94 Fourth Lesson: Battle Arts (1/2)
After Oli and Netra warded off the adept bullies, word spread around the school. Since it had happened just outside the library right after school, it was easy for a couple of people to see it from a distance.
And like always, rumors don't only spread, they grow.
According to his classmates, Oli and Netra both decimated students from the adept class until they begged for mercy. The entire class was excited to hear that their class' strongest could even challenge the plane above them.
Both Oli and Netra were tired of hearing about it just wanted the rumor to disappear.
But Yeter wasn't too helpful in that regard. In fact, though he didn't start the rumor, Yeter fully supported it and offered his personal witness of the fight, exaggerated like all of his fight stories.
This rumor went on for days and suns. No one dared challenge Oli on the test day either. Before they knew it, it was already time for the fourth lesson.
Ania was waiting for the class to quiet down so they could begin and eventually they let her speak. ”Are you all still talking about that fight with the adepts? You realize that what happened wasn't anything that special, right?”
”But, Teacher, novice plane cultivators beat up adept plain cultivators. That shouldn't be possible, but it still happened!” shouted a classmate bear the back.
”Oh? And why can't it? I can easily explain why Oli and Netra won. Honestly speaking, those adepts never had a chance, but that's not the same for all adepts,” stated Ania, stealing away their attention.
”Today's lesson is perfect to explain all of this. Does anyone remember what it is?”
”Umm… Batte arts?”
”Exactly!” replied Ania. ”Battle arts can change everything. For example, let's ask our second and third seats. Oli, how much of your victory against Karos would you attribute to your mastery of your Earthen Hammer battle art?”
”I'd say at least 75%,” answered Oli, not hesitating as all.
Ania then turned to Karos. ”Karos, Now that you've gained and practiced better battle arts, do you feel that you would stand a better chance against Oli?”
”Of course!” Karos nodded and stared passionately at Oli, who had become the fuel for his current cultivation. ”If we fought right now, I have no clue who would win. My new battle arts have increased my fighting strength tremendously.”
”So, do the rest of you all understand now?” asked Ania, smiling to the rest of the class.
”But shouldn't the difference in plane be impossible to defeat?”
She laughed as she answered the student's question, ”As for that, it's impossible between cultivators with the same potential. Does anyone know how strong the essence affinity was of those two adept students?”
”...”
”They were in the middle of the regular adept class, meaning that their affinities were either low or mid level. Do you remember how strong Oli's and Netra's affinities are?”
”Peak and Perfect!” shouted Yeter.
”Exactly! That means they naturally have more control over their essence, meaning that they can more easily cultivate and master battle arts or cultivation techniques,” explained Ania. ”It makes sense for Netra and Oli to be able to hold their own against someone with much lower affinity.”
”But what would happen if they fought people from the advanced adept class?”
”We wouldn't stand a chance,” stated Oli. ”We only managed to injure those bullies because we had much better control of our essence and they underestimated us, giving us openings to attack.”
”I agree with Oli,” added Netra.
Ania shrugged. ”So, class, as you can see, it's possible to bridge the gap between planes in such circumstances. But know this. Those same circumstances rarely occur in real life.”
”The higher in plane you go, the higher the average cultivator's affinity is. So adepts and novices are filled with people that have low affinity or mid affinity, maybe even early affinity. Once you enter the elder plane, the average affinity levels are mid affinity or high affinity, with peak affinity being uncommon.”