Following the loud gong, Raze could see the other low-ranking clan members come out from their small rooms of meditation. They did a few stretches here and there before they were all heading down one hallway into another area.
Raze was debating whether he should turn now before he got swept up into something that would land him in trouble, but there was already a crowd of people behind him heading his way. He was a little afraid of being touched by not just one person, but multiple, as there appeared to be no way out now. Not only that, but there was now a witness by his side.
"Come on Callum, I know you're feeling down, but this won't hurt you; you can always take it easy today," the young man said.
'The issue is I don't even know what I'm taking it easy on!' Raze said in his mind but took a deep breath and decided to go with the path of least resistance. He followed the strangers whose names he didn't even know.
It was clear that these two were friends, so he would just have to keep his mouth shut and continue playing the silent treatment for now.
Eventually, the hallway led to an opening. Up ahead, glowing objects could be seen, but it wasn't linked to the outside. The hallway they were walking had come to an end, and the Clan members were jumping off into something below.
Students jumped off the end of the hallway one by one, and Raze followed suit as he landed and started to look around him.
It was a large oval room, still covered in the dark red-colored rock that most of the clan base was made of. It was quite large in size, like an area that fighting mages would fight in. What was a little strange was the ground. It was made out of hard metal and had strange patterns and designs placed all over it.
The flooring was too large for Raze to even make out if it meant something, and the designs were inconsistent.
In the current arena, there were fifty clan members, all of them low-ranked individuals. They had spread out, all facing toward one man who had a mallet and a giant black-colored gong up against the back of the wall.
The man himself was dressed in dark red clothing and looked to be around ten years older than everyone else here.
However, the clan members seemed to be unfocused as they turned and twisted their heads, clearly looking for someone else.
"The young madam is currently not present," the instructor at the front said in a loud voice that bounced off the walls. There was a hint of anger that they cared more about her than him.
"However, what you heard today is true. She has returned and will be making rounds around the clan. So today you best be at your very best, so you don't make me look bad," the instructor stated.
"Today, we will be teaching you all something that is a bit of a controversy within not just the Neverfall Clan, but the Demonic Faction entirely, and that is the ten descending steps!"
An eyebrow was raised from Raze. Out of all the techniques for them to go over, it was one he already knew. At least he could have learned something from his snooping around, but now that didn't seem to be the case either.
From the looks on the other clan members' faces, they were dissatisfied with the lesson.
"Why do we have to learn that technique, sir!" one of the members asked. "Isn't it a redundant technique, especially for us low rankers? Aren't other footwork techniques a lot better?"
"This is where the controversy lies!" the instructor said with a smile. "Everyone knows the ten descending steps; each of the individual steps on their own is not the best footwork technique. There are plenty of other steps that would draw more power into your attacks.
"However, the ten steps are one of the few techniques that build on top of each other. It grows as you use them in a sequential way, and it becomes a force that is unstoppable. You're correct in thinking, right now your Qi control won't allow you to learn all ten steps or connect them together.
"It might never be, as it takes years of experience and talent at the same time. However, this will be your building block. Learn the first step for now, practice it, if you complete it, great, move on to the second step and try to connect them.
"If you can do these two things, then you will have a great foundation for learning the other steps in the future as your Qi control gets better. It's also a great exercise for practicing your Qi control for other techniques."
The instructor started off with a demonstration and slammed his foot down. Those that stood at the front could feel their bodies a little disturbed and the feeling of uneasiness.
After experiencing a wide range of different warriors, at a guess, Raze would guess that this person was a stage 4 warrior. Most of those around him were either 1st stage or second stage warriors.
After the demonstration was over, it was time for the students to try it out, and they all gave it their wholeheartedly best. They were trying to give each other pointers while correcting their forms and more.
If a member was really struggling, the instructor would give out bigger pointers to them. For Raze, he was half-heartedly raising his hand and slamming it on the ground.
'I can't stand out in a time , and I already know how to do this,' Raze thought. 'The best thing to do is to not get noticed, and if that happens, then when the lesson is over, I can go back to my exploring.'
The practice had gone on for around thirty minutes, and during it all, Raze had caught the instructor glimpsing his way.
'Has he noticed something? Does he recognize this student, or is it something else again? I'm getting a bit paranoid, and I wonder if Dame is going all around the place looking for me.'
It wasn't Raze's imagination; the instructor was looking at Raze, and each time, something was growing inside of him, until he eventually screamed.
"STOP!" the instructor shouted. "Everyone line up."
They did as they were told. The instructor then walked over, looking into the eyes of each of the students and finally walked right over to none other than Raze himself.
"You, come out to the front now!" the instructor demanded.
Pulling him out, he allowed him to turn and face the students.
"Do you think the descending steps is a useless technique?" The instructor asked.
"No, sir!" Raze answered. "I think the technique is brilliant, just as you explained before, sir."
"Oh really," the instructor picked up the mallet and slammed it into the gong again, making everyone flinch for a moment.
"Then why do you think you can do the technique half-heartedly!" The instructor shouted. "You are to demonstrate the technique right here in front of everybody.
"If there is a single mistake, I will be sending you straight to the Clan head, for him to kick you out of the entire Clan!"
What Raze had done was a bigger offence than he realized. Everyone was working extremely hard, even if they were messing it up, the Clans weren't like the Pagana academies; they were even more fierce.
In the first place, to join a top clan, they needed to show hard work and talent. Then even when in, they had to continue
to prove themselves. Entering a clan and becoming a stronger Pagana warrior was their life for them, and in the eyes of the instructor, Raze had spat on that by working half-heartedly.
'Not a single mistake?' Raze thought. 'I... I can't get sent to the head clan; otherwise, it will cause more problems for Dame and me.'
Little did Raze know, this was more or less an empty threat from the instructor, in order to inspire Raze to do his best.
Raze shifted his feet apart and got into a fighting stance. To the instructor's surprise, it looked good, and not just that, there was a change in his eyes. Raze gathered the Qi how he was supposed to, the image of the manual appeared in his head, and just like the many times before, he lifted up his foot and slammed it into the ground.
The sound echoed louder than any of the other students, and those close to the front felt their legs slightly shaking from the power of the Qi that had been used.
The instructor's mouth was left wide open as he stared at the student.
'That was... that was... textbook perfect! Was he not doing it properly because he already knew how to learn the descending step? I have never noticed this clan member stand out before.'
Before the instructor could say anything though, the sound of clapping was heard. The heads of the members turned, but the clapping wasn't coming from one of them. They noticed it was coming from the hallway where they had entered from.
Slightly above where they were stood in the hallway, they could see a woman with black hair clapping away.
"That was perfect; it looks like we have quite the talented student on our hands," Rayan commented as she jumped down. She wasn't alone, though, and soon two more jumped down with her.
"Ah, sir Mac!" Rayna said. "I hope you don't mind us interrupting. We have Mantis and Rod from the Splitting Fang with us; they would like to watch today's training if that's okay."
"Mantis?" Raze mumbled as he looked at the individual and noticed it was the one known as the black tiger.