I woke up early in the morning, and after having a quick breakfast in my room, I left the first-year dormitory.
The moment I stepped outside, the cold morning breeze struck my face, driving away any lingering drowsiness. I walked calmly toward my destination, which wasn’t far from the dorm.
Ahead of me stood a massive building, completely devoid of decorations or even windows. Its walls looked designed to isolate the inside from the outside... it was the building that housed the training centers.
I reached the automatic door and scanned my card, and it opened on its own as I entered.
Inside, there were many training grounds located close to one another, but there was no one around yet—which made sense, since it was four in the morning, and only the second day at the Hub.
I ignored those grounds and headed toward a door on the side. I scanned my card and entered.
Inside was a wide corridor, with reinforced doors lined along its sides. In front of one of those doors stood a radiant figure.
With golden hair and eyes, he looked as stunning as ever.
When his eyes landed on me, Elliot smiled and waved.
"Good morning."
I nodded and walked toward him.
"Looks like you came early."
I stopped in front of the door labeled [S1].
"No, I only arrived a few minutes ago."
I held my card up to the scanner beside the reinforced door, and with a heavy sound, it opened.
"Go ahead, make yourself at home."
I stepped inside, with Elliot following behind me. The interior was a vast training room, with many weapons mounted along the sides, and advanced equipment such as mechanical dummies lined up against the wall.
The room even contained a device capable of manipulating gravity and multiplying it several times over.
Elliot looked around.
"You’ve got an amazing training room here."
Each student in my class received a private training room, the quality depending on their final ranking in the exam. Since I placed first, I got the best one.
I walked over to the weapon rack and picked up two katana-like swords. Elliot did the same, choosing a long, double-edged blade.
Then his gaze stopped at one side of the room, where a pile of scrap was stacked.
"Did you destroy the training dummies on your first day here?"
I shrugged innocently.
"Not my fault they’re like trash... they say they can face Rank 3, but they couldn’t even touch someone’s ass with those rusty movements."
Elliot laughed at my response as he walked to the center of the arena. He stopped there and pointed his sword at me.
"Come on... I really can’t wait to face you again."
I walked toward him and stood in front of him.
Elliot Sivrax—despite having astonishing abilities and talent at the very peak of this world—never considered himself the best. He always wanted to find people like himself, to duel and learn from them, and it seemed he saw that in me.
I smiled as I balanced the swords in my hands.
"Just try not to end up like that pile of scrap."
Then there were no more words... in the next moment, we lunged at each other.
Boom—an explosive clash echoed, sparks flying from our interlocked blades. Up close, I saw Elliot’s delighted smile.
At the same time, we both retreated a few steps, only for me to appear right in front of him in an instant.
One of my swords moved, targeting his shoulder, but he knocked it aside with his blade. Without pause, he redirected his sword toward my chest, but my other hand moved and blocked the strike.
I adjusted my balance perfectly and spun on my heel, launching a kick at him. He raised his free hand and blocked my foot from striking his ribs, but the impact sent him flying several meters back—only for him to find me on top of him in the next instant.
My swords moved with power and precision, trapping him in a storm of relentless strikes. All he could do was defend.
In the end, I stopped and stood a few meters away from him.
"Are you playing with me...? Am I just a joke to you?" My angry voice filled the room.
He seemed surprised by my words, tilting his head as he replied,
"No... why would I consider you a joke?"
I clenched my teeth at this idiot.
"Then why are you backing off? You’re not even using your abilities—just waving your sword around like an idiot in front of me."
"Caius, this is just combat training, not a real battle... and using my abilities would give you a lot of injuries. We still have classes later," he said, trying to justify himself.
But I understood what he meant... that I wouldn’t hold up against him at full power.
"Listen to me, you idiot. Use everything as if you’re fighting for your life... let my body tear apart if it can’t keep up."
I knew that simply swinging swords like this wouldn’t benefit us at all.
I raised my sword and pointed it at him, then released my killing intent toward him. I saw his eyes widen in shock as my smile deepened.
"Because if you don’t... you might die here."
In the next moment, a thin layer of essence formed around my swords, and I charged at him.
He still looked shocked by my actions, but he quickly regained himself. He raised his sword, now coated in a layer of light, and we clashed again... but this time it was far more powerful, to the point that the ground beneath us began to crack.
"This is the spirit you should have, Elliot."
I tried to cut him in half, but in the next instant he vanished from in front of me, only to reappear a moment later with a devastating arc of pure white light.
I gathered more essence around my swords and struck with all my strength. Some skin on my fingers burned before the arc shattered into sparks of light.
"I really don’t understand you, Caius... you’re the most insane person I’ve ever met," he said as he pressed down on me with gravity.
I spread the essence further throughout my body to resist the effect.
"You don’t understand me?... Of course you don’t, because you and I are like two different worlds."
We clashed again, and the ground trembled beneath us.
"What do you mean?" he asked.
I smiled at him.
"You don’t need to understand."
What followed was a real battle. My body was torn apart, filled with wounds and burns, while the floor shattered across the entire arena.
Yet all Elliot received were a few superficial injuries.
"More... more..."
I remembered the helplessness I felt yesterday... how I couldn’t even control my own body.
I pushed myself, again and again, until my body began to fail.
In the end, I lay there on the ruined floor, while Elliot stood in front of me, leaning on his sword to stay upright, panting heavily. Wounds covered his entire body, and his blood dripped onto the ground.
But no matter his condition, he was still dozens of times better than me.
"Can you even go to class in this state?" Elliot asked, looking at my body.
Without replying, the remaining essence within me moved and flooded my worst wounds.
In the next moment, they closed and healed, leaving only a few minor injuries behind. As I checked my condition...
I heard Elliot mutter,
"This... this is cheating."
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