"Martial Arts can be broken down into two broad categories: ki strikes and non-ki strikes. Ki strikes are more advanced, so I'll simply say for now that it is the ability of those on the Cultivator Path to manifest the ki accumulated in their dantian. It comes in the simplest form of direct enhancement, to the complicated manipulation of the elements. The more advanced moves are referred to as Martial Techniques. You'll learn more about this if you advance to the 5th Class before you graduate."

Seifr was currently in the 2nd Class Hall listening to one of the instructors. As a 2nd Class student, he had a little more freedom in what his activities entailed. He had a minimum amount of physical activity he had to participate in, but he had a wider variety of options, such as lifting weighted objects and sparring, instead of just running and calisthenics. He also had the choice of which lectures to attend in the hall. The lectures given by the instructors were quite organic, and Seifr did not have to worry about missing a particular lesson. Multiple instructors gave lectures on the same subject from different viewpoints on multiple occasions to allow for the students who had trouble grasping the concepts, or for students like Seifr who had recently been promoted.

The current lecture was being given by Seifr's personal instructor, Instructor Nalai. In the 2nd Class, the instructors were less dictatorial in the physical exercises demanded, and more of a tool for guidance in the path to seek. Instructor Nalai was very hands off and only gave suggestions when Seifr went to her directly for advice.

"Non-ki strikes entails all of what we refer to as Kung Fu. It is the physical act of fighting and the base of many ki strikes and techniques. A solid foundation in Kung Fu is needed for any cultivator to have any hope of success in the real world." Instructor Nalai continued with her lecture. This was the third time Seifr had actually attended a lesson on Martial Arts, and more specifically, Kung Fu. He seemed to get into frequent altercations, and so he took the laying of the foundation serious. One of the good things about the instructors' lessons was not just the lectures, but the hands-on training as well.

Instructor Nalai began to detail different strikes and to show how they were performed against a training dummy. Seifr and several other students were paying rapt attention to her moves, and when the lecture was complete, they would perform the strikes on their own dummies and Instructor Nalai would offer corrections and guidance. This was vastly superior to Seifr's previous technique of trying to just punch the opponent in the face as fast as possible.

The 2nd Class Kung Fu instruction was very basic. It focused on muscle memory by having the students perform the same simple strikes over and over again hundreds of times. The more dedicated students would perform the moves several thousand times before moving on to the more advanced lessons in the higher classes. Moves such as grappling, take-downs, and the defense against such moves were first taught in the 3rd Class, and the advanced lessons of both strikes and grappling were taught in the 4th Class.

The students in the 2nd Class were allowed to spar to practice their striking techniques, and Seifr had done so on several different occasions; however, sparring actually counted towards the physical exercise and not instruction, so the students had to evaluate if they were performing properly or not. Non-official sparring matches were monitored by other students. The only time an instructor got involved was with an official grievance between two parties or a tournament event. Those were the two likely scenarios that had the most potential to lead to accidents and possibly death. Friendly spars to practice technique rarely involved any kind of injuries.

It had been four weeks since the incident where Seifr had suddenly broken through several stages and entered the 3rd Stage Mortal Realm, and his cultivation accumulation had indeed stabilized after the event. Seifr still did not know exactly what happened, and so far none of the instructors had been any help to him, either. His progress had continued steadily afterwards, and he noticed that not only was his body no longer burning 90% of the Spiritual Energy during the compression but instead was a more normal 15 to 20%, depending. He also noticed that he was able to inhale more Spiritual Energy per breathe than before. His pace of advancement was now above average instead of abysmally below. As such, after four weeks he was already in the 7th Stage of the Mortal Realm. If he kept up the pace, he would only require another month or two before he entered the 3rd Class.

With thoughts of the 3rd Class, Seifr's mind wandered to Celia. After entering the 2nd Class, Seifr actually managed to not be dead on his feet for his free time. The 1st Class students received just as much free time as the rest of the students of the academy, but they were all so exhausted from the physical strain, that they hardly noticed it as free time and thought more of it as a simple, short reprieve from torture. With his newfound ability to enjoy his free time, he had gone for the occasional stroll along the paths in the groves and fields throughout the campus. He had run into Celia a couple of times, and he was more sure after each chance meeting about his feelings for her. He had never had any kind of romantic relationship before, so he had no idea how to read the other party, but Celia was always amiable and enthusiastic with her interactions. Sometimes she was with a group of fellow 3rd Class students, and sometimes that meant she was in a group including Kohl.

Seifr and Kohl did not have any interactions since that first day standing in line for admissions, but they had seen each other at a distance often. Every time their eyes met, sparks flew and other students could feel a baleful aura permeate the area. If the students had been older and more experienced, they would have recognized this as the manifestation of killing intent. The instructors could feel it and knew it for what it was, but they had the situation under control and knew that in most situations, the killing intent would fade with time. In the rare instances where it did not fade, the students would eventually part ways upon graduation, and it was no longer the academies responsibility. Regardless, murder had never been committed on the campus of the school.

All of these thoughts flashed through Seifr's mind in quick succession and then he refocused his attention on the lecture. Instructor Nalai was wrapping the lesson up when she mentioned something new.

"The Martial Arts Tournament is coming up soon, which is why I imagine there are more students attending this lecture than normal." Nalai chuckled to herself. "It is broken up into Kung Fu and Martial Techniques, not class or realm. A superior practitioner of Kung Fu can overcome someone of a higher cultivation in the tournament. While it's possible, it's still quite rare. Master Kveld understands this, and thus if someone of the lower classes prevails, he increases the reward for winning accordingly. Students in the Spirit Realm and above who can perform Martial Techniques are required to participate in the Martial Technique Tournament, but that still means you will have to contend with Nascent Realm practitioners if you make it to the finals. More information will be provided soon when the rewards are made known. As the tournament is coming close, instructors will now also be offering advice during friendly sparring matches."

Tournament? Rewards? Seifr's interest was piqued at the mention of a tournament with possible rewards. This academy is focused on cultivation. I can only imagine the rewards would be something from one of the ki orchards. That garden with the Spiritual Energy pulse was not the only one located on the grounds. There were several more in different places, each one listed as a "Restricted Zone." Only instructors and disciples with specific permission were allowed entry to any of the Restricted Zones.

The herbs from the orchards were usually traded for contribution points. Contribution points were attained by completing missions from the mission board. The way it usually worked, a noble would offer a mission to the academy before it was offered to public cultivators. Missions could be anything from locating a lost pet, though it was rarely something like that from a noble, to eradicating a horde of goblins who had infested a mine belonging to the nobleman. Each mission was accompanied by monetary rewards, and if the mission was completed by a student, the school received the money and the student received contribution points. Only Mid Elementary Realm and higher students were eligible to undertake missions. Lower Realm students did not gain much from the ki herbs anyway, thus there was no point in trying to acquire them before they were necessary for assisting cultivation.

This was another way for the school to not only maintain friendly relations with the nobles of Vinson, but also an extra source of revenue. Many of the rewards for contribution points were crafted or grown by the instructors, and they received a portion of the money in relation to what was exchanged for contribution points. This cycle ensured that there was a constant stream of missions being completed for rewards exchanged, and everyone was better off because of the arrangement.

"Considering we lower realm disciples don't necessarily need the assistance of ki herbs, why would we participate?" one of the students asked.

"That's a good question, but who says the reward has to be ki herbs? It could be protective equipment or a weapon, which would definitely come in handy by the time you're able to go on missions. It could even be private lessons from Master Kveld, though that would wholly be situational and never something promised. Does that answer your question?" Nalai responded jovially to the student. The student quickly nodded his head in affirmation. "Good. Now everyone break off to your personal practice dummies and begin practice."

Seifr cleared his mind of all the thoughts vying for his attention. When it was time to seriously train, he could not afford to let his mind wander to Celia or the upcoming tournament. He briefly wondered how Seth was holding up. The younger boy had finally managed to be promoted to the 2nd Class a week ago. He shook his head. Concentrate. Seifr began methodically striking the dummy, subconsciously adjusting his strike to be perfectly executed.

The students continued to strike the dummies over and over, with Instructor Nalai giving the occasional guidance for another hour. After the hour was up, Instructor Nalai declared that her instruction was over, but that the students could continue practicing if they wished. Seifr decided to continue practicing with the goal of having his strike come naturally, easily, and lightning quick without having to contemplate the correct movements. He was getting pretty good in his own estimation, but he was far from being a master. It would require years and actual combat to reach the true peak in even the most basic of Kung Fu technique.

Seifr continued his practice for another two hours, and he managed to build up quite a sweat despite all of the grueling physical activity he had been subjecting his body to ever since enrolling in the academy. Seifr found that he truly enjoyed pushing his body to the limits, and even though it was extremely repetitious, he felt a sense of real pride whenever he noticed real improvement in his fighting ability. He had always had fast reactions, but now he was developing the skill and strength to go with those reactions.

Seifr was the last student to exit the main hall, but as he left he saw that there were still several students engaged in sparring. Looks like this tournament is going to have some real competition. I'll have to engage in more sparring if I'm to have a shot at any of the rewards. Seifr spontaneously decided to participate in the tournament, and now that he had made his decision, he would give it his all.

Despite having already spent several hours and working up a sweat with his practice of technique, Seifr made his way over to the sparring stage to participate in a friendly match. The two students currently on the stage were entirely focused on their techniques and were letting their speed and intensity slide. Seifr personally felt that if you were going to get in the sparring ring and face off against an opponent, the speed and intensity needed to accurately match the real thing, otherwise what was the point when there was a perfectly good stationary dummy just inside the hall?

As the two currently sparring wrapped up their match and exited off of the stage, Seifr immediately jumped up on the stage. He did not see any line forming, so he took the opportunity to get into the ring right away.

"Who wants a real fight? We have a competition coming up soon, and those Elementary and Nascent Realm disciples are not going to be moving at a pace you're comfortable with. Someone get up here who's willing to go full speed!" Seifr delivered a challenge. The other students looked at each other, some of them nodding their heads in agreement, some of them not caring because they did not plan on participating in the tournament.

Another boy shortly jumped up onto the stage. He was at the 9th Stage of the Mortal Realm and appeared to be 16, almost 17 years old. Seifr had seen him around and watched him spar a few times, but this would be the first time facing off against him personally. The other student was quite skilled in Kung Fu, and his higher level of cultivation would provide a challenge for Seifr. As Seifr increased in cultivation accumulation, he noticed that his ability to transcend the stages in the Realms reduced gradually. As a 7th level Mortal Realm cultivator, he speculated that he was equivalent to a 1st Stage Elementary Realm without having to rely on tricks or surprise.

Seifr and the other young man grinned at each other and immediately took stances and launched into attacks without a word spoken. Seifr and the other boy were moving at an incredible speed, much faster than the two boys before them. Seifr was pleased to notice how naturally it felt to dodge, parry, and counter the other boy, even when they were both moving at a speed where their arms and legs were virtually just a blur. The other boy was just as quick in his reflexes, and neither one gained a solid blow on the other. Seifr felt the sweat begin to flow again as he concentrated on the fight. Faster. Faster. Faster. Both Seifr and the young man he squared off with continuously increased the pace.

Soon they were at the limit and the surrounding crowd was having a hard time following exactly what was happening on the stage. The spectating crowd started cheering for their favored disciple, adding to the excitement. Neither Seifr nor the boy had the luxury to pay any attention to it. Seifr could feel the wind on his face as he narrowly avoided a jab directed at his head. He threw out a quick counter, maintaining his balance and not giving his opponent an opportunity to take advantage of him losing his center. They were both disciplined in the moves they were making.

Seifr had a sudden inspiration when the other boy overextended just slightly enough for Seifr to grab an advantage. The boy lunged just a little too far with his punch, and Seifr turned his dodge into a spin, combining it with a kick to perform a move that he had never done before and was not taught to the 2nd Class students. The kick lashed out like a tornado with the force of the full-body rotation and slammed into the opponents head, sending him sailing clean out of the ring. Seifr stood there panting on the stage, in awe of his own control of his body in performing a new move on the spur of the moment. The other students went completely silent at this turn of events and looked to the boy who was kicked off the stage. Seifr panicked, thinking that he may have hurt the other teen, but when he looked over, the other boy had already gotten to his feet and had a wide grin on his face.

The boy walked up to Seifr and extended his hand, "That was amazing. I had a lot of fun, and I can tell that I gained some insight into my Kung Fu up there with you. You'll have to show me that move you did on me some time; I didn't even see what really happened. I'm Raeq, by the way."

Seifr grasped Raeq's hand in newfound friendship. "Seifr. I'm not entirely sure what I did, either. It was just a sudden inspiration, and I let my body act on its own. Basically it was a spin kick to the face. Hahaha." Seifr and Raeq both laughed with mirth as they exited the stage.

"Come the tournament, be careful I don't repay you in kind. I look forward to our rematch then." Raeq waved goodbye as he made his way off. Seifr's blood was still pumping with excitement, so he decided to burn off the rest of his energy with a short, fast run before cleaning up and cultivating before bed. He was really enjoying his time at the academy so far.