The students looked at each other. The general reaction fell somewhere between apprehension and grudging acceptance.
Nobody was going to turn down stronger. Not when the world looked like this.
Shizuka took another look at the assembled faces, satisfied with the collective lack of protest, and began her lesson.
She taught the condensation of True Qi the way an experienced teacher teaches anything critical: slow, methodical, broken into pieces small enough that missing a step was almost impossible. She spent over twenty of the forty-minute period on this alone, inviting questions freely and answering every single one without impatience.
When she was satisfied that the material had landed, she scanned the room.
"Which one of you is Ren Isana?"
The class turned.
Ren stepped forward, mildly puzzled. "That's me, Sensei."
She looked him over like she was appraising something. "Not bad. You're already close to Tier 3." A brief pause. "I heard your talent is learning-related?"
"That's right."
Her eyes lit up. "Then did you follow what I just taught?"
Ren read the situation clearly. She wasn't going to take a verbal answer. If I say yes, she's going to test it. If I say no, that's basically a confession of uselessness.
"All of it. I just need to apply it."
"Come here. Go all out — hit me directly." She beckoned, already shifting her weight.
He didn't waste time on words. He charged.
Following her earlier instructions exactly, Ren began condensing True Qi the instant he committed to the attack. The heat was immediate — a surge spreading through his limbs and into his core, everything sharpening. His speed spiked. His explosive force nearly doubled.
He closed the distance and launched an elbow strike, True Qi packed around his forearm.
Shizuka countered with her own elbow, absorbing the impact and redirecting it in a single fluid motion. He stumbled back, but not dramatically.
"Nice! First try, and you already managed it?" She looked genuinely pleased. "Don't hold back. Show me everything."
The rest of the class watched in various states of shock. The exchange had lasted two seconds, but that was long enough. Most of them would have been flattened by that elbow strike. Ren had not only held up against it, he'd generated a True Qi burst that none of them could currently replicate.
He just broke through to Tier 3 in the middle of a class.
They kept watching.
Ren went again. True Qi flowing more fluidly now, each pass smoother than the last — he could feel his control improving in real time, the technique settling into place strike by strike.
Shizuka felt it too. She was blocking everything, but the force behind each exchange was growing measurably. She allowed herself a private nod of appreciation. This is what a genuine learning talent looks like in practice.
Then she decided the demonstration had gone far enough, and she switched from defense to offense.
Her fist shot at his midsection — sudden, no warning — and Ren barely got his arms up in time to intercept. He crossed them and took the hit.
The force sent him sliding back several feet.
His arms had gone numb.
He looked down at the forming bruises and reconsidered the gap between them. She's Tier 5, easy. Maybe higher. Trying to land a clean hit would be a long project.
"Can't move them properly right now? Good. Don't try to force it." Shizuka had already shifted gears, watching him with a teacher's eye rather than an opponent's. "Next thing. Listen carefully."
The test was over. Ren had passed it, and she was already thinking three steps ahead.
"True Qi doesn't only help you fight. Used correctly, it heals minor damage — bruising, fatigue, muscle strain." She began the explanation slowly, as she had before, as if it were the only thing she was thinking about.
Everyone in the room leaned in.