The class for Martial Arts Studies was different from other classes. It was large, and the floor was made of hardwood. Each class had their own martial arts class. It was made to ensure that the other students never came in contact with the other classes.
One thing that the Royal Academy pushed very well was hierarchy. They believed that the hurt feelings from being looked down upon made students push harder.
Quin walked to the training rack near him and pulled out a sword made of steel. It was slightly beat up, but the sword was still in good condition.
"Many of you have trained in whatever weapon you used since you were little, and you have gotten really good at it. Some of you have mastered your families’ special techniques and many other things.
But here and today, all of you will have to be trashing many of what you know. Because the only way to master a weapon truly is by the true understanding of the foundation.
So what all of you will have to be doing here will be training on your foundations. Because when you master it, you will be shocked at how better you get at fighting," Quin explained.
A boy raised his hand to ask a question, and Quin pointed at him. "What’s your question?" he asked.
"Mr. Quin, you said the foundation is more important. Isn’t the foundation simply made of some slashes and some footwork? How will any of that be better than using the techniques our families have crafted over the years?" the boy asked. Some students nodded in agreement; they resonated with the question.
"Hmm, I see, you called them simple slashes and simple footwork, but all that tells me is that you never really learnt swordsmanship or how to use the weapon that you used," Quin said. He raised the sword into the air, and just that motion made the wind inside the room kick up.
Everyone looked around, shocked to see the wind that was twirling around. They were eager to see what Quin had to do. But after raising the sword, he stopped. "It seems my presentation might be too much for this classroom. I don’t really like being inside a class either way," Quin said. He brought his hands down and looked at the door.
"You know what? Head out to the training ground. I think that’s a safer place to have this class," he said.
The students murmured as they walked out, complaining about having to move so much. They all left the main building and walked into the training ground. It shared a fence with the forest as well.
Quin walked up in front of the class. He flashed a small smile and then spoke, "I’m sure all of you are not happy about moving outside, but I believe that what I’m about to show you is definitely worth it," he said and lifted the training sword again. The wind picked up once more, this time more than before.
The trees at the outskirts of the forest were swayed left and right by the wind. Everyone in Class A was a genius to an extent, and so they could sense a bit of what was going on. There was no mana in the sword, so what could possibly be causing the wind? It was simply aura.
’Aura, those that can use it become great battle mages, swordmasters, and more,’ Jake thought.
Aura was something different from mana. It was tied to the spirit zone—when your spirit zone is perfectly fused with your way of the weapon. The way of the weapon was something one gained after relentless training with their weapon. Something new is awakened in them, and then it perfectly mixes with their spirit zone to create the aura.
And one thing was for sure when it came to aura, and that was that it was extremely powerful when fully mastered.
Quin then slashed down. His blade moved at an unbelievable speed, but it seemed like the world went in slow motion at the same time. It cut through the air; ripping sounds filled the air.
A sword arc twenty feet tall shot out. It cut deep into the ground and high into the sky. It ripped through the fence and slashed through into the forest, ripping trees apart.
The amazing scene shocked all the students, even the prince himself. His eyes widened, the thoughts in his mind, ’Father told me that Uncle Quin was indeed strong, but I never thought it was to this extent.
Is this why he said I should strive to pluck his attention and train under him? If that’s the case, then I’ll give it my all. I must become his student,’ he decided there and then.
But he wasn’t the only one. Riven also had similar thoughts. ’If I can use aura like him, I will grow my sword mastery for sure. Maybe this is what I have been missing and why I can’t level up my sword mastery.
I have to do all it takes to get him to train me.’
Quin turned around. He looked at their faces; their expressions were priceless.
"What you saw there is not a fancy technique. It used nothing unique. The only thing unique about it is that I used my aura.
But beyond that, it was a simple slash—a foundation-level slash. I could use dozens of fancy techniques and actually make it look extremely flashy, but many of them will lack the power that this sword slash had.
In fact, I daresay that this slash is one of my strongest attacks. What you saw now isn’t its true strength because this sword will shatter if I use even twenty percent of my strength with it.
So now you see, there is a reason the foundation is taught, and until all of you master the foundations that I will be teaching, you are not allowed to use any fancy sword techniques in the academy.
Not in a duel, not in personal training, nothing. And if you are caught, I’ll personally punish you."