The power of a great dark flame emerged and shot out towards the shields of the students.
BOOM! BOOM!
It tore through the shields that the team desperately tried to put up.
One layer after the other exploded.
They could have blocked Champions with the mages combining their defensive spells. But because of the magic draining, they barely had time to prepare and released a weaker shield.
The ball of dark flames easily blasted through the first three layers of shields and penetrated deeper before exploding inside the formation of the students.
BOOM!
A dark fire shot out, sending the class tumbling and rolling on the floor.
Mackerel couldn't see properly. The strange fire had a terrifying darkness that somehow infected his body.
The darkness made him sluggish, and he couldn't move.
"AHHH!" There was also immense pain as this dark energy began to seep into his body.
The other mages felt the same way. The light energy used to create force fields was difficult to channel.
"Fire and darkness...! How is that boy... able to use two elements?!" Chevik didn't understand how the fire attack had such potent darkness. They only saw darkness in labs or isolated regions that were deadly to venture into!
Chevik trembled, but then he saw Mackerel stand up.
"Everyone! Stand! No one has died yet!" Mackerel shouted as his eyes began to glow.
Emeros saw his eyes and could see that he was a magic mutation.
"If no one died on that attack... it only means... that our teacher never intended to kill us! This isn't a massacre! It's a test!" Mackerel shouted.
Emeros smiled as he saw Mackerel call out and rally his allies.
Soon, everyone slowly tried to stand up, and the students realized that even at such a powerful attack, everyone miraculously survived! Even those closest to the fire!
"H-How did he do it?" The woman whom Mackerel had sat next to in class asked.
"I saw it. The energy conversion circle absorbed the energy!"
"What's the meaning of this?!" Chevik finally stood up.
"Well, I wanted to play around with you. You push yourself to hopelessness, but that freak with the good eyes ruined the fun." Emeros smiled.
"Allow me to introduce myself finally. I am Emeros Steele. Your teacher and possibly the awaited Pedagog that can bring you all to greater glory." Emeros smiled.
"Pedagog?!" A student exclaimed. n./o(-v.)e--l--b-/1/(n
"You dare claim that such a title is yours for the taking?! A mere you dare to be one of the greats?!" Chevik roared in anger.
"Why not? You've seen what I can do! I'm sure you are not so dumb that you couldn't see the many impossible things I've had. Why do you think a teacher like me, as young as me, was allowed to enter? And have you not heard of the rumors of how I defeated a Senior Teacher?"
"...Senior Teacher Artes have been spotted unconscious! Was it... was it you?"
"If I said yes, would you believe me?" Emeros chuckled.
"Why spare us?"
"Perhaps it's because I could almost sympathize with you. You see... I am not the genius that I am now. I am... a benefactor of great things. Things that I believe I am unworthy of. These are things that are too great for me. You are all brought here to this great school, but nothing is expected of you. And you expect nothing from you. I am annoyed with that. I, a weakling who only wanted a good life, being shoved with great responsibilities you wouldn't dream of! I was stripped of all possible powers that I could attain and had very little hope to fight for!" Emeros spoke bitterly as he recalled his status in the mines.
"I was given the least but expected the greatest. And here you are... students who could have risen from your very advantageous states... But remained like slaves chained to their pathetic lives. Is it too hard to stand up? Is it too hard to risk your life for things? Is it too hard to take small steps, risking your life and limb for powerful gain?" Emeros asked.
The students felt a sharp pain in their hearts. They all dreamed of great things before. But somehow, they lost sight of it.
"But I am here to help! Despite your foolish attitudes, I intend not just to spare all of you, but to make you stronger! So, let's continue with this lesson! You are a mage-majority team, and what you did was focus on defense, seeing my power. But had you focused on attack, you could have unleashed the magic you prepared to create a powerful attack. The training you have is pitiful! Don't focus on defense! The mage rules that you live by are laughable! Magic warfare is supposed to be ninety percent offensive! You use offense as your defense!" Emeros chastised.
He had seen the Emberdons fight. Magical warfare was similar even in the Planesworld, where mages would create defensive shields to deflect. But the Emberdons had another method of fighting, which Emeros believed to be superior.
"Offense?!" One of the students cursed.
"Your magic was at the level of Champions! Our shields would have easily broken! And you drained us of magic!"
"Yes! But the laws of collusion would have held my attack for some time. As for the draining, it was because you created shields! If you focused on offense, you could have sent the attack out, albeit prematurely! With your number and range, It doesn't need to be strong! My magic is condensed and solidified as one! I cannot block all that attack and would have been forced to use it as a shield!"
The class was silent. They had not been taught of that.
"Listen now... we will continue to train with this. I have poisoned this area so the lowly creatures would not try to go here. Although I won't kill you, don't expect to leave here without having your limbs burned. I have a method to heal you so this little training session will be quite deadly. Serena. This will be training for you as well. Test out the fighting strategies of a Blitzer, Quick Blade, and Ravager. Find your focus!"
"Yes, Master!"
The circle began to light up with great energy as Emeros commanded it.
The fire around his body appeared, and all his class began to prepare for combat as they feared the dark energy.
"The path of learning is through mind and body! So engrave the fear and pain today and be transformed into stronger ones!" Emeros suddenly ran with incredible speed, and Serena ran in the other direction.