Magus Supremacy

"Anyway. Let's get learning, shall we?" Kent smiled widely. "What's the first step? I'm sure you all want to get started as soon as possible and learn the steps. But I assure you, it isn't that easy.

I might have made it look effortless in my demonstration, but I assure you, it took me half a year to learn and properly apply it in a real fight.

So I don't expect any of you to learn it faster. That is why if you fail the steps, don't be disheartened. Keep trying again and again until it becomes natural.

Although, I already know those that would easily make it." Kent chuckled as he headed back to the front of the class.

"When are we actually going to learn this if you keep yapping?" Noelle grumbled as she glared at the instructor.

"Be careful, young lady," Kent said as he spun around to glare at the young direct descendant. "You might be a big shot in and out of the academy, but I don't give a literal f*ck. In here, this is my domain, so be mindful of what you say."

'Domain?' Grey thought, and soon enough, blurry images began flashing through his mind.

A sharp, pounding headache washed over him, but he managed to resist the urge to scream. After a few seconds, the vision died down, fading just as quickly as it came, leaving him unsettled but curious.

"Now, on to the first step. You need a stance. In fact, all warriors need to have a proper stance if they want to execute any technique effectively. You cannot attack with a trashy stance.

I'm sure most of you have gone through these basics in your respective clans, so stand with your feet shoulder-width apart. Dominant foot behind.

Now, shift your entire body weight to the back leg. Feel your weight drop like you're loading a spring.

You need to stay low, grounded, and tense, like a coiled viper ready to strike."

"Huh?" Mada mumbled with a raised eyebrow.

"Come on! Hop to it now." Kent clapped his hands loudly, his voice echoing through the chamber. Instantly, all the students moved to obey.

They spread their legs shoulder-width apart, attempting to lean all their weight on the back leg. It wasn't easy. Most of the students wobbled, tipping awkwardly, their balance collapsing within seconds.

Their stances were inaccurate. Knees bent the wrong way, bodies leaning too far forward, arms flailing to counterbalance. One after another, they toppled to the ground, especially the blue band students whose lack of coordination was painfully obvious.

The yellow bands performed slightly better. They managed to hold their ground, though sweat quickly formed on their brows. Grey, on the other hand, stood firm, his lips curling into a scoff as he watched the others fall down like flies.

'I already went through all this under Yami's brutal training,' Grey thought. 'He drilled stances into me while teaching sword handling and even when I practiced the roundhouse kick. Compared to that, this is nothing.'

His body remained steady, legs firm, his balance unwavering as though he had done this countless times.

"Good, good. I can see that some of you managed to perfect the stance," Kent said, his sharp eyes scanning the hall. "Now, hold that stance for thirty minutes straight without shaking or wobbling. Let me attend to these slow pokes who keep tripping."

He strode toward the struggling blue band section, adjusting arms, pressing shoulders down, and shifting legs into proper position.

'Stand like this for thirty minutes? That will be exhausting. The constant pressure on my back leg will eventually weigh me down. Shit! If I lose focus, I'll collapse sooner than later,' Grey thought, glancing sideways at the red band group.

All of them held their postures without a twitch. Their spines straight, shoulders squared, and eyes forward. They looked less like students and more like statues carved from stone, unwavering and silent.

Mada turned his head to meet Grey's gaze, and upon seeing how much Grey was struggling to stand still, the descendant grinned widely. His expression twisted with mockery as he slowly raised his middle finger toward Grey before turning back around with an air of smug satisfaction.

'I will show you,' Grey roared internally, forcing his legs to remain steady despite the sharp ache biting into his calves. His body trembled, yet his pride and stubbornness refused to allow him to crumble. He gritted his teeth and kept his posture firm while Kent barked orders at the blue bands.

"You fools! I said your feet should be shoulder-width apart. Bring your dominant foot behind you and lean your weight onto it. Balance properly!"

"Stop wobbling! Steady your breathing and hold the posture. Think of it like preparing to sprint in a race."

Kent's voice cracked like a whip across the training ground. Again and again, he corrected their footing, pressing shoulders down, pulling arms back into place, even kicking at ankles until they aligned. His tone grew harsher with each passing moment, and the room filled with frustrated groans. Time seemed to drag, the minutes crawling like hours.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, it had been thirty full minutes. More than half the blue bands were just barely able to hold their stance. Kent turned back toward the rest of the class, shaking his head.

"I don't know why I even bother, when I already said not everyone would be able to learn this technique." He facepalmed in exasperation, then straightened up before the group. "At ease."

Instantly, all the students stood up straight. The yellow bands panted heavily, sweat cascading down their faces and dripping onto the floor. Their legs quivered, some nearly collapsing from fatigue. The red bands, however, stood as though nothing had happened. Not a single bead of sweat marred their foreheads, and disdain lingered openly in their eyes as they looked upon the struggling groups.

"We will be learning the second step. These two steps are what we will focus on for the rest of the week until you all completely master them. If a good number of you manage to get it, then we are good to go." Kent clapped his hands sharply. "Now, take your stance again. Let us begin the second step."

'I really don't know how I managed to hold that posture, but I'm glad I did,' Grey thought, stealing a quick glance at Finral and Ray. Both of them returned to the stance without complaint, their focus pinned on Kent's instructions.

"Now, the next part is to draw your Ki. Don't let it flood your whole body. Contain it in your legs—specifically, your feet.

This is the part most of you will screw up. Compress your Ki into your soles. Pack it tight, like stuffing gunpowder into a barrel.

You will feel pressure, heat, maybe even tremors. That is good. But don't release it yet. This is just the charge. Begin."

With audible groans, the students followed his command. Ki stirred restlessly in the air as each of them struggled to control it.

Ray had a far easier time than most. His Ki flowed straight into his feet like water through a channel, gathering neatly in his soles. His stance remained solid, and he could feel the energy bubbling there, raw and restless, waiting to explode at his command.

Finral, however, fared poorly. His Ki scattered whenever he tried to guide it, dissipating before it could settle. His brow furrowed as he clenched his fists, his teeth grinding audibly.

'Damn it! I'm used to swirling Ki through my limbs and expending it instantly in bursts, not this slow, suffocating compression,' he thought, trying again and again with growing frustration.

Grey, by contrast, found the process alarmingly simple. His Ki gathered in his soles with ease, compressing so naturally it surprised even him. He raised an eyebrow, staring down at the faint glow under his feet.

'Huh? Wasn't this supposed to be difficult? Why can I do it so easily? I feel like I've done something even more unstable before, which makes this seem like child's play. But what was that unstable energy?' His heart thumped as he tried to recall, but the answer danced out of reach.

Meanwhile, Kent's sharp gaze swept across the students. "I can see most of you are doing it right. The red bands are holding strong, no surprise there. What surprises me is the number of yellow bands succeeding."

He was about to continue when...

Ring! Ring! Ring!

The bell echoed throughout the hall, signaling the end of class.

"Alright, that's it for today," Kent announced. "We will be focusing on these two steps for an entire week. Rest well. Class dismissed."

The tension in the room broke immediately as students released their stances, groaning with relief. Some limped out, clutching their thighs. Others muttered complaints under their breath. Slowly, the groups filtered out of the training hall, sweat-streaked and drained.