Vittenma is the capital of the human government in Outem.

It's the city with the best schools, institutions, and organizations but this also includes the worst clans, gangs, and underground groups.

Atlas is a young heir to an upstart gang that was once a former clan. Despite being small, they managed to set up shop in a small seaside port with a market nearby. It was also near Calloren academy.

Due to them not causing too much trouble, the defiants are ignoring them while the government is too busy handling bigger fish.

The police force in the vicinity is also paid off by this clan, named the Black Sharks.

Atlas and his guards arrived at their port base. The port is full of workers, laborers, and skilled professionals. They keep their heads low when the three thugs pass by.

Atlas seemed to be in a bad mood. He didn't like the port.

"The stink here is so painful to the nose. Once I inherit the gang, I'll move the home base from this port deeper into the city. We'll get brothels, drug dens, and the like."

Hanoa's smile was bright and supportive of the young heir.

Bradley, on the other hand, seems to be exasperated by Atlas' attitude.

"Sir the expenses needed to move the whole clan, set up a base elsewhere, and compete with the other gangs would be too much for our upstart gang."

Atlas looks at Bradley with pitiful eyes, like he's looking at an idiot.

"Poor poor Bradley, that'll be easy. We'll just get money from our stores."

"Sir, that's going to bankrupt us."

Atlas scoffs while chuckling.

"Bradley, what would you know about our finances? I can buy the most expensive whores, purest drugs, and the finest wines. We'll be fine"

Yeah, and you're draining the funds your father makes.

Not seeing or choosing not to see Atlas' idiocy, Hanoa cheers Atlas on.

"So genius! Our young sir is truly a genius."

Bradley looks at his fellow guard and sees nothing but an ambitious idiot. He silently prays to his god.

Great gambler, why must I guard this brat.

The three continue their path through the port unabated.

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Anne, Cieran, and Nicholas continue to follow the three criminals but stop just outside of the port.

Anne asks Cieran a question.

"So, the plan is to follow them and find the best moment when to steal from them? Are you two amateurs?"

Cieran responds.

"You're one to talk, you aren't a professional thief either."

Nicholas comments.

"Is there even such a thing as a professional thief?"

Anne answers.

"A professional thief is someone who makes it their way of living to steal."

Cieran answers with a quip.

"So a normal thief then?"

"No jackass. Tsk. Well, enough of that and let's focus on the task on hand."

Cieran sighs but he knows that fighting wouldn't help anyone. He asks Nicholas a question.

"Okay okay, Nicholas what do you think?"

Looking at Anne and Cieran, Nicholas scratches his head.

"I'm starting to think that maybe we should have gone to school instead."

Anne and Cieran look at each other and then back to Nicholas. They speak at the same time.

"Nah."

"No."

After shutting down Nicholas, Cieran looks at Anne.

"Anyway, Anne you are more experienced than us when it comes to thieving. What's the plan now?"

Anne rolls her eyes when Cieran passes the job onto her.

"Well, this is an open port in bright daylight. If we can reduce the visibility and take advantage of the large objects around here, we can maybe sneak right in."

Cieran thinks for a bit.

"Well, I can maybe darken the area a bit but if I use too much power, the stronger people will notice it."

Anne nods.

"That's fine. A bit of shadow and darkness will surely help us. Also, if we can't find an opportunity to steal anything, don't panic. We can just scout out the area and then come back another time."

Nicholas agrees with that point.

"Yeah, let's not get into unnecessary fights that'll endanger us."

Cieran chuckles, remembering their unnecessary charge towards their professor.

"I'll start."

Cieran starts to gather darkness in his hands. Anne starts to steal speed from the nearby workers and slowly distributes them to herself, Cieran and Nicholas.

Once there was enough concentration in Cieran's hands, he releases it towards the sky, infusing the clouds with darkness. Shadows start to cover the port. Some of the workers thank the skies for the shade while some take it as a bad omen.

"Let's go."

Anne takes the lead and the two best friends follow her.

Their increased speed allows them close gaps where they would normally be caught by the workers.

Once they stealthily make their way through the port, the three young students see the three thugs enter a corner warehouse.

They hide near a cargo container to discuss what to do next.

Nicholas looks around and notices the tired workers, overworked laborers, and out of place women.

"So we can assume these people are part of a gang or something?"

Anne nods, cautiously looking around.

"Yeah. When I was following them earlier, I found out the young guy's name, Atlas. He's the heir to some small gang around here."

Cieran looks around. He nods approvingly.

"Good spot. At the edge of the city, away from the bigshots. They only have to deal with freelancers, the local police, and the occasional super-strong retired veteran."

Anne shrugs.

"I'm not too familiar with that stuff. I just like stealing from rich assholes like these guys."

Nicholas shrugs as well but he had a knowing smile.

"Yeah... Cieran where do you learn this stuff?"

"Oh, well I regularly watch this podcast by a retired overlord. He offers ideas to startup businesses and sometimes he shares old stories about his time as an evil overlord."

Anne and Nicholas look at each other and shrug. Cieran punches Nicholas' shoulder. Nicholas chuckles at his best friend. Anne asks Nicholas a question.

"Nicholas, can you create flashbangs?"

Nicholas nods. Anne quickly replies.

"Okay guys, we're going to enter the warehouse and take advantage of Cieran's shadows. It seems we're not gonna be stealing anything anymore."

Cieran sighs. He looks at the warehouse and he scrunches his eyebrows.

"Yeah, the moment we entered this port, the goal changed."

Nicholas looks at the two, a bit confused.

"Wait, are we gonna be some sort of heroes?"

Anne shrugs.

"Well, that's why we're in the Catastrophe class right? Better than sitting around right?"

Cieran smiles.

"I agree. You know I prefer action, Nicholas. They speak louder than words after all."

Anne smiles at Cieran, who smiles back at her. Anne looks at Nicholas.

"So, Nicholas, you in?"

Nicholas puts his hand forward.

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"A team then?"

Cieran takes it immediately and then looks at Anne.

"You joining us hot stuff?"

Anne chuckles and puts her hand forward.

"As long as you don't start being a flirty ass, I'll be a part of this team. We complement each other pretty well after all."

They look at each other and seem to nod in agreement. They break off and start their way towards the warehouse.

----------------------------------------

Giles was tired, not because of his quick travel towards the academy but because Ava put him through a wringer in front of his students. All of them held back their laughter as they watched Giles get grilled.

These brats are so gonna be punished...

Despite Giles's malicious thoughts, he has no intention of really punishing the students for his own mistakes. It would both set a bad example and make the students hate him.

"So! Professor Giles! What will you say to your students! Who, by the way, waited for an hour and a half for you."

Giles stands up straight.

"I am sorry for being late! I am not being a good example for these young impressionable students whom I should be properly teaching, as a professional of this academy!"

Ava nods, satisfied for now.

"Good."

She turns to the class and addresses them.

"Now students, as some of you know, I am the previous catastrophe teacher. If you feel that your current teacher is... incapable or is lacking, please approach me."

Ava looks at Giles with sharp eyes.

"So I may discipline him."

Ava turns to leave and slams the door behind her but not before a cacophony of cheers erupt, obviously mocking Giles.

Dante, who has managed to recover from his fist-induced coma, looks at Giles with anger.

I got knocked out again... And this time, it's not the teacher!

Selena on the other hand looks at Giles with interest.

How strong will I become if our professor trains me? I can't wait to fight Leila again!

Suzaku looks at the professor with a lot of questions in his mind.

I need to learn how to use my will or else I'll get left behind.

Carly is listening to some tunes, tuning out the world.

Iza stares at Giles with conflicting feelings.

No, control yourself Iza. It can't be like that time. I... I have to be careful.

The other students have many thoughts regarding Giles but they do not show it.

Once Ava was out, Giles releases a heavy and meaningful sigh.

"Well, she's gone. Now... for attendance."

Giles starts listing out the students in the class. He notices that the class is missing three familiar students.

"Anne, Cieran, and Nicholas are not here. Don't tell me they left when I was late?"

No one answers. Giles waits for anyone to raise their hand, especially the teacher's pet type of students.

Well, at least none of my students are filthy snitches.

"Since no one is answering, I'm going to call someone."

Giles takes out the paper containing the names of his students and starts to pick one out of them.

Should I pick from the ones who fought me or someone that haven't made any moves yet?

After a few seconds of looking at his papers, Giles picks a student.

Giles scans his class and notices a young beautiful green-haired girl. She's coloring her wooden desk with some paint she brought from home. Giles calls her name.

"Nemera."

When Giles calls out Nemera's name, she becomes startled and one of her paint bottles falls out of her desk but a vine quickly appears from the wooden desk to catch it. It then returns it to the desk. This causes a few reactions from her classmates.

Nemera smiles and rubs the desk. The vine attached to the desk neatly returns the paint bottle on top of the desk. She thanks the desk.

"Thank you."

She then stands up, pats her skirt, and smiles at Giles.

"Good morning Sir Ivor."

Giles smiles at Nemera. Looking around, the class seems to have a positive opinion about her.

"Nemera, are you familiar with our three missing students?"

Nemera thinks for a bit, tapping her chin with her finger. After a few minutes, she eventually replies with a bit of an air-headed voice.

"Sir, I don't think so."

Giles takes out the pictures of the three students and shows them to Nemera.

"These three are not familiar to you?"

Nemera thinks again for a few minutes.

She shakes her head with a smile.

"Nope!"

Before Giles could say anything, a bird comes out of Nemera's bag which causes some gasps in the class.

It flies to Nemera's shoulder and chirps.

"Mr. Pinky, you know those three?"

The bird chirps again. Nemera looks at Giles.

"My friend Mr. Pinky told me that those students didn't go to school."

Giles smiles but also raises an eyebrow.

"Well, just to be sure how did Mr. Pinky know Nemera?"

Mr. Pinky chirps back to Nemera's ear.

"Mr. Pinky told me that he heard it from the other animals outside. Mr. Pinky isn't lying, he usually has a morning routine of flying with other traveling birds. Then he comes with me to school so I can have a friend with me."

Giles nods.

"Thank you Nemera, you can sit down now."

Nemera lightly bows but not before patting the head of Mr. Pinky. She returns to painting her desk.

Giles returns his attention to the class.

"Well, we're missing three students so we won't be starting our groupings yet. We'll instead move on to some basics."

Most of the trained students in the class seem to roll their eyes and sigh at the mention of the word basic. But after the beating they received from Giles, they don't voice their dissatisfaction yet.

"Now, don't be selfish kiddos. We have some students who aren't well trained. Like our resident world traveler."

Everyone glances at Suzaku who was surprised at being called out.

"Not to put you in the spot Michael or Suzaku, whatever you prefer but before I start prattling on basics, what are you most interested in learning?"

Suzaku stands up.

"I prefer Suzaku. It's my real name. If I kept Michael, I feel like it would be an insult to this previous person and myself."

Giles nods, acknowledging Suzaku's preference.

"Okay, noted. Now Suzaku, my question."

Suzaku thinks for a bit, the eyes of his classmates trained on him.

"I want to know how will works."

Giles nods, knowing this was how Suzaku would answer.

The class almost collectively groans at Suzaku's answer. Giles ignores their cries.

"Well, Suzaku please sit down. I will give you the basics-"

Giles turns around to write on the board but Suzaku speaks, cutting him off mid-sentence.

"Sir, can it be specifics instead?"

Giles turns around to look at Suzaku.

"Specifics? How come?"

"Well... I read a lot about will at the time I was here. I was even informed about it by another professional here."

Giles nods.

Another professional? Is someone trying to poach my students?

"You want to know how to specifically use it because the theory isn't doing you any good?"

Suzaku sheepishly nods.

Giles taps the board for a bit, thinking.

"Advanced studies on Will is a senior subject but since we're not a normal class, I guess I can talk about anything I want. Okay then, advanced topics on will for everyone."

Suzaku seems to beam a bit before he sits down.

Finally! A step forward.

"Now, about will-"

Giles was about to start when one of his students cuts him off again.

"Do we really need a lesson on advanced will sir?"

Giles follows the voice and notices that the student who spoke up was sitting in the back part of the class.

Vergil Angelo. The heir to the legendary Angelo family.

Giles takes a mental note of the one who just spoke.

"Introductions first. You haven't properly introduced yourself."

Vergil stands up, his golden-colored hair flowing in the wind.

"Vergil Angelo, sole heir to the Angelo family. Do we need to learn advanced will? Is there anything else to learn regarding will, other than its basic applications?"

Giles nods.

"It is appropriate that this is coming from you, Vergil."

Vergil raises an eyebrow.

"Why is that sir?"

"Your family has a history of focusing solely on your aspect powers, never learning the more advanced will techniques."

Vergil smirks.

"It's because our aspect power is insurmountable and with no equal. Why would we ever need to learn some ineffectual or worthless power?"

Giles chuckles a bit.

"Well, I'm glad you're acting like that because starting from now on, you aren't allowed to use your aspect power during class."

Vergil's face suddenly pales.

"What?!"

"You heard me. You aren't allowed to use your aspect power. If you can't follow this basic rule, I can assume that you are very... undisciplined."

Vergil feels shattered when he hears the word undisciplined. Giles was informed beforehand by dr. Lyo on how most of the students functioned.

"You're not that type of person I assume?"

Vergil stands up immediately, his greater power would have destroyed his chair if it wasn't imbued with the dean's energy.

"Of course not! I am well disciplined, as is my father, grandfather, and forefathers!"

Giles nods.

"Good, now sit down."

Vergil sits down with a prideful look.

Giles returns his attention to his class.

"Class, what is will?"

Most of the class raise their hand.

Giles calls on someone brave enough to question his teaching tactics.

"Sufian, I see you meekly raising your hand."

Sufian, who wasn't actually raising his hand, stands up shyly.

"Si-sir? I didn't raise my hand."

"Yeah, I know but I wanted to call you anyway. Now answer my question."

Sufian seems to shake his head.

"Will is the power of humanity to be able to put themselves on equal levels to the ancient beasts, evil demons, and all-powerful gods."

Giles lightly nods.

"Yes, this is the basic definition of will. It is a power source that every human on the planet can muster to strengthen and defend themselves. This power source is within all of us, including Suzaku. But unlike Suzaku, we acquaint ourselves with this power source early on. Newly born infants are usually encased in protective shells made out of their wills which are slowly reabsorbed into their bodies. This shell is used to determine both talent and potential. This shell is also the reason why will is extremely easy to access for all of us but not for Suzaku."

Suzaku nods, listening intently.

"Suzaku you are not able to access it so easily because you never felt the feeling of being born with it. It's the same as being born deaf. Some deaf people, who gain the ability to hear, actually thought that the sun makes a sound."

The class chuckles a bit. Suzaku raises his hand and Giles nods.

"So... is it impossible for me to ever sense will?"

Suzaku becomes pale, thinking of his doomed fate as a powerless human being.

"With the same thinking for deaf people, you can adjust and learn albeit I think will is harder to comprehend than hearing or seeing but it's not impossible. And as your teacher, I will be teaching you how to gain will."

Suzaku's hopes are rekindled with Giles' words.

"Now, let's go back to will. Will has many uses. Its most common use is to strengthen the body, making it stronger, faster, and more durable. The amount of will your body can take depends on how strong it is. If you have a strong physical body, you can infuse more will into it. So physical training is still a must for young students. The next most common use for will is to create powerful manifestations of raw energy, ranging from beams of energy to barriers. Some people opt to train in this form of combat rather than physical ability. From what ms. Ava told me, Dante and Selena had a scuffle with James and Leila from the senior batch. They are a good example of the two most common uses of Will."

Giles goes to the board to illustrate the applications of will.

"Leila is a close combat fighter that uses her will to strengthen her body by making it durable, fast, and stronger. Selena, did you enjoy your fight with her?"

Selena's bruised face twitches at Giles' question. Did she enjoy the fight?

Heck yeah!

"I did. It was hard as hell and I knew she was holding back, similar to you."

Giles nods.

"Yes. Leila is one of the physically strongest students in the academy. She has good potential and will surely shine in the limelight when she graduates."

Dante, Selena, Suzaku, and Carly agree to this, after seeing Leila's display of power. Stevie is half-asleep but is doing his best to listen. Despite his lazy nature, Steve tries his best to follow the rules.

"Leila is a paragon of will-infused physical ability. Now, on to James. James is the opposite of Leila. James is a practitioner of the projected energy style. He uses his will to create energy to fight others and defend himself. Dante, can you tell me what James did to you?"

Dante feels a bit uncomfortable talking about how he got beaten up with ease.

"Dante, how were you defeated by James?"

"Well... I wouldn't say I got defeated. I let him win."

The class seems to collectively chuckle at Dante's ego.

Giles smirks.

"Well, how did you let him win then?"

"I allowed him to use his will to hold me down. When I got annoyed, I used my unique pow-"

Giles cuts off Dante before he could continue.

"Yes, James used the power of will for a barrier or force to hold down Dante. As many of you already know, using will other than just projecting pure energy is extremely inefficient and costly. This is why unique powers are graded on how easy they are to replicate using will and how strong they are even without will. An example of this is August's absolute zero. It is graded at a very respectable B-Class. Now, to be clear Will can create and control ice but at a very inefficient level, unless the will user has been practicing for a long period. August, can you please stand up?"

August stands up, staring at Giles.

"August, can you use your unique power to create ice for me?"

August rolls his eyes but he raises his hand. A ball of snow appears on his hand.

"This is August's unique power in play. His unique power allows him to create, control, and manipulate ice without much will usage, in addition to being far more powerful than a will-created ice ball. August, thank you for the example."

August throws the ice ball towards Giles. The ice ball explodes mid-air when Giles throws chalk on the center of the ice ball.

"Thank you August, you may sit down."

August sits down.

"Now, onto to other forms of will-"

The door suddenly bursts open as Anne, Cieran and Nicholas run in. They look sweaty, tired, and disheveled but overall fine.

Before they could go to their seats, Giles stops them.

"Very late, you guys are not setting a good example to your classmates!"

Anne, Cieran, and Nicholas stay still. They all start to speak at the same time, stuttering. Giles stops them with a hand.

Giles rubs his forehead.

"Sit down, our class is still ongoing."

The trio sheepishly goes to their seats. Their seatmates try to ask them what happened but Giles calls the attention of the class.

"Whatever that is, it can wait after class."

Giles sighs.

Well, I guess this is part of being a teacher.