The Last King Of Darkness
Chapter 71 - 60 Conflict

Chapter 71: Chapter 60 Conflict

After the first day, Teacher Karaman no longer enveloped herself in the mist of Spiritual Energy but switched to wearing a regular dark robe, which still couldn’t hide her proud figure.

Perhaps because the trainees had entered practical combat lessons, after everyone had mastered Spiritual Energy, she skipped a large portion of the content and began explaining the application of Spiritual Energy in combat.

"Spiritual Energy originates from the soul and, aside from powering your Fire Spark, it can also strengthen yourselves."

"For instance, deploying your Spiritual Energy at corresponding parts of your body can ward off damage."

Teacher Karaman took out a dagger that shimmered with cold light and chopped it towards her slender finger.

Amid the collective gasps of the trainees, a crisp snap sounded, and the dagger broke.

The blade’s broken half, spinning, fell in front of Rod, while not even the slightest scratch was visible on her delicate and supple finger.

Rod activated the Eye of the Soul and saw her finger filled with solidified Spiritual Energy.

"This is Spiritual Defense, and it’s a very important technique."

"It requires maintaining the Spiritual Energy in a Static State, but we can’t keep it that way all the time because it would hinder the flow of Spiritual Energy and slow down our movements, turning us into mere punching bags."

"We must defend swiftly before an attack comes and return to normal right after the attack ends."

"The key lies in three things: the ability to predict attacks, the speed of gathering Spiritual Energy, and the ability to control Spiritual Energy."

"However, I do not recommend that you use it when facing danger before you’re fully familiar with it."

Kashan raised her hand and asked, "Teacher, how do we train? Like you did?"

Teacher Karaman held up the broken half of the dagger and smiled.

"I am of Ninth Level Spiritual Power, and most of you are of First Level Spiritual Power. Do you know how much difference there is between us? Teacher Mo’er should have taught that."

The math prodigy, Zales, immediately raised his hand and confidently said,

"Twenty-seven times!"

Karaman showed an indulgent smile and shook her head slightly, "It’s a very, very large number, much larger than what you’re thinking."

Most of the trainees looked bewildered, only Rod knew it was an unbelievably huge number.

The gentle and beautiful teacher continued,

"My Spiritual Defense is very strong, and a dagger to me is hardly harder than a piece of paper. But you cannot imitate me, as it would cut off your fingers. You should start with wooden sticks or vines, keep attacking one part until you develop an instinctual response."

She came over to Rod’s desk, winked at him, picked up the half-blade on the desk, and tore it apart as easily as ripping paper with two slender fingers.

"This is the second method of use, enhancing yourself with your Spirit, generating tremendous force, and bearing its recoil."

"At this moment, the Spiritual Energy is in an active state, extremely lively, and highly resonant with the living body, but likewise, it cannot be maintained for long because it imposes a great burden on our bodies and consumes a vast amount of energy."

"We generally use it at the instant of attacking or when running away."

"Like the moment your toe taps the ground, use your Spirit to strengthen."

Teacher Karaman took a light step that seemed ordinary, yet her form instantly floated to the end of the open-air classroom.

The students all turned their heads in unison, and exclamations rang out like a chorus.

Rod was also quite shocked; he suddenly understood why, when he was in the sewer, even though he had stunned the shit-loving Black Priest, he gave himself away as soon as he took a step.

The Black Priest, seeing him walk on his feet, knew he was a greenhorn who hadn’t been trained, not an unknown combatant.

No wonder, no wonder!

Indeed, there was so much for me to learn. I had no combat ability at the moment and was far from being a genuine combatant. Going out to fight alone would be suicide.

Having realized this, Rod focused even more.

In all the subsequent time, Teacher Karaman elaborated on how to control Spiritual Energy, how to change its properties, and how to adapt to this force far exceeding one’s own strength.

As time trickled by,

Finally, Teacher Karaman stressed,

"That’s why having a strong and healthy body is also very important. Physical cultivation is indispensable. Lord Alan is the best example."

"And,"

With a gentle smile, her peach blossom-like eyes seemed to ripple with waves,

"a robust body is one of the key factors in attracting the opposite sex, like how Lord Alan is the man of my dreams."

The students burst into a roar like apes. It was a large class, with eight groups of students, nearly two hundred people, and the noise was just like a monkey enclosure exploding.

The female students on the other hand had sparkling eyes and blushed cheeks, clearly, many of them thought the same.

Teacher Karaman’s graceful figure turned around, her slender fingers lightly touched Rod’s cheek, drawing a circle along it before hooking his chin.

Hey, teacher, what are you doing?

"Just like this young friend here, if he could become a bit sturdier, maybe he could become the man of my dreams too," she said with a light laugh.

Then her figure swiftly turned into a white mist and shot away into the sky.

Rod was left alone to endure the dozens of envious, fiery gazes behind him.

A thought struck Rod, and he suddenly stood up and exclaimed loudly, "Do you want to know about Teacher Karaman’s interests, hobbies, and how to win her favor?"

Instantly, a large group of male students crowded around him.

"What is it?"

"Tell us quickly!"

"I don’t mean anything by it. I just see the teacher so alone, and I want to talk to her!"

The scene was extremely lively, with even a few female students among the crowd.

Rod coughed and, without holding back, began fabricating stories on the spot. He substituted the most memorable female teacher from his impressions, embellishing and speaking as if it were all true.

Because he wore Karaman Teacher’s favor like a cloak, everyone believed him without a doubt.

The goodwill began to overflow, and in just that short span of time, Rod harvested another 7 points of humanity, breaking through to over 700 in total.

The only odd thing was that Kashan was also among the audience, listening intently, but Rod did not see any joy on her face.

But he didn’t care and soon forgot about it, focusing on weaving his tale.

His actions, however, stirred some discontent. The red-haired fatty Habulin was the most dissatisfied of them all.

—Any time Rod stood out, it annoyed him.

What was most irksome was that his father had not paid any attention to him lately, nor had he sent anyone to capture Rod.

All this suppressed rage, when Rod once again drew attention, finally ignited it all.

Habulin barked, "Alger, Gori, get in there and smash that bumpkin’s ugly face for me!"

A burly guy scratched his pan-like crew cut, "Habulin, fighting will get us thrown into solitary."

Habulin sneered, "I guarantee you’ll each have cream pudding every day next month."

A short, chubby one licked his lips, making a snorting sound like a nostril, "But, we’ll also lose credits."

Habulin was growing impatient.

"Fifty silver coins per credit!"

The two then laughed, bulking up their muscles and charging at Rod with a menacing woo-ha woo-ha growl, rudely pushing aside the surrounding students.

Rod’s speech was interrupted, and his joy vanished in an instant.

"What are you doing?" Rod shouted angrily, "Are you crazy?"

A gorilla-like figure flashed a cruel smile, "Alger will turn you into a crazy person right now!"

A stout figure also shouted, "Gori will do the same!"

But in the next instant, an iron fist landed squarely on his left cheek, sending him flying away.

Then, with a quick turnaround kick, he sent the stout figure toppling over a collection of tables and chairs, flying back more than ten meters.

As the figure landed, it was Kashan. Both of her Fire Sparks were enhancement types that increase strength and physical attack, extremely violent.

But, as it turned out, Kashan had always been very gentle with him.

"Fighting is not allowed within the academy!"

Kashan flashed her team leader badge, flipping her delicate hand to reveal her Disciplinary Committee badge as well.

"If there’s an issue with Rod’s behavior, you can report it to the Disciplinary Committee or the head of the Academic Affairs Office."

Kashan then turned around.

"Rod, your act of casually fabricating stories about a teacher also has the suspicion of disturbing the academy’s order. Come with me."

Rod exclaimed in surprise, "I have to go too..."

Before he could finish, he heard Kashan shout, "Habulin! What do you think you’re doing?"

A gale struck from behind, and Rod spun around to see a red-haired fatty wielding a large iron rod, swinging it down at him ferociously.

Almost instinctively, Rod raised his left hand as Teacher Karaman had taught, gathering Spiritual Energy instantly at his wrist, swelling and solidifying within his soul.

Bang!

The iron rod bent double upon impact.

With a right hook from Rod, the destabilized energy surged behind his fist like lightning, hitting the fat man square in the face.

The immense force sent him airborne, with the elegant arc of his nosebleed tracing the air before he flew over the crowd and landed with a thud outside the open-air classroom.

Everyone grew silent with the sudden outbreak of the fight until a stern-faced teacher descended from the sky with several school guards.

"Who threw the first punch?"