Jessica stood nervously on the dueling platform.
Her timid appearance made the surrounding onlookers shake their heads.
Well...
She had already lost in terms of presence right from the start.
The examiner responsible for scoring on the side also shook his head, ready to call it a day. Absolutely no one had faith in Jessica. Or rather, even if Franka deliberately went easy on her, Jessica wouldn't win. The girl's skills weren't actually bad, but her timid and cowardly nature prevented her from using even fifty percent of her strength.
"Jessica, I won't be going easy on you, you know."
Franka smiled faintly, her foxy, charming eyes curving into crescents.
She drew the black training rapier from her waist and assumed an offensive stance.
"Go, Jessica!!"
Below the stage, only Liskarm, standing in a corner, was cheering for Jessica.
As the five-minute countdown began, the assessment officially started.
However.
Franka didn't move immediately. With her strength, defeating Jessica wouldn't even take thirty seconds, let alone five minutes.
"I'm sorry, Jessica, but your personality... is really not suited for being a mercenary. Unless you can change who you are now...."
Franka's well-toned legs tensed. The muscles in her thighs, like a twelve-cylinder engine, exploded with powerful kinetic energy the moment she pushed off the ground. Her slender figure vanished in an instant, and like a thunderbolt, she appeared right in front of Jessica.
Her speed was simply too fast.
Even many of the official operators watching couldn't see her clearly.
"Huu..."
*—Soul Swap—*
At the exact moment Franka arrived.
A light flashed from the necklace on Jessica's neck. Then, the two souls instantly switched places. When Jessica opened her eyes again, her once emerald-green pupils had turned jet black. Furthermore, her previous panic was gone, replaced by an unparalleled calm and indifference.
"What's going on?!"
The instantaneous change in Jessica's aura greatly startled Franka.
However.
The sword had already been thrust; the outcome was set in stone.
The next moment.
Under the watchful eyes of everyone present.
Jessica made an unexpected move. Her small, lithe body bent backward in a deep arch, perfectly dodging Franka's impending attack. She then drew the prepared training longsword from her waist.
She stepped forward with her right foot.
Her teeth clenched tightly.
*Hssssss~~*
Wisps of white mist spewed from between her teeth as a massive amount of oxygen was drawn into her lungs. Her blood flow quickened, and her heart rate soared.
*Total Concentration Breathing~~
Lucas, controlling Jessica's body, exhaled a rootless flame from the corner of her mouth with each breath. At the same time, the blade of the training sword in her hands had, at some point, become enveloped in raging flames.
[Sun Breathing · First Form: Waltz!]
She raised the longsword high above her head, and the flame-wreathed blade swung down in a swift, circular arc.
Franka had never expected Jessica to pull a move like this and was genuinely taken aback. However, as an elite operator, how could she not dodge? Her agile body retreated slightly, evading the Waltz. With two backflips, she created distance between herself and Jessica.
She stared quizzically at the girl across from her, who seemed like a completely different person.
If not for the fact that she looked identical to the Jessica she knew, Franka would have suspected she'd been replaced.
"Flames... Originium Arts? Jessica's Arts are flame-based too? It seems similar to my Thermite Blade, but I've never seen this little girl use her Arts before. To think she was hiding this from me..."
Franka thought to herself.
"?????"
"This is..."
It wasn't just Franka who was astonished.
The surrounding onlookers were so shocked they were rendered speechless.
In the crowd, a very curvy, yellow-haired Vouivre shook her companion, saying in disbelief.
"Is that Jessica?!! I've known her for two years, and this is the first time I've ever seen her with that expression?! Holy crap!! That sword technique was so cool! And that expression is so cocky!"
The girl the Vouivre was shaking slapped her hand away.
"Vanilla, calm down! You're too strong, I'm about to fall apart~~"
They were interns from the same batch as Jessica and were even in the same training squad. However, they had been promoted a year ago, while Jessica had yet to be promoted due to her personality issues.
"What was with that fire just now....."
"Is this the Jessica I know?"
This was the thought on the minds of the vast majority of onlookers.
Even the examiner responsible for supervision and scoring couldn't help but frown.
On the stage, Franka didn't press the attack. Instead, she stood a hundred meters away, studying the junior who was both familiar and strangely unfamiliar.
In everyone's eyes.
The Jessica before them had shed her former timidity and cowardice.
Her cute little face was incredibly calm, the corners of her mouth turned up slightly, overflowing with a sense of excitement, as if she had transformed into a battle maniac. She held her sword in one hand, tilted her head, and lifted her chin slightly. The sheer arrogance she exuded made people doubt if she was the same person.
If everyone hadn't watched Jessica walk onto the stage with their own eyes, they really might have suspected a switch.
However, the real Jessica was getting anxious.
Jessica: "Mr. Reeve! Mr. Reeve! Tone it down a bit! This is so embarrassing!! I would never make an expression like that in my daily life!!"
"Sorry, I got too excited. Being trapped in the necklace for so, so long, I couldn't help but want to let loose a little now that I finally have a chance to get out..."
"..."
Jessica: "Then... Mr. Reeve! Just this once... No... please... take it easy. I'm afraid I'll be too embarrassed to show my face after this. It's social suicide..."
The soul of Jessica, hiding in the necklace, had curled up into a ball in a corner, unable to watch.