Coach Claus Strikes Again

Halting his movements, Ashen scanned the field as he leaned on his spear.

Most of the trainees had already arrived, but none paid him any particular attention… except for the occasional disdainful looks from the Seravelle trainees.

Other than that? Nothing. It seemed they didn't even deem his presence worth acknowledging.

That suited him just fine. He had more important things to worry about than trying to impress a bunch of snobs.

Unfortunately, not everyone seemed to share that sentiment.

Chris's little gang—scratch that, it wasn't so little anymore. Over thirty people now followed behind him like a pack of vultures, their piercing glares drilling into Ashen's back.

He tried to ignore them, but lately, those nasty looks were starting to get on his nerves.

'Seems like Chris spun quite the tale about me… the way they're glaring, you'd think I stole their wives or something.'

Ashen did not doubt that Chris was the mastermind behind this little smear campaign. He hadn't even spoken to most of these people before.

And as for why? Well…

"Ash! As early as ever, I see. What a hard worker."

Seraphine's voice cut through his thoughts. She strolled toward him with a lazy grin, completely unbothered by the stares burning into them from all sides.

Like clockwork, the glares intensified the moment she reached his side.

Ashen let out a small sigh before offering her a smirk. "Good morning, sleepyhead. Cutting it close as always, huh?"

"Well, you know me. I've never been a morning person." She ran a hand through her golden locks, yawning.

"Hmm, yeah. By the way, where's Braun?"

"Oh, he's over there." She gestured vaguely. "He said he'd be training with a friend of his… some Seravelle guy with shield experience. They had a few friendly duels and hit it off."

"That's nice. At least someone here isn't a complete prick to Esperrians."

Seraphine chuckled. "Yeah, surprisingly, there are some decent people around if we look hard enough. But it seems like Braun's the only one with any luck finding them."

Ashen shrugged. "It won't be too late to make friends if we run into someone worth our time. Otherwise, I'm fine as I am."

Seraphine's grin widened as she flashed a peace sign. "Me too! An Ashen is all I need. Haha."

Ashen smirked. "What am I, some kind of product?"

Seraphine gave him a light tap on the arm. "Silly. You know what I mean."

Their casual banter was cut short by the arrival of the coach. His wide stride and imposing presence commanded immediate attention as he approached his usual spot.

Stopping in place, he swept his gaze across the training ground, likely checking if everyone was present.

With a light nod, he addressed them, "Alright, kids. I see you're all full of energy today, so let's keep the momentum going with a little gift I've prepared for you."

As always, with a flick of his wrist, a batch of bracelets materialized in midair.

By now, everyone knew what that meant. Another new technique or ability that would massively boost their survival chances.

At this point, the coach was just missing a red hat and a sack of goodies. With the number of times he had dropped something new on them, he might as well be their own personal Santa Claus.

Under the trainees' eager gazes, the bracelets shot toward their designated recipients, snapping into place just above their breathing technique bracelets.

Then, with a simple snap of the coach's fingers, their old bracelets dissolved into white motes of light. The new ones seamlessly replaced them.

The entire sequence happened so fast that most of the trainees were left gawking at their wrists in disbelief.

Ashen, however, clutched his chest like he'd been mortally wounded.

'My technique! I didn't even finish mastering it… and it just went poof. Ah… my heart…'

The light in his eyes faded, his expression turning hollow. And judging by the looks of despair around him, he wasn't the only one mourning the loss of unfinished progress.

Seraphine shot him a sideways glance, torn between laughing at his misery and sympathizing with it.

Meanwhile, the coach smirked, clearly enjoying the brief chaos he had conjured before finally putting them out of their misery.

"C'mon, kids. Wipe those lost puppy eyes off your faces. The new bracelets contain everything the old ones had… and more."

Ashen froze for a moment, processing the words before exhaling in relief.

"Well, aren't you glad, Ash?" Seraphine patted his back in an exaggeratedly soothing manner, her tone dripping with mock sympathy. "The coach wouldn't screw us over. Have a little more faith in our demonic instructor."

Her barely restrained grin betrayed her amusement.

Ashen let out a dry chuckle, shaking his head. "Yeah, I swear my soul almost left my body for a second there. I don't know how much more of the coach's surprises my fragile heart can take."

Clap!

The coach clapped once, silencing the crowd before continuing.

"...As you might have guessed, your new bracelets do indeed contain a new technique… a mana circulation technique."

As he paced around, his voice took on a more lecturing tone.

"Some of you might wonder why I didn't just put this technique in a separate bracelet. The answer is simple—breathing and circulation are more interconnected than you think."

He paused briefly, allowing the trainees to digest his words before continuing.

"After breathing correctly so many times, you must have noticed how mana travels through your body before settling in your heart."

Seeing multiple nods of agreement, he stopped and pointed at a random trainee.

"Alright then, describe your observations."

The chosen trainee, unfazed by the attention of over two hundred peers, spoke confidently, clearly assured of his response.