"So, shall we begin?" Vincent asked, and all five students stepped forward.
Leo was the first to attack. Charging straight at Vincent, he swung his fist toward the master's chest. Vincent calmly brushed it aside, but Leo didn't falter. Spinning around, he aimed a kick at Vincent's face. For the master, however, the strike was nothing more than dust in the wind.
Just as Vincent reached to grab Leo's leg, Noy silently appeared from behind and said, his voice flat as always,
"Hey, Master Vincent. I'm right behind you."
Vincent smiled, grabbed Leo's leg, and swung it toward Noy—but the boy was already gone. The master raised an eyebrow.
No wonder he's from the Yamagage clan. Silent assassins, through and through.
Noy reappeared at Vincent's right flank, a dagger flashing into his hand. The sudden materialization made Vincent's eyes narrow.
Soul Space… impressive for someone so young.
The blade hovered just a hair's breadth from his throat—but then Vincent vanished from sight. Noy scanned the room quickly, but before he could react, the master's voice came from behind:
"The Yamagage clan is known for silent killers. You're not bad yourself, boy."
An instant later, Vincent's fist drove into Noy's gut.
At that very moment, Sai appeared at breakneck speed, shouting,
"Cherry Blossom Stance — Redirection!"
He diverted Vincent's blow, and above them Leo came down, yelling,
"Ragnar Technique — Double Strike!"
Vincent raised his arm just in time. The punch slammed into his left arm, shaking the floor.
"The Ragnar clan is famed for their power," Vincent said evenly. "On the battlefield, their energy can burn a man alive. Their fists are more than simple blows—each strike carries two impacts. First comes the punch, then, in less than a heartbeat, the energy release. Fail to time it, and the double strike is lost."
The Ragnar clan could be compared to the Sakuragave clan. But unlike the Sakuragave, who were masters of defense, the Ragnars excelled at pure offense.
The first strike landed, and immediately after, Leo's energy exploded into the second. Vincent took both head-on without moving an inch. Leo had expected this.
"David, now!" he shouted.
At lightning speed, David rushed in low, slashing his blade at Vincent's legs. At the same time, Emma closed in from behind with her sword raised. Seeing this, Vincent had no choice but to unleash his energy.
"Energy Release!"
With those words, an overwhelming force erupted from his body, blasting everyone into the walls.
Through gritted teeth, Noy muttered,
"I swear… I'm about to cry."
Sai groaned,
"How are we supposed to fight against a monster like this?"
Leo looked at Vincent and answered,
"We've already landed two hits."
The others turned toward the master and noticed the cut on his leg from David's blade, as well as his slightly charred arm from Leo's energy.
Emma spoke up firmly,
"We still have forty minutes. That's enough time to land another hit."
"You're right. We have to keep pushing," David said, tightening his grip on his sword.
Noy sighed and added,
"What a pain… but fine. Let's continue."
And in the next moment, he vanished.
"Cherry Blossom Technique — Air Whirlwinds!" Sai shouted.
Three spinning gusts shot toward Vincent, but he evaded them with ease. Noy appeared behind him to strike, yet Vincent already anticipated it. He spun, reaching for Noy's wrist, but Emma intercepted him, her blade cutting the space between them to protect her teammate.
From behind, David and Leo surged forward at high speed, preparing to strike. Above them, Sai once again shouted:
"Cherry Blossom Technique — Air Whirlwinds!"
This time six whirling blasts rained down on Vincent from above.
Damn… didn't think they'd corner me like this. Well, I'll let them through, Vincent thought to himself.
He dodged David's and Leo's attacks, parried Sai's wind strikes, then finally straightened up and spoke:
"That's enough. You've all done well as a team."
Watching from the side, Ryan smiled.
Vincent continued,
"Since you managed to hit me twice, I'll forgive the fact that you couldn't do it a third time. The purpose of this test wasn't to defeat me—it was to see how you'd fight as a team.
Even if you had landed all three blows, but your teamwork was poor, I wouldn't have sent you on the exchange program with the Chinese academy.
But this… this was good. From tomorrow, we'll resume training."