A man with brown-colored hair stood in front of a door.
The words 'Soul Arts' were boldly written on the door.
Students stood behind him, discussing among themselves as they waited for him to open the door.
They were the students of Class 1B, and the man was their homeroom teacher.
Click!
The door opened with a soft click.
The students instantly stopped talking.
The man walked into the spacious room, followed by the students who were looking around curiously.
'So this is the Soul Arts room,' Avin thought, his gaze fixated on the mannequins situated at the corners of the room.
The room was large, which wasn't surprising, considering the fact that it was a general class and all the new students would be here to learn Soul Arts.
Apart from their homeroom teacher, another man was in the room.
He had short black hair and a lanky build.
He didn't even look like someone who would be able to properly hold a weapon.
As soon as the homeroom teacher left, the lanky man smiled at the students.
"Alright," he began, "let's wait for the other students before I introduce myself."
Within the next few minutes, the students of Class 1C and Class 1D arrived in the class.
Even with that, there was still a large space in the room.
The man exhaled.
"I guess we're waiting for Class 1A..."
Immediately he said that, the door opened, and Josh entered, with his students following behind him.
Avin's eyes instantly locked on Raiven, a slight frown forming on his face.
"One at a time..." he muttered to himself. "My first target is Tim for now."
He glanced at the left side of the room where Tim and his clique were laughing among themselves.
'Tonight,' Avin thought, 'I'll strike tonight.'
*********
"As expected," Raiven muttered to himself, already feeling Avin's gaze on him.
Ignoring it for now, he walked to a corner of the room.
He rested his back on the wall and folded his arms.
Suddenly...
"Hi."
Raiven looked to his right, staring at the person standing beside him.
Her red hair was neatly tied, and she also folded her arms just like Raiven.
'Ava? Why is she speaking to me?' Raiven thought.
In the novel, Ava didn't really speak much, and usually had an indifferent expression on her face.
Because of that, people tagged her as cold and proud.
But they were wrong.
It wasn't that she didn't want to talk to anyone.
The problem was that she couldn't.
She had Social Anxiety, and because of that, she didn't even know what she would say if she decided to talk to anyone.
So it was easier to not talk at all.
This was exactly why Raiven was surprised that she was speaking to him.
"Hi," Raiven said, regaining his composure.
"What Beast can you summon?" Ava asked, going straight to the point.
She was forcing herself to speak right now, so she wanted the conversation to end as soon as possible.
If not for the fact that she was asked to do this, she didn't really care what Beast he could summon.
"I don't know yet," Raiven replied shortly, not even blinking an eyelid.
He didn't bother to explain anything.
'But why the hell is she asking me this?' he thought. 'Is it curiosity, perhaps?'
"Alright, thanks," Ava said, instantly walking away.
'I don't believe him,' she thought, her blue eyes squinted, 'I'll have to find out another way.'
"Alright, everyone. Listen up!" the lanky man said. "Since everyone is here, let's begin."
"My name is Verne Hunter! I'll be your Soul Arts teacher for the one year you'll be in this academy!
As you all know, Soul Arts are techniques that can be used by utilizing pure Soul Energy. They can be learned by anyone regardless of what Ability you have.
For those who do not have offensive Soul Abilities, it'll be especially beneficial to you because you will be able to defend yourselves with these Soul Arts!"
Verne clapped his hands as he finished talking.
He walked to the edge of the room and brought one of the mannequins to the front of the class.
"I'm very sure all of you here already know how to control your Soul Energy."
The students nodded in agreement.
Verne continued,
"The first Soul Art I'll be teaching you all is Soul Blast! I'll show you all an example first, then you can try it yourselves."
Verne smiled at the students. "And for your information, the Soul Arts are really easy to learn."
"True," Raiven muttered.
Verne began activating the Soul Art.
In the blink of an eye, a blue glowing orb the size of a ping-pong ball appeared in his hand.
He fired it towards the mannequin, and then...
BAM!
A gaping hole appeared on the mannequin's chest.
"Wow," a boy gasped.
"That's the Soul Blast technique," Verne said. "Pure Soul Energy."
Right in front of their eyes, the hole on the mannequin's chest closed like nothing happened.
The mannequin was made using Soul Tech, so the students weren't even surprised.
"Now, you all should try. Close your eyes," Verne said.
The students obeyed.
Verne continued,
"Your Soul Energy is like a limb. It's part of you. Control it, make it seep out of your fingertips. Condense it in your palm."
The students continued following the procedures, and within one minute...
"Woah! I did it!"
"Yes, I can use the Soul Blast Technique!"
Everyone now had a glowing blue orb in their palm made of pure Soul Energy.
"Great!" Verne exclaimed. "Though, some of you are unable to control it perfectly yet. Some are still unstable, but with time, you all will master it."
Raiven stared at the glowing blue light in his palm.
'Perfect... I'm pretty sure we'll learn other Soul Arts today. I just have to practice them today and tomorrow in preparation for the Solo Hole Entry...'
Finally, the class ended.
The students were able to learn two more Soul Arts.
The Soul Shield, which creates a barrier using pure Soul Energy, and the Soul Boost, which uses Soul Energy to enhance physical capabilities for a limited time.
"You all should train hard because the Solo Hole Entry is in two days. Your performance will determine if you will officially be accepted into the academy," Verne said.
Everyone already knew this.
Just awakening a Soul Ability didn't mean they were officially accepted into the academy.
The Solo Hole Entry was the real exam.
It was a normal occurrence for students to die during the Solo Hole Entry, so Verne didn't even have to tell them to train hard.
They were already planning on doing that.
With that, the class was dismissed.
As Raiven walked out of the class, he thought about the Solo Hole Entry.
'I can only raise an undead during the Solo Hole Entry, so with these Soul Arts, I won't be completely defenseless.'
With a determined expression, Raiven walked out of the class.
Meanwhile, Avin had already set his eyes on his target.
Tim.