, Tea started firing arrow after arrow into the pack. Moving with the fluidity of a seasoned archer, she downed each wolf, one after the other.

10 minutes later, all the arrows in the quiver had disappeared, finding their place inside all the mouths of the wolves. Sweating heavily, Tea's hand shivered from the drawback of using a bow in quick succession. The arena around her dropped down letting her leave.

"Pass, next." Gavin nodded noting down Tea's performance.

The arena suddenly flashed as the wolf corpses disappeared along with a

"Ardet, you're next,"

A pink-haired boy stepped up, a bandana covering most of it. He walked forward, and stared at Gavin, "Sir, can I just skip this?"

"....."

"....."

"....."

The students went silent upon hearing his words. Some of them were afraid of how Gavin would react to the pink-haired boy's question. Gavin was imfamous for being cold to his students, and having a no-nonsense attitude towards disruptions to his teachings.

The rest of the students had already gotten used to this over the years in this class.

"....Practicals are compulsory for all," Gavin stated.

"Yes sir, but not like I'll be doing good in it. It'll save us both the hassle if you just let me skip."

"Get into the arena, Vollax," Gavin commanded, the temperature dipping considerably when he stated his student's name.

"Yes sir." Vollax gulped slightly and sighed. It was a bust this time as well. 'Gavin is just too stiff sometimes,' He thought and made his way to the arena. Slipping off his bandana, he tied a different bandana on his head and entered the arena. The new bandana was green in color and complemented his pink hair. Banadana fluttering slightly in the wind, Vollax stared at the opening door where growls and howls could be heard from. Taking a deep breath, he steeled himself for what was about to happen.

The first wolf bounded towards him, almost galloping like a horse, mouth drooling slightly at its prey.

Vollax did nothing but wait, right up till the point when the wolf was right over him and then he.......

....did absolutely nothing to defend himself as the wolf suddenly froze in place. Or rather they had been frozen in place by Gavin. All the wolves were covered with a transparent white sheen, with some vapors forming a mist around them.

"Fail. Get off now. Next." Gavin fired off and then called out the next name.

Vollax sighed in relief and walked off the stage for the next person to go ahead.

"It's a relief that we'll get saved by the teacher if we're in trouble." one of the students sighed.

"Tell me about it, I'm not confident that I can kill even 10 of those."

"Wait a second, didn't Mr. Gavin say fail when he saved Vollax?"

"Huh, now that you mention it, he did say something like that."

"Isn't this the first practical class of the year?"

"Will he continue to go this hard on us throughout the year?" one student asked nervously.

One of Gavin's old students just gestured at Gavin's face. All the new students turned and stared at Gavin's apathetic face as he watched another student suffer through the training program.

"Fail. Next." Gavin called out.

"....."

"....."

"....."

'We're all fu****' all of the new students reached a collective conclusion after that short session on deductive reasoning. On the other hand, Gavin's old students had already resigned themselves to their fate and tried to console their now despondent friends.

....

....

....

Time passed and yet many students did not.

"Fail. Next." Gavin called out for what felt like the nth time.

The student walked out shaking and the next student got ready. It was Luna Kires' turn.

"Good luck," Emmia whispered. Shui and Sefir wished her good luck as well before she left to take her test. Icarth had already sat down on the ground with a group of students who had finished the test. In fact, he was the first one to sit. His head drooped, Ica's eyes were closed as the tests had gone on. None of his classmate's fights held any interest to him.

'What should I get for snacks...early dinner sounds good and then I can get on with training.....I'll treat myself to Uncle Feng's food.....yea.....' While Ica was going on what to eat after the practical class, Luna stepped onto the stage. Swaying suddenly, she caught herself and straightened herself before anyone could notice.

The world stopped swimming around her as she readied herself against the waves of the wolves. Gripping her staff for comfort, Luna rushed forward to meet the wolves. Activating her gift, gray chains erupted out of the ground and restrained the wolves. Dancing through the wolves, Luna struck the vitals on their heads killing them with her staff. In less than five minutes, all the wolves lay dead in a pool of their own blood. The chains slowly released the corpses as silence prevailed. The students stared at Luna in awe as Gavin said "Pass. Next."

"That was awesome," Emmia complemented with twinkling eyes as Luna joined her on the sidelines.

"Mmmm," Luna nodded.

"How'd you learn to fight with a staff like that?" Emmia asked curiously.

"....it's my family's ancestral fighting style."

"Coool," Emmia exclaimed in wonder. She didn't know how long Luna's family had lived, but for a fighting style to be passed on so religiously, it must have been very good.

Not long after, it was Sefir's turn.

Jogging past Icarth he said, "Wish me luck."

"Mnn, no..." Ica mumbled half asleep.

Sefir just sighed before cracking a smile at his roommate's attitude.

Stepping onto the stage, Sefir loosened his arms and legs up. Taking a stance he put up his arms and faced the opening door. Now the ever-familiar wolves bounded out.

Rushing to meet them, Sefir uppercut one in the jaw, killing it instantly. Following his uppercut, he ducked a wolf leaping at him and tripped the one in front of him. Rolling to the side, he dodged another two wolves. Jumping back up to his feet, his eyes scanned the area furiously for the next best move. Sefir's gift was not an offensive one, but it did aid in fights. Although the rest of the work had to be done by him in the end.

After a grueling ten minutes, Sefir fell to the floor panting. All the wolves around him lay dead, or barely alive with intensive injuries.

"Pass. Next." Gavin called out.

...

...

After a few short attempts, Gavin called out next. No one responded nor did they attempt to go up to the stage. Gavin sighed, "Icarth Struze, wake up this instant or else."

Icarth's eyes shot open as he felt a chill surrounding him, almost suffocating him.

"I'm up. You don't need to threaten me...." Icarth mumbled under his breath a little too loud. Ignoring Icarth, Gavin responded flatly, "It's your turn."

Icarth reflexively looked for Mia whose turn was before his. He found her sitting next to Luna, Sefir, and Shui with her head hanging low.

Icarth's bleary eyes turned sharp before he shook his head at his twin sister.

"....." actually mumbling something this time, no one could hear what he was saying.

Grabbing Jade, Icarth shuffled his way onto the stage. Finally, it was his turn.