“Huaiming, haven’t you told your sister that you’re my guy now?”
The car sped along the coastline; once free from the city’s confines, Li Huaiming’s speed surged repeatedly.
Aya Tone, long accustomed to such antics, remained unfazed. He simply, and silently, layered two more defensive spells upon himself.
“No, I haven’t. We’re adults now; there’s no need to tell my sister everything.”
“Alright, alright, I see you’re responsible. So, Huaiming, found a girlfriend yet?”
“…”
Li Huaiming remained silent, his only response to press harder on the accelerator.
One hundred twenty…
One hundred sixty…
As the car’s speed intensified, the trees alongside the road blurred into streaks, vanishing behind them.
Alarmed, Aya Tone hastily clutched his seatbelt. “Damn it! Wrong, wrong, slow down!!!”
The streamlined vehicle tore through the sea breeze, charging directly towards Dragon Court Academy.
His startled cry merged with the ocean wind, leaving a prolonged echo in its wake.
****
“Incredible… *retch*”
He wasn’t sure how much time had passed, but Aya Tone felt utterly disoriented. Still, under the guidance of pure instinct, he somehow arrived at the training grounds, albeit with a few close calls.
It wasn’t entirely without peril, though. He had nearly collided with several students along the way, only managing to correct his course with the help of some kind passersby.
“Good morning, Teacher Aya!” ×16
With a weary wave, he mumbled, “Good morning, everyone…”
Aya Tone waved a listless hand towards his energetic students.
In that moment, a stark contrast emerged between the teacher’s and the students’ states of mind.
One was half-dead, the other brimming with vitality.
“Go on, amuse yourselves for a bit. Your teacher needs to rest.”
‘The feeling of motion sickness was awful, purely brought on by fright.’
‘Indeed, entrusting one’s life to another’s driving was a gamble; whether one lived or died depended entirely on whether they had offended the driver.’
‘Perhaps he should inform Ying Li to arrange a special clearance with the high-speed rail station, so he could simply teleport next time.’
Aya Tone bent down, carefully rubbing his still-trembling legs.
‘For now, he decided, a little slacking off was in order.’
But after the painful experience of their entire class being decimated last time, how could they possibly let their teacher rest?
‘Judging by their teacher’s current state, things were clearly not good!’
‘Strike while he’s weak! Go for the kill!’
‘What if this was their last chance, their final hope?’
“Teacher Aya, we’ve trained for a week and have profoundly realized the magnitude of our past mistakes.”
“Exactly! This time, we absolutely won’t disappoint you, Teacher!”
The others chimed in with a flurry of agreements, all sharing a single objective: to strike while the iron was hot!
“Alright… fine.”
Given their overwhelming enthusiasm, he found it difficult to directly dampen their spirits.
‘What a pain…’
Aya Tone stretched languidly, attempting to alleviate the lingering aftereffects of his motion sickness.
“Youngsters should have some martial ethics. What kind of behavior is it, constantly plotting to ambush an ‘old man’ like me, barely in his twenties?”
‘They want to play dirty, but can they truly succeed?’
‘These were merely old tricks he’d long outgrown. Against absolute power, such petty schemes were utterly useless.’
‘Since he hadn’t had enough time that morning to report to the principal, he might as well humor them for the day.’
“Wait a moment.”
Aya Tone raised a hand, halting the few students already charging towards him. He spoke slowly, “Last time was rather dull, wasn’t it? This time, let’s try a different game.”
However, those students had just completed their physical enhancements, their blood surging with renewed vigor as they charged. How could they simply stop on command?
Watching the figures draw ever closer, Aya Tone’s lips curled into a slight frown, and he let out a silent sigh.
‘They were still too green, unable even to control their power with precision. It seems your teacher will have to lend a hand, after all.’
He immediately adopted the starting stance of a ‘Cosmic Fist’ technique, meeting their charge with an unperturbed expression.
‘He’d been watching too much Ultraman lately.’
‘It was utterly useless, merely for show.’
‘Ultimately, he’d just revert to his crude ‘turtle fist’ technique anyway.’
“Agh!”
Just as the two sides were about to collide, a protective barrier suddenly erupted from Aya Tone’s body.
Its speed was astonishing, instantly flinging the students backward with considerable force.
“Huh?”
Aya Tone, his fist still poised for a punch, blinked in surprise.
‘What just happened?’
“Teacher, you! That’s not martial ethics…” The student, who had struggled to his feet and was pointing at Aya Tone, then collapsed once more, unable to rise again.
“Ah, no, I didn’t!” Aya Tone tried to retort.
But then, Aya Tone suddenly remembered. While in the car, to ensure his survival, he had apparently cast several layers of defensive spells upon himself.
‘He had simply forgotten about it after experiencing motion sickness.’
‘So, he was truly being wronged!’
‘This wasn’t the result of his conscious intent; he was a victim too, really.’
‘He had originally wanted to try out the Cosmic Fist technique he’d learned from a video. It looked incredibly cool!’
‘Now… what a shame.’
“Oh dear, I told you all to stop, didn’t I? But you wouldn’t listen, and now you’ve hit a wall, haven’t you?”
‘Admitting fault? Never. Not in this lifetime.’
‘As long as he struck first, the blame would never fall upon him.’
Gentle magic settled upon the students, healing the impact injuries they’d sustained from their low-altitude tumbles.
‘The defensive spells he had cast upon himself were ordinary, inflicting no harm.’
Moreover, since the duration of their physical enhancements hadn’t yet expired, the students were, at most, a little bruised. Within seconds, they were back to their lively selves.
“This time, let’s switch things up. Ever played ranked matches? Four people per team. Find your own teammates, or if you can’t, draw lots.”
At that moment, a timid male student raised his hand.
“Teacher, a normal team consists of five people.”
“Student Shen, you’re absolutely right. Now, don’t say it again. Was your math taught by a physical education teacher? If it’s five per team, who’s going to be left to fight alone?”
“I wouldn’t mind at all. Want to give it a try?”
Shen Sirong rubbed his head, offering a simple, guileless smile.
‘With only sixteen students in the class, it truly couldn’t be planned according to standard competition rules.’
Ignoring Shen Sirong’s interruption, Aya Tone continued, “Once teams are formed, you’ll familiarize yourselves with each other, then the matches will begin. Fight freely; with me here, you won’t die.”
Aya Tone smiled confidently.
‘As long as they didn’t die, they should fight to the absolute limit!’
‘Desperate situations were the best catalysts for unlocking human potential. Without pushing themselves, how could they ever discover their true limits?’
‘Of course, there was another layer to his consideration.’
‘If his application was approved, their four-person squad would serve as the prototype for an adventure team.’
“What about you, Teacher?”
‘With the training method shifted to student combat, what would their teacher be doing then…?’
‘Surely, he wasn’t planning to slack off…? (Scoffs internally.)’
Noticing the suspicion in everyone’s eyes, Aya Tone remained utterly unperturbed.
“Me? Naturally, I’ll be the final boss, waiting for you all to challenge me.”
****
The four-person teams were quickly assigned.
After more than a week of interacting, and with so few students in the class, they had all grown more or less familiar with one another.
“Teams are formed already?” Aya Tone was slightly surprised.
The two female students who had left a considerable impression on him, surprisingly, didn’t choose teammates proficient in defensive magic this time, unlike before.
Instead, they teamed up with two other students who also specialized in offensive magic.
‘This was something he hadn’t anticipated.’
‘One had to understand that raw power alone wasn’t enough for team battles.’
‘With four primary damage dealers, each with their own ideas, differing strategies could lead to magical energies clashing and repelling each other.’
‘Not only would their combined damage fall short, but it could also hinder their teammates’ performance.’
‘And without a frontline tank to absorb the brunt of attacks…’
‘Truthfully, he felt a degree of disappointment regarding their team composition.’