Han and Jay looked at each other in pure, unadulterated shock. A wave of cold fear hit them simultaneously, and they both "
The students closed their eyes, sinking into deep focus. Within moments, the freezing, icy air that usually surrounded Varia began to vanish little by little as she perfectly drew her massive energy deep into her chest. The dark, ominous aura surrounding Shiki vanished little by little as well, completely contained.
For Jay, this exercise felt incredibly familiar. Having spent three years meditating on the quiet mountaintops with Barn, he easily smoothed out his breathing and locked his water-Zheki deep within his core, perfectly hidden.
But Han had never meditated a single day in his life.
As Han tried to force his energy downward, his absolute lack of control caused his flaming aura to do the exact opposite. Fwump! A massive, turbulent wave of bright orange fire-Zheki exploded outward from his body, spreading wide across the grass. The air instantly turned incredibly hot, the thermal distortion warping the view of the garden.
Jay, sitting right next to him, began to sweat profusely, his own concentration completely breaking as the intense heat scorched his skin.
Varia, completely locked in her perfect state of concentration, didn't move a muscle, entirely unbothered by the temperature. But the other students across the lawn began to rustle and grumble in pure annoyance. The only ones who didn't seem to care or notice the disruption were Shiki, Lux, Trixie, Ernus, Varia, Reki, and the armored Seth.
Suddenly, Han felt a massive, heavy kick slam directly into his back.
THACK!
Han was sent flying forward, faceplanting hard into the grass. He scrambled up, rubbing his back as he glared at the teacher, who was standing over him with an annoyed scowl.
"What kind of concentration do you call that?!" the teacher barked. "You've got a ridiculous amount of mistakes! Get back up and continue until you actually do it right! As for the rest of you who are getting bothered by the heat—try to adapt to the situation and concentrate anyway! If you can manage to focus in a hostile environment like this, it will be far better for your growth!"
The teacher leveled a finger at Han. "Concentration is not some useless exercise. It helps you immensely. If you control your Zheki properly, you can contain a punch capable of destroying an entire building into one single object, sending all the impact directly into the thing you punched. But if you don't concentrate it like an absolute fool, a single punch might blow apart the entire street, bother many powerful people, and that might easily lead to your death. Do it again."
Han grumbled, crossing his legs and trying to focus for the next hour. The other students groaned, trying their best to get used to the fluctuating heat waves. But mid-way through the hour, Han's patience completely ran out. He got incredibly angry at his own failure, and his rising temper caused his flame aura to flare even hotter, the heat baking the entire lawn.
Varia's eyes snapped open. She turned her head, staring directly toward Han with an expression of pure, icy annoyance.
The only person in the entire garden who hadn't budged a single millimeter, completely dead to the world in perfect concentration, was Seth in his heavy armor.
Seeing Varia's obvious irritation, the teacher quickly stepped forward, clapping his hands loudly. "Alright, that's enough concentration for today! Everyone back to the classroom!"As they walked back down the stone hallway, Jay wiped the sweat from his forehead, nudging his friend. "Man, Han, you really need to get your Zheki concentration better. You almost cooked me out there."
"Ugh, what am I supposed to do?!" Han snapped angrily, his face red. "I've literally never done that before in my life! It's not my fault!" He looked over his shoulder, squinting toward the back of the line. "And wait, what's up with that vampire guy, Vladimir? I thought vampires literally die when they go out in the sun."