Chapter 14: A Cold Gaze.

I was troubled.

I didn't know what to do...

"Hey! Virule! Stop zoning out!" My thoughts snapped back to reality by the irritating voice that juggled my ears.

"I'm here and yeah...ALRIGHT! EVERYONE TO POSITIONS!" I let out a squeak, though for everyone it seemed like a shout.

"Huh...?" My classmates widened their eyes and opened their mouths, they stared at me for a while before I shouted another time just to make them aware that I was the leader for now.

"I hope this is good..." My other classmates were snickering and others were already lining themselves into position.

"I'LL BE THE ONE TEACHING TODAY, SO FOLLOW WHAT I WOULD DO AND WE'RE GREAT ALRIGHT?" I gave them a nasty smile.

"FOLLOW MY LEAD!" I started the class with a warm up, starting from the head to the toe. It was different from the warm up that Miss Katerina made for us to do. This was through my own prerogative that I've thought of a thing like this, I mean what Miss Katerina taught was good enough however compared to the ingenuity of modern physical education.

This was a more appropriate response to exercise our bodies. Flexibility is more reliable than just being muscular to be honest.

"Okay, now that we've had our warm up, I'd like to teach you the stances that Miss Katerina taught to me. SO DON'T SLACK OFF!" Everyone seemed to be amused at my energetic side, I mean who wouldn't? I would because I'm also surprised. I started the stances by slowly moving my body so that everybody could see it clearly, I even rotated a bit just to take account of the students at the side.

"HIYAAH!" I bursted out the air contained in my lungs before thrusting out a rather good stance. I knew Bruce Lee wouldn't just shout when he performed did martial arts, there was a reason for everything and the shouting makes the oxygen in our blood flow more smoothly rather than keeping it in.

"REMEMBER! DON'T FORGET TO SHOUT!"

"HAIYAHH!" Rizu took my advice well and I smirked at him, and he also smirked back at me.

"KEEP IT UP! HIYAH!" My classmates started to shout too thanks to Rizu's activeness, including Dairia.

"Alright, you guys are doing good, but don't overexert yourself, Miss Katerina said these stances that you've learned today could improve the flow of Giryotes in your body, and if you even achieve raw perfection, Giryotes would crowd over you."

"Continue doing the stances until you perfect it, we'll do this until Miss Katerina comes back." I said as I turned around and walked towards them.

"Hey dude, you're shaking." Tom bumped into me and whispered in my ear. I didn't noticed that my legs were shaking, so I thanked him and took deep breaths. it took me a few seconds to get myself together to continue what I was planning to do.

"I'll just be behind your backs to see if any of you makes a mistake, don't worry. I won't shout at you if you do, I'll just correct your form just like how Mr. Tetuclise did." I took my time watching my classmates do the stances I've taught to them, I'm grateful none of them was lazy because it'll be really troublesome if there was one.

I glanced at Rizu and saw that he was doing the stances correctly however he made a fault. I came to take a look at him and to my surprise he was smiling.

"I did it intentionally...I just wanted to say sorry you know, I was quite insensitive...and I think Dairia is sorry too...I'm apologizing in her behalf." I only nodded at his words, not really making any comment about the past, as I've already forgotten it.

"I'm sorry too, and I forgive you. however I need to take some time to come terms to it so back to practicing your stances."

"Yessiree!" Rizu had a smile on his face, while obviously blinking at Dairia who was rolling her eyes.

Everybody was doing well, now that they have proper practice, I had other stances I would like for them to learn however I think that'll be for the next day.

"I think you guys already got the gist. So I'll excuse myself now. Tomorrow I'll be teaching a new stance, so be consistent in training the stances from now on, our last day would be to perform it all in front of Teacher Katerina, I know she'll be impress if you guys mastered it. so don't slack off."

Everyone scattered to get water, while some immediately headed to the last class. Tom who was waiting for me with a somewhat awkward smile.

"Hey, didn't know you'd be this confident."

"I wasn't and you know that, I was literally shaking..."

"But that doesn't mean you're not confident...If I was the one teaching...I'll already be nervous speaking in front of our classmate you know?"

"I guess, oh hey did I do it correctly?"

"Correctly? I think you're underestimating yourself, You did excellent."

"Thanks..."

"Sure, no problem bro."

_________________________________________

The next few days at school had been like a regular school day; Attending, listening, teaching and going back to my room. I think my classmates kinda like me now, though I didn't know the reason for it.

Mr. Harian for the past few days was not teaching us the basics of supernatural powers however he substituted it with how we should use our superpowers creatively like; Applying basic math, improving our vocabulary or the way we chant and how we should use the environment to our advantage.

It was all very helpful information that I could use...Maybe If I also apply my modern knowledge to it, it should improve somehow? I don't know exactly how people use their superpowers here but I think I would have to make most of my time imagining efficient ways to improve.

Mr. Tetuclise however, continued with teaching us about control, he said that we should be consistent in our training until we can finally do it fast and naturally.

We just finished our class with him and now it was time for Miss Katerina to come back.

But somebody brought bad news.

"You're the class Miss Katerina is teaching right? Unfortunately, she will need some rest and will not be able to attend her class." A senior student told us.

We were worried and disappointed that she wouldn't be able to see our improvement.

So we decided to do the usual practice we had trained it for the whole class.

"I think that's enough, I know you're all disappointed but let's just take our time and wait for Miss Katerina to recover okay?" I tried to appease them and we continued on to the next class.

Now that I think about it...it wasn't really effective but I didn't want to let them feel like they've been cheated on, my classmates were all great and had different specialties so I assumed they have prides for their status, come to think about it. They might have just followed me what I taught to them due to my noble status. But if people like Tom who were commoners be in my place I think no one would follow him. The bias of nobles with the commoners weren't that noticeable and great however they still ignore or berate them if the commoners were somehow insulting their pride.

Rizu was also a commoner but because of the promise of his talent, people would put a higher value for him due to the possibility of him rising into a noble too.

There had been many nobles who had fallen due to underestimating commoners. So nobles aren't that stupid enough to antagonize unpredictable factors but rather what they do right now is take the talented commoners into their wing to make them serve as their knight granting the commoner a title and permission to use their facilities because commoners if not attending any institution; the academy, the guilds, the barracks, the church and the merchants association would be barred from exchanging goods with any of the facilities.

So the knights employed by nobles would go on expeditions to the Forsaken lands to hunt and kill monsters for their materials. The nobles were in-charge of the materials, selling them off to merchants then take the tax accordingly to the contract the noble and knight agreed upon.

It has been that sort of business since the start of the empire making the nobles overly powerful due to the privilege that they hold and the knights, can only be freed from that cycle if they manage to acquire merits which they can earn when they've done a lot of good to the capital.

I might have daydreamed again as Tom flicked my forehead waking me up from my thoughts.

"Hey, you okay? I always see you staring off somewhere..."

"No, it's okay I'm just thinking deeply. Thanks for the wake up."

"History class is already over, so of course. Anyways, I just wanted to asked you if you've heard anything about kidnappings..."

"Kidnappings? Sorry I don't really pay attention to the news, so why?"

"Well, people say it is a wraith due...to how it only appears at night and is most likely is invisible according to witnesses as they saw it vanish so fast."

"Weird, but what wraith would kidnap children? Doesn't wraiths consume souls not kidnap?"

"That's the issue here...so I guess it may be a supernatural user, likely the one of the Ether: Pathway Soulshifter."

"So...we got a soulshifter in our midst? Wow..."

"Just be careful, people say not one of the victims has been found yet..."

"Yeah, alright. I got it."

"Don't go alone! always stay in the crowd!"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah."

"Sorry, I just don't want you to disappear."

"It's fine, really."

"Of course...then I'll be on my way." It was only a brief moment but I felt a gaze that made my back feel cold and sweaty.

"Oh my..."