Despite being told not to use any abilities on the still naive pupils, Rai knew that this would be a battle he could not win without resorting to a few of his tawdry tricks.

“Since none of you are in the mood to entertain this old fart, I shall teach you a lesson or two while you muster up the courage to fight me”, Rai sighed annoyedly, somehow making his voice heard throughout all of the fighting grounds.

With every one step he took the surrounding students snapped back twice, almost as if they were playing a game of tag, leaving Rai in a slightly better mood than the one he was in moments before.

“Firstly!”, he now spoke with a sharper and yet harsh voice, shouting with distinctness as he maintained his confident gait, fulfilling the role of the teacher he had been asked to play. “I don’t sense a shred of mana from any of you morons! Mana is what makes a man either falter in the face of fear or overcome his enemy through gritted teeth, with an in-between being something you aim for only from below! Draws are something that the rich decided to invent to justify their losses on those stupid duels of theirs - during an actual fight, a victor will always emerge, as ambiguous as the result might seem to the untrained eye!”

Rai stopped in his tracks to observe the surrounding practitioners who, surprisingly, looked at him with not only fear anymore, but slight reverence, anxiously waiting for the rest of the small lesson to be concluded.

Clearing his throat, the boy happily continued his lecture.

“This translates into one simple teaching you must absorb and preserve for all your life, putting it in practice during any battle to come: the opponent with more mana will, for the most part, come out on top, with the opposite being nothing more than wishful thinking, at best. Any questions?”

As expected, not a soul decided to intervene, in fact feeling more discouraged than before after having been taught the reality concerning their weak state. Then, coming from the same stage Rai had just parted ways with a while ago, Ms. Wang’s clear voice emerged authoritatively, attempting to shift the tides of this mental war to the side of her new students.

“Then, Mr. Rai, just how was the human race able to survive and surmount all the obstacles that stood in our way so far? Many of the mana beasts that we have faced in the past showed strength no human has ever acquired and yet here we are, witnessing someone tell us something that goes against the very essence of what makes us humans and fighters, especially.”

“You make a great point, Ms. Wang, and I have to thank you for saving me the effort of introducing my second lesson of the day.” Rai responded in an enthusiastic manner, not attempting to hide both his sarcasm and the grin his lips had curved themselves into. Ms. Wang reacted in a similar manner, still surprising the youth with this new persona of hers.

Turning away from his teacher, Rai directed his words towards his fellow students once again, whose expression had changed despite the curtness of Ms. Wang’s words.

“Ms. Wang could not be any less correct! We humans might not be the strongest to have stepped on this world, but we have some things no other being has.”

Rai lifted his closed fist in the hair abruptly, surprising those around him who instinctively backed off, even if just slightly. Then, letting out one finger at a time, Rai continued his speech.

“Skill! We have been given the ability to train, the ability to improve, and the ability to not be bound to something as vague as mana levels.”

“Experience! Unlike most magic beasts, we can accumulate and make the knowledge that surrounds us our own, making all battles to come easier and easier the more you have under your belt.”

“Numbers! In no other race or species would you see two million people multiply at such pace and yet remain so civilized. We make up for all of our weaknesses through sheer numbers, and that is exactly what this evaluation is trying to prove to all of you!”

They looked at Rai like he was some sort of messiah, bringing them knowledge that despite seemingly obvious had just illuminated their inexperienced minds.

“And lastly, the most important point of them all, luck.”

Murmurs could be heard from the crowd as disbelief transpired from the pupils. If luck played such an important role in ensuring victory, then what were they training for?

“I understand why some of you might not want to accept that the Heavens play the leading role in the result of every battle that has been fought and has yet to be fought. I understand where that frustration stems from. But reality is something that cannot be changed or bent because we wish for that to be the case. With your life on the line, you will be forced to depend on luck as if your life depended on it, because it truly will - but that is fine. Even Fai Ki’s bottom of the bottom has been blessed with luck that surpasses that of many of the gods watching over us. So believe in it, but don’t rely on it! Remember that luck will only come if you do your utmost best to ensure that those three other points have nothing else to give, it being the culmination of all the years you spent polishing your body to its limits.”

Ms. Wang gave Rai a sly grin, proud of the man that he had become despite the many occasions he acted like an infant from her point of view.

“With that said, everyone, in this battle you are about to fight you will be forced to depend on the two last pillars and pray to the Gods that fortune remains on your side, otherwise this will be an unsurpassable obstacle - but do not worry!”, the teenager said with confidence leaking from his voice. “In these training grounds, loss is but temporary, so, to the best of your content, battle your hearts out!”

With his lesson finished, Rai slowly assumed an odd fighting stance, his right leg pivoting the ground with nothing but the ball of his foot and his rear leg bent in a soft angle as if the boy was getting ready to dash. His arms, on the other hand, seemed far looser than his lower limbs, with the palm of his right hand facing the now-blue sky as the rest of his arm remained stretched in a serene way, bending only just slightly, while his left hand rested near his head.

“Well then, young ones, shall we get started?”