The chamber still echoed from the last duel.
Dust hung in the air, mana storms buzzing faintly against the enchanted walls. Victories and losses had been traded like blows, but the atmosphere shifted the instant Christine Veynar stepped forward.
Even suppressed to B-Rank, her aura weighed on the chamber like a mountain.
Every First-Year straightened instinctively, as if their bodies remembered survival against predators. Even Raven Lucien's ever-present smirk faltered for half a heartbeat.
Christine's silver hair gleamed beneath the runes, her blade humming faintly at her side. She radiated sharpness—not just from her weapon, but from her very presence. Every breath, every movement, honed to lethal precision.
And her gray eyes found only me.
"Adrian Kaelthorn," she said. "Step forward."
My boots scraped against cracked stone as I walked into the center. My heart hammered, not from fear, but from the weight of what this moment meant.
Christine tilted her chin slightly. For the first time, her composure shifted—just enough for me to see recognition in her eyes.
The Swordsmanship Club.
Weeks ago, when I had first joined, I was just C+ Rank. My swordsmanship was solid but raw, my mana control refined but untested in true battle. She had stood across from me then too, radiating superiority as easily as breathing.
She had corrected my stance more than once.
"Shift your hips—your balance bleeds through your strikes.""Don't just control mana. Command it."
I had listened. I had learned.
And though she never said it aloud, she had recognized something. Enough that when I asked her to join the guild I was building, she hadn't laughed. She hadn't dismissed me.
She had signed her name—Christine Veynar, Vice President.
Back then, she had humored me.
Today, she faced me.
And in her eyes, I saw something I had never seen before.
Curiosity.
Christine raised her blade, silver light tracing its edge.
"This duel," she said evenly, "is not for spectacle. It is to decide whether you are truly worthy of the Apex Class. Show me the strength that made you ask me to stand at your side."
A murmur rippled through the chamber.
I exhaled slowly, focusing my mana.
Crimson light shimmered along my sword as the Scarlet Execution Sword Codex (SS-Rank, Level 8) awakened. The air grew heavy, vibrating under its presence. Sparks danced across the floor as cracks spiderwebbed beneath my feet.
Gasps spread among the First-Years.
Christine's eyes narrowed. "Scarlet Codex… and already at Level 8?"
Professor Lysandra's voice rang sharp."Begin."
Christine moved first.
A single step.A single breath.
Then her sword cut down in a clean arc—fast, precise, lethal.
I blurred aside with Quick Step (S-Rank, Level 7). Stone cracked under her strike, shards spitting upward.
I countered instantly, Codex mana forming a crimson crescent slash.
Her response was effortless. A clean parry shattered my arc, scattering sparks harmlessly.
The gap between us was obvious.
But I hadn't come to surrender.
Christine's POV
He's cleaner.
Weeks ago, he would have stumbled after that dodge. His weight was always too far forward.
Not now.
He's… balanced.
If I treat this like a spar, he'll punish me.
I pressed again, chaining Quick Step into a downward strike. Crimson arcs cut the air, sharper, faster, heavier.
Christine parried with silver precision, but her eyes flickered with something else.
Mana compression… no bleed.
That flaw—I corrected it myself. And now he's perfected it?
I tightened my grip.He learns too quickly.
"Did he just dodge Christine's opening strike?!" a First-Year whispered."No way… even Second-Years struggle against her speed."
Raven tilted his head, smirk faltering."Hah… so the puppy's teeth have finally come in."
Steel rang against steel, sparks hissing.
Christine's technique was relentless, each strike numbing my arms and forcing me back step by step.
"You've improved," she said calmly, pressing harder. "But you're still not enough."
My knees dipped. My lungs burned. My mana reserves screamed.
Quick Step blurred me away again, but each evasion left me slower.
I was losing ground.
And then—
I roared.
Crimson mana ignited, exploding outward in a storm that shook the chamber.
The Aura Skill (B-Rank) awakened, wrapping me in scarlet blaze.
Runes screamed against the surge, cracks spidering across the stone.
Gasps filled the room.
Christine's eyes widened."…Aura manifestation? Already?"
Her silver blade rose higher.
"Then come, Adrian. Show me!"