Chaos had already taken hold of the classroom long before most of the students could even process what was happening.
Desks had been pushed aside, chairs scraped violently across the floor, and the once orderly rows of seats had become nothing more than scattered obstacles as the fight erupted across the room with explosive momentum.
At the center of it all—
Damon and Khaira were already moving.
Damon's body flowed through a rapid chain of precise techniques, his movements sharp and controlled as years of martial training manifested in every motion. A quick boxing jab snapped forward toward Valerian's face, immediately followed by a Muay Thai elbow that sliced through the air from the opposite angle. His footwork shifted seamlessly as he pivoted into a sweeping low kick meant to destabilize his opponent's stance before transitioning into a wrestling grip that aimed to drag Valerian down onto the classroom floor.
Every movement was efficient.
Every strike was deliberate.
And yet—
None of them landed.
Valerian slipped through the attacks like a shadow dancing through sunlight.
The moment Damon's elbow passed where his jaw should have been, Valerian had already stepped aside with casual grace, leaning back just enough for the next strike to miss by a fraction of an inch before sliding effortlessly past Damon's attempted grapple.
At the same time—
Khaira crashed forward like a living battering ram.
Her fighting style was the complete opposite of Damon's.
Where Damon moved with calculated technique, Khaira fought with raw, primal aggression that turned every motion into a devastating strike. Her fist smashed toward Valerian's chest with enough force to crack bone, followed immediately by a brutal kick that tore through the air where his ribs had been moments earlier. When that missed, she grabbed a nearby desk and hurled it across the classroom like a projectile, splintering it against the wall as Valerian vanished from the spot once again.
And through it all—
Valerian kept laughing.
"Hhahahahahhhehehahahah!"
His voice echoed across the classroom as he spun lightly out of the path of another incoming strike.
"Come, come!"
He leaned sideways as Damon's kick sliced past his face.
"Hit me if you can!"
Then the laughter returned again, louder than before.
"Hahhahhiaha!"
Damon's irritation continued rising with every passing second.
Mid-motion, as he ducked beneath another impossible shift in Valerian's position, the thought flashed through his mind.
This bastard…
His fist drove forward again, only to meet empty air.
I can't even activate my resonance, as it's against the rules on academy grounds.
His jaw tightened slightly.
And for me… that means—
Still fighting, Damon suddenly raised his voice toward the beastwoman beside him.
"Hey, hornwoman!"
He pivoted sharply, throwing a spinning kick that narrowly missed Valerian's ribs as the instructor danced away again.
"Why don't you use your resonance and burn this maniac to a crisp?"
Khaira burst into laughter even as she continued attacking.
"Hhahahaah!"
Her fist slammed into the desk that Valerian had been standing on a moment earlier, shattering it into splinters.
"Why don't you use it?"
She lunged forward again, swinging another brutal strike.
"You wanna prove you're stronger by not using yer resonance?"
Her grin widened as she chased Valerian across the room.
"Then I won't use mine either!"
Damon glanced at her briefly while continuing the pursuit.
Heh?
A faint incredulous thought crossed his mind.
Just how does this woman even think?
Meanwhile Valerian continued weaving effortlessly between them, gliding across the classroom as if the chaos surrounding him was nothing more than an elaborate stage performance.
Damon and Khaira followed relentlessly.
The problem was—
They were not the only ones inside the room.
Students attempting to move away from the fight occasionally ended up directly in the path of the two combatants. More than once Damon had to shove someone aside mid-attack to keep from crashing into them, while Khaira's powerful swings forced others to dive out of the way before they accidentally became collateral damage.
At one point Damon lunged forward with a sharp elbow strike aimed at Valerian's throat—
Only for Valerian to shift sideways at the last moment.
Damon's elbow collided squarely into Khaira's shoulder instead.
The beastwoman barely flinched.
Instead she turned and immediately slammed her own elbow back into Damon's ribs in retaliation.
"Watch it!"
Damon grunted slightly as he stepped back.
"You were in my way!"
They lunged again at the same time.
Valerian slipped away once more.
And through it all—
The instructor's laughter continued echoing through the chaotic classroom.
"Hhahaiahahhaah!"
He spun lightly over a desk that Khaira had just kicked aside.
"So much fun…!"
His grin widened as he landed lightly on the teacher's platform at the front of the room.
"Fun… fun…!"
Then he spread his arms dramatically.
"But why should only the three of us have fun?"
The chaos that had begun as a reckless chase across the classroom rapidly spiraled into something far worse.
Valerian's laughter echoed again, loud and delighted, as he flicked his fingers casually in the air.
And suddenly—
The entire classroom warped.
Students began teleporting.
One moment a clear path would open between Damon and Valerian, and the next instant a student would abruptly appear in that very spot, as though reality itself had rearranged the pieces on the board.
Damon lunged forward with a precise strike—
And suddenly a student appeared directly in his path.
His punch landed squarely into the boy's guard, sending the unfortunate victim skidding backward across two desks.
"WATCH IT!"
Someone shouted from the side.
Another student suddenly appeared between Khaira and Valerian, only for Khaira's brutal kick to slam into the poor victim's shielded arms, launching him halfway across the classroom.
"HEY, YOU BASTARD—"
"AAAHHH!"
"SHIT—FUCK!"
Desks overturned.
Chairs scraped violently across the floor.
Students crashed into each other as teleportation continued to rearrange the battlefield every few seconds.
Some students reacted quickly enough to dodge the incoming attacks.
Others barely managed to block before being blasted backward by the force of Damon's technical strikes or Khaira's monstrous kicks.
And some—
Were simply unlucky.
Meanwhile, hidden beneath a desk near the back row, Eric watched the madness unfold with quiet amusement.
"Hehe…"
He covered his mouth, barely containing his laughter.
"Idiots…"
His eyes peeked over the edge of the desk.
"You just have to hide from Instructor Valerian's eyes to avoid the teleporting…"
He nodded proudly to himself.
"Simple strategy."
Then suddenly—
His view shifted.
Before Eric could even understand what had happened—
Two simultaneous kicks collided with his body.
Damon's heel struck from one side.
Khaira's kick crashed from the other.
The combined impact launched Eric across the classroom like a cannonball.
"BOOOOSSSSS!"
Eric screamed as he flew through the air, crashing violently into the opposite wall before collapsing into a pile of broken desks.
Across the room, several of the more capable students had already adapted to the chaos.
Lucian moved with calm precision, stepping lightly out of the way whenever a teleportation placed him in danger. Serena mirrored that same composure, slipping effortlessly aside whenever an incoming attack threatened to reach her.
Nearby, Aelrion's sharp reflexes allowed him to glide out of danger with almost insulting ease.
But not everyone chose to avoid the chaos.
Grukk Ironmaw roared loudly as he grabbed another unfortunate student by the collar and hurled him across the classroom.
"Hah!"
Several other beastmen joined him, their natural love for combat turning the chaotic teleportation into an opportunity for full-scale brawling.
Within seconds, the classroom had devolved into a complete battlefield.
Students were being thrown across desks.
Others crashed into walls.
Some collided mid-air as teleportation sent them directly into each other.
And through it all—
Valerian continued laughing.
"Hhahahahahhahaha!"
Damon chased the sound relentlessly.
Just as he finally closed the distance—
He launched a straight punch aimed directly at Valerian's jaw.
But at the last instant—
Valerian shifted again.
The space before Damon warped.
Instead of Valerian—
A girl suddenly appeared.
She had shoulder-length ash-blonde hair and pale green eyes that widened in terror the moment she realized what was happening.
Her body froze, as she couldn't move nor dodge.
Her eyes squeezed shut as a small scream tore from her throat.
"Aahhh—"
From across the room, a desperate voice shouted.
"MIRAAA!"
THUD.
The sound echoed through the chaos.
Mira slowly opened her eyes.
The strike never landed.
A hot rush of air brushed across her face.
Damon stood directly in front of her.
His fist had smashed into the wall beside her head, the impact cracking the stone behind her as dust and fragments crumbled downward.
His fierce golden eyes briefly glanced down at her.
"Just stand with your friend over there."
Before she could respond—
He had already moved again.
Damon dashed away toward the direction of the familiar laughter.
"Hhahaahahh…"
Valerian stood at the front of the classroom.
For the first time since the chaos had begun—
He stopped moving.
Damon arrived first.
Khaira followed half a second later.
Their fists crashed forward at the same time.
Both strikes landed squarely on Valerian's body.
And yet—
Nothing happened.
The moment their blows connected, Valerion's figure distorted like a reflection on water.
Ripples spread through his form.
The impact passed through him as though he were nothing more than an illusion.
The ripples across Valerian's body slowly faded as though the air itself had swallowed the impact.
For a moment the classroom remained frozen in the aftermath of Damon and Khaira's simultaneous strikes.
Then Valerian calmly straightened his coat.
The manic grin that had filled his face moments earlier faded into something far more composed, and when he finally spoke again his voice carried a seriousness that cut cleanly through the lingering chaos.
"Now, now… enough fun."
Before anyone could react, he raised one hand and snapped his fingers.
And in the next moment Damon was back sitting on his desk.
The same corner desk at the back of the classroom.
Khaira was seated beside him as well, her posture stiff as if she had been placed there by invisible hands.
Across the room, every student had returned to their original seats.
The broken desks that had been smashed apart during the chaos were now perfectly intact. The scattered chairs had returned neatly to their rows, the cracked walls had sealed themselves without a trace, and even the dust that had filled the air moments ago had vanished completely.
The classroom looked exactly as it had when Damon first entered.
As though none of the chaos had ever occurred.
Damon slowly turned his head.
His eyes drifted toward Eric.
Well…
Damon thought dryly.
Aside from him.
The orange-haired boy had slumped forward onto his desk, completely unconscious.
Around the room, the other students stared silently toward the front of the classroom.
No one spoke nor moved.
Even the beastmen who had eagerly thrown themselves into the earlier brawl now sat quietly in their seats.
At the front of the room stood Valerian.
For the first time since the chaos began, his presence carried a very different weight.
Damon and Khaira both watched him carefully, their expressions serious now as they remained seated without making another move.
Valerian clasped his hands lightly behind his back.
Then he looked across the classroom at the silent group of first-year elites before him.
A faint smile slowly returned to his face.
"So…"
He tilted his head slightly.
"What did we learn today?"