How? Rewards and Punishments, Nascent Arts.

"Stu… Stu… Student Kizaer, you… Your Flow Synchronization rate… What? How?" The professor was confused and shocked by what had just happened before his eyes.

A student so young, yet capable of maintaining constant harmony with the Flow? Not that this was something abnormal; after all, once a person reaches 100% Flow Synchronization, their connection with the Flow becomes constant and uninterrupted. But how was it possible that this student had already achieved such a state? How was it possible to be real with someone with a Flow Synchronization rate so low?

Even more confusing was the fact that Student Kizaer's Flow Synchronization rate was only 0.6%! This was impossible! Before the classes were assembled that day, the evaluating professor had been instructed to pay extra attention to the case of Student Kizaer Verdam, at the request of higher-ups in the school.

The professor was prepared to encounter some anomaly, but nothing of this magnitude. After all, in Student Kizaer's recent battles, he completely dominated Student Arthur, who had a Flow Synchronization rate of 2.2%, as if it were nothing. How was this possible?

Noticing that the students around and some other supervisors were observing this event, the evaluating professor quickly regained composure and cleared his throat to disguise his embarrassment:

"Student Kizaer, your Synchronization rate… Well, your synchronization rate is 0.6%. You are dismissed. Student Shen, your synchronization rate is 2.2%, you are also dismissed." With that, the evaluating professor turned, made hasty notes, and called other students, not giving the Team 6 duo a chance to question anything.

Shen furrowed his brow, pondering. He looked into Kizaer's eyes, and Kizaer returned the gaze. Kizaer had reverted to his friendly appearance and demeanour. Shen wanted to ask some questions but refrained. Despite being a team, the level of intimacy among team members wasn't significant enough for one to inquire about private matters of the others.

Shen and Kizaer headed toward Ciona, who had a strange look on her face due to the entire incident. The trio awaited Joane, which didn't take long.

Joane quickly joined the Team 6 members after hearing the professor's report: "Student Joane, Synchronization Rate 1.9%. You are dismissed." The Team 6 report was complete, and the record that would be forwarded to the Administrative Department included the following data:

Student Kizaer Verdam – Synchronization Rate: 0.6% - (The student can maintain constant harmony with the Flow – Won a fight against a student with Flow Synchronization rate of 2.2%)

Student Shen Strider – Synchronization Rate: 2.2%

Student Ciona Han – Synchronization Rate: 2.0%

Student Joane Armanci – Synchronization Rate: 1.9%

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The members of Team 6 headed to the main courtyard and sought shelter under the shade of one of the many spiritual trees scattered throughout the territory of the Free Feathers Martial Arts School.

After a brief silence among the members, Joane was the first to speak. "Man, what a strange day… And our team's synchronization rates? I really don't even know what to say."

Kizaer remained strangely silent, followed by Ciona, who glared at him—perhaps aware of her friend's casual demeanour and fearing he might say something inappropriate.

Shen spoke up to prevent any awkward tension within the team. "Well, it's understandable. After all, each of us has our own peculiarities, right, Joane? So, let's not cross any lines we shouldn't, at least not for now. After all, despite being a team, none of us… Well, except for Ciona and Kizaer, can claim to be friends or confidants of each other."

With that, Ciona lifted her face and said, "Thank you, Shen, for understanding that we have… our reasons for not wanting to share anything—maybe in the future, but not now."

It was Joane who responded to Ciona. "Of course, princess, no need to worry. I just made a comment, and our goody-two-shoes here wanted to keep everything extremely formal, as he always does… If I didn't know him from other occasions and hadn't witnessed this walking formality in person before, I'd think that he was just a puppet manipulated by the Strider clan. Hahaha." Joane laughed openly, and Shen merely grimaced, refusing to engage with Joane's provocations.

"What should we do now?" Kizaer asked after the topic had been closed.

"I don't know," replied Ciona.

Joane looked at him and said, "I have no idea."

Shen contemplated for a moment and said, "Wait for the next class? There's not much else to do, and I don't think anyone here is inclined to cultivate the Flow during the break."

Kizaer scanned his teammates; his expression was one of pure incredulity. "What's wrong?" Joane asked, and Kizaer replied, "You all forgot something we can do: Let's go eat—I'm famished!" With that, Kizaer spun on his heels and headed toward the cafeteria. The members of Team 6 exchanged glances and simply shrugged; the day was still long, and at that moment, eating was the best they could do.

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Later – Martial Pavillion

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Professor Marcus was dismissing the advanced class students and welcoming students from Classes A-1, A-2, and A-3.

"Very well, welcome back, everyone." Professor Marcus displayed a rare and sincere smile. "Now you officially become part of our school's philosophy and are ready to experience the first period in all its splendour."

Professor Marcus signalled, and some assistant teachers approached. "These are your 'Martial Cards' or 'tickets to suffering.' Each of you will receive one of these cards." The assistant teachers moved among the students, distributing the martial cards.

"You can see that there are 10 seals marked on the front of each card, and on the back, there are 10 empty spaces." Professor Marcus's sincere and genuine smile quickly transformed into a malicious grin. "You must present this same card to me at the end of 2 months. During this period, you are obligated to challenge classmates from your own class or from another class of the same level to open combat, supervised by a teacher or supervisor."

"Each victory will earn you a new spiritual seal mark on the back of the card; conversely, each defeat will result in the loss of a spiritual seal on the front of the card."

Professor Marcus paced back and forth while explaining how this new dynamic would work. "Of course, since all your fights will be supervised, don't even think about trying to throw the matches. Fight seriously. And you must not use any means to coerce your fellow students into a fight, of course."

"You cannot challenge the same person twice; your class is large enough that everyone can fight without repeating opponents. And you also cannot constantly evade fights. Each of you must fight at least five times during this period; otherwise, the student in question will face the full punishment."

Professor Marcus paused for a moment and added with feigned surprise, "Oops, almost forgot: The punishment for losing 5 points is to participate in combat training sessions that will take place every school day until 9:00 PM for a consecutive period of 3 months." All the present students took a deep breath at the severity of this punishment.

Every day until 9:00 PM under Professor Marcus's training? No, thank you.

If the previously assembled classes maintained an atmosphere of disinterest and inattention, they suddenly began to exude a warrior's determination. Perhaps even a thirst for blood… After all, nobody wanted to suffer in the "Grinder," and no one was willing to endure that.

Professor Marcus cleared his throat to regain the attention of the momentarily distracted students and continued. "Of course, there won't be only punishments. Based on your performance, each of you will have the opportunity to be mentored in a Nascent Art, something that will significantly enhance your combat abilities."

At that moment, a new wave of excitement and anticipation swept through most of the students present. Learn a Nascent Art! It was the dream of every Flow Synchronization practitioner to master such an art.

While some students already possessed Nascent Arts received from their respective organizations, others had never had the chance to train in a Nascent Art themselves—whether due to lack of resources, not demonstrating sufficient talent in their original organizations, or coming from humble backgrounds.

A Nascent Art is a basic yet efficient and valuable technique for manipulating the Flow. It can involve strikes, footwork, weapon usage, skills, or any other form of combat application that gives the user an advantage over their opponent. A fist could pack more impact than a kick, a defensive move could become more solid and resilient when applied with the specific Nascent Art, and even the edge of a sword could become slightly sharper.

Although it doesn't constitute broader Flow manipulation, this initial leap through a Nascent Art could enhance a user's combat capacity by 15% to 20% for that specific technique.

This advantage in combat could mean victory or defeat, life or death, depending on the situation. The euphoria visible in the students' eyes was very real. Even those in the special class didn't seem to shy away from the opportunity to enhance their own abilities.