Chapter 34: Theory Beyond Theory
"Theoretically?" one of the students asked. "Then what about outside of theory?"
Axel glanced at him, then casually shook his head.
"Forget it. Just start running. Better to begin early than drag it out."
Since the one who had raised the question had no intention of pressing further, he clicked his tongue, gave up on the topic, and started jogging along the track. The others also buried their dissatisfaction for the moment and followed, beginning the day's running exercise.
Ten laps around the training field came out to nearly four kilometers. For children their age, even at a steady pace, it would still take at least thirty to forty minutes to finish.
Compared to the training Alvis usually arranged, this was much easier. So easy, in fact, that it hardly felt like proper training at all.
Binz, as always, did not waste the opportunity to practice his ability while moving. But this time, because the training intensity was lighter, he did not make plants burst up from the ground as he ran. Instead, shoots sprouted beneath the soles of his shoes, using their growth and elasticity to help propel him forward.
After hearing Ain and Binz earlier, Axel had already decided there was no need to deliberately oppose the substitute teacher. So he joined the run as well.
Only, for Axel, ten laps were too easy.
He finished them in barely five or six minutes.
There was almost no real physical strain involved. By redirecting force through his body, he could maintain top speed for nearly the entire run with minimal effort.
The moment he finished, Axel did not waste even a breath.
He went straight to a patch of shade and began practicing his ability.
Because the redirection of force was invisible to the naked eye, and because he had chosen to hide beneath the shade instead of standing in the middle of the field, what he was doing looked less like training and more like lounging around.
To the others, it looked exactly like rest.
And that sight became both a source of envy and a source of motivation.
No one wanted to keep baking under the sun while Axel sat comfortably in the shade. The result was immediate: many of them unconsciously sped up, hoping to finish faster.
But changing pace so suddenly was easier thought than done.
Their breathing rhythm was thrown off, their steps turned chaotic, and several students only exhausted themselves faster before slowing down again.
Ain, who was running at her usual steady pace beside Binz, glanced toward the shade, then recalled the earlier spar between Binz and Axel. More specifically, she remembered Axel's terrifying burst of speed.
"Binz," she asked while breathing evenly, "when you fought Axel, what did you think of his speed?"
She wanted the most direct answer possible.
Watching from the outside was one thing. Actually standing in front of that kind of speed was another.
Binz's expression grew serious almost at once.
He clearly remembered that fight.
The way Axel had slipped through the reach of the plants as though he had seen everything in advance. The way even his wildly growing vines had failed to catch him. The way a single touch had stolen the strength from his body before he even fully understood what had happened.
After thinking about it, Binz gave an honest answer.
"Very strong. At the very least... I think he's not weaker than Teacher Alvis."
Ain's eyes widened.
"He's really that strong...?"
The praise was so high that even she found it hard to digest.
Binz nodded and looked toward the shade. "But I'm not going to admit defeat. You and he are both people I want to surpass."
Ain smiled faintly at that.
"I won't let you surpass me so easily either."
Binz returned the smile, and from the sharpness in Ain's eyes, he knew she meant every word.
Meanwhile, after assigning the students their run, Ian had returned to his office.
Originally, he had only meant to rest for a bit. But because other teachers were around, and because he did not want to look too obviously lazy under their eyes, he hurriedly made himself a cup of tea and then left again.
When he returned to the training ground, what he saw first was a student in the distance running with an unstable, stumbling gait.
His brow twitched, but only for a moment.
What did it matter to him?
He was just a substitute teacher for the week. Whether the students trained well or poorly was hardly his concern.
Even so, his gaze naturally shifted again... and soon landed on the one student who always seemed determined to test his patience.
Axel.
And sure enough, there he was, sitting in the shade and doing absolutely nothing, at least from Ian's point of view.
A small smile tugged at Ian's lips.
Caught you this time.
He set down his tea and casually walked over.
"Hey," he called out, "why aren't you training?"
It was him again.
That was Axel's first thought.
He had once again been interrupted just as his calculations were about to push through another critical point.
Annoyance flickered across his face, but remembering what he had promised Ain and Binz, he forced it down and answered as calmly as he could.
"I'm finished."
Ian blinked.
"Finished?"
From the time he returned to the office, made tea, and came back out, it had not even been ten minutes. And this brat wanted him to believe he had already finished ten laps?
That was absurd.
Even a regular Marine recruit would have difficulty doing that, let alone a student this age.
Still, Ian did not call him a liar directly.
Instead, he smiled thinly and turned toward the nearby students.
"You, come here for a moment."
Several students stopped running and hurried over.
Ian pointed at Axel and said smugly, "Did he really finish his training? Tell the truth. If you cover for him, his missed laps will be added to your own."
In Ian's experience, a little pressure was enough to make students obedient. He was already waiting to see how Axel would wiggle out of this one.
But to his surprise, the students answered almost in unison.
"He finished."
Ian's smile froze.
"What did you say? Say it again."
"He finished."
This time, several of them even looked at Ian strangely, as if he were the unreasonable one here. Then, having said what needed to be said, they turned around and resumed running without bothering to stay.
They were not fools.
It was obvious Ian had been trying to embarrass Axel. And in their class, Axel's position had already become unshakable. Why would they help a substitute teacher who had no popularity to begin with?
Ian's face stiffened.
Then, trying to smooth over the awkwardness, he changed the subject.
"Fine. Name. Since you say you've finished, your enrollment record must be impressive."
"Axel."
Ian frowned and began flipping through the documents he had on hand. But after searching for a while, he still could not find the right one.
"That's strange. Where's your file?"
Axel was in no mood to be polite anymore.
"How should I know?"
Even someone with a mild temper would have snapped by now. Ian had targeted him again and again for no reason. Axel had already held back more than enough.
Ian's expression darkened.
"Is that how you speak to a teacher? According to school regulations, I can theoretically expel you."
Axel laughed.
"Theoretically? Is that all you know how to do? Threaten students with expulsion?" His red eyes locked onto Ian without the slightest fear. "You call yourself a teacher, but what exactly can you teach me? Since you love talking about theory so much, then there must be something outside of theory, right?"
Axel despised teachers like this.
The kind who acted superior simply because they stood on the platform.
Ian's classroom teaching was just reading from a book. His practical training was nothing but tossing out tasks and hiding in the office. What part of that deserved respect?
And to make matters worse, he had interrupted Axel twice, both times just as his training was nearing a breakthrough.
If not for the promise he had made to Ain and Binz, Axel would have exploded long ago. At that point, he probably would have just spoken his mind and let Garp clean up the aftermath later.
Ian's face went cold.
Since the façade had already cracked, he no longer bothered pretending to be the reasonable adult.
"Fine," he said. "Then let me tell you what's outside of theory."
His gaze turned hard.
"In theory, if you can't beat me, then the school will allow me to expel you. A teacher defeated by a student is no longer qualified to teach that student. That is the law of the strong in the Marines. Can you do it?"
Axel did not waste another word.
He moved.
His fist shot forward and drove straight into Ian's abdomen.
Ian never even saw it clearly.
One moment he was still standing there, and the next the air was blasted from his lungs as Axel's punch buried itself in his stomach with crushing force. Ian's entire body folded on the spot before he collapsed to the ground, eyes bulging, saliva spilling from the corner of his mouth, his face twisted in agony.
Axel had not even used his ability on him.
But his punch had been delivered with all his pent up frustration concentrated into it. Even without vector manipulation, the impact was enough to drop Ian in one hit.
Ian lay there, unable to speak, unable even to scream properly.
Axel looked down at him expressionlessly and said flatly,
"Looks like you've lost your mind."
.....
[If you don't want to wait for the next update, read 10–50 chapters ahead on P@treon.]
[[email protected]/FanficLord03]
[One Piece, Naruto, Bleach, Soul Land, NBA, and more — all in one place.]