John

"Finally, I can go to test my new techniques." Arslan said as he headed to his dwelling.

After walking for a bit, while looking to his right, he noticed the little forest placed near his place,

'Mhm... usually no one comes here. It should be a nice place where to practice without anyone looking.' He thought as he didn't like unnecessary attention. In order to keep a low profile, he wanted to avoid people seeing him training.

He walked inside the forest and stopped only when he reached its center,

"Ok, I should be quite hidden here... now let's see... Steps Of Silence should be a technique based on moving rapidly. It is the first of its kind. The others were all focused on direct attacks, except for... Darkness' Domain... I should practice this one too, today."

After that moment, he spent the rest of the morning training, till he saw the sun get on its apex in the sky.

"Pant, pant... Ok, I should take a break now... I'm exhausted," Arslan said as his legs couldn't keep him standing anymore and made him fall with his butt on the ground while he leaned his back against a tree,

"These techniques are amazing. With Steps Of Silence, few could be able to catch me if I decided to escape from them." Arslan was feeling more and more confident in his capabilities as he, now, had a way to move faster and thus could avoid the enemy's attacks more easily.

"Arslan." A wisper came from afar.

'Maybe this afternoon I could focus more on Wave Of Darkness...'

"Arslan!"

'I feel like I could generate a more solid wave...'

"ARSLAN!"

"Eh? OH, who is it?" He noticed a guy standing just 3 meters from him. His hair was short and black, his right arm, visible because of the t-shirt he wore, had a long scar all over its length, and his green eyes were pointing at Arslan, who had the feeling he was being examined by them.

"It is me, John! It is a lot I'm calling your name but you didn't even hear my voice!"

"Ah." Arslan was surprised that someone could come so close to him without him noticing, 'Damn, I was too focused on my techniques and didn't pay attention to my surroundings! Did he see me practicing?" He was visibly worried as his eyes were wide open looking at John and his voice was faltering to come out.

"Hey, calm down, I'm not here to pick up a fight." John said as he lightly laughed, bringing his right hand to his mouth.

Arslan looked at him and realized who he was,

"W-Wait. Weren't you the other ranked together with the two brainless lovers?" He asked with diffidence, 'If he were to tell them that I was practicing, they would surely come to bother me again.'

"Hahahaha, it is the first time I hear someone calling them like that. You are much more fun than what the other disciples say." John said as he put his hand on his forehead while laughing.

"What is there of funny?" Arslan said as he looked at John with a fierce glare.

"Sorry, it is just that no one else would have the courage to even whisper something like that about them."

"Because all of them are spineless."

"Or maybe you are just too strong."

"Hey, I'm not the ranked one here..."

"I may be stronger than you in terms of physical strength, but for sure your mind's strength is far beyond mine." John said as he became a bit more serious.

"What do you mean?" Arslan asked confused, 'Is he making me a compliment? I won't buy it.'

"Yeah, you know, I really admired you this morning. You were able to talk back to all of them, Elder Song included... something that I would have never been able to do if I had been in your position."

Arslan noticed the sudden sadness in john's voice and eyes as he spoke those words, 'Is he sincere...?!' He thought as he got surprised by John's behavior,

"Why are you telling me this?"

"...Because you have something I don't have..."

"..."

"Well, I stole you enough time by now. By the way, I'd like to specify that I'm not a friend of those two." He said as he smiled again with his eyes pointed straight to Arslan's.

"Did you come here just to tell me this?" Arslan said confused as he raised his left eyebrow.

"No... but we will talk about that another time. Gotta go now, see you around!"

Arslan watched him leaving without saying a word of reply to him,

'What a strange guy... but he seems to be a nice and sincere person. Then, she wasn't the only one of this kind in the Academy...' He thought,

"Well... I guess I'll go to eat and continue my training."

In the meantime, Elder Song went to meet Elder Oak inside the Library.

As he crossed the threshold, a reception point was in front of him and, behind it, an infinite number of bookshelves could be seen. He noticed Elder Oak looking for some books in the first raws of bookshelves,

"Elder Oak! Could I have a moment to talk to you?" He asked the man who was with his back to him. The figure turned around as he heard his name being called.

A quite old man was now standing in front of Elder Song. His presence was that of a man who could make even someone like Elder Song feel uncomfortable. A few were the white hair remaining on his head and his unkempt mustache represented perfectly his distorted mind. 'If it hadn't been because I want to discover Arslan's secret, I would have never come to talk to this awful man.' Elder Song thought as he saw Elder Oak's unsettling glare.

"Elder Song, what does bring you here in MY library?" Elder Oak asked back. His sudden smile made Elder Song feel uneasy.

'Does he think he owns this place?' Elder Song thought as he looked at Elder Oak, trying to get a catch of his thoughts,

"I'm here to talk about disciple Arslan."

"Oooh, so that's why..." Elder Oak started walking slowly towards him,

"He used his powers, isn't it?" He asked as he stopped at less than a meter from Elder Song.

"As I thought, it was you who taught him those strange techniques that make even me feel uncomfortable!" Elder Song said in anger, as he was used to losing his temper easily when things that worried him happened.

"Elder Song... If I knew such strong techniques as those he has... don't you think I would have been way more than a mere Outer Court elder?"

"!!!" Elder Song got startled by such an answer, 'He is right... I can't believe I didn't think of this. What I supposed doesn't even make sense... then where did Arslan find them?' He thought as he put his hand under his chin with a thoughtful glare.

Elder Oak smiled again at that sight, "Elder Song... you don't know where his power comes from, am I wrong?"