A Lifetime of Good Fortune

On the training platform, the two youngsters traded blows for nearly ten minutes, each of them taking quite a few punches from the other.

Seeing their tempers about to flare from the fight, Alex stepped in at the right moment. He was here to teach combat, not to make the students fight for real. Reaching out, he separated the two reluctant youngsters. After remaining silent for over ten minutes, Alex finally spoke.

"You all saw how they fought just now. What did you think?" As usual, he started with a question.

Then, without waiting for the students to answer, Alex continued with a disdainful expression. "Their fight was too crude, too chaotic, and far too amateurish."

"All right, he’s getting to the main point. We can leave now." In the corner of the training room, Emma knew what Alex was about to do as soon as she heard those words. She turned and left without hesitation.

The other teachers exchanged looks, but they still followed Emma out of the training room. Only Howard stayed behind, his face full of curiosity. News that Alex was teaching combat had spread throughout Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters. Even Howard, who had been hiding away in his laboratory, had heard about it. Unable to resist his curiosity, he came to take a look, and what he saw made him even more surprised. He was even less willing to leave.

Alex paid no attention to them and continued teaching.

"Next, I’m going to teach you how to fight with skill, how to fight on a higher level." Alex kept tempting the teenage boys and girls with his words. In order to make the students enjoy combat, he had truly put a great deal of thought into it.

Laughter erupted among the students. Everyone had a violent streak in their hearts. As long as it was properly stirred, that violent streak could become the driving force that made a person stronger.

While the students were excited, Alex called two more people onto the platform to fight. This time, however, it was no longer just a simple brawl. Alex began explaining from the side, occasionally telling the two students in the ring how they should fight. The students below grew more excited the longer they listened, itching to leap onto the platform and try it themselves.

This fight went on for nearly another half hour. The two on the platform were completely out of strength by the end and collapsed directly onto the floor.

Of course, Alex had done that deliberately. Otherwise, he could have stopped this fight, which had turned into an "exhibition match," twenty minutes earlier. Alex wanted to use this opportunity to drive home another key point.

"If you want to win a fight, the first thing you need is a strong body." Alex pointed at the two students lying on the training platform, drenched in sweat, and chuckled. "If you collapse like them in the middle of a fight, then you’ve lost."

"Losing isn’t necessarily a big deal. At worst, you can try again next time!" For the first time, Alex’s expression turned serious. His cold gaze swept across every student present. "But sometimes, if you lose, you lose your life."

Combined with his chilling tone, Alex’s words seemed to make the spacious training room drop several degrees. Every student shivered uncontrollably, clearly frightened by him.

Alex understood the importance of knowing when to stop. Seeing that the effect had been achieved, his expression changed again. His brilliant smile was like sunlight breaking through rain clouds, making everyone feel warmth seep into their hearts. "So, if you want to remain undefeated, all of you must work hard to train your bodies and wear your opponents down until they collapse from exhaustion!"

For the remaining time, Alex said nothing more and taught nothing else. He simply let the students train freely. Those who wanted to work out worked out, and those who wanted to spar sparred, just as the training room had been when he first saw it.

Leaving the students behind, Alex strolled toward the corner of the training room. He had noticed Howard earlier.

"Why aren’t you staying in your laboratory? What are you doing here?" Alex unceremoniously squeezed Howard aside and took up most of the chair. Watching the training room gradually grow noisy again, he asked without turning his head, "Did you need something from me?"

"Not really. I just heard you were teaching the students, so I came over to have a look." Howard shoved Alex aside with all his strength before speaking with satisfaction. "Still, I have to say, you’re pretty good at teaching."

Alex looked at Howard from the corner of his eye and said in disbelief, "Since when did you become such a gossip? You even came all the way here just to watch?" Alex did not believe Howard’s explanation in the slightest.

Howard rolled his eyes, too lazy to respond. Looking at the students in the training room, he suddenly said with some emotion, "Principal Emma is truly a great woman, and Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters is a great school."

"Why would you suddenly say that?" Alex looked at Howard in surprise.

Howard turned to Alex and said enviously, "Alex, having a woman like Emma is the good fortune of your entire life."

Alex felt immensely pleased with himself, but he still did not understand what Howard meant. He continued asking, "Tell me, what makes Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters so great?"

"Go experience it yourself!" Howard shook off Alex’s hand from his shoulder and replied irritably, "I’m going back to the laboratory!"

"Damn it, what’s that supposed to mean? You can’t just say half of it and leave me hanging!" Watching Howard walk out of the training room without looking back, Alex shouted indignantly. Yet inwardly, he was delighted, as though Howard’s praise had been directed at him.

Combat training was not the students’ only class. Half an hour later, the students began leaving in groups of two or three. In the end, the entire training room was empty.

"What am I supposed to do now?" Alex stared blankly at the empty training room, feeling somewhat lost. Only after quite a while did he remember that Emma had once told him he could sit in on other classes.

As soon as the thought occurred to him, Alex acted on it. He quickly ran out of the training room and secretly followed a student into a large lecture hall. To avoid drawing attention, Alex deliberately chose a corner at the very back and even hunched himself down, afraid someone would spot him.

But to Alex’s disappointment, the class turned out to be history.

"Why the hell would I listen to history? I even know the future!" Alex sighed and was about to leave when he suddenly realized that the teacher was not discussing the history he knew, but the history of mutants. "This is worth listening to!"

As he listened, Alex became completely engrossed. Without realizing it, he sat up straight, as if both his ears were about to perk up.

The history class was not long and ended after an hour. Alex still wanted more, but when he saw everyone getting up, he did not dare stay any longer and vanished in an instant.

That day, Alex went nowhere else. He wandered through the various classrooms of Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters, sitting in on classes that interested him and slipping away from those that did not. By the end of the day, Alex finally understood why Emma had suggested he come to the school. Some of the classes taught there were genuinely useful to him, such as the course on Mutant Abilities application and development.

At the same time, Alex finally understood Howard’s words. Having Emma truly was the good fortune of his entire life.