He noticed that her hand moved a little as she reached for an arrow and that her posture changed a little as she got ready to draw. Normal people wouldn't have noticed because William had spent his whole life reading body language and predicting attacks.
The girl drew the bow and let go of the arrow in one smooth motion. It flew quietly toward William's head.
It was a practice arrow with a dull end, and it wasn't meant to kill him, but it was definitely meant to see how strong he was. Most people wouldn't have even thought about it.
William picked up a wooden demonstration pointer from the desk next to him and swung it in a smooth arc. It hit the arrow in midair with a loud crack, and then the arrow hit the floor with a loud bang, and the whole class went quiet.
All of the students were now looking at William with wide eyes, clearly not expecting their instructor to easily brush off an unexpected arrow attack. William's full attention was on the girl in the back corner.
For the first time, she seemed to really care. A mix of shock and what could have been respect or strong interest.
William said in a calm voice, "Impressive shot," as if students were always trying to hit him during class.
"A clean draw, good timing, and almost no noise."
"But you told me what you wanted to do about three seconds before you let go. That's enough time for an opponent who is paying attention to react."
William could tell that the girl was tall and thin and had the body of someone who spent most of their time training for archery and scouting. She got up slowly. "How did you see that?" she asked in a low but intense voice.
"I've used that same method on twelve other instructors. None of them knew they were being shot at until the arrow hit the wall."
William said, "Because I pay attention to what's going on around me, unlike those other instructors."
He saw that some of the best students were now looking at him with interest instead of ignoring him. "You shifted your weight a little, changed how you were breathing, and kept your eyes on your target for a little too long."
"They are little things, but they add up."
The girl walked carefully and controlled her descent as she moved down from the back of the room. William could see that she had a small notebook on her belt with notes written in small, neat letters.
"Clara Crestfall," she said, which was a very direct way for her to introduce herself.
She is a third-year student who focuses on archery and scouting. "I apologize for the test that wasn't allowed, but I had to know if the rumors about you were true."
"And what is the choice?" William asked, really wanting to know what the rumors were at this point.
Clara's dark eyes looked at him with the same amount of interest. "People are saying things that aren't true about you."
"Your situational awareness is at least three standard deviations above the average for instructors, and it might be even higher. I need more details to set a proper baseline."
William said, "That's a very scientific way to say you want to keep testing me."
"Observation and data collection are critical for a good assessment," Clara said in a serious tone as she took out her journal and wrote something down. "It's hard for me to feel things."
"The academy's normal ways of teaching haven't worked. If you're as kind as you seem, you might be able to help me."
William was accustomed to the system restarting.
[New Student Found: Clara Crestfall, Rank B]
[Specialization: long-range combat, reconnaissance, and analytical tracking]
[Main Problem: Hyper-Sensory Perception makes too many senses work at the same time]
[Found a chance to train]
"Hyper-Sensory Perception?" William asked, remembering some things he had learned from the memories he had borrowed about strange skills. "That's when you can't make sense of the information, but all of your senses are sharper, right?"
Clara's eyes got a little bigger, which meant she didn't think he would know about her condition. "Yes. Yes, that's right."
"Many instructors don't even think it's a problem. They just tell me to meditate more or focus harder, which doesn't resolve the problem at its source."
As she got closer, William could tell that she was tense, which made him think that she was always dealing with too much sensory information. "Too much of everything."
"I can hear people talking three classrooms away, smell what they had for breakfast, and feel the air pressure change when someone walks by. In combat situations, there is too much going on at once. I can't put them in order of importance when everything seems like a threat."
William thought about his past and the soldiers he had trained who had PTSD and were always on edge. The idea was different, but the answer could be the same.
He said slowly, as he worked through the problem, "You don't need to filter out the information."
"You need to learn how to sort it into groups and rank it right away. Turn the flood of data into useful information instead of a lot of noise."
Clara was writing a lot in her journal, and she looked very serious. "That's what I've been trying to figure out on my own, but I haven't been able to find a good way to do it."
"Can you really show me how to do that?
William said, "Sure, I can try," and pointed to the front of the room. "First, though, please sit down and let me finish this lecture."
"We can work on your specific training after class."
Clara nodded and sat down in the second row, right behind the three girls who were watching the whole thing with a mix of emotions. Kaela looked like she wanted to fight Clara to see how strong she was. Lia seemed interested but also careful. Ellie smiled and seemed pleased that William was helping someone else.
William went back to his lecture, but he could tell that the room's mood had changed. The students were now paying more attention to him and taking him seriously instead of thinking of him as a teacher who didn't belong here.
William had a line of students waiting to ask questions or get more training after class. The best students who had been skeptical were now interested in how he did things.
The students who were having trouble in the back felt more confident about speaking up. And somehow, William had gotten a fourth great student who would probably test him in more and more interesting ways.
William said to himself, "This is getting out of hand," as the last student left and he was able to sit down in the teacher's chair.
"Four smart girls, a plot at the academy, and a class full of students who think I know what I'm doing."
"What next? "Is a dragon coming to get us?"
Catherine Blackwood, the vice headmaster, came into the classroom through the door. It was hard to tell what she was thinking.
"Instructor Wade," she said in a calm voice. "We need to talk about the way you teach."
"Some parents have already called the school to say that their best students are in a class with regular kids."
"Why do they want to know?"
William looked at her, then the ceiling, and then back at her again. "Of course they are," he said in a flat voice.
"Because this day wasn't hard enough already."