‎"Crap!"

‎Lucian ducked, barely dodging a bolt of electricity.

‎He hit the ground, rolled, then sprang to his feet. Gritting his teeth, he grimaced, facing Amanda once more.

‎" Why did I even agree to this?"

‎" Come on! Is that all you've got?" Talia gleefully screamed from the sidelines.

‎Lucian shot her a heated glare.

‎Then bolted once more.

‎Morgan glanced at Talia, an amused smile on his face.

‎" You seem to be enjoying this."

‎Talia grinned at him.

‎" Of course, it's a rare opportunity after all."

‎Morgan chuckled lightly.

‎" Maybe you're enjoying it a tad too much?"

‎Talia shrugged nonchalantly, staring at the initiate and the Talented.

‎" Perhaps..."

‎Her brown eyes narrowed, taking every detail of the fight she could glimpse.

‎Back in the makeshift, sparring space, Amanda let out an unladylike snarl when Lucian successfully dodged another of her attacks.

‎" Stop running and stand a fight," she screamed, her red hair crackling with tiny sporadic bursts of electricity.

‎Smirking in her direction, Lucian came to a stop, staring at her in amusement.

‎" What seems to be the problem?".

‎" Stop running like a coward and stand your ground and fight!" she screamed.

‎Lucuan smirked slightly.

‎" Not really, no, that's one way to get killed, you see..

‎Amanda snarled, her face darkening slightly.

‎In the next moment, electricity gathered in his hand, crackling violently in sporadic streams of deadly current.

‎If I get hit even once, it's game over for me."

‎Lucian had witnessed Amanda's lightning in action several times and had seen its effects firsthand. He was quite sure that it was the real deal.

And the fact that they were all on the same team did not make it any less dangerous.

‎That said, he also wasn't going to lose the fight.

‎At least not in the way Talia expected.

‎He could easily win the fight if he chose, but then where would be the fun in that?

‎He wouldn't give Talia the satisfaction of knowing she'd been fright.

‎What did she know?

‎The bizarre game of cat and mouse continued for a few minutes.

‎Then the tempo of the fight abruptly changed.

‎ Lucian unsheathed one of his blades, brandishing it in front of him in a loose reverse grip.

‎In the second, he darted forward, closing the distance between him and Amanda.

‎The Talented seemed slightly surprised by the sudden burst in speed, but she calmly leapt back, electricity crackling at her fingertips.

‎The sharp scent of ozone filled the chamber, electricity coursing through the air.

‎Lucuab ducked once more, narrowly avoiding a bolt of lightning to the chest, swiftly rolling away on the ground.

‎" Well, at least, he's managed to hold his Ian for this long, " Cassius muttered.

‎" I honestly don't know what I would have done if I were in his shoes."

‎Morgan nodded as well, slightly shaking his head.

‎" What a rough opponent to face."

‎" But you know, she's been beaten before," Emily said, watching from the sidelines.

‎Morgan threw her a surprised look.

‎" Are you serious? Isn't she really strong, Class A-3? There's someone stronger?"

‎Cassius scoffed.

‎" Of course, there's that monster, Warren Frost."

‎Cassius shook his head, frowned at the memory.

‎"But it wasn't him that brat her that time. It was another Talented, a class A-2. He was a thought manipulator. Neural Type Talented..."

‎Morgan processed the information, his eyebrows knitting together in thought.

‎" That's certainly interesting...to think there are even more prodigies out there. I wonder..."

‎" Warren Frost," Talia thought, musing over the name.

‎" Hey, Cassius, who is Warren Frost? What rank is he?"

‎" He's hard to miss, dark hair, creepy eyes, tall and lanky for his age. He has also humiliated Amanda before, by the way. And me..."

‎The last part was whispered.

‎" What's his rank?" Morgan asked in curiosity.

‎" Class A-5, "Cassius murmured.

‎" He's the highest-ranked in our batch. From his ranking exam, he's a quadra elemental, Talented."

‎Morgan whistled in surprise, staring at Cassius in shock.

‎" Four elements, huh, that's quite insane."

‎His gaze shifted to Emily for a brief moment before turning back to the fight.

‎Four elements. Emily can only use ice, and she's a force to be reckoned with. Imagine facing a guy like that..."

‎His hands trembled slightly, his eyes sparkling with excitement.

‎In the next moment, an explosion ripped through the hall.

‎Lucian let out a muffled yelp and flew through the air, falling a short distance away.

‎Amanda was breathing heavily, her breath coming out ragged.

‎"What's with this guy?"

‎Something was off about the way Lucian was fighting, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it.

‎It was almost as though...he was holding back on her.

‎But then that would be suicidal. It didn't make any sense.

‎Lucian's body twitched uncontrollably on the ground.

‎A moment later, he sat up slightly out of breath.

‎"Hey Lucian, you good man?" Morgan asked.

‎Lucian nodded, slowly getting to his feet.

‎"Let's continue, he said with a tired smile. He dashed forward, aiming to shorten the distance between him and Amanda.

‎" He wants to force me into a close-quarters fight; that's where his advantage is," Amanda thought.

‎" But I won't give him that satisfaction. Ik stronger than him. I'll win this match no matter what."

‎A split second later, her mouth fell open in surprise.

‎Lucian was suddenly in front of her.

‎Morgan frowned slightly.

‎" Am I seeing? Has he been holding back this entire time?"

‎A slow grin spread over Talia's face.

‎" That's it."

‎A furious bout of hand-to-hand combat began.

‎Amanda was doing her best to dodge and block the scion's blows, but Lucian was relentless.

‎He watched her like a hawk, his eyes zeroing in on any openings that she gave him.

‎He refused her any chance to disengage, repeatedly going for her head, which prevented her from activating her ability effectively.

Amanda felt suffocated. Every movement, every action she tried to take was swiftly locked down.

It felt like Lucian was looking into the future.

This was the essence of the training the assassins received.

The scions of the Great Houses and even those of the lesser Houses were vastly superior to most Talented their age in terms of close combat.

In most cases, a Talented could not stand up to an assassin in close-quarters combat.

But there were always exceptions to the rule, and in some exceedingly rare cases, the opposite happened.

But sadly, that wasn't the case in this sparring match.

‎" Wow," Morgan whispered.

‎" It's almost like I'm seeing a new Lucian."

‎Samantha, Emily, Talia, and Cassius watched the unfolding fight as well.

‎Lucian moved with precise movements, locking down Amanda's repeated attempts to back away.

‎Lucisn inwardly grinned.

‎" The electricity was unexpectedly painful, but I guess this more than makes up for it."

‎In the next second, he feinted an uppercut and then leaned down to deliver a heavy gut punch that slightly lifted Amanda off her feet.

‎The devastating blow forced all the air out of her lungs, leaving her wheezing and gasping for breath.

‎Amanda staggered backwards, her eyes widening slightly.

‎" You've gone quiet, "Lucian whispered, a cruel smile appearing on his face. He followed up with a few light jabs, testing her guard, giving her time to recover.

‎"The moment I show you what I can actually do, you go silent. That's not very nice now. You're going to have to fight back, you know, if you want to survive, that is."

‎In the next moment, he swiped at her with his knife, the dark blade blurring through the air.

‎Amanda gasped in surprise, only managing to lean back at the last second.

‎A thin cut appeared on her forearm, welling up with blood.

‎"Oops," Lucian gasped in mock surprise.

" My blade must have slipped," he said with a grin.

‎Amanda's eyes widened at the sight of the small trickle of blood rolling down her fore arm.

‎"You!"

‎With a shout, electricity crackled at her fingertips, but in an instant, Lucian was there.

‎He quickly grabbed onto her arms, throwing them back forcefully, then jumped into the air, delivering a devastating spinning kick to her torso.

‎Cassius' eyes widened in surprise at the sight.

‎"Lucian's starting to step things up."

‎"Despite his appearance, he's terrific," Emily murmured.

‎Samantha nodded in agreement.

‎Samantha stared at the ongoing fight in somber silence, her eyes glazing over slightly in thought.

‎Talia frowned, crossing her arms across her chest.

‎" This guy..."

‎Morgan watched everything unfold with a calm expression.

‎Talua cast a furtive glance at him, then focused back on the fight.

‎"He's not showing us everything he's got... Could it be the same for Morgan, too?"

‎Amanda slowly got to her feet, breathing heavily.

‎In the next moment, Lucian lunged forward, breathing heavily.

‎Amanda's arm shot forward, red sparks of current dancing in her outstretched palm.

‎Lucian dodged the attack and moved forward.

‎"This fight is over," Talia thought.

‎In the next moment, her eyes widened in surprise.

‎"What's going on here?"

‎Lucian stopped abruptly, his body spasming erratically.

‎A moment later, he fell to the floor, breathing heavily, his body twitching rhythmically.

‎Amanda stared at him with an inscrutable expression, then grinned.

‎She had won.

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