I Refuse To Be Fate’s Puppet - Chapter 51

The class was confused as they looked at Arata staring at Damien. Many of them hadn’t heard of this ‘Child of the Source’ that Arata talked about. They had all avoided Damien in the class because of his unstable power, yet Arata didn’t seem to care that he was sent flying away by him. Arata approached Damien.

“Is that power within you Dark Source or Demonic Source?”

Damien stuttered in reply.

“D-Demonic.”

Arata nodded.

“I thought so. What is your family situation? What Clan are you in?”

Damien went red at this question.

“I was banished by my Clan and my family.”

Arata’s eyes lit up.

“OK. That’s all. Thank you Damien.”

Damien looked up slightly stunned. He had never been thanked before. Arata gestured for him to take his seat. Although Arata seemed scary, Damien found him to be rather pleasant and kind. Arata was still in awe as he sat back down. Damien had returned to his seat and seemed to be trying to hide behind it. Arata wrote a long note on a piece of paper, trying to keep himself calm. He turned to Teacher Takuma.

“Teacher Takuma, may I have permission for Ryouma to leave class? I have a message I want him to send to my Father.”

Teacher Takuma saw the light in his eyes. She was curious so she nodded. Arata gave Ryouma the note he had written.

“Get it to my Father as quickly as you can.”

Ryouma nodded as he grabbed the note and ran out of the classroom. Arata wrote a few more things down before he was able to calm himself down. Arata knew that he still needed to properly assess the rest of the class and he could think about Damien later. His face went serious once more as he called for the next person. Arata looked up and saw two people standing there. The twins, Jada and Jaden.

“We are from the Cua Clan.”

“And we are both Wind based Elemental users.”

“We are also adept in Sorcery, contracted to the Souls of our ancestors.”

“We also have a combined ability that can synchronize our Elemental Reservoirs temporarily.”

Arata was confused by how they spoke. They would go back and forth, yet it all sounded like it came from the same person as the timing and even the tone of voice all flowed together. But he was interested in what they said. Physical Enhancement had the restriction of needing physical contact for the transfer of Energy to occur, although there were exceptions, this was the case most of the time, thus most Physical Enhancement users fought close combat.

Sorcery, however, used their spells to manifest their abilities and powers outside of them, thus they were able to use spells that created long distance attacks, projectile attacks. Where a warrior that used Physical Enhancement fought at the front lines, a Sorcerer fought from the rear, sending spells from behind to support and attack from a distance.

Arata was also interested in them having a combined ability, and being from the Wind based Cua Clan, he was curious to how strong it would be. Combined abilities needed a high compatibility between the two users, and being twins they were naturally compatible. Arata came on to stage.

“I would like you to use your combined ability against me.”

The twins nodded at the same time as Jada stood behind Jaden who was facing Arata. Jada was now hidden completely behind Jaden. Wind began to surge around them as Jaden locked his eyes on Arata. The wind grew and formed a small whirlwind around the twins. Arata heard a chant before the whirlwind rushed towards Arata. Arata could tell that this wasn’t ordinary wind. The wind seemed to be concentrated and vibrating, creating sharp blades made from Wind Energy. Arata was impressed.

Arata stepped forward, going into the Bow Stance. The Fifth Sempiternal Art: Gluttonous Cloud. Unbeknownst to the class, Arata had actually depleted a lot of his Energy when he was sent flying by Damien. At the time, he had activated Vitality Bestowal, but the Source within Damien had drained him of his Energy. So with Arata having a near empty Elemental Reservoir, he saw this as a wonderful opportunity to eat.

His palms began to move in circular motions in front of him, the wind began to clash with his palms for a while before slowly following the rhythm of the palms. The twins were stunned at this. Slowly the Wind began to be absorbed within Arata’s palms until there wasn’t so much as a breeze left. Arata straightened up.

“Thank you for the meal. Your power is great, but your use of it is lacking. You need more focus in the direction of your power instead of exploding it everywhere. Concentrate that power in a single point. That is all.”

Arata sat down and began taking notes. The twins seemed to be lost in thought as they sat down and began whispering to each other. Arata looked at the list and saw a name he had never seen before.

“Kaja?”

The room went silent. Akari leaned over.

“She is similar to Visha and doesn’t attend regularly. She probably won’t participate in the tournament so you can ignore her for now.”

Arata had a confused look on his face. Are students allowed to just not attend class? Arata was wondering why he wasn’t able to do the same. Arata pushed that thought away for now as he looked at the next name on the list, which was Loki. The young boy walked on stage yawning.

“I am an Illusionist, Trap Specialist and am also Junior Ranked Thief.”

Arata realized instantly that he wasn’t looking at the real Loki. This was an illusion. He then heard a chuckle behind him. He turned to see another Loki standing behind him, leaning on the desk.

“You noticed instantly, huh? What gave it away?”

Tallis and Akari turned in shock, they clearly hadn’t realized that Loki was behind them. Arata grinned.

“My eyes are able to see through your Illusions. They aren’t very effective against me.”

Loki nodded.

“Makes sense. Well, I’m not too useful in a fight, so I’ll just say that choosing me for the tournament will be a waste of time. I can just hide for the class vs class battle.”

At this Loki walked back to his seat and went back to sleeping on his desk. Arata wrote down a few things with a grin on his face before continuing. Next was Matoki. Having already interacted with him, he already had points of improvement which he shared once Matoki stood on the stage, before leaving to meditate.

Next was Najm. Najm was the student who could change the size of his body, he was the one who threw Cephas in the cafeteria. Najm had dark skin and white eyes. He began explaining his abilities to Arata.

“I am able to change the size, shape and density of my body. This also affects my weight and, at higher levels, can affect the gravity around me.”

Najm jumped up, and when he landed there was a loud thud as he hit the ground. He then jumped again, but this time he seemed to float up and floated down softly, landing gracefully without making a sound. Arata was intrigued. He guessed that Najm was a part of the Surtr Tribe, or the Tribe of Giants as they were known. He scribbled down some notes before looking back up.

“What is the maximum size you can grow yourself?”

Najm thought for a moment.

“Currently, I can increase my size, with the same proportions I have naturally, and become roughly 12 metres tall.”

Arata nodded, having someone from the Surtr Tribe was naturally beneficial, they were made for battle and heavily contributed to the wars of the past. He wrote a few things on a piece of paper and gave them to Najm.

“I need you to master and reach those goals in the next two weeks. If you can, you will contribute heavily in the upcoming battle.”

Najm read it slowly and began thinking. Arata noticed that Najm seemed to be a heavy thinker, which he wasn’t expecting from someone from the battle crazed Surtr Tribe. Najm nodded.

“I can get this done before the tournament.”

Arata nodded as Najm went back to his seat with a thoughtful look. Ryouma was next on the list, but he was gone. And Arata already had an understanding of his power. Tallis was next, but Arata said that he could discuss with him later.

Next was the Dark agility user, Telem. Arata gave him a cultivation technique from the Sato Clan for his Dark Elemental that would help increase his speed. Telem gratefully took it and began cultivating it immediately. After Telem was the girl named Teva. Teva had a natural aura that was warming.

“I am a Sorcerer with the ability to control Nature. Most of my spells and abilities are support based. I can heal multiple people within a certain range as well provide boosts for speed, strength and defense to those around me.”

Teva began to chant as a strong aroma began to fill the class. Vines and flowers began to grow around Teva and grow, moving across the class. Arata instantly felt like his physical strength was increasing, he felt lighter and more focused. This was not a small power up. He looked at Teva with excitement before scribbling down notes. Arata finally looked up at Teva and thanked her. Teva politely curtailed before walking offstage. As she did, the vines and flowers all seemed to follow her as they disappeared, like they were absorbed back into her.

Tallis informed Arata that the next name on the list, Toshi, was also an absentee student and wouldn’t be participating in the tournament. Arata was getting annoyed that these people could skip class but he couldn’t. So unfair. His anger and frustration was elevated as he saw Visha’s name next. Another absentee. The last name was Yuki, the quiet young girl with grey hair. Tallis cut in.

“I can explain Yuki’s abilities to after this.”

Arata nodded as they reached the end of the class. Teacher Takuma now spoke up.

“We will have a short break while Arata, Akari and Tallis discuss the results of their observations. We will have a brief class training ingredients session in the afternoon while these three can continue to discuss. Come tomorrow, we will begin training for the tournament under Arata’s leadership. As you all know, I believe that the best results will come from your own ideas and input. So I will only be supervising and offering advice until the tournament. Until then, the team leaders will be leading the class. Show me you have what it takes.”

“Yes, Teacher Takuma.”

The class was fired up as they went out to break. Arata looked seriously at Akari and Tallis. They noticed there was a concerned look on his face.

“I have 2 ideas for the training regime. One is quite standard. The class will grow and we will most likely win the battle rounds. The other one…”

Arata paused. Akari and Tallis felt something off about Arata.

“Well, the other regime will greatly increase the class, if we go for it, I wouldn’t be surprised if we can take on the classes 3 or 4 years above us.”

Akari and Tallis went wide eyed. This was quite a statement. But since it was coming from Arata, they knew that with his observational skills, he wasn’t exaggerating. If they could really improve the class that much, this could be huge for them as a class and as individual’s. Tallis voiced his opinion.

“If that is the case, isn’t obvious that we should go with that method? It will be incredible if we can increase out power by that much.”

“Even at the risk of death?”

The room went cold as Akari and Tallis froze. Arata continued talking.

“I can definitely improve the class by this much. But it will come down to whether or not the class will survive my methods. That is what we need to decide.”

At this moment, Teacher Takuma walked over.

“This is Class 7, a breeding ground for monsters. If they can’t take the risk, they don’t belong in the class. Remember that.”

Teacher Takuma then walked away, leaving the three students looking at each other. Akari nodded firmly.

“Teacher Takuma is right. We are Class 7. Handpicked students. We obviously wouldn’t take the easy route. We are here to be pushed and grow exponentially.”

Tallis agreed as he nodded resolutely. Arata looked at the two for a moment before nodding as a grin appeared on his face. The grin slightly scared Akari and Tallis.

“Very well, then. Tomorrow we begin our intensive training.”

He wrote a few things down on a piece of paper, Akari and Tallis sat quietly, patiently waiting for Arata to finish. After 10 minutes of manic writing and silence, Arata looked up and gave them each a piece of paper. They each held a piece of paper with a different name on the top, a personalized training regime. Akari held the regime for Aisha, Antioch and Arata’s, while Tallis held the regime for Bardric, Biron and Caldre. They both went pale faced as they read the regimes. They looked at Arata with fear. Arata grinned.

“I call it ‘Operation: Deathwalk.’ And it will begin at first light. Now let’s prepare what we need.”