52: Teacher Evaluations

A spectacle of explosions rocked the training room. Everyone—bar a certain leaf in the corner—paused for a second before continuing. Dodgeballs covered in fire, ice, bone, and more flew around as each projectile became a missile capable of destroying any common civilian. Angelica, standing by the side of the pitch with her hands on her waist, couldn’t help but whistle as the battle heated up. “I’m glad I pulled out the reinforced dodgeballs...”

I’m still not sure if they’ll be recognizable by the end of this though...

As time went on, her eyes narrowed as she focused on each of the students. For the most part, she kept her attention on the current Class Zero students though because... well, the Graduate Division students had graduated. They technically weren’t her students anymore.

They know how to improve on their own. The current students though... hmm...

Titus, for one, needed a little more work on his spear technique. In the current moment, he held his own against Orion—which could be used as evidence to his own capabilities. However, she could also tell Orion held back a little. His deft fire control though, excelled as always.

That’s the problem though.

Even now, Angelica could only sigh. Titus’s powers made his ceiling quite high, but made his training process excruciating. Almost all his divine weapons required different fighting styles. Though his innate fire manipulations abilities made him a strong fighter, he had close to a fresh start with every new weapon he practiced with.

Moving on, Ryker perhaps... needed some psychological counseling? As of now, he held on against his sister Scarlet, but she saw the writing on the wall. He wouldn’t last much longer. Because of his inability to perform against his sister though, Angelica had no real grasp on his progress. The current fight could only be categorized as an ‘extremely special situation.’

Electra seemed fine as well. Fighting against Thalia brought out the best in her. Plus, it seemed like Thalia’s fighting style stimulated the electricity-wielding girl. No one in the past month or so had challenged Electra in speed and it seemed this fight against Thalia had given her motivation to keep improving.

And... Ryker had gotten out.

“Come to my side Ryker!” Angelica shouted out. Tapping the ground next to her with a bright smile on her face.

Ryker, in fact, seemed elated. He scrambled over while catching his breath. “Oh wow, thank you! I’m really glad I’m out. You know, I think this part of dodgeball is honestly underrated. Let the star of the team get some rest you know-”

“Just catch your breath Ryker,” Angelica patted him on the shoulder with a gentle smile. “There’s no need to bluff me.”

“... True,” Ryker sighed as he took a few seconds to catch his breath. “In a moment of seriousness though, I want to thank you as the... perhaps informal student leader of Class Zero. Although I might not enjoy seeing my sister, this is a great opportunity. I’m glad you organized it for us.”

“Of course,” Angelica laughed. “Stimulating Electra to improve again made this all worth it, not to mention the others.”

“Definitely,” Ryker nodded while crossing his arms. “It’s a shame I can’t match her at all speedwise. Because of that we can only do unpowered spars.”

“There’s a value in those as well. A value many don’t realize in the entirety of their lives or pro careers,” Angelica reassured while patting him on the back. “On that note, the actual star of your team, Albion, just caught a ball so you’re back in.”

A loud expletive left Ryker’s mouth before he jogged back onto the field with despondent steps.

On the topic of Albion and Conrad, their development seemed smooth. Albion’s main improvement area, as always, fell into two different categories. For one, he needed to get better at his own maneuverability and fighting skills instead of relying too much on his powers. For another, though he could produce a crazy volume of ice, he needed to work on his fine control still. In this regard, Isolde had him... far outclassed, but they still fell even with Isolde’s raw output being far lower than Albion’s...

He’s really skyrocketed in terms of ability recently...

Conrad, though. Conrad. His powers seemed simple. Undeserving of Class Zero even. Growthwise, true to his ‘system’ his growth continued on its steep, linear path. But, somehow, his inability to control his growth at times always seemed rough. Because his growth came in jumps, ‘stat bonus increases’ as he called it, he suffered in a perpetual state of getting used to his own strength...

After all, the moment he got used to his strength, he’d level up...

In between her musings as she analyzed each of the current Class Zero students, Angelica called out whenever someone got out and whenever someone got back in. To her surprise, the dodgeball game seemed to drag on for a while. Both teams matched up well against each other.

Who next... ah, Celeste.

Celeste seemed fine, she still could only output about a fourth of her Star Engine heart while keeping it under control in the current moment. Her laser beams scorched across the dodgeball pitch as she played a crucial role supporting her team... Well, more specifically, Ryker.

Her ability to fly came in handy for sure. It allowed for the usage of a third-dimension, and a way to fly made anyone’s future prospects much easier. Even more, her hand to hand combat abilities seemed... impeccable as always.

How to let her gain control of the star-engine though? She needs full control before she can start growing it...

Flipping through her memories, Angelica motioned for Scarlet to return to the battlefield as Orion caught a dodgeball.

What did her parents say again...? Something about emotional obstacles?

After a moment, Angelica’s brows unfurrowed as the information came back to her. Celeste needed to overcome any emotional turmoil or anxieties she had before she could get to half or two-thirds control. Every level of ‘inner peace’ the family had called it helped with unchaining the Star Engine.

It’s Nyssa isn’t it? I don’t want to play matchmaker, but if their pining goes on for too long maybe i’ll have to step in somehow... For now, though, it's probably fine. Celeste can still improve a little in other areas, as well as through basic Star Engine heart meditation.

Somehow, Angelica had discovered, she and Roxanne were in the minority when it came to women loving each other.

They hadn’t had a very long pining period. They’d just... asked each other out quite early, and talked things though. Overall, a very smooth romantic journey...

It seemed the two girls in her class, though, might not have such a smooth time together.

As for the other party in question, Nyssa, Angelica didn’t have much to help her improve. Her powers already passed every test she could come up with. In fact, the power training she had Nyssa do was mostly for show. Just to keep her from getting rusty.

Maybe I should’ve taken more psychology classes... because her only area of improvement is becoming less lazy. Actually scratch that, she’s not lazy when her bed is at the end. Her area of improvement is sleeping less...