It was common for those from other clans in the Demonic Faction to visit each other. After all, they were all under one larger group and working together. It was a chance for them to exchange knowledge and see the workings of other clans.
At the same time, it was a way for them to stay competitive against each other. After all, at one point in time, the clans weren't under the banner of the Demonic Faction and were constantly battling against each other.
It wasn't until a change occurred, and a set few individuals were able to unite under each other.
Today, the Neverfall Clan had a respected visitor; it was a couple of students from the Pagana Academy, and not just any students, one of them was the infamous Black Tiger, the current rising star in the academy.
Because the academy was a place where all of the clans sent their students, nearly every person knew who the Black Tiger was. It was even why not just anybody was giving a tour to the two from the Splitting Fang Clan, but Rayna, the young miss of the Neverfall Clan, was giving them a tour around the place.
Of course, Rayna was far more powerful of a warrior compared to that of the Black Tiger; she was three to four academy years ahead of Mantis, so it was to be expected. Which is why she was showing them the current low-ranking individuals' training.
Inside the arena, it was a mixed group. Some of them had already finished the academy but were still low-ranked within the Clan. Others were currently attending the academy but since it was their break, they were busy training.
And lastly, there were those who hadn't even entered the academy yet.
"Of course, you are all free to watch!" The instructor Mac said with a large smile. "Students, continue as you were doing before, and if you think you have accomplished the first step, let me know, and I will happily demonstrate the second step to you. If you are still unsure, then try to combine techniques that you already know along with the first step."
The instructor left Raze to go off with the others to continue their training around the place. Before entering, it was only Rayna who had witnessed what Raze had done, while Mantis and Rod had entered in after.
All of them were watching the performance of the clan members, and even Rayna had to admit, it appeared lackluster. It wasn't that the training was bad, but there was no one that stood out.
"It appears you are teaching them the descending steps today; that is quite the difficult technique," Rayna commented.
"You are right, and most won't be able to use its full potential," Mac replied. "But I believe that if there are a few that can learn it to its best, it is one of the strongest skills out there. Besides, if they manage to master its Qi control, then when they use other techniques, there will not be wasted energy allowing them to fight for longer!"
When Mac spoke these words, he pumped his fists, proud of his teaching techniques. He had been the teacher for the lower-ranked clan members for a while now, and he is proud to have even taught Rayna and Dame when the two were younger.
"Oh, this is surprising," Rod said as he pushed the glasses up on his face. "In the Splitting Fang clan, we have deemed the descending steps as an outdated technique."
Mac wanted to shout out how absurd he thought that was, but he bit his bottom lip as these were their guests.
"Do you mind explaining how so?" Mac politely asked.
"Well, the technique is only viable if one has the control of a middle stage warrior. Even then, they are only able to learn four steps or so. When one gets to the middle stage, though, four steps are not even enough to outperform the techniques at the middle stage.
"If you want to practice just Qi control, there are better ways, rather than learning a foot technique that they will never use. If we look at the probability of success versus failure, there are a lot more that never reach its potential. So the clan works on teaching more refined techniques than this, and use more modern ways for Qi control."
There was a lot of sense in what Rod spoke. Mac's way was somewhat killing two birds with one stone. He always saw it as if they never ended up learning the descending steps properly; at least they had Qi control.
While also gambling that there would be someone who would master the technique, creating a prodigy.
"A gamble," Mantis said. "There is next to no one that has been able to perform the descending steps perfectly for years. When was the last time the Demonic Faction even produced someone at the deity level?
"All the Neverfall Clan is doing is gambling on having an outstanding person who is able to learn these steps. It's no wonder that there weren't any outstanding students from the Clan at the academy."
Mac's fist was shaking violently. The words spoken out, they weren't just remarks made towards those in the Clan, but he felt like they were towards him as well. He was the one that taught the students before they went off to the academy.
However, it was true, this time at the Pagana academy, there were no stars like that of Dame and Rayna when they two went, or the other two brothers as well.
Despite all of this, the anger in Mac continued to rise, to the point where he couldn't hold his tongue anymore, and it turned into a smile.
"Don't be like that," Mac stated. "Just because members of the Splitting Fang clan can't produce any talented individuals, or harness the power of the Descending Steps, there is no need for you to sully the name of such a great technique."
Both Mantis and Rod looked at each other and nearly laughed. Without saying anything, Mantis started to walk forward toward the center of the stage. The other students saw this and started to split away from him, wondering what he was about to do.n(-----((-((-1(/n
"The Descending Steps, your perfect outdated technique. You think that we simply think it's too hard to perform?" Mantis asked. "I've been watching all of these so far, and not a single one of them is able to even perform the step correctly.
"I haven't studied the steps in detail myself, but I'm pretty sure it goes something like this." Mantis raised his foot, he gathered the right amount of Qi, and then slammed it into the ground, with the power going out toward the others.
Rayna and Mac could feel it; this was a perfect demonstration of the first descending step.
"As you can see, I performed it better than anyone here, and I don't even care for it," Mantis said. "As I said, this technique is a gamble, as you are hoping for a talented student to show itself, but it seems the Neverfall Clan no longer has any talented individuals."
The other clan members were furious. They all felt hurt by what they had just seen. A person who didn't care for their teachings was able to perform the technique even better than them.
It was shameful to all of them who were working hard, yet none of them could ignore the fact that he could perform the step better than him.
The instructor and Rayna didn't know what to say, and Rayna felt quite bad for the lower-ranked members. This would certainly dishearten them, which she didn't want to do.
"Hey Callum, was your step better than his?" A voice asked out in the middle of the silence.
The other students soon turned around to look at who had just spoken, and they could see the person named 'Callum' along with another clan member. They soon remembered just moments ago, that there was another one, another person that had performed the step not too long ago, and it looked almost identical to the one they had seen Mantis perform.
"Ah, that's right!" Mac clicked his fingers. "You said before that we had no talented students, well then, you, Callum, perform the first step just like you did before, and make sure there are no mistakes."
Raze inwardly was shaking his head as the scene was playing out. 'I was meant to not stand out… so why is everything I'm getting involved in, is making me stand out more!'
