Nora along with the rest of the class watched on with amazement. His movements were too fast for any of the students to analyze. Along with the intense pressure they were subjected to, there was no way for them to know what really happened.

Damien walked back to his position next to Nora, who welcomed him with a slow applause. Cal was the only one who followed suit and clapped with bravado. Nora pushed Damien to the front of her as if she was showing him off.

“This is the quality of excellence that StarPoint is trying to bring out in our students. That is why I will be rewarding Damien with 500 credits for being the first student in Point 1 to become a Sky Realm Swordsman.”

The class ignited into an uproar of complaints fueled by their jealousy. Every student was given 100 credits with their enrollment which was enough for a decent cultivation manual or weapon from the academy. Watching another person who came barging into their school receive a huge amount of credits was hard to accept peacefully.

Nora was prepared for this as she was once a student who incurred the ire of many. She slowly tapped her finger on the end of her sword handle. Each tap resounded outwards like the sound of water drops. The soothing sound calmed the minds of all the students who were riled up.

“Just as I have the power to gift credits, I have the power to take them. If any of you achieved the same thing, I would have gladly rewarded you. Let this be the last time I explain myself on this matter.”

Nora signaled Damien to line back up with the rest. He was welcomed back with Cal’s enthusiasm. Once everyone was settled, Nora began her class. She had everyone sit down in a meditative position, with their sword laid on top of their legs. Everyone focused on her lecture as she explained the principle of the movement she demonstrated.

Her graceful style and soft voice made it easy to fall in a trance-like state, causing her students to understand better. Even someone like Cal who had no interest was affected.

Nora took note of everybody so she could make sure they were following along. As she combed through each person, her gaze fell upon Erik. His head was facing down with a blank look. He was lost in his own world of confusion.

Erik’s confidence was slowly weaning to a level of nonexistent. Erik was by no means a slouch, but a youth’s insecurities are always amplified when they manifest. He turned on his family to chase his own dreams. Now becoming the disappointment of the family, along with watching someone else effortlessly accomplish his goals caused him a lot of internal damage. He could always go back and train to easily become a mighty blacksmith, but that was a road that had been walked. He wanted to carve a new path for his race but the weight of his dreams were crushing him.

Nora had already heard the stories revolving around Erik and his family. This let her understand some of his feelings he was drowning in. She decided to wrap up her lecture with some of her own wisdom.

“Remember there is no such thing as equality in this world. It is a false hope to believe everyone can have an equal chance. Talent will eclipse many of your efforts, but that does not mean it is the end. The sword is blind therefore equal to all. It does not care about your upbringing, your race, your gender, if you are good, or evil. You will struggle now, but once it all clicks, the sword will reward your efforts. There will be a ten minute break before we continue our next section.”

As the class stood up to stretch for the upcoming part of class, Erik was still digesting the words he heard. His ‘friends’ came up to him one by one to see what was going on, but he ignored them all. His insecurities began fading away as he realized he had no real enemies here.

“I am my own worst enemy.”

Erik looked over to Damien who was having a genuine happy moment with his friends. He couldn’t help but think what it would be like if he was a part of something like that. He buried that feeling deep inside of him and focused on his own shortcomings for now.

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Ten minutes passed quickly and Nora returned with everyone’s anticipation. She instructed her class to begin training as they saw fit. Cal expectantly came up to Damien to begin their training.

“What are you going to teach me today, O’great Sky Realm Swordsman.”

Damien pointed back to Nora who was signaling him to come.

“I have a date with Professor Mildred, sorry Cal.”

Cal kept looking back and forth between the both of them. Nora reciprocated with her ever kind smile. The incredulity of his expression was amplified by his ever dropping jaw. He tried voicing out his words but nothing came out. It wasn’t until Yuki’s ghastly presence appeared behind him that Cal jumped in fright.

“Please Damien, do not do this to me.”

Cal reached out to Damien with the desperation of a whimpering dog. His watery eyes seemingly grew larger as he begged. Damien was unsure how to circumnavigate such a situation without causing more problems. He was ready to speak up until he saw Yuki’s cold eyes glowing like the grim reaper behind Cal. Damien only offered him a quick half-handed prayer as he turned his back on him.

‘I will give you my silent prayers, Cal. Do not blame me, there was really nothing I could do.’

Damien made his way over to Nora, who was expectantly waiting for him. In the background Yuki grabbed Cal by the collar and dragged him away. There was no resistance, just a crestfallen boy with broken thoughts.

“Don’t worry brother, we can train together.”

That was the last thing Damien heard before he focused entirely on the talk beforehand. Nora’s smile became more unnerving as the time passed by. It was a seemingly sweet smile, without the emotions attached.

“You have become quite strong, Damien. There’s something about your complexion that has changed recently as well. Don’t worry I don’t mean to pry. You don’t need to hold back, you are of no threat.”

While the rest of the class began their training, these two were having a quick stare down. Damien drew his sword as he gave in to the pressure. He knew he was facing someone he had no hopes of matching up to, but he wanted to learn from the best.

Nora elegantly drew her glistening blue sword in response. She held no stance and stood there unwavering. Damien did not want to go on the offensive but he knew it was just an educational spar.

‘My Domain is mainly a defensive technique, so I will have to attack with the basics.’

Damien closed the distance with a kick off the ground. His strength launched him forward as he resisted the air. His sword came crashing down with a diagonal slash, using all of his strength. He didn’t hold back just like she instructed. His sword was breaking apart the air creating a devastating sound.

“Crude. Your movements have no intent.”

Nora gracefully parried his blow. Using the force from his attack, she spun him around and attacked him with the blunt side of her blade. Damien fell down in pain with a pulsing pain in his back.

Damien got up without hesitation and tried to calm his attacks. He tried listening to her comments by controlling each minute detail of his swing.

“Too stiff. Don’t tell me you don’t know how to actually attack.”

Every attack Damien tried was futile. He was left with the same result every attempt. It was an embarrassing display Damien was showing to the whole class. After a while, Nora decided to change her approach, since she realized he had no hope in offense.

Her movements were like water, ever flowing to the next step. She now led the offense allowing her to control the tempo. Each of her strikes were simple and straight to the point. They conveyed the feelings of her intent to Damien, guiding him along the way.

Nora was now like a puppeteer controlling every single movement he made. She deliberately made it so Damien could fall in a trance to each of her attacks. He was now following along according to her will.

Their spar turned into a beautiful dance. Their swords were flowing through the air, never touching each other. Damien was forced to understand that he couldn’t just swing a sword with brute force. By the end of the class, every student was watching their dance in a hypnotized state. Erik could be seen in closed eye meditation as if he were enlightened from their spar.

Nora concluded her personal lesson without a bead of sweat. On the other hand Damien was drenched taking heavy pants. He could barely lift his sword and kept from falling.

‘How did she make me do that? I followed along and now I can’t even stand straight.’

Nora flowed by Damien with a whisper of her voice.

“How was that for a ‘date’?”

Her voice penetrated deeply, leaving a feeling of remorse deep inside of Damien. He tried to come up with an excuse but she had already left to make her announcement.

‘She heard me!’

Nora wrapped up her class and noticed Erik was still unmoving in his spot. She motioned towards his clique to not disturb him. She took a paper out of her pocket and quickly jotted down a note in flowing calligraphy.

“Hand this to your next professor, they will understand. I will watch over Erik for now.”

Erik’s group meekly accepted the note and ran off with the rest of the class to get changed.